Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

20 reviews

khaosiren's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25


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corallydeer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

This book was absolutely fantastic. I read it in tandem with the audiobook in a book club setting alongside my husband and it was such a great time. As far as the book itself is concerned, I truly adored the whole story and was glued to it the entire time. As a note: I have not read The Martian (yet) and have only seen the movie, so I can't speak to any comparisons between the two books. I did see in previous reviews that some people felt like Grace was pretty much the same character as Mark Watney just rebranded as a
quirky school teacher
, and while I do agree with this point I don't feel like it detracted from the story at all. If anything I felt like blending that personality with someone who's
a teacher
was incredibly fitting and made it extremely relatable as someone who
works in education
.

I loved all of the directions the story took and the details; every time I felt like I had a handle on where the story was going it would throw a slight curveball and I'd be glued to my chair trying to figure out what in the world was going to happen. I adored
Rocky
so so much as a character; my husband and I both loved that
he wasn't a stereotypical humanoid alien
as well and the details describing him were incredibly well done. The relationship between the two characters was hilarious and heartfelt and left my husband and I crying in the car on multiple occasions. I strongly agreed with this one comment on a Tiktok video about the book by someone named Amanda that said:

"
The way Grace went from being forced to sacrifice himself for humanity to voluntarily doing it for Rocky [...]
"

This book truly left such a wonderful impression and is easily getting categorized into the books I wish I could read again with no memory and will easily be a reread-er for me.

As an additional review for the audiobook: I 100% recommend that everyone try out the audiobook either in tandem with the book or on its own. It's easily one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to and was so masterfully done. The way that they did
Rocky's dialogue
was phenomenal and blew my husband and I's minds. And we were blown away by the level of emotion that the narrator put into Grace's parts. It was truly an amazing part of the whole experience for us!

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sarah_amy's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring tense slow-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

3.75

This was so very close to being a DNF for me as there is a LOT of maths and science involved, particular in the beginnings that were going over my head. However, I was encouraged to persist and I'm glad I did. The journey and humanity of the tale that comes strongly into the second half made it worth it - you can let the technical stuff go over your head & still get the gist. Audiobook as opposed to text almost feels like a MUST, due to a very specific element in the story. I'm sure I wouldn't have had the same experience had I read it in text. Narrator was fantastic.

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bananachip868's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Rocky is my favourite character and I want to hug him, even though it would probably kill me.

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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative slow-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

3.75


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thecrimsoncorsair's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

3.5

Great book that kept me invested throughout. I loved, loved, loved Rocky; and his friendship with Grace - the MC. I honestly loved Rocky far more than I did Grace. Ryland Grace is pretty much your typical mary sue, self insert type that Weir loves to write. So Grace often got on my nerves. Dude's a junior high school science teacher. I don't care if he was once in higher academia, he's just too good at everything he does. It got pretty annoying at times. But overall, I ignored it because I wanted to know what was going to happen, and if everything was going to work out. There were a few issues that were grating. One, it was a little too USA, USA, USA! At times. And there's one particular line about the US military being soooooo amazing that made me want to gag, but it is sparing. I just don't recall there being this much America-riding in his other books. I don't know, it was pretty bad when it happened though. Two, I'm not perfect at writing, but I'm also not an author. I noticed two very glaring errors in the book, and I couldn't believe it. One was so obvious I'm honestly shocked it got by multiple editors. I accept errors in self published books, or lower end books. It's to be expected. But from a book at Weir's level, it was kinda bothersome. Three, there was a lot of diversity. Multiple different people from multiple countries. I will give him that. But I swear to god they were all stereotypes of those countries. All of them. It was driving me nuts, and then my hunch was reinforced when he introduced the most stereotypical Canadian imaginable, and even wrote his dialogue with Canadian inflection. Lol. Dude. You can do so much better with international characters. I mean come on. Other than those small gripes I was immersed in the plot. I was immersed in the characters, and even the technobabble was interesting to read. With a little bit of overexplanation, but that's pretty typical of his books. The absolute best part, and where this book shined was the relationship between Rocky and Grace. And just for that alone, the book was absolutely worth the read. 

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the_real_al_cal's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I had to sit with this one for a bit before I wrote this review, which, for me, usually means the book was an instant favorite. I'm not generally a fan of sci-fi, because I get lost by the "sci" part, but Andy Weir did a fantastic job of making even the most complex science terminology approachable and easy to follow, which is no easy feat! Everything about the story--even the fictional parts--feel solidly believable through the sheer scientific thought put behind them.

Even if you usually swing more towards the fantasy side of the fantasy/sci-fi genre, I HIGHLY recommend this book. The way this book is organized is so impactful, with the main character waking from a coma out in space and unable to remember why he's there. Throughout the book, he slowly recovers his memories, thus discovering that not everything is as it seems.

I'm being a little vague in my review, because this book is fun to read without any prior information. But rest-assured, you won't regret picking up this book about courage, sacrifice, and, ultimately, eternal friendship.

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edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative 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

4.75


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gbyronwilliams's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-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

Listening to the narration by Ray Porter is incredible. They add so much to the text with this amazing acting ability. I don't think I would have teared up at the ending or been so invested if I was reading this book on the page! 

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marissasa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

This is my first space sci-fi novel and wow was it engrossing! Despite being chock-full of scientific language and challenging concepts to understand, it still felt accessible to anyone who passed high-school chemistry and biology or even just has a basic understanding of space and science. What kept it exciting and engaging was the combo of our main char Grace’s flashbacks/memories of earth recovering over time, his vast knowledge of science, space, and experimentation, and his interactions with Rocky. I grew attached to his alien bestie and found myself wanting so badly for everything to work out for both of them. I enjoyed how past events got gradually revealed over time due to Grace's amnesia, and how it informed both readers and the Grace himself on his actual character and values before he lost his memory. This set up a great character development arc for when he was eventually faced with tough decisions in the present day. I also loved the ending as I found it different than what I expected, but satisfying and touching all the same. I am so curious how this one will be adapted into a movie and I have high expectations after enjoying this book so much!

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