Reviews with content warning for Confinement - פרויקט הייל מרי

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

פרויקט הייל מרי by Andy Weir

152 reviews

ahoyitsjoy's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful 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

3.0

This was a very silly book. It requires you to really suspend your disbelief, but if you can, it's a decently fun ride. The vibes remind me of like... a blockbuster action movie. Like Independence Day? It's not as ridiculous as that movie, but it's kind of got a similar vibe, especially when it comes to the characters... The people in this book just do not act realistically, and that stands out quite a bit compared to how detailed descriptions of science stuff is. I'm not that knowledgeable about physics and biology so maybe those parts are also unbelievable if that's your field. All of the people feel like stereotypes with a bit of fleshing out.

But again, if you treat it like a popcorn flick, it's pretty entertaining. This will probably be one of those few cases where the upcoming movie will be better than the book, if they don't completely screw it up.

This would have been a 2 star book if not for Rocky, who was impossibly endearing.

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witcheep's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The plot captivated me with the incredibly high stakes and unexpected partnership in solving the main mystery/problem. My only regret is that I didn't read this book sooner!

The book delivers a very intelligent and resilient main character Ryland Grace, who finds himself on a suicide mission to save the Earth and the humankind. He must solve a huge scientific problem caused by an alien microscopic life force that threathens to power off the Sun. He is sent to

another solar system

to research how to make this alien species harmless.

There he comes across

an alien on a similar solo mission – and they team up to solve this huge problem both of their solar systems share. I enjoyed the way they find ways to communicate and to co-operate, becoming fast friends.

This dynamic is among the greatest aspects of this book!

A word of caution, though: at times (or if I'm being honest, often) the highly scientific details made me feel dumb or lazy, like I was trying to keep up with a lecture without doing my homework beforehand. That didn't diminish my enjoyment of the plot, however, since I don't need to be an expert to appreciate the attention to detail in which the main characters' love for scientific thinking is expressed. I can see how that could make the reading experience tedious, though. I think listening to the audiobook might have made the experience better for me, otherwise I might have struggled to get through these parts or chide myself for just skimming them.

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rochelleisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have had this on my TBR for years, and finally got a chance to read it.

“Project Hail Mary” follows Ryland, the only survivor on a mission to save all of humanity. When Ryland wakes up disorientated and confused, it does not take him long to realize he is on a spaceship, floating somewhere in space. He does not remember his own name, let alone how he got to space, but he knows he has to work quickly to puzzle out what is going on. If he does not figure it out, he might not ever make it home.

I absolutely devoured this book. I am normally not one to really enjoy Sci-fi as a genre, but this novel goes way beyond just some space story and explores what it means to be a human. I think this story at its core is about someone with a good heart who is just trying to figure out their purpose in life.

I really appreciated the formatting and timeline of this story. The novel begins with Ryland waking up onboard a spaceship, and as he starts to remember what happened and how he got there, we get flashbacks to his life before. This type of storytelling was highly effective because it kept me guessing what was actually going on. We did not get the whole “before” story until almost the end of the novel, which was great for me. Additionally, this way of storytelling made me feel like I was on the mission with Ryland.

I loved Ryland as a character and a point of view to read from. He is so intelligent and I feel like people underestimated him. But, my favorite part about reading from him was that he had such an empathetic heart. He uses his intelligence for good, and he really genuinely cares about what happens to everyone. He is more than willing to sacrifice himself to help save the greater good (in some capacity). Additionally, it was inspiring to see how his mind worked, and how he was able to sort out challenges and difficulties.

There is a character introduced in the novel that Ryland really bonds with, and I was so invested in their story. I think this is exactly who Ryland needed at that time, and I could not be happier with how they helped one another and how their story ended up playing out.

I think Andy Weir is an immensely talented author, and I cannot wait to read more from him in the future.

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ellatuulia's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny informative fast-paced

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

4.75

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clovetra's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

i did not expect to like this that much?? i did not expect this book to go how it went either!!!!!

now i’m just gonna say up front - the only reason this isn’t a 5-star is because there was a LOTTTTT of space jargon. the book tries its best to explain it so i at least had some idea but…. i’m sorry by the end i was lost with how much jargon there was. not only was there insane science technical terms but made up concepts???? my brain short circuited it couldn’t keep up. even if i had no idea wtf was going on usually i could excuse that, but i will say when there were paragraphs of jargon by the end i just started skimming because i knew i would just be wasting my own time and hating every second of it. sue me.

other than that? this book was PERFECTION. i get why this guy had his book made into an award winning movie. ngl this needs to be made into one too. idk how they’d make rocky but honestly i don’t care!

grace was so funny and quippy. he did lose a bit of this by the middle, but tbh at that point based on the personality established i had grown to love him without his funny bone rearing its head every sentence so i wasn’t mad. i loved his flashbacks appearing in progression, especially his dynamic with stratter.

now - i gotta spotlight my boy rocky. ROCKY!!!!!!! i started crying over him because i actually just loved him so much. i won’t lie i did have to google illustrations of what the actual fuck he looked like cuz i actually could not imagine it at all. yes i am an avid fantasy & sci-fi reader with slight aphantasia and what? but after i got over that slight hump (i’m so serious i googled a drawing of him literally when his physical description was given so… this didn’t take long) i ADORED rocky. he’s my homeboy.

i actually started panicking because i thought rocky sabotaged the ship at the end. i was FREAKING OUT!!!! thankfully he didn’t or i would’ve been PISSED.

he was so quirky and made up for grace’s lack of funny one liners later.

the world building here also needs a great pat on the back. i mean i imagine the brain behind a blockbuster space movie would be great at world building…. and i would be correct in thinking that. everything down to the hypothetical(?) aliens & planets & situations felt so realistic that i actually forgot this book wasn’t sci-fi and was real. like if i went to space i would see a rocky. i saw on the news tokyo had 100mm of rain in an hour and my brain went “oh yeah that makes sense based on what the prediction surrounding astrophage’s effect on earth” and i had to pause. and realise. oh wait that’s not even real. it’s just raining a lot because of global warming and…. idk rain. not an alien parasite(?). even tho i had no actual idea what was happening on the logistical/technical side of things, from the dumbed down versions of events provided, it felt entirely realistic!!!!! i was so locked in reading this. can u tell seeing i read this in like 3 days as well.

the relationship between rocky & grace ate so bad. god and the ending too?????? ugh impeccable. no notes. chefs kiss. i had such a fun time reading this.

anyways omw to add the martian to my letterboxd watch list 🫡

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ghost3_14159's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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mrsori's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

An invigorating, amusing, hopeful read for anyone who likes to read about others doing science as an adventure. I’ve really loved it.

The focus is not on the character-building, but they are decently written, and some minor twists really added to the experience. I think the book lost a bit of its momentum towards the end, but the actual ending is quite enjoyable.

The translation is superb!

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sxndaze's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful 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? No

4.0

a page turner for sure! has a lot of the elements from the martian that kept me interested and the premise is intriguing. ryland can be a bit annoying as a narrator at times, but the fast pace nature of this thinking helps move you along.

rocky is lovely and the ending is a bit of a weird delight.

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bsparx's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful fast-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

4.5

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