Reviews

The Martian, by Andy Weir

genizah's review

5.0

So great. Exactly what it says on the tin and immensely satisfying as a result. The thing that makes me saddest is Tom Hanks is now too old to play the hero in the inevitable movie adaptation. It's right in that sweet spot between Jim Lovell and the dude from Castaway.

thebooksareeverywhere's review against another edition

5.0

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Edition: 2015, Del Rey, 369 Pages
Synopsis: I’m stranded on Mars.
I have no way to communicate with Earth.
I’m in a Habitat designed to last 31 days.
If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death.
So yeah. I’m screwed.

I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It was not only really good & really well written but also really, really funny.

The plot is full of suspense. But also quite personal. I find suspensful books can be quite focused on the plot, and the characters can be unlikeable.
The characters (well mainly Mark) were so well built, that I felt I was reading an autobiography.

The writing is outstanding. Personal, yet informational. And also really hilarious.

Something I liked...has to be the humour! I didn't know a book like this could include puns like that. I laughed out loud at points. Not a good one to read in public!

Something I disliked...at the start, was the confusing science. It's needed, but I found it hard to read. Especially with distractions, such as background noise.

My rating is...

★★★★★

I can't wait for the movie to come out on DVD so I can watch it! I really feel this will be great on the big screen. I'd definitely recommend this one to any reader, especially if you enjoy autobiography style-writing.

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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c_cannon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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

majabwds's review

4.0

This was a reread and this time I'm giving the book 4 stars. I really like this book. Mark Watney is such an incredible character, so clever, funny, resourceful, such an optimist. I think the part when he has a tiny tantrum after he almost dies for the 100th time makes him seem more real and not this omnipotent character that can solve everything.

taratara44's review

4.0

This movie is one of my favorites and I really wish I would've read the book before I saw the movie. They did a really good job adapting to book to movie so most of the book wasn't a surprise. There are a few different plot points that made it worth reading but it is definitely very similar to the movie. That being said, I still enjoyed it. I just know I would've LOVED it had I been going into it fresh with no movie knowledge

emakrjlt's review against another edition

5.0

I haven’t read many one character driven stories, but this one was taken to the next level of ‘one character driven’.

It was really science based and there was a lot of chemistry (weirdly I loved it). Mark’s humor was one of my favorite things and if we look at his situation at the time that was fairly impressive.

Also, yes, I want to study astrophysics so this was really really good in general.

If you don’t like science, chemistry, physics or astronomy in general I recommend not coming anywhere close this book.

gardensong's review

2.0

I have a lot of negative things to say about this but I did like it and I thought it was full of hope and that was nice (I don't want to go on a rant about it, and I won't... but who edited this book? Who?)

libraryofrick1801's review against another edition

5.0

Review 19. The Martian by Andy Weir, audiobook narrated by R.C. Bray

The Martian by Andy Weir is one of my favourite books ever.

I have two versions of the audiobook (narrated by R.C. Bray and Wil Wheaton). Until now I have never listened to the version narrated by R.C. Bray and I wish I had done so earlier.

I will admit that I was nervous about the narrator at first as I love Wil Wheaton's reading of the Martian, but R.C. Bray does an absolutely fantastic reading this story and had me laughing out loud at various points during the story.

He does all of the accents and even makes it easy to differentiate between male and female characters.

This version of The Martian audiobook is not available on Audible any longer, I have had it for years and yet never listened to it.

I will definitely be trying to find other audiobooks by this narrator.

5*
*****

egm406's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

softstarrynights's review against another edition

4.0

In this modern sci-fi classic, the Ares 3 team are busy with their Mars mission, when, during an emergency take off they accidentally leave one of their crew, (mistakenly) believing he'd died.  I loved this book just as much as I love the film, so it didn't come as a surprise. Mark is a fantastic protagonist, and is so entertaining, which is a relief considering how much time you spend with him. I also really liked that you got a NASA POV, I thought it was great to see things from the other side. However, and I say this as someone who loves alternate POVs, there was one omniscient third person, that cropped up every now and then, and really removed you from the story. Other than that a new favourite!

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