Julie In Wonderland’s review of Project Hail Mary > Likes and Comments
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It’s actually shocking how insufferable this book is
I like your review more than the book itself!
Myles wrote: "It’s actually shocking how insufferable this book is"
Right? It took an immense amount of patience out of me not to dnf it.
Christine wrote: "I like your review more than the book itself!" Thanks lol 😂 btw what a gorgeous himb you got there. So pretty. 😍
Thank you for restoring my faith in Goodreads’ reviews. This book and the adoration shown for it are completely outside of my comprehension.
Thank you! Been scrolling and scrolling to find someone else who disliked this book. (DNF at 120 pages.) I’m not alone!!!
"Andy Weir would have us think she's a real human woman but I bet she's a robot and Andy Weir doesn't even know it." - Amazing, this is brutal lol. You are 100% correct, this book sucks.
I’m 45 pages in and the level of cringe and bad writing is… it’s at an all time high. I dunno If I can do this.
I actually gave it 3.5 stars for the think-along problem-solving, but I love your review. Everything you say is true. The story is based in hard science which causes a huge disconnect when the characters are incredibly unbelievable. If the whole setting were more absurd and fantastical to begin with it would have worked better. My suspense of disbelief was strong enough for the cartoony human characters but I just couldn't take that he had less trouble communicating with an alien than you would have with any foreign human on earth.
I liked the book but got a kick out of your review
Man, I feel you. I put down nearly the exact same thing (phrased a little differently) as my review, but yours was actually another level. 1000% agree.
Ugh! I am halfway through this book & cannot understand the good reviews. I love reading & science fiction. This book is so painful. I hope it doesn’t end up as a movie. Thanks for your review restoring my faith in humanity!
After reading your review I can see your point of view, but I loved this book! I actually read it, I think listening might have bored me to tears because of the technical science stuff that some I actually skimmed through or skipped. I haven’t read The Martian so I didn’t have that to compare.
I’m glad I read the book, even though I hated it, simply because it brought me to this gem of a review. This review right here is better than the entire book.
Thank you so much for writing out this review. It is incredibly therapeutic and makes me feel less crazy for having the same thoughts.
Sad but true and I am happy I am finally done with it. I also could not believe the ratings here overall so far but it looks like it is simply a book that does not resemble with me but with a lot of other people on a level I cannot grasp.
Your review is spot on! Such a waste of time to the point of painful. My first one star review. I wouldn’t have finished it, but for my “buddy read” partner, who feels the same way. Big mistake, huge….
I couldn’t even get through 200 pages of this. I felt my brain disintegrating. What a waste of time and hype.
Your review is spot on, I wrote one with more than a few similar points. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thought this book was terrible. The writing is what I can only describe as "cringe-y" at its best points and embarrassing at its worst!
Myles wrote: "It’s actually shocking how insufferable this book is"
Yess couldn’t believe such a poorly written book is so hyped up
Keegan wrote: "Thank you so much for writing out this review. It is incredibly therapeutic and makes me feel less crazy for having the same thoughts."
Glad to be of service. xD It’s also good for me to know I’m not the only one who’s not a fan.
Mary wrote: "Your review is spot on, I wrote one with more than a few similar points. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thought this book was terrible. The writing is what I can only describe as "cringe-y..."
I read your review. I wanted to comment on it but I couldn’t because we’re not goodreads friends. It’s validating to know you also had problem with the suspension of belief in this book. And I never noticed before but you’re right about the protagonist resembling a man written by a clueless woman. He does sound like a clumsy, blushing female lead of a romance novel, doesn’t he? Now I keep imagining him as the heroine and Rocky as the hero of some space romance fantasy and I can’t stop laughing. xD
Grant wrote: "I couldn’t even get through 200 pages of this. I felt my brain disintegrating. What a waste of time and hype."
You have to hate yourself enough to put yourself through reading it to the end. Lol. Still don’t understand how so many people love this book.
This book feels like the author likes masturbating to a physics book.
I haven't settled on the amount of stars yet, but I agree with most of your points. If I hadn't been gifted the book, or hadn't had the slight desire to know how it would end, I may have DNFed it 😅 It's such a different writing style from the SFF I'm used to, with fleshed-out and morally ambiguous characters, as well as thematically rich plots. Oh and show, don't tell, please!
Weir probably just isn't for me.
Edit: rounding up to 3 stars.
idk who the hell are you, but your are so fucking wrong. IT'S SO AMAZING, YOU CAN'T SAY ALL THE THINGS YOU SAID
Andreas wrote: "This book feels like the author likes masturbating to a physics book."
Yes your comment sums up everything I’m trying to say in this review. 😂
Ivan wrote: "I haven't settled on the amount of stars yet, but I agree with most of your points. If I hadn't been gifted the book, or hadn't had the slight desire to know how it would end, I may have DNFed it 😅..."
Exactly. You’re generous for the 3 stars. To me, this is the total opposite of good SFF. Mark Watney is the only character prototype Weir has and I’m tired of reading about him.
André wrote: "Sad but true and I am happy I am finally done with it. I also could not believe the ratings here overall so far but it looks like it is simply a book that does not resemble with me but with a lot o..."
Neither can I. I am beyond trying to understand the love for this book. The Martian? I get it. It was somewhat new and original. This one is a cheap caricature of the Martian and people still love it.
Sarah wrote: "Thank you for restoring my faith in Goodreads’ reviews. This book and the adoration shown for it are completely outside of my comprehension."
Still don't get it. None of it makes sense to me. The characters, plot, people's love for this book.
Usually people this pretentious get paid to write their reviews but your just miserable for free
Thanks for this review, Julie! I’m at 30% of the way through this book and finding it painful to get through, I’m glad I’m not alone in my thoughts!
enjoyed your take on it. the writing really wasn't good but i liked the plot enough, it was accesible sci-fi, and i loved the cheesy ending. it's not gonna win a pulitzer prize or a hugo award, but it has appeal to the masses. it would be better if weir just pitched a screenplay because this would sell in the movies.
Thanks for saving my time, I definitely won't be reading this one. I had doubts because of such high praise (the usual), but I tried reading Artemis a few years ago, which was, as you correctly described, a total non-book. I call this overly popular badly written science fiction noob-fi. There are bad SF writers, but man, I think the way he writes is just below bad.
YAS POP OFF I can’t agree more with all of this. How this is so highly rated is absolutely beyond my comprehension
I love this review so much! You said it was better than I could have. So. Much. Info. Dumping. And boring stuff. And no characterization. All the things.
You have restored my faith in humanity. At least one small part of humanity. I feel like Diogenes finding an honest person, or in this case, one with good taste.
I will only add one thing to your delightful review. As a scientist, I can say he is as bad with the science as he is with his preposterous characters.
I'm done at page 123, absolute dogshit hyped book.
What a great review!!
I wish I’d read it before wasting time trying to get into this heap of shite.
Thank you for reading this book to the end so I don't have to.
I’m about 3/4 of the way through the book and about to bail. I keep hoping it improves, but it never does. I completely agree with you review. I just don’t get how everyone seems to love this book and give it 5 stars. No depth or character development, it’s just flat out boring.
i’m half way through the book and while i completely agree with the part about the alien, i do enjoy the way the book is written. I’m into chemistry and biology and despite all the info dumbing, i like the fact that i’m able to understand the calculations, tools, and elements mentioned throughout the story.
It's a hard science fiction thriller. If you're not interested in the science you aren't going to like it, but that doesn't mean it is a bad book it means it isn't your genre.
okay thank you, because I'm like did we read the same book? The concept was awesome but I cannot stand his writing style. Cool if you enjoy it, no shade. But I found myself cringing too much to finish this one.
I agree with lots of your comments. How this has over 4.5 on Goodreads I've no idea.
I also struggled with this book and with the proportion of 4/5 ratings. There were elements I liked but the annoyances were very persistent and ran right through it.
Having the ultrateacher go from being not particularly musical to magically acquiring perfect pitch for mentally decoding alien words made of pairs of 5 note chords was especially painful. And yet it served the telling of the story so conveniently, yay!
His knowledge of science and technology was jarringly encyclopaedic too. For a microbiologist he sure had a solid handle on the maths required for plotting a course for his interstellar craft. Also as a self-confessed novice coder he cooked up some wacky sound processing software in an afternoon.
Equally clunky was the frequent excuse-making directed at the reader. "Oh, I know this because it's on the wall in my classroom and I absorbed it by ultrateacher osmosis". Considering he is teaching to kids in 8th grade in the US it is a bit of a stretch to understand where he picked up the relevant skills and knowledge. Unlikely that it was on his microbiology degree 20 years or so earlier.
In terms of plot holes it also seems surprising that the people of earth didn't put any significant effort into solving the problem at the venus end. Nope, much better to go for as-yet-untried near-speed-of-light travel to a distant star with a best case scenario of multiple decade turnaround times and billions dead. Then they sat on thir hands for 20 years and just hoped. While we're at it, we have loads of capacity and power on the ship, but let's only put 3 people on it. Never mind that it would only have taken a few months to make enough fuel to send a couple more. Nah, stick 5kg of vodka on there and let it rip. We've put a hasty Dutch lady in charge and we're doing what she says!
I just finished this book and I have to say I really enjoyed it. But I totally agree with you on many of the points you’ve made.
I loved the Martian, hated Artemis. My theory was that Andy Weir does not understand how humans interact with one another and all the interactions between characters end up being cringey. This theory still stands after reading Hail Mary. Human interactions are atrocious and I’m so glad he acknowledges this by killing all the other members of the crew. It’s awfully convenient for him, but I think it really worked well.
As for Ryland Grace being Mark Watney v.2. I don’t think it’s that really… both characters are actually Andy Weir himself. Have you read his posts or the acknowledgments on the books? Same personality. And you know what, it works. Bring on some more Andy Weir-like characters stranded in space and I will read about them. Just as long as he doesn’t decide to go back to writing female characters. Jazz Bashara was horrendous.
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It’s actually shocking how insufferable this book is
I like your review more than the book itself!
Myles wrote: "It’s actually shocking how insufferable this book is"Right? It took an immense amount of patience out of me not to dnf it.
Christine wrote: "I like your review more than the book itself!" Thanks lol 😂 btw what a gorgeous himb you got there. So pretty. 😍
Thank you for restoring my faith in Goodreads’ reviews. This book and the adoration shown for it are completely outside of my comprehension.
Thank you! Been scrolling and scrolling to find someone else who disliked this book. (DNF at 120 pages.) I’m not alone!!!
"Andy Weir would have us think she's a real human woman but I bet she's a robot and Andy Weir doesn't even know it." - Amazing, this is brutal lol. You are 100% correct, this book sucks.
I’m 45 pages in and the level of cringe and bad writing is… it’s at an all time high. I dunno If I can do this.
I actually gave it 3.5 stars for the think-along problem-solving, but I love your review. Everything you say is true. The story is based in hard science which causes a huge disconnect when the characters are incredibly unbelievable. If the whole setting were more absurd and fantastical to begin with it would have worked better. My suspense of disbelief was strong enough for the cartoony human characters but I just couldn't take that he had less trouble communicating with an alien than you would have with any foreign human on earth.
I liked the book but got a kick out of your review
Man, I feel you. I put down nearly the exact same thing (phrased a little differently) as my review, but yours was actually another level. 1000% agree.
Ugh! I am halfway through this book & cannot understand the good reviews. I love reading & science fiction. This book is so painful. I hope it doesn’t end up as a movie. Thanks for your review restoring my faith in humanity!
After reading your review I can see your point of view, but I loved this book! I actually read it, I think listening might have bored me to tears because of the technical science stuff that some I actually skimmed through or skipped. I haven’t read The Martian so I didn’t have that to compare.
I’m glad I read the book, even though I hated it, simply because it brought me to this gem of a review. This review right here is better than the entire book.
Thank you so much for writing out this review. It is incredibly therapeutic and makes me feel less crazy for having the same thoughts.
Sad but true and I am happy I am finally done with it. I also could not believe the ratings here overall so far but it looks like it is simply a book that does not resemble with me but with a lot of other people on a level I cannot grasp.
Your review is spot on! Such a waste of time to the point of painful. My first one star review. I wouldn’t have finished it, but for my “buddy read” partner, who feels the same way. Big mistake, huge….
I couldn’t even get through 200 pages of this. I felt my brain disintegrating. What a waste of time and hype.
Your review is spot on, I wrote one with more than a few similar points. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thought this book was terrible. The writing is what I can only describe as "cringe-y" at its best points and embarrassing at its worst!
Myles wrote: "It’s actually shocking how insufferable this book is"Yess couldn’t believe such a poorly written book is so hyped up
Keegan wrote: "Thank you so much for writing out this review. It is incredibly therapeutic and makes me feel less crazy for having the same thoughts."Glad to be of service. xD It’s also good for me to know I’m not the only one who’s not a fan.
Mary wrote: "Your review is spot on, I wrote one with more than a few similar points. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thought this book was terrible. The writing is what I can only describe as "cringe-y..."I read your review. I wanted to comment on it but I couldn’t because we’re not goodreads friends. It’s validating to know you also had problem with the suspension of belief in this book. And I never noticed before but you’re right about the protagonist resembling a man written by a clueless woman. He does sound like a clumsy, blushing female lead of a romance novel, doesn’t he? Now I keep imagining him as the heroine and Rocky as the hero of some space romance fantasy and I can’t stop laughing. xD
Grant wrote: "I couldn’t even get through 200 pages of this. I felt my brain disintegrating. What a waste of time and hype."You have to hate yourself enough to put yourself through reading it to the end. Lol. Still don’t understand how so many people love this book.
This book feels like the author likes masturbating to a physics book.
I haven't settled on the amount of stars yet, but I agree with most of your points. If I hadn't been gifted the book, or hadn't had the slight desire to know how it would end, I may have DNFed it 😅 It's such a different writing style from the SFF I'm used to, with fleshed-out and morally ambiguous characters, as well as thematically rich plots. Oh and show, don't tell, please!Weir probably just isn't for me.
Edit: rounding up to 3 stars.
idk who the hell are you, but your are so fucking wrong. IT'S SO AMAZING, YOU CAN'T SAY ALL THE THINGS YOU SAID
Andreas wrote: "This book feels like the author likes masturbating to a physics book."Yes your comment sums up everything I’m trying to say in this review. 😂
Ivan wrote: "I haven't settled on the amount of stars yet, but I agree with most of your points. If I hadn't been gifted the book, or hadn't had the slight desire to know how it would end, I may have DNFed it 😅..."Exactly. You’re generous for the 3 stars. To me, this is the total opposite of good SFF. Mark Watney is the only character prototype Weir has and I’m tired of reading about him.
André wrote: "Sad but true and I am happy I am finally done with it. I also could not believe the ratings here overall so far but it looks like it is simply a book that does not resemble with me but with a lot o..."Neither can I. I am beyond trying to understand the love for this book. The Martian? I get it. It was somewhat new and original. This one is a cheap caricature of the Martian and people still love it.
Sarah wrote: "Thank you for restoring my faith in Goodreads’ reviews. This book and the adoration shown for it are completely outside of my comprehension."Still don't get it. None of it makes sense to me. The characters, plot, people's love for this book.
Usually people this pretentious get paid to write their reviews but your just miserable for free
Thanks for this review, Julie! I’m at 30% of the way through this book and finding it painful to get through, I’m glad I’m not alone in my thoughts!
enjoyed your take on it. the writing really wasn't good but i liked the plot enough, it was accesible sci-fi, and i loved the cheesy ending. it's not gonna win a pulitzer prize or a hugo award, but it has appeal to the masses. it would be better if weir just pitched a screenplay because this would sell in the movies.
Thanks for saving my time, I definitely won't be reading this one. I had doubts because of such high praise (the usual), but I tried reading Artemis a few years ago, which was, as you correctly described, a total non-book. I call this overly popular badly written science fiction noob-fi. There are bad SF writers, but man, I think the way he writes is just below bad.
YAS POP OFF I can’t agree more with all of this. How this is so highly rated is absolutely beyond my comprehension
I love this review so much! You said it was better than I could have. So. Much. Info. Dumping. And boring stuff. And no characterization. All the things.
You have restored my faith in humanity. At least one small part of humanity. I feel like Diogenes finding an honest person, or in this case, one with good taste.I will only add one thing to your delightful review. As a scientist, I can say he is as bad with the science as he is with his preposterous characters.
I'm done at page 123, absolute dogshit hyped book.
What a great review!!I wish I’d read it before wasting time trying to get into this heap of shite.
Thank you for reading this book to the end so I don't have to.
I’m about 3/4 of the way through the book and about to bail. I keep hoping it improves, but it never does. I completely agree with you review. I just don’t get how everyone seems to love this book and give it 5 stars. No depth or character development, it’s just flat out boring.
i’m half way through the book and while i completely agree with the part about the alien, i do enjoy the way the book is written. I’m into chemistry and biology and despite all the info dumbing, i like the fact that i’m able to understand the calculations, tools, and elements mentioned throughout the story.
It's a hard science fiction thriller. If you're not interested in the science you aren't going to like it, but that doesn't mean it is a bad book it means it isn't your genre.
okay thank you, because I'm like did we read the same book? The concept was awesome but I cannot stand his writing style. Cool if you enjoy it, no shade. But I found myself cringing too much to finish this one.
I agree with lots of your comments. How this has over 4.5 on Goodreads I've no idea.
I also struggled with this book and with the proportion of 4/5 ratings. There were elements I liked but the annoyances were very persistent and ran right through it.Having the ultrateacher go from being not particularly musical to magically acquiring perfect pitch for mentally decoding alien words made of pairs of 5 note chords was especially painful. And yet it served the telling of the story so conveniently, yay!
His knowledge of science and technology was jarringly encyclopaedic too. For a microbiologist he sure had a solid handle on the maths required for plotting a course for his interstellar craft. Also as a self-confessed novice coder he cooked up some wacky sound processing software in an afternoon.
Equally clunky was the frequent excuse-making directed at the reader. "Oh, I know this because it's on the wall in my classroom and I absorbed it by ultrateacher osmosis". Considering he is teaching to kids in 8th grade in the US it is a bit of a stretch to understand where he picked up the relevant skills and knowledge. Unlikely that it was on his microbiology degree 20 years or so earlier.
In terms of plot holes it also seems surprising that the people of earth didn't put any significant effort into solving the problem at the venus end. Nope, much better to go for as-yet-untried near-speed-of-light travel to a distant star with a best case scenario of multiple decade turnaround times and billions dead. Then they sat on thir hands for 20 years and just hoped. While we're at it, we have loads of capacity and power on the ship, but let's only put 3 people on it. Never mind that it would only have taken a few months to make enough fuel to send a couple more. Nah, stick 5kg of vodka on there and let it rip. We've put a hasty Dutch lady in charge and we're doing what she says!
I just finished this book and I have to say I really enjoyed it. But I totally agree with you on many of the points you’ve made.I loved the Martian, hated Artemis. My theory was that Andy Weir does not understand how humans interact with one another and all the interactions between characters end up being cringey. This theory still stands after reading Hail Mary. Human interactions are atrocious and I’m so glad he acknowledges this by killing all the other members of the crew. It’s awfully convenient for him, but I think it really worked well.
As for Ryland Grace being Mark Watney v.2. I don’t think it’s that really… both characters are actually Andy Weir himself. Have you read his posts or the acknowledgments on the books? Same personality. And you know what, it works. Bring on some more Andy Weir-like characters stranded in space and I will read about them. Just as long as he doesn’t decide to go back to writing female characters. Jazz Bashara was horrendous.
Ikr! It was embarrassing.