The book is not for everyone, but science and engineering nerds would surely enjoy it. It tells the story of a botanist Mark Watney being stranded on mars and his journey to escape (or not :) the planet. He is doing all the weird crazy science and duct tape engineering to make his escape possible, fighting the odds of uncertainty on his way home.
The book’s science seems to be error-less for a casual sci-fi lover. Engineering and stage setup for the books’s action seems to be organized in such a way, the the action hero was supplied by all the necessary resources to make his escape only. There is a series of events which would almost kill Mark, bit now. And yes, there is always a workaround possible with only few resources brought to Mars with him. There are about 7 of them and I stopped trusting real-life positive outcome on about 3rd. Real-life entropy is much more unexpected and deadly. Mark had more odds to die from diarrhea than surviving all the mayhem he’s being through.
Reading science and engineering is mostly joy. Although he ratio of science/action book’s content is about 90/10 which makes it boring at times. You wish to move action forward while being stuck with some crafting scenario.
If you like to know how to escape Mars with Duct tape and disco music, the book is for you.