I read this after seeing the movie, which didn't spoil it at all due to some major differences. Like they say--"the book is always better."

This is another case of this. It's well written and fascinating--the science (to a relative novice) really piqued my interest and sparked my imagination. The first person POV of the diary-like log style really sets a great tone and really just pulls the reader into Watney's head and endears him. It is that first-person closeness that makes this book the most impactful for me. The third person sections with the NASA, JPL, and Ares personnel really kind of fell into the background in my reading. I was, however, fully invested in Watney's experience which was the focus of the piece.

I will say that for this novel, the ending for me, while incredibly satisfying in terms of resolution, fell flat because of the perspective switch into third-person. As a reader and a writer, I know it had be in third-limited in order to logically be able to capture all of the events that happened in the conclusion of the novel, but it did make me feel like I was more on the outside of things since I was no longer in Mark Watney's head.