This book is fucking hilarious at times and extremely sad at others, but most of all very easy to consume. Loved Will Wheaton as a narrator. 

Perfect for teenage boys:
Male mc ✅️
Comedy (mostly crude humor) ✅️
Very little "kissy stuff" ✅️
Adventure ✅️
Good message ✅️

This book was way more interesting than I thought it would be. I seriously loved it. There is a lot of science talk that I don’t understand and it doesn’t explain it all, but it didn’t hinder the experience. I really enjoyed the sass ones of the main character, Mark Watney. He is such a punk and I love those types of characters. 

i don’t quite understand the point of the format. it’s mostly told through Watney’s own typed logs, but there’s also voice log transcripts and a third person omniscient narrator detailing rescue attempts back on Earth and foreshadowing disasters on Mars. just a bit convoluted.
tbh some of the heavy science stuff was boring and confusing, which is why i looked forward to Earth scenes so much. i liked the science details in Project Hail Mary better, there it felt less nebulous (lol). however i much prefer Mark Watney over Project Hail Mary’s Ryland Grace: The Martian’s narrator is not just tolerable but actually likable and funny. Andy i appreciate the effort to flesh out the minor characters back on Earth, but having a habit of “squaring papers” is not a personality trait. overall, I think Project Hail Mary had the better story while The Martian was superior on the more delicate aspects of characters and themes.