4 stars. I really liked that book! I was hesitant because it looked like it may be hard to understand all the scientific stuff. But, surprisingly it wasn't. The author did a good job at breaking everything down so it wasn't too confusing and I found it easy to follow along. 
 For those who don't know what this story is about. What happens is that 6 astronauts are sent to Mars on a mission called Ares 3. The group has to leave early because of a bad sand storm, but in all the chaos, one of the astronauts-Mark-gets "killed"and left behind on Mars. Mark didn't actually die, and now he's stuck on Mars in a shuttle thats meant to last only 30 days with no way of contacting earth. Yup he's in quite a bit of trouble. 
 at least: 
 I was the very lowest ranked member of the crew. I would only be "in command" if I were the only remaining person." 
 What do you know? I'm in command 
 Mark, despite being trapped on Mars and in a hopeless situation (and probably going to die) surprising keeps a sense of humour throughout the book. Which I'm thankful for because the humour is the best thing about the book in my opinion. 
 He's stuck out there. He thinks he's totally alone and that we all gave up on him. What kind of effect does that have on a man's psychology?" He turned back to Venkat. "I wonder what he's thinking right now." 
 LOG ENTRY: SOL 61 How come Aquaman can control whales? They're mammals! Makes no sense. 
 and: 
 I can't wait till I have grandchildren. When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars! 
 This book was written-when from Marks POV-in Log Entries. I really liked this about the book and I feel like it added something for me, these Log Entries were also probably the reason he didn't go crazy (just saying) because I'm sure most people would after being on Mars for more than a year. He-for the most part-stayed positive and thought intelligently about how he was going to get out of this mess instead of curling up into a ball until he died of starvation. Which I strongly admired. 
 I found this story very interesting because I don't usually read stuff like this. When I read sic-fi it's more about aliens and has fantasy in it too. So I found this one so different and I enjoyed it so much. I feel like you grow a strong conection to the main character and genuinely worry wether he's going to make it. 
 At the end of the book I really liked the last paragraph or so, so I'm going to share it with you (don't worry not a spoiler): 
 The cost for my survival must have been hundreds of millions of dollars. All to save a botanist. Why bother?Well, okay. I know the answer to that. Part of it might be what I represent:progress,science, and the interplanetary future we've dreamed of for centuries. But really, they did it because every human being has the basic instinct to help each other out. It might not seem that way sometimes but it's true.If a hicker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. if a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massivvely outnumbered by the people who do. And because of that, I had billions of people on my side 
 so now you know Mark survived but its a book of course he was going to survive anyways. id be a pretty shitty book if it was just about an astronaut dying in space. 
 I think this is going to translate into an amazing movie! so I am so excited for that!