The first half of this book was a solid 2 stars, and the second half was a sold 4 stars, so I've settled on 3.

I went into this expecting it to be the Martian. It is not the Martian. That would be fine, but Weir spends a lot of time also expecting this book to be the Martian. We are both wrong. The first half stumbles; he tries to make Jazz as self-sufficient as Mark Watney, but there are too many people involved in this small town on the moon to make it work. Her humor is too crass for a girl growing up Muslim in a small Saudi community, even if it is on the moon in the future. She is not a very believable female character, but she seems like she will be fun, so I stuck around.

At about 60% the actual plot begins, and this is where Weir's writing shines. We start to bounce along at a furious pace as Jazz and her Scooby gang build a plan to stop the moon from becoming just another cartel-run city. The stakes are high and keep getting high, as Weir is wont to do, and it's thrilling. I loved the ending.