There is nothing wrong with the general concept of this book but the way it is written is just so bad. The tone is absolutely awful. I wanted to like Jazz but I just couldn’t, Weir wrote her too badly. Her condescending tone towards the reader is so unnecessary and just plain annoying. The part where she’s like “you can stop pretending you know what a niqab is, I’ll explain it to you” (paraphrased) to the reader is a great example of this and it really threw me off, because even if I didn’t know what a niqab is there was no need for her to talk like that. Why would I want to continue reading a story told to me by someone who thinks I’m an idiot? I honestly only did because I’m stubborn and wanted to count the book towards my yearly reading goal.

There were so many comments on Jazz being a slut which also felt really unnecessary because they didn’t do anything for the plot? Weir could’ve easily just left all of that out. I don’t mind female characters who are bitter, sarcastic, or have a lot of sex, but it just did not work here. Jazz was not a good character. If this is your best shot at writing a woman then maybe you just shouldn’t. Also what was the deal with the reusable condom sub-plot. It didn’t lead anywhere? Was that just to further proof that Jazz was considered a slut for having sex? WHAT WAS THE POINT?

It’s been a while since I read The Martian so I can’t tell if this is just Weir’s writing style or if this book is just particularly bad but I do not like it. I liked The Martian when I read it many years ago so if it is similar then I guess I outgrew this style of writing.

The heist/sabotage never really intrigued me, which I think it could’ve done in a different circumstance. Again, there was nothing wrong with the concept of the book. But it was simply not interesting enough as it was. AND THERE WAS SO MUCH FOCUS ON THE WELDING. I DON’T CARE HOW WELDING WORKS. YOU DON’T NEED TO EXPLAIN IT IN DETAIL. MOVE ON. JESUS