The Martian by Andy Weir

[Just so you know]: I read this book in October (2015) before I created my blog but I loved it so much I just had to include my review on here anyways. Let’s call it my “Better Review than Never” post. 😜

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— BLURB —

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

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— MY REVIEW —

This is my first real science fiction-ey book in a long time.

There’s a lot of technical language within the book and when you’re not a tech-head or into the details in science you may find it to be dragging or a little hard to get through but

I found the humor of the main character Mark Watney to be a relief when reading these parts. It almost seems like he’s talking to you about it and realises you’re not really getting it so he makes a joke or puts it in layman’s terms for you – which at the beginning took me by surprise (in a good way) and found myself smiling.

I tell you what though, once you’re deep into the story and you’re reading how Mark is trying to find ways to survive on mars alone for as long as possible, you can’t help but feel just as happy as him when something goes right but just as frustrated and angry when something doesn’t go to plan.

It’s a great fiction novel but the way it was written you would almost think it was based on true lives.

[Sidenote]: I also watched the movie after I read this book and I think it did it justice – but I recommend reading the book first!

RATING: ♥♥♥♥/5

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Thank you for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed my review. Catch you in my next one! Xo