Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Project Hail Mary

Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

29 reviews

columnclub's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

There were a lot of moments in this that felt more like the author showing off his scientific knowledge than part of a story, and ultimately that's what dragged my rating way down. At best this was mildly derailing, and at its worst, chauvinistic - some explanations were given to female characters who had every reason to already know the things the male protagonist was telling them. I had other issues, like the linear flashbacks that interrupted the narrative and very rarely had something meaningful to contribute, and the fact that virtually every character speaks like a teenage boy (and don't even get me started on the Russians). There is one central aspect to the story that's great, though, and while it wasn't always well executed, it was definitely enjoyable.

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kendrama94's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is has surprise and interest throughout! It immediately draws you in to the characters and the story. It also explains heavy science in an accessible and fascinating way.

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leona's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

For some reason I don't really know what to say about this book. I've realised that a lot of people get into reading slumps when they read 'meh' books for too long without any 'wow' books, but for me I think I'm the opposite. This doesn't really have anything to do with my opinions on this book, I just think that maybe I could have gone all the way and given this 5 stars, and maybe rated The Midnight Library higher if I still wasn't trying to recover from Six of Crows - now that book nearly put me in a slump, despite my love for it.

Anyway, after that little tangent: on to the review! (Also there will probably be a few minor spoilers so... yep.)
Project Hail Mary is definitely a great book, and also a bit out of my comfort zone. I haven't read a great deal of sci-fi other than some YA series and dystopia (if you consider that sci-fi). I also usually prefer the robot and AI side of sci-fi than the alien and space travel side (maybe robots seem more believable to me). This is also one of the most 'science-y' sci-fi books I've read. And I think this is where Weir succeeds so well with this book; he makes sci-fi extremely approachable, even if you know very little science. There were parts where the plot was slow, there were parts where I got a bit bored. But Weir's prose is so digestable, quite chatty / informal in a way, and pretty modern. This makes the more scientific parts land much more successfully, and I would be pretty happy recommending this to most people.

I haven't read the Martian, so I can't offer any thoughts on how this compares, but from what I've heard, Grace swears considerably less (considering he's a teacher this is probably fitting) and apparently he is very similar to the protagonist of the Martian. I think Grace was a pretty likeable character

and Rocky was also very likeable

and I enjoyed seeing his mind work and his memories leading up to the mission. I definitely enjoyed the characters but again, I think I would have liked them even more if not for the excellence of Six of Crows. (I'm sorry, I know, you've had enough of the hype, especially on random book reviews).

My few criticisms were firstly, I kind of wanted their to be a bit more time spent between

Grace and Rocky learning each others language

and I would also have liked some more insight into Grace's Earth relationships. I didn't really like the ending particularly, but I appreciate Weir for doing something that I didn't expect and not doing the obvious.

I also really enjoyed

the realisation that Grace had actually been basically drugged and forced onto the ship. This was completely unexpected to me. I understand Stratt's reasoning to sacrifice three lives for billions, but firstly I thought Grace would choose to go himself, and I also thought that him and Stratt would end up in some sort of relationship or something. I don't know. This is where Grace really grows as a character, he starts his journey a coward, and ends by sacrificing his life for the only thing he actually cares about: his best friend Rocky.

Overall, I think this book was a pretty brilliant, and I definitely recommend it. It achieved it's intention very well in my opinion and my final rating is 4.5 stars.

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keepsleep's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

2023 Reread: RTC

Original Review:
I agree with other reviewers that it's best to go into this book knowing as little as possible about the story, so this review will mostly be about my reactions, in general terms:

I loved this story! I also loved The Martian and Artemis, so if there was any doubt, Andy Weir is definitely one of my favorite authors of all time. For those who didn't love both his previous books, I'd say this one is a bit closer to The Martian than to Artemis.

One of my pet peeves (I was going to say 'in books', but really also in real life...) is stupid people doing stupid things, so I really enjoy how Andy Weir's books are about intelligent people solving problems through science and logic.

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stormywolf's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful informative lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Audiobook Read by Ray Porter
Unabridged Length: 16.2 Hours
Listened at 2x Speed

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, a great performance and production on all counts. I think the only way to improve it would be to make it a full-blown audio-play with a larger cast and sound effects, but as audiobooks go there's not much I could ask for. Definitely a great experience for audiobook regulars or newbies alike, and I'd especially recommend it to anyone who might not be comfortable with the technobabble and science terminology that gets passed around at various points. Heck, just getting to hear Rocky is enough reason in itself to give the audio a try, so what are you waiting for?

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diifacto's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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hamohero's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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skudiklier's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This book made me feel things I haven't felt in years—not since I first read An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. I was so excited reading it, and despite how long it is I couldn't put it down, and finished it the day after starting it. I would really, really recommend this to anyone who likes sci-fi, and especially anyone who enjoyed The Martian. Major spoiler:

I just really like non-hostile first contact stories I think. When Grace first waved at the alien and then it waved back, I actually teared up a little. (Just saying "the alien" to have as few spoilers as possible.)

Some of the big eureka moments made me want to screenshot them and send them to friends—like, as if they were real and we could all get excited about this huge discovery together. It's definitely a good book for a book club or to read with friends.

Compared to The Martian, this felt like it had more suspense/higher stakes, because The Martian basically had a sad ending or a happy ending (and I always assumed it would be happy). Project Hail Mary has a lot more room for complexity in terms of what a "happy" ending looks like, so I definitely felt unsure about how certain parts would end.

I'm also glad I didn't really read the description of the book before reading it; all I knew was it was by Andy Weir (and that Hank Green liked it). It allowed me to truly learn everything along with Grace, and to be surprised by even basic functions of the plot in a really rare and enjoyable way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

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