Natasha Pulley has done it again, but even better than before. This book is easily her most complicated, most romantic, and funniest book yet. I blasted my way through it in less than 20 hours. My mind has been properly blown to bits, my soul has not returned to my body yet, and I feel a little high like now, like I'm floating in Martian gravity. You can say that it was a very immersive reading experience.

The story is a bit hard to describe. We first meet an English ballet dancer named January, who is about to perform in a performance as a principle when England sinks. Not having any other options, he immigrates to a colony on Mars called Tharsis. Only, the Tharses aren't that similar to Earthstrongers (humans from Earth), not physically, not culturally, not linguistically, not even technologically. And life sucks for January for a while, until the day he meets Senator Gale, whose political view January completely disagrees with, and ends up in a prison. But this is as bad for Gale's campaign for the upcoming election as it is for January's job prospect. So, Gale proposes an urgent solution where they will hire January to marry them and January would make them seem less like the executioner of all Earthstrongers. January agrees for the sake of survival.

But then, he finds himself in a reality show shooting, in a haunted, high-tech house, in a hotel with polar bears, in a wintry forest with mammoths, and in a middle of a super intricate political game, all while inevitably falling in love with a very smart and kind politician whose policy he still doesn't buy. So, you can see where my difficulty in talking about anything beyond the premise of the book comes from.

You can say this book is an enemies-to-lovers, marriage-of-convenience, queer romance story, and you'd be right. It's actually a very lovely romance, with some angst but also a lot of hurt/comfort. January is a capable and reasonable person, who simply wishes that everyone would think in a straight line and would trust him to not blackmail them should they tell him their secrets. His confusion and fear as he navigates Tharsis is very relatable. And you just can't help but root for him, because you understand that he's really just doing his best. Gale, on the other hand, is the love of my life, and that's all I'm going to talk about them, because, if I have to pick my number one favorite thing about my reading experience of this book, the answer would be the slow-burn process of uncover what Gale is like for myself and falling in love with them alongside January.

You can think of it as a science fiction, with all the details about how to make Mars habitable for humans, which involves a lot of physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, and statistics. But the worldbuilding of this story is immaculate, almost to the point of overwhelming, not because of the science, but the language, culture, and politics. The worldbuilding allows for discussion about international affairs, gender politics, racism, colonialism, and systematic welfare issues in a very refreshing way. It's nothing you haven't heard about before, but it's like seeing the roof of your own house from a bird-eye view for the first time and suddenly feeling your understanding of the world shift a few degrees beneath your feet.

By the way, this is not entirely a metaphor, though, as you sometimes get to see this very complicated world from the viewpoint of animals for real. If you've read Natasha Pulley's work before, you know that she is a master of writing animals, and they're such a delight in this book. Their little opinions are mostly in the footnotes, which are my favorite thing in this book, right after Gale.

You can also think of it as a horror-mystery fiction, surrounding the disappearance of Gale's previous lover, Gale's random episodes of sleep paralysis, the person that only the gigantic pet dog seems to see, and multiple attempt at both assassination and massacre that looks, from some angle, disturbingly like genocide. There are so many things going on that at times I couldn't quite keep track of what I know, but it was fascinating to see this very complex knot of intertwining plotlines gets entangled, gently, thread by thread, in the end. I can't begin to explain how Natasha Pulley does it. All I know is that she is truly a genius.

This book has such a promising start - loved the worldbuilding, adored the characters, fell head over heels for the setup - but the plot got SO unnecessarily complex, in my opinion, and so the whole second half fell apart for me. I would still recommend it, but with caveats.

I’ve really enjoyed every book Natasha Pulley has written, and I was delighted to find that this one was no exception. The worldbuilding was so rich and thoughtful, and the writing was exquisite as always. Pulley is so good at writing characters who are morally complex, which seems harder and harder for people to do well—but she conveys so much nuance and treats her characters with so much care. I find her protagonists to be very grounding, and January was a perfect baseline from which to understand an entirely new world. I’m excited to read this again and again!

Natasha Pulley's "The Mars House" is a remarkable and compelling queer science fiction novel that ventures into uncharted territories. This gripping story unfolds on the terraformed colony of Tharsis on Mars, in the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe, and it explores themes of privilege, class, and the complexities of love in the face of adversity.

The novel introduces us to January, a once-prominent dancer from London's Royal Ballet who is now an Earthstronger, a person unadjusted to the lower gravity on Mars. Pulley skillfully navigates January's life, highlighting how his status as an Earthstronger restricts his choices, freedom, and rights. When a xenophobic politician, Aubrey Gale, proposes a new policy that threatens Earthstrongers even further, January's life takes a sudden twist.

The book masterfully examines the consequences of their chance encounter when Gale selects January for an impromptu press interview. What unfolds is a marriage of convenience that is both a political strategy for Gale and a lifeline for January. The dynamic between them is complicated, nuanced, and emotionally rich. Pulley delves into the depths of their relationship, revealing layers of vulnerability and humanity in both characters. Their romance develops against a backdrop of deteriorating political conditions and impending danger, making it all the more compelling.

Pulley's storytelling prowess shines as she paints a vivid picture of life on Mars, a society divided by privilege and inequality, reminiscent of our world's own struggles. The immersive world-building and the exploration of social issues make this book deeply thought-provoking and relevant.

"The Mars House" is a timely and powerful read, offering an engaging narrative that keeps you turning the pages and unforgettable characters that resonate with the complexity of real-life individuals. It's a story that challenges preconceived notions and prejudices while delivering a captivating narrative. Fans of thought-provoking science fiction and those who appreciate explorations of love and social justice will find this book unmissable.

This is Pulley's first step into sci-fi, and what she has created here is a wonderfully interesting and complex setting that is absolutely sci-fi while still retaining her special brand whimsical fantasy. In this far (or perhaps not too far) future, Earth is being destroyed by environmental and political disasters. After London completely floods, mc January, a former principal in the Royal Ballet, is forced to immigrate to the Mars colony as a refugee. There, society is strictly separated between those naturally born on Mars and Earthstrongers, who, given they grew up in a heartier environment with stronger gravity, have so much strength compared to the Naturals that they could accidentally kill someone. Jan finds himself factory work and soon crosses paths with Gale, a senator up for election that is completely against having Earthstrongers on Mars. The two manage to completely ruin each others reputations, which they then try to solve by getting fake married and letting social media film their lives. Meanwhile, there's actual political intrigue going on and the duo will need to team up to save the last colony on Mars. This was a fantastic story, I loved the characters, Jan was a lovely mc and Gale showed a lot of character growth that I wasn't really expecting. The setting was wonderful, parts logical and parts wild (MAMMOTHS ON MARS?!), but my favorite part were the footnotes. Pulley uses the footnotes to add commentary and worldbuilding (and at one point a very important hook for a plot twist that I completely missed) which fleshes out the world while also adding some great flavor text to some of the characters' inner thoughts. This was a satisfying standalone, but i'd also love to see it get a sequel like Pepperharrow that builds on the seeds of a larger plot that have been planted.