Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Project Hail Mary

I tried so hard. I kept coming back to it over the span of a few months. I borrowed it from the library multiple times. I tried the audiobook...it's just so boring. Andy clearly only knows how to write one character archetype and the rest is just stereotypes, infodumps and very badly written female characters. I'd rather read a physics book. Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark is a great one - the same amount of math, better plot and a far more interesting read.

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breadwitchery's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

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kellyurban's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

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divine529's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative 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

For those of you who know me, you know that I struggle reading sci-fi (I tend to prefer experiencing sci-fi in visual format), but I had very little trouble reading this. A lot of the time, it felt like I was watching or living it, and I think that makes a difference for me.

This is a fairly well-known book, written by a fairly well-known author, but I'll briefly tell you what it's about anyway. This follows our main protagonist Ryland Grace who wakes up on a space ship in another star system with no memory of who he is or what he's doing. The book is told in two timelines, the current one aboard the Hail Mary, and a past timeline of the events leading up to how he got aboard the Hail Mary and why - it all has to do with saving the sun and in turn the planet. And all kinds of interesting things happen along the way.

As with most books I read, there were parts I really enjoyed and parts I enjoyed less.

The writing, while engaging and immersive, and generally well paced, irritated me at times, for no other reason than the words he chose and at times the dialogue.

The setting/world was well done and seemed well researched. I loved learning about the different planets and species that were being discovered.

The plot was interesting and was the fuel for the story, but it wasn't the main focus the majority of the time. Yes, saving the planet was important and all of their findings and actions directly related to saving the planets, but at it's core it was more about the characters.

Which brings me to the characters. Ryland was an interesting character and I found him relatable and fun to read about. I adored Rocky, who I'm not going to tell you much about, but he's the best and I lived and breathed for his and Ryland's interactions. Stratt was irritating. I liked her at first, but she got old really fast because she felt like she had one personality trait. The other characters were also interesting, the short time we spent with them, but nothing too special overall.

All in all, an enjoyable and fun read. This was my first Weir book, but I don't think it'll be my last.

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chloethonus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is my first Andy Weir book and I absolutely loved it. I could not put this book down. The concept of an astronaut with amnesia having to save the world is already interesting, but the way the memories come back to him are what push the plot forward and what develop his character. I really enjoyed this style of writing and want to pick up more of his books. Would recommend this book to any sci-fi enjoyer or scientifically minded person. Even the outlandish aspects are explained scientifically and grounded in a bit of reality, which is part of why I didn't mind more fantastical elements.

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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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ceilidhwilliams's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny informative fast-paced

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

4.5

I was aprehensive at first, the writing style was awkward but it improves as Rylands mental state improves. Sci-Fi is not suppose to make me cry, and I definitely didnt expect Andy Weir to be able to make me cry. Rocky is obviously the best character. Stratt can go die in fiery pit.

Thoughts while reading:

he doesnt rememeber anything at all, yet he has strong opinions on colloquisism right from the start?
Weirs writing seems to be regressing with every book he writes, what started as a non-chalant, more natural style has progressed into cringy and juvenile, once you take away the science jargon from the work, whats left reads like it was writed by a 13yr old for a creative writing assignment, which is such a shame because the ideas of this book are brilliant

Around the 70 pages mark the writing improves a lot and stops sounding like it was written by a child, maybe Weir wrote the beginning like that on purpose to reflect Rylands confused state of mind, but it honestly made me seriously consider dnfing the book (glad I didn't)

Just because hes a teacher doesnt mean he wouldnt swear
He calls the astrophages an invasive species, when theres no indication at that point that they are, he and everyone else has no idea where they came from, if they evolved on the sun or venus or any other planet in the solar system they wouldnt be invasive, the solar system would be their native habitat
Weir has clearly done a lot of research for this book but it seems he skipped over some very basic biology
Astrophages are single-celled so they cant be warm bloodied, you could describe them as Homeothermic, but no single-celled organism is able to do thermoregulation, obviously this is an alien so maybe it could but it still wouldn't be described as warm-blooded
“People always assumed our first contact with alien life would be little green men in UFOs. We never considered the idea of a simple, unintelligent species” - only hollywood thinks aliens are little green men. No scientist worth any merit does, numerous agenies including NASA have been searching for single celled life on mars for years
How the hell is he the only person in the entire world who thinking water isnt essential for life?? Astrobiologist have been saying our concept of life in regards to searching for alien life, is too narrow for years. From the BBC ScienceFocus: “some scientists suspect alien life may have evolved to exploit alternative chemicals like hydrocarbons capable of performing the same roles [as water].”
96.415*C “For anything living on earth it would be deadly” he has a doctorate in biology, yet is unaware of the existence of extremophiles? A thermophile is an organism—a type of extremophile—that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between 41 and 122 °C - Thermophiles are found in various geothermally heated regions of the Earth, such as hot springs like those in Yellowstone National Park and deep sea hydrothermal vents. A 30 second google search shows hes wrong.
“Theres just no way it can infect humans. Besides its been a couple of days and im not dead.” Again hes a biologist yet has no understanding of incubation periods? Just because it hasnt been around humans before doesnt mean it cant infect/harm us, pathogens evolve constantly. Most of the pandemics and epidemics that happen are the result of diseases that previously were only seen in animals evolving to be able to infect humans - bird flu, swine flu anyone? The Stratt ends up having a better understanding of incubation periods than a man with a doctorate in microbiology
Very convenient that his amnesic brain is able to pick precise memories to recall just as theyre needed. Hes able to force himself to remember things, how?
It gets a LOT better around the 30% mark, Weir is taking a much deeper drive into speculative science fiction than he did in his previous two books
How can come rocky needs the clock pushed up to the wall to be able to hear the ticking but he can hear Roland move his finger in the air?
How is rocky able to determine that ryland breathes oxygen, yes he tested the atmosphere but that would have only been 21% oxygen so why would he assume that was the vital element, why doesnt he think humans breath nitrogen?
Who is stratt and why was she appointed the head of the project when she has no knowledge of even basic science and is extremely undiplomatic
“I dont like little dictators in their little kingdoms” does stratt understand irony?
On page 236 ryland complains about there being no way to clean his clothes and he has to soak them in water, but earlier it shown the robot/computer doing the laundry...
Why is the microbiologist teaching the physicist how space radiation works?
Just because the vast majority of scientists are men doesnt mean you should exclude all women and homosexual men as possible candidates its extremely sexist and homophobic. Stratt says its to stop sexual tension but theres no issue of that in current space missions so why does it matter now. But at least ryland calls her out on it but why include it in the book at all?

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