Not sure why I continue to read Andy Weir books when I’m not all that interested in the hard science behind his sci-fi (particularly when it concerns chemistry: air pressure and chemical combinations bring me right back to a nightmare Intro class), but here we are. Jazz really reads more like a late-teens/very-early-twenties protagonist (rather than her alleged twenty-six years), but it doesn’t really come up often so it’s a minor issue. The plot was alright, not super compelling or suspenseful but interesting enough; the setting was well-developed.

What annoys me is the constant sexual innuendos, the underdeveloped-but-overpresent romantic entanglements (her past doesn’t have much bearing on the present but comes up every few pages; her ultimate romantic status only makes sense under heteronormative assumptions that she’ll just end up with the closest heterosexual — or attracted-to-women, but bisexual men are rare in literature, and pansexuals all but nonexistent — single man who isn’t a relative), the constant reminders that she has “a lot of” sex (yet doesn’t hook up with a single person during the book). For such a minor aspect of the narrative, it sure takes up a lot of space on the pages.