Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

The Martian by Andy Weir

My Rating: 5/5 

Description (taken from Goodreads): 

A mission to Mars.
A freak accident.
One man's struggle to survive.

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 the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive. And even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, Mark 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's not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills—and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength–he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany expertise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth.

As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive.

But Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet.

Grounded in real, present-day science from the first page to the last, yet propelled by a brilliantly ingenious plot that surprises the reader again and again, The Martian is a truly remarkable thriller: an impossible-to-put-down suspense novel that manages to read like a real-life survival tale.

My Thoughts:

Recently I've been trying to broaden my reading horizons- and this was the right book at the right time. It's funny how you can stumble upon (well not really, it's a very well known book since the film!) exactly what you need when you need it. I needed something to distract me- to take me somewhere else and get me lost in a completely engrossing story. This was the ticket!

I loved this book. It was fast paced, exciting, action-packed and funny. Reading the synopsis- it's not the first thought many people would have, but it is actually laugh-out-loud funny. Mark Watney as a character is so sarcastic and resilient in his situation it was hard not to love him. He's a down-to-earth guy (see what I did there?) and is so genuine. I feel like I could go down to my local pub and have a drink with him. Despite his tough situation, he is just very positive. It was the positivity I needed. Plus, as you're in his head for the majority of the book, you really are rooting for him by the end.

Plot and whatnot was brilliant. I won't lie, there's a lot of science-y things in this book. But for the most part it's explained in a way I could follow- and I'm no Scientist! I didn't find myself glossing over parts or explainations because it was just so interesting. Between the Science and the humour, there was action. Something was happening all.the.time. By the end of the book I was, quite literally, on the edge of my seat and holding my breath. I needed to know what happened.

I haven't watched the film, and I don't know if I will. I didn't expect to feel quite so strongly about this book, but I loved it. And I adored Mark Watney, I urge you to read this if you haven't yet- even if it's not your usual thing!

For those of you who have read it, what did you think?