Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir,is a five-star book. You should read it!

Caroline Breslav ‘26

Project Hail Mary is a science fiction book about a man named Ryland Grace who is the sole survivor of a last-chance mission to save the fate of humanity – only, he doesn't know it at the beginning. Grace wakes up alone in a mysterious white room with two corpses next to him and has to figure out where he is and why he is there in the first place. The book switches between the past and present situation, revealing the mystery of what Ryland is doing in this room in the first place. I don't want to spoil the book – but, along the way, a heartwarming cross-species friendship is formed. You might have heard the name Andy Weir before since he is the author of The Martian, a book that turned into a multimillion-dollar movie starring Matt Damon. The Martian is another of my favorite books: it is funny, thrilling, and it contains some serious science. The reader follows Mark Watney’s –  the main character –  thought process as he solves problems to get back home to Earth. One criticism of  The Martian is its lack of feeling: some think it is too light-hearted, and the main character Mark Watney shows little to no emotion when he is the only person on a planet and might never see his friends or family again. However, the less well-known Project Hail Mary has all the funny, intriguing, and ‘sciencey’ parts of The Martian while also having the emotional and heartwarming parts that The Martian lacks. I am not a fan of re-reading books, and I don't give out five-star reviews frequently (last year out of the 70 books I read I gave 9 five-star reviews: around 13%) but Project Hail Mary deserves every single star, and I would re-read it in a heartbeat. You will laugh, learn, and you most definitely will cry a lot. Andy Weir can combine comedy science and heartwarming friendship all in one book for you to enjoy.