The Martian - Andy Weir

Goodreads summary:

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 & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& 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—& 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?


My review:

100/5 - Just too good.

It's so good! Guys, please read it RIGHT NOW if you haven't yet. It's funny, action-packed, interesting and absolutely crazy. I even stayed up after 2 AM to finish it, because there was no way I could sleep without finishing this novel.

The main reason why I like this book is that it basically has everything I could ever ask for. There's some maths and science, which I really liked (some parts are a bit complicated, but don't worry, it's nothing like a maths textbook). I like learning things from reading, so this book was perfect for me. Also, it makes the whole experience more realistic, because astronauts are absolutely very intelligent and they need everything they know about all things space, or even more, if you're Watney. Then, there are some sensitive parts, because having an astronaut stuck on Earth isn't exactly a nice situation and fearing for his death is quite scary, even though I knew from the book's number of pages that Watney would probably not die right away, at least. Thinking about his family, his friends and his team of astronauts made me sad, but it's part of the experience, too. The funny parts, which are basically the entire book, are the best, in my opinion. I loved how sarcastic Watney is all the time, especially since I wouldn't always expect that from someone who basically needs a miracle to survive and make it back to Earth. If I wasn't cracking up every page, I was at least smiling, even in the darkest times sometimes, because Watney always finds the most surprising and crazy thing to say to make me laugh. I loved how it's much lighter than you'd expect (especially if you watch the movie trailer, which looks really stressful but awesome). Towards the end, I did get really anxious, especially since I didn't have the pages left's reassurement that Watney wouldn't die. I was basically dying to finish this book and know if he survives or not, and how.

Weir did a great job at creating characters. Each astronaut has its very own personality and I feel like we get to know them pretty well, even though they aren't on Mars with Watney. I was surprised to read about what is happening at the NASA and with the rest of Watney's team, but I ended up loving these moments. There's even a bit of romance and some more joking that I really enjoyed, especially since they lighten up the atmosphere.

This book made me think so much, it's crazy. It's been exactly two weeks since I finished it, but I keep recommending it to other people (my entire class today, as an example. I might've looked crazy, but I'm not even embarrassed. It's so good!). I always Watch the movie trailers, because I'm super excited for the movie (which I plan to see on its opening week with my best friend, who listened to my rant about how amazing this book is and blablabla). Whenever I hear something about space, science or botany, I think about the book, comparing it to what I know. Seriously, I keep thinking about it.

I highly, highly, highly recommend this novel. It's perfect. Also, its cover is gorgeous, so it'll look awesome on your shelves. See? Everything is a good reason for all of you to buy it and read it right now.