I liked this a lot more than I would expect to like a book whose basic plot arc derives its tension from an unexpected pregnancy, and whose message seems to be 'babies fix all things because family'. It was funny and good-hearted, with lots of lovely bits of wit. The nutty unofficial handbook about life on Mars, with the tiny throwaway comment about manuals that reveals that no one takes it seriously; the snippets of detail about how the reality show viewers are reacting to the various events on Mars; the rather chilling commentary of the watching aliens--there were a lot of moving parts to this book, and they all worked very well.

-.5 for one utterly bizarre comment about how carrying a pregnancy to term on Mars, where no one knows how the radiation and gravity will affect fetal development or maternal health, and pregnancy is utterly banned (to the extent that SEX is 'banned' (hah) but the med stock includes plenty of pregnancy tests), is still  'it's safer than the alternative'. WTF kind of doctor thinks a high risk pregnancy caught early is safer than any termination? That kind of bullshit is what contributed to the loss of Roe. But I think it's a writing-related lapse, not any kind of anti-choice sentiment. At least, I hope it isn't. Pro-choice includes choice to continue a pregnancy, after all. (Jeez, now I'm second-guessing my evaluation of the author's politics. Don't go down this rabbit hole. The book was very good. I liked it a lot.)