Written Review

A somewhat small scale science fiction story about an astronaut stranded on Mars, and his fight to get back to earth. An interesting premise for sure. And this book also has a lot of critical acclaim too, there is even a movie staring Mat Damon! But sadly, this book fell short for me. I struggled with this book.

I finished in 5 days, and I did enjoy my time. There were moments of fun and excitement, but by the end I really wanted to be done. There is a lot of science in this book, and I mean chemistry and physics, and so much more.

It is pretty daunting at first, and it doesn’t get much better throughout - but that is to be expected in a science fiction story about an astronaut stranded on Mars; you’ll want the story to be believable. And that’s one thing I’ll get this book credit for, this is completely believable - to my lay mind of course, but this is not a fantasy story by any stretch, there is no magic to be found and the characters are all humans and very believable. Realism, that's the word.

I really wanted to like this book, I mean how could you not with a premise like that? That's why I really struggled with this book, because I had this expectation of really liking the book.. and I didn't. That makes me nervous for books that are on my TBR that I'm excited to read - maybe I just need to taper my expectations? I'll just have to wait and see.

No Spoilers

For this review I chose not to have any spoilers. I feel if you like the premise of the book, you should check it out.

Video Review

The Terminal List by Jack Carr - Book Review on YouTube

Review Score

I apologize to Andy Weir and his fans, but I’m going to score this book a 3/5. I did not enjoy my time with this book. I’m worried that this might be a trend for me, regarding science fiction, but I’ve got some more sci-fi to read so we shall see.

Also

If you do decide to read this book, I’d like you to count how many people grab their chin while thinking… it’s more than you think.

Project Hail Mary

Will I give Andy Weir’s next book a try… maybe. Only time will tell.