Project Hail Mary

 Author: Andy Weir 

One-sentence summary:  A high school science teacher wakes up on a spaceship in different galaxy on a mission to save Earth with a companion he didn’t even know existed. 

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating:  8 

Our favorite thing about it:  Unique, interesting, and engaging story. 

Our least favorite thing about it:  Cheesy ending and Rocky being very conveniently good at everything that Ryland wasn’t. 

Main Topics of Discussion: Aliens, Space, Sci-Fi, Science, plot 

Our favorite quote:  “I've gone from "sole-surviving space explorer" to "guy with a wacky new roommate." It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.” 

Notes:  We all really enjoyed reading or listening to this book. The listeners said they really enjoyed the portrayal of Rocky and felt like the book was probably much better by audio than just reading. This was a unique story with unique problems presented in the plot and that was one of our favorite things about the book. The author managed to infuse enough science without overdoing it (although some of us still skimmed sciency parts). We were slightly divided on the ending for Grace, though – most of us liked it and thought it fitting. Some of us thought it was way too cheesy. We all liked the relationship between Rocky and Grace. Their back and forth was a highlight of the book. The humor from beginning to end is a trademark of Weir’s and we all enjoyed it. We liked that the story didn’t take too dark of a turn despite the fact that this was a suicide earth-saving mission. It felt light. Some parts were a little too convenient and predictable, but overall, we liked this book. 

Memorable Meeting Moments:  It was Christina’s birthday month 

What We Ate:  A Mediterranean Feast! Hummus, Tzatziki, cucumber and pita. Greek salad, shrimp, lamb with couscous and zucchini/yellow squash. And a flourless lemon glazed cake with dairy free ice cream.