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kcnicola 's review for:
172 Hours on the Moon
by Johan Harstad
A book can be terrifying without being pointlessly mindfucky, or it can be pointlessly mindfucky without being terrifying. It can defy genre boundaries without being unrealistic, or it can be unrealistic without defying genre boundaries. For all I care, it can be fun without lacking cohesion, or it can lack cohesion without being fun.
172 Hours on the Moon was the latter on all accounts...and in the worst, laziest ways possible.
We start out with NASA planning to hold a lottery to allow 3 "lucky" teens to go to space and to help the organization secure future financial assets. Even at this point in the beginning, there are already several issues with that decision; my three biggest are as follows:
From there, the story devolves into a generic YA novel of romance and extreme chance, featuring a whiny Japanese girl whose only purpose is to bring in cultural fun-facts when relevant; a kind-hearted but stereotyped French boy; and a Norwegian punk. Not only are they all mostly untrained before going to space (as has already been stated) - there is a near-complete lack of scientific accuracy present throughout the entire novel. Every part of it, down to that "horrific" plot-twist (which honestly was too laughable to be scary), made me - a former multidisciplinary scientist who specialized in meteorology and astronomy - cringe.
Also, unnecessary and detrimental romance. That was fairly instant. And useless.
And the ending...haven't I seen it before, just done way better? (Answer: yes, I have.)
If you're only in it for shock value, feel free to read this book - but scientifically-minded people should probably stay as far away from it as possible.
172 Hours on the Moon was the latter on all accounts...and in the worst, laziest ways possible.
We start out with NASA planning to hold a lottery to allow 3 "lucky" teens to go to space and to help the organization secure future financial assets. Even at this point in the beginning, there are already several issues with that decision; my three biggest are as follows:
1. Multiple official documents showcase the requirements and foreshadow the training needed to become a fully-qualified astronaut. You can't just go to space, untrained, within a matter of months.
2. "We're going to spend money to secure more potential money" is very flawed logic.
3. Teenagers? Really? You'd legit send youth with not-yet-fully-developed brains into space, even with the physical repercussions known? Yeah, no. Miss me with that.
From there, the story devolves into a generic YA novel of romance and extreme chance, featuring a whiny Japanese girl whose only purpose is to bring in cultural fun-facts when relevant; a kind-hearted but stereotyped French boy; and a Norwegian punk. Not only are they all mostly untrained before going to space (as has already been stated) - there is a near-complete lack of scientific accuracy present throughout the entire novel. Every part of it, down to that "horrific" plot-twist (which honestly was too laughable to be scary), made me - a former multidisciplinary scientist who specialized in meteorology and astronomy - cringe.
Also, unnecessary and detrimental romance. That was fairly instant. And useless.
And the ending...haven't I seen it before, just done way better? (Answer: yes, I have.)
If you're only in it for shock value, feel free to read this book - but scientifically-minded people should probably stay as far away from it as possible.