The Martian in Around the Year in 52 Books

Oct 04, 2015 E.S. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I can honestly see why everyone is making a big deal out of this book. The Martian is outstanding and won a 2015 Alex Award. Watney is the kind of person who you really want to survive. He’s humorous (there were about 50 times where I literally laughed out loud) and extremely resourceful. Reading this book, I felt stupid at times and I knew that I would never survive on Mars. I was surprised at how quickly Mark was able to come up with a plan. It’s like everything went wrong, but he was able to I can honestly see why everyone is making a big deal out of this book. The Martian is outstanding and won a 2015 Alex Award. Watney is the kind of person who you really want to survive. He’s humorous (there were about 50 times where I literally laughed out loud) and extremely resourceful. Reading this book, I felt stupid at times and I knew that I would never survive on Mars. I was surprised at how quickly Mark was able to come up with a plan. It’s like everything went wrong, but he was able to survive and overcome it. I know the feeling of everything going wrong, but not to this extent. I am not sure how popular this is among young adults, but it is definitely a popular book right now due to the movie coming out soon (October 2nd). Everybody wants to read it. I’m not sure if I would recommend this book to a young adult. Some of the technical phrasing gets a little bit too complicated. There were times where I had to reread a sentence because I wasn’t aware of the terminology.
This book, I think, is more for those 18 and up, unless there are younger teens that are really into science and understand these terms. Weir tries as best as he can to explain the terms for those of us who aren’t wholly scientific, but sometimes it fails. As I mentioned before, I really liked the humor of it and the voice of Watney. He is definitely what made this book great. There were a few times where I took pictures of some of the quotes from the book and sent them to people because they were so great. Admittedly, the cover of the book makes the book seem way more intense than it actually is. It features Watney floating in his spacesuit surrounded by red Martian dust. I thought initially, from the cover, that Watney wouldn’t even have anywhere to go on Mars; he would just be stuck on the surface of Mars with nothing but his spacesuit. Don’t get me wrong, the book was intense but the only time that I felt anxious was towards the end when the Ares 3 crew launched the MAV. In fact, the ending was so emotional for me that I found myself holding my breath and actually tearing up a little bit. I could feel the tension of the moment, the eyes of the world watching the launch, and the quick-paced events that followed. If an author can make me feel all of those things, he/she is doing something right. This book deserves all the praise that it gets. Andy Weir is a genius and definitely did his research.
Teenagers who enjoy space, survival, and aren’t afraid of technical or complex concepts will love this, and anyone will love Watney’s character. I hope that when he gets back to Earth, he gets laid AND never has to listen to seventies disco again. The only problem with the book that I had was the constant changing of viewpoints. I get it, certain things can’t be told from Watney’s point of view. His viewpoint is told by way of logs. Readers definitely needed the perspective of NASA and the perspectives of the Ares 3 crew, just for more character depth, but there were certain times when Watney’s situation was told in third person and I just thought: why? We don’t need that at all. People who don’t like changing perspectives might not enjoy this book. Nevertheless, The Martian was gripping, emotional, joyous, and intense at times. I can truly say that I am glad that I am read this book and I cannot wait to see the movie now.
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 27, 2016 Tania rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommended-to-me

Imagine that astronauts land on Mars. They undertake this dangerous mission with the kind of personality and humor that would be required to survive with sanity in tact. Then disaster strikes and one is left behind. Are we surprised that guy is resourceful, sarcastic, optimistic, and motivated to survive, all in one? If we are, then that explains why we don't get to vet the astronauts. The people in charge would have to look for these qualities - how else would you find people who could live und ...more

Like · see review

Nov 01, 2015 Laurie rated it really liked it

http://abookloverswalk.blogspot.com/2... ...more

Like · see review

Dec 20, 2015 Charlie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2016, own

So intense and amazing! I can't recommend this enough! I never thought a sci-fi full of science details would make me feel all the feels. LOVED IT ...more

Like · see review