I actually listened to it on Audible versus actual reading. But it should be the same book, lol. Anyway, I must admit, I didn’t expect much going into the book. But I felt it was nicely done. Although some of the languages used were kind of colorful for my taste, I had to get past that to focus on the story. (Yeah, I understand it would be more realistic but I just don’t like that. It’s just me.) Watney had a great sense of humor. His accounts were what I enjoyed the most, not all of the other side characters–although I did enjoy some of their conversations.
What got me into stopping with my listening and went hunting for spoilers was when cannibalism came into play. Well, it never happened, but it was chillingly disturbing. Johansen’s conversation with her father was enough to create the intensity of the situation. Only Martinez was able to joke about it afterward (like the part they already succeeded in doing the most difficult part and knew the option was no longer viable). I guess because of Watney’s accounts and humor that fueled most of the story, it didn’t occur to me that they were going toward that route, even though it was possible, considering the situation they were in. It just reminded me of those real-life incidents where those things actually occurred so that sort of freaked me out a bit.
What topped all of Watney’s wackiness was suggesting the Iron Man plan. That was seriously cracking me up. Lewis was asking the other crew members where Watney got all his ideas from. It was a riot. Despite intense situations, Watney managed to dissipate the tense atmosphere with his humor. I almost thought they were going to go with his plan yet Lewis had thwarted his plan, which made sense with Lewis being the commander and always thought of her crew’s safety first. All in all, a very interesting story that kept you sitting on the edge until the end.
All in all, I totally recommend this book–whether you deceive to read it for yourself via text versions or the audio version like I had. It was a really fun and enjoyable read throughout.
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