Paperback, 480 pages
Published Jan. 1, 2019 by Broadway Books.
I read this for 372 pages, and while I don't think it's quite as bad as they make it out to be, it's also really not good.
I read this for 372 pages, and while I don't think it's quite as bad as they make it out to be, it's also really not good.
My issue with space books always seems to be the authors want to explain the science behind whatever they've got the characters doing, and I truly don't care. I don't care about methane, I don't care about how to make aluminum on the moon, I don't care about how airlocks work.
I agree with other reviewers that the portrayal of Jazz left a lot to be desired - it reads exactly the way you would expect a white cis man to write a female character - which is not a compliment.
My issue with space books always seems to be the authors want to explain the science behind whatever they've got the characters doing, and I truly don't care. I don't care about methane, I don't care about how to make aluminum on the moon, I don't care about how airlocks work.
I agree with other reviewers that the portrayal of Jazz left a lot to be desired - it reads exactly the way you would expect a white cis man to write a female character - which is not a compliment.
woooof this was a tough one to not drop 2/3rds of the way through. I loved The Martian, Andy's first book, I've recommended it to a bunch of friends and they've also come away thrilled with it. I won't be recommending this to anyone.
The protagonist in this book is a mid-twenties woman, and Andy has reeaaallll problems there. Almost every character in the book except her dad is constantly commenting on her body or her sex life, including her. It's like it was written by a fourteen year old boy, for other fourteen year old boys. Like literally, count the number of times "boobs" occurs in the text. Hint, there are no sex scenes or any reason for the word "boob" to occur in the text. It was insufferable, real adult people do not talk to one another like this. Maybe Andy is gay and doesn't have any straight …
woooof this was a tough one to not drop 2/3rds of the way through. I loved The Martian, Andy's first book, I've recommended it to a bunch of friends and they've also come away thrilled with it. I won't be recommending this to anyone.
The protagonist in this book is a mid-twenties woman, and Andy has reeaaallll problems there. Almost every character in the book except her dad is constantly commenting on her body or her sex life, including her. It's like it was written by a fourteen year old boy, for other fourteen year old boys. Like literally, count the number of times "boobs" occurs in the text. Hint, there are no sex scenes or any reason for the word "boob" to occur in the text. It was insufferable, real adult people do not talk to one another like this. Maybe Andy is gay and doesn't have any straight friends, and is trying to imagine how straight people interact? I'm honestly bewildered. Maybe his social interactions with women never progressed passed the middle-school level of sophistication?
Individual scenes of problem solving with thought and science were good. The overall story arc was ok, but there are so many sub-plots that are presented & never followed up on, or never amount to anything. The endless letters between our protagonist and a person on earth -- those could all be cut entirely and the book would lose nothing. The plot line where the protagonist's inventor friend wants her to test a new condom the next time she has sex with some guy and let him know what she thinks of it -- he keeps asking her if she's had sex yet throughout the book, and that's the only contribution to the narrative.
ugh.
