Girlfriend on Mars looked like a fun, quirky space-related romcom based on the cover and blurb but it is actually more of a deep dive into toxic relationships and unsatisfying lives – well-written but quite depressing in tone and content.

The story is told from the current points of view of both Amber and Kevin, as she prepares for a one-way trip to Mars and he tries to deal with her maybe-departure, and then backfills their relationship history through their musings. And most of their relationship history seems to be based on cheating, drugs, familiarity and their respective existential crises about the point of life, love and climate change.

Both main characters are quite vacuous and self-absorbed in their own ways, with the main difference being that Amber is driven and Kevin is immobile. Both are trapped in lives and relationships that they’re not sure they want, because they don’t really know what they want and then don’t want it when they get it.

I kept expecting a humorous twist, like that the Mars mission would turn out to be a hoax on the part of the reality TV show, but no… instead things just get darker and more miserable for the characters, as they deal with it by running/hiding to get high (on Mars and drugs respectively).

There is a glimmer of hope for one of the characters in the ending, as they manage to finally break free from their stasis and take a few steps towards a slightly brighter future, but I would have to sum this up as being well-written but one of the most depressing, nihilistic books I’ve ever read.

Totally unique. This novel was not what I expected, but then I’m not sure what I did expect. It was funny, crazy, full of thoughts, and we’ll put together.

I really wanted to like this book, but the plot was a bit messy and the characters were not likeable. Kevin does nothing, literally. Amber is so self centred that you really don't mind if she survived or not. The best character was Pichu. The story goes from the apartment that Kevin never leaves, so you do understand why Amber was desperate to get out. Then the reality show for the Mars selection, then the journey to Mars, finishing on Mars. Could have been better

This was a bit too light for my liking. I expected more science fiction but in turned out to be a romance novel of sorts. It´s about 35-year old Amber who participates in a reality show to go to Mars and – to the despair of her boyfriend Kevin – never come back. Both start cheating on each other.

There are sentences like:
´But Amber´s real zero-gravity moment happens later, after the shoot is done, when she meets Adam on the dorm´s roof.´

I also found the characters unbelievable – they are at once incredibly superficial but at the same time we are to believe they have incredible qualities (literary, science, sports, everything essentially).

2,5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

From the blurb I was expecting this to be a bit more of a romp, but it's actually a surprisingly contemplative novel about relationships, mental health, the pursuit of fame at all costs, and misplaced dissatisfaction. While I didn't completely get on with the style of prose, the narrative did draw me in and the characters were interesting. The concept is bizarre but Willis does make it work.

Loved the premise of this and the characters...a reality TV show selecting completely the wrong people to set up life on Mars!
The lead characters are well fleshed out and thoroughly believable in their situations (restless Amber- seeking her life meaning and chilled out Kev- seeking his next joint) and the supporting cast are well enough described to give you a flavour of each personality without wasting pages on backstory and description.
As a result the story flows incredibly well although I remained convinced to the last minute that they were being set up and would not truly ever take off for Mars and yet they do!
A great read.

Amber is going to Mars - or at least she's been selected to be a part of the final group of contestants in a show that the winners are set to jet off to Mars and begin a new human colony in outer space. Amber's boyfriend Kevin is left behind in their apartment, with all their stuff and the pot plants they meticulously cared for, watching his girlfriend fight for her chance to leave him and everyone else on Earth behind.

This was a fun, light-hearted novel with some serious themes around climate change and remembering that while Mars exploration is a dream many have, in reality we only have one planet and we need to care for it better.

I enjoyed Amber's time on the show and all the over the top challenges she had to compete in to seemingly make living on Mars easier for them - when it turned out that those who would go to Mars would always be criminally underprepared as they weren't actually trained NASA astronauts. I loved the caricature of Geoff Task - the billionaire businessman who was behind the MarsNow project and it wasn't too hard to think about who he could be based on.

Kevin's POV was a real shift and 'other side of the coin' to Amber - where Amber was driven and focused on her goal to get to Mars, Kevin was pretty listless and while a nice guy, his lack of drive or goals was a real turn off and you couldn't always blame Amber for so happily leaving Kev behind. His chapters got a bit frustrating after a while as he just wasn't doing anything to help his situation - I of course wanted him to do a Nick Carraway and write the great Canadian novel as he mused about in his chapters but it never happened.

Near the end of the book, I thought the story dragged on a bit (and got mildly depressing truth be told). I loved the concept of this book (and love the cover), I think it just meandered a bit too much at times and the pacing could have been better. I did enjoy it though!

Great premise and I especially enjoyed the contradictions in Amber's character - between her drive and her slacker lifestyle, her abandonment of religion and her strong political convictions. I did lose interest in the middle though. It felt very samey, with not enough character or story development and the targets of the satire - megalomaniac billionaires, reality TV etc felt predictable.

The end was thought-provoking, though and not the typical rom-com denouement!
*
Copy from NetGalley

I thought the concept of this sounded so interesting, but unfortunately I didn’t find the writing style gripping at all, and I found it quite arduous to get through.

It is an interesting premise for a story - girlfriend decides to go on a gameshow to win a one-way ticket to Mars, boyfriend is understandable confused, how will it all play out?

Well in some parts I really enjoyed the ride - I liked the game show build up, the morally vacuous producers manipulating the contestants. There are elements in the background which are a bit close for comfort - the idea that some tech bro is funding it all because he knows the planet is doomed but needs someone to test it out first.

I did end up feeling sorry for the boyfriend, discovering that his mother was agoraphobic made his reaction to Amber going on the gameshow make sense.

My only niggle is that it was a little bit flabby around the second third, and then it seemed rushed in the final section. But it is a niggle and on the whole it was an interesting and enjoyable read.

Girlfriend on Mars, on the surface of it, appears to be a light-hearted story of a reality TV show where two of the winners are sent on a no-return mission to Mars.
However, it's a lot more than that. Because beneath the quirky (and at times, quite brilliant) writing, are other, deeper, stories. The agoraphobic boyfriend with his own tragic past. The manipulative Elon Musk-esque instigator of the mission and his wealth. The reasons behind exploring the possibility and practicality of life on Mars: irreversible climate-change, food insecurity, the need to create more technology to fix the things that technology has broken, etc. etc.
This novel reached down and exposed the flaws at individual and societal levels within a remarkable examination of a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship going wrong.
Almost like Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go', it's a very well-written story capturing the voice of today and everything that is wrong with the world - a haunting piece that will stay with me for some time.
I will certainly look out for more from Deborah Willis.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and give my honest review.

Imagine a Reality, TV show where there, is a competition where the winners get to go to Mars and never come back and you get the basis of this amusing, l quirky novel.
Sometimes you just need a light-hearted fun,read and this book definitely hit this on the head.
Whilst the storyline,initially appears, quite superficial and lighthearted, the more you read on the more you realise the subtlety of what’s going on in the storyline.
Whilst his girlfriend is preparing to be confined for the rest of her life to a spaceship or a small Mars colony, her boyfriend finds that he is voluntarily becoming locked in at his home . His abandonment feels quite poignant he’s clearly in love with his girlfriend and finding her abandonment deeply difficult to cope with.
I suppose ultimately the novel looks at how much space a relationship needs
The novel is an easy fast paced, read the author has a prose style that is very enjoyable to read. I enjoyed the way. He developed the characters particular the character of the boyfriend who really did feel like a real person
I read an copy of the novel on NetGalley, UK the book is published on the 6th of July 2023 serpents tail/ Viper /Profile books
This review will appear on Goodreads NetGalley, UK, and my book, blog, bionic Sarahsbooks.wordpress.co

“We sat on this couch and made a decision. We were, I believed, committed to going nowhere. Going nowhere together.”

In theory, the concept for this novel seemed nuts if intriguing. But, as the story progressed, it seemed less crazy than it might! Ultimately it was about a relationship in a rut, and a couple who struggle to communicate, with an intergalactic subplot that differentiates this book from others of its ilk.

Some chapters told in the first person and then others told in the third person made for an initially confusing reading experience. But I soon found my rhythm and enjoyed the differing perspectives.

I could have done without quite so much of the climate crisis moralising but also understand that it is part of Amber’s character and apparently a motivating factor behind the whole mission to Mars. I don’t think the weed subplot added anything except for unnecessary length.

I enjoyed the insight into reality tv, and the parodying of the Bezos/Musk type billionaire. The book didn’t shy away from backstory, giving us more than a glimpse of Amber and Kevin’s backgrounds, upbringing, dysfunctional relationships with parents…it provided a well rounded view of complex characters, and sensitively handled difficult topics like religion, and mental health.

I was really invested in the outcome and needed to know how it ended, but it just too long to get there. I reckon a hundred pages could have been cut and it would only benefit the book. Still, it made for an engaging read and I’ll be keeping an eye out for what the author does next.

Nice bit of existential dread to inhale while on my holidays! Girlfriend on Mars’ protagonist Kevin’s long-time girlfriend Amber has taken the decision to compete in a reality TV series in order to be one for the first two people to inhabit Mars, without the option for return. Kevin is left confused as to the state of their relationship as he watches her progress along with the rest of the nation and tends to their illegal home-grown weed operation. This novel goes surprisingly deep, tackling topics like human connection and the climate crisis. I love a book that bums me out and gives me hope simultaneously.

#bookreview #dystopia #girlfriendonmars #fiction #bookstagram

I like the premise of this book - a reality show, with the two winners going to Mars. The down side is they won't be able to come back as the change of gravity will mean their bones would turn to dust if there was even the technology to bring them back. So far, so good. Unfortunately, none of the characters were likeable, and I wished they'd all been sent to Mars and left there! Not for me.

Great writing and interesting premise, just didn't click with me. But I'd still recommend giving it a try if you're interested.

Engaging writing and interesting characters, particularly Amber, who I loved. I love the concept of a reality show to pick Mars colonisers too. But I had to stop reading early on because it was too upsetting to get so much detail about climate change. I could tell it was going to trigger me into a depressive episode, so I stopped. Climate change is reality, yes, but not one I want to submerge myself in when I'm trying to lose myself in a story.

Given I didn't finish it, I don't feel confident in giving it a star rating, but since Netgalley insists, I'll give it four so as not to bring the overall rating down. My choice to stop reading was personal, not based on the book itself, which seems to be very good.

I was curious to read "Girlfriend on Mars" by Deborah Willis. It was just as I imagined it, an amusing unusual read, linking the current trend of reality tv competition shows with the premise of living on Mars. A light but enjoyable read.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from Girlfriend on Mars but what I got was not it. The premise is that perpetually stoned Kevin is content going nowhere in Vancouver when Amber, his girlfriend of fourteen years – and partner in their hydro-ponic weed business – suddenly announces that she is moving to Mars. Or at least, that’s the plan if she can just get through the next few rounds of the MarsNow reality television programme. Twenty-four contestants from across the world battle it out through ever more complex and challenging tasks. The prize up for grabs are two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars, all funded by billionaire Geoff Task. Sometimes girls really want space.

The tag line on the cover states, ‘What if the person you loved was on another planet?’ I was expecting more of a pastiche of reality television and internet celebrity. I remember the ‘Mars One Ventures’ hullaballoo from a few years ago. The people who claimed to be excited at the prospect of a one-way ticket to a barren and inhospitable planet. It always baffled me. It is clearly this project which has inspired Willis, along with the fact that billionaire space tourism has been creeping back into the news in recent years. But Girlfriend on Mars is not so much about who will be the first to walk on the red planet as much as it is about the depressing state of the blue and green one that we are on now. We can all imagine why people might want off.

Amber Kivenen grew up an evangelist and lost faith, was a teenage gymnastics champion who missed out on the Olympics due to an injury and is now stuck in a dead-end receptionist job. She is in her thirties and seeking meaning. Filled with anxiety over climate change and global warming, she wants to make a difference. Aghast at the state of the planet, she wants to believe that the MarsNow programme can offer salvation. That they can build a new utopia, an Eden on another world. Kevin cannot believe that she has become so naive. But he also cannot bring himself to leave the apartment so it is easy for her to ignore him.

Amber wants ‘more’. Does this mean children? Or greater intellectual stimulation? Or does it just mean that she has had enough of her sweet but chronically unemployed and unmotivated slacker of a boyfriend? On the show, Amber meets former Israeli soldier Adam and they are manoeuvred into a ‘will-they-won’t-they’ narrative to increase ‘likes’ and views. The question hovers – what is real? Is it the imperfect Kevin’s devotion and loyalty? Or is it this almost unknown man who seems to share her goals? Is the connection real or is she just seeking novelty? Does MarsNow represent adventure or a suicide mission she will forever regret?

Girlfriend on Mars is possibly the ultimate read for jaded millennials. Like Amber, I am in my thirties and disillusioned with the political system that governs my country, with the mass media corporations that filter our information and manage our reactions and opinions. As the (vaguely estranged but no hard feelings) daughter of an environmentalist, I am frightened about what state the world will be in when my children grow up. And yet I still desperately hope that things will get better.

Willis makes much of how Kevin and Amber have both given up on the dreams that they had when they met at seventeen. Kevin is not the successful script-writer that he had once hoped to be. Amber is no longer either Christian or a potential Olympian. When I look at my peers and contemporaries, so many of us have compromised on earlier ambitions. Illnesses, injuries, the harsh job market … and of course, those of us who have had children are all up against the imbalance of combining work and parenthood. Back in the day, it felt like the sky was the limit and that is no longer true. But I can understand how something like MarsNow could return that feeling.

But Girlfriend on Mars is not an uplifting read. Willis is running a tricky tightrope between social satire and some kind of moral allegory. By participating in MarsNow, Amber is allying herself with that which she despises. The motivation behind MarsNow is not altruism. Billionaires are never setting out to save the planet.

View Spoiler »
It is tempting to dismiss this novel as something that started off depressing (two people with wasted potential getting stoned on a couch), became more depressing (heartbroken Kevin desperately hoping that Amber will return to him) and then ended with everyone miserable. But Willis does leave us with splinters of hope. Humanity thrives on connection. Amber’s truest connection is the friendship she finds with Pichu, a Canadian fellow contestant. Despite everything, Kevin never stops loving Amber. And far away on Mars, the settlers find themselves desperately longing for their fellow humans, drawn more to the artefacts from failed missions than they are to the scientific discoveries that they hoped to find.

If there is any message to be found from Girlfriend on Mars, it is that there is no true Planet B. We are stuck with the one we have and leaving will not solve our problems. We are better off trying to work with what we have and who we have close by us.

This is one of those books which sits with the reader afterwards. My initial response was to flinch away as if I had caught my hand on a hot oven but gradually I have come to understand its message. It is easy to look at the world around and think that as one person we cannot save it. But there is work to be done and we have to hold on tight to what will keep us connected to the planet that we are on.

I liked the premise of the book as there were elements that intrigued me, satire mixed with romance and science fiction. However, I think the novel will be suited to a younger audience who may relate more to the characters and some of the scenarios.