And I absolutely loved it. It is honestly one of my new favorite books. I am going to tag basically this whole post as spoilers because the thing that truly makes this book amazing does not start until almost 100 pages in.
SPOILERS
FOR THOSE ON APPS THAT CAN’T HANDLE THEM
SPOILERS
spoiler
I love stories about friendship and the friendship between Grace and Rocky was truly beautiful. They are both lost and confused and in a horrible situation but they both take everything in stride. They see a way to help eachother and to not have to do it alone and they grab onto it with both (all five) hands. The way they both accept the other’s habits knowing there are things that are fundamentally different between each other is a lesson for everyone.
The growth we see from Grace is also some of the best I’ve read. We learn later that he chose the self-centered path by refusing to join the Hail Mary crew on his own. Then, when faced with a very similar choice he chooses to save Rocky and his people instead of himself. I honestly cried.
Not only are our two main characters amazing but they are FUNNY! I laughed out loud so many times!
Overall I cant wait to re-read this one a bit down the line.
END SPOILERS
So, have you read this one? What did you think?
Thoughts about Grace’s sacrifical acts:
spoiler
I think there’s a big difference between sacrificing yourself for unknown others, when someone else could potentially do it (or you can convince yourself of that) and knowing that someone you know and care about personally WILL DIE, and NO ONE else can do anything about it.
Grace was always a good person, it’s the personal stakes that changed.
spoiler
Oh I definitely agree the Grace is a good person the whole time. He works so hard on this project mostly because of his kids. He wants them to have a future.
But going on the Hail Mary was the way to save the kids. He tried to say someone else could do it but conceded when Scott pointed out how bullshit that was. And when push came to shove he said “Okay, it’s true! I’m afraid! I don’t want to die! I worked my ass off on this project and I deserve to live!” (Pg 392)
But even though he worked his ass off to save earth and to find a solution, he decided that Rocky deserves to live, not him.
So I agree with your overall point, but I think Grace changed a lot too.