This is a creative and thought-provoking novel about the nature of the human condition. As a result of an awkward interaction that Gilda, the main character, does not want to correct, she ends up working at a job that requires her to hide core aspects of her identity. At the same time, she is dealing with difficult issues with her family, her romantic relationships, and simply navigating day-to-day life. Through Gilda's experience navigating these challenges, the author explores interesting issues around identity, family, work, and the nature of human relationships.

This is a different read, but a very interesting one. Recommended!

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin is another upcoming short novel where the premise immediately captured my interest and imagination and the story and writing completely delivered. Riding the line between hilarious and heartbreaking in its portrayal of severe anxiety and depression, the narrator is always brutally honest in a way that promises to resonate with many readers, whether they want it to or not.

Gilda is well aware that she has issues with anxiety being at the top of the list. Having gone to the ER several times for what she’s pretty sure are panic attacks, she doesn’t seem to find much luck getting help on the treatment front. Given that her parents would rather pretend both she and her younger brother have no issues beyond being lazy and directionless, when a flyer handed to her on the bus suggests there might be help available for free, Gilda actually finds the will to seek help. What she finds does help her in one way – she finds herself employed again – but she also winds up lying about a lot of who she is. The position is as an administrative assistant for a Catholic church and, far from being Catholic herself, Gilda is both an atheist and a lesbian. Still, she doesn’t want to disappoint the elderly priest who has been kind to her and desperately needs a replacement for the receptionist who’d very recently died. Gilda begins living more of a double life than she already felt like she was, trying to make everyone around her happy even since she figures someone deserves to be – she isn’t sure what she deserves and doubts any of it matters much anyway.

The novel is mostly presented through a pretty much stream-of-consciousness first person narrative. This can make it really difficult to read during the times when Gilda is at her worst in terms of her depression and apathy towards herself but her awkwardness and brutal honesty (especially regarding her ignorance of Catholicism) are also hilarious a lot of the time. It creates this endearing and heartbreaking balance to the story and to Gilda’s character. There are times when you just want to hang your head or scream at her because you know that what she’s doing is just going to cause her more problems and if the narrative weren’t a snapshot of her thoughts – if, like everyone else, you only had her actions to go by, she could easily come across as selfish or lazy. But because you see and feel the depths of her anxiety and lack of self-worth, you just want her to find the right kind of help and to catch a break.

While there is a lot about Gilda’s situation with the Catholic church that is played for laughs, her situation also shines a light on many of the valid criticisms and challenges currently facing the church as an institution – many of the reasons why I left the church myself about a decade ago now. So much of Gilda’s lies and predicaments ultimately derive from a desire to help, to protect, to not disappoint. As she works alongside Father Jeff and others at the church and during functions, she can see the comfort that faith brings to so many of them, even if she doesn’t believe herself – and there are moments when her longing for that kind of reassurance is so incredibly tangible. But she is also hyper aware that the kindnesses extended to her would cease entirely and could turn completely around if she were to tell the truth about being gay and the conditional nature of their compassion only further reinforces her own feelings of self-loathing – not because of what she is or that they reject it, but for lying to them so thoroughly.

There’s only one aspect of the novel that I found mildly disappointing. It’s a little too spoilery to state outright but it mostly has to do with me wanting there to be a little more of the book period – the intensity of the text makes it feel like a longer book than it actually is.

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is available July 6, 2021.

Gilda is gay, jobless, and ANXIOUS. Separately, these three things aren't bad, but throw in constant thoughts about death and a flyer for free therapy at a Catholic church that turns into a receptionist job, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead is probably one of the most realistic portrayals of extreme anxiety and depression that I have ever read. As someone who struggles with social anxiety and loads of anxiety surrounding death and dying, Gilda's story didn't come off as unbelievable at all. Everyday activities can become sinister when you view them through the lens of morbidity, and Austin did a wonderful job of conveying this with everything that Gilda said and did. The format of the narrative was very erratic and disjointed, jumping from the past to the present day. Gilda's mind is not a pleasant or orderly place to be, and the format reflects this.

Gilda's obsession with death gave her thoughts and humor a dark tint, and it worked so well! I actually found myself laughing out loud, and that doesn't happen for me often. The morbid humor definitely won't be for everyone, and the same can be said for the way she approaches situations as she starts to spiral into severe depression. (Trigger warnings for suicidal ideation) Austin boldly shows the ways that people can make islands of their lives, shut off from the people that care about them. Depression and anxiety are invasive and they're ugly, and Gilda's life reflects that.

Overall, I really loved this book and its messy but utterly endearing protagonist. Gilda was a kindred spirit, and Austin succeeded in showing a realistic portrayal of just how debilitating anxiety and depression can be.

This story is told in the first person by Gilda, a gay 27-year-old atheist with depression and anxiety. She can't keep a job, lies to make other people happy, and is obsessed with death. She goes to the ER so much she is on first-name terms with the janitor.

The main plot is that Gilda goes to an address on a flyer for mental health support. It turns out to be a Catholic church. The priest assumes she is there for a job interview and hires her on the spot because she knows how to use the internet. The previous secretary had recently died under suspicious circumstances. Gilda must pretend to be a devout Catholic in order to keep the job she so desperately needs. Through a series of odd behaviors, Gilda becomes a suspect in the death of the former secretary who she never met.

The paragraphs are written as short train-of-thoughts that randomly occur to Gilda. Her anxiety is palpable. Instead of being humorous, the story came off as bleak and heartbreaking. I just wasn't the right audience for this type of novel.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

This book was quirky and captivating. Important lessons on mental health and modern life. Highly recommended.

I finished this book a few days ago and since then I have tried to pinpoint why I didn't connect more with the character and story. I thought for sure when I picked this book up it would be right up my alley as and I would be able to relate to the main character's struggles with anxiety issues. Unfortunately, I just didn't understand her.

Gilda is a twenty-something lesbian and she thinks about death quite often. She's a frequent visitor to the ER as well. Due to a misunderstanding she is too embarrassed to correct, she accepts a job working as a receptionist at a Catholic church. Gilda's life is full of one mishap after another.

There's a quirky type vibe to the story and there are some moments that are generally funny. I found it lacking in heart though. Gilda is a character I spent the entire book following but yet can't say I know her much better now than when I first started reading the story. It's fair to say I just didn't click with her. And you know what? That's perfectly fine as not every character is going to be an exact match for every reader.

The writing style is unique so I would be open to checking out another book by this author.

𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞.

If your twenties are supposed to be about discovery and building the future you want, an adventure into adulthood, then Gilda is failing miserably. She is 'trapped inside her fragile body', as we all are. Impermanent, just an animal like any other that will someday be dead. It's hard to think much about happiness and the life you could be living when it all seems so fruitless. Break ups, job loss, the sheer confusion of adulthood, of being alive- so much buries her. Then she gets into a small accident and has to go to the hospital, a familiar place as lately she has been having 'breathing troubles' and a racing heart- panic attacks. She just feels sick, sure... sick of fears, worries, the inevitable end. Gilda knows all too well how 'the train of human thought can derail', and is it really so shocking that through a simple misunderstanding she lands a job? She never did like being the center of attention, and correcting a mistake takes too much effort, better to just play along when it suits her needs. It's so easy to slip into a lie, to become a character in your own life. A lesbian, atheist working for a catholic church, not such a big deal so long as no one finds out. All she wanted was free mental health support, imagine her surprise when the address leads her to a gothic church and the priest assumes she is there to apply for the administrative position.

Pretending to be a catholic is one thing, she does have rent to pay and like all living organisms, must eat to survive but pretending to be Grace, the person she was hired to replace, that's a whole other story. It all begins when she checks Grace's correspondence and decides to respond via email to her friend Rosemary. It would have been so easy to inform Rosemary that Grace has passed away, but she can't do that! No way, she can't add another misery, another loss to the strangers life. So she responds as Grace instead, what could go wrong?

Inserting herself in yet another place she doesn't belong, how long can she pretend in order to fit in? It can't be that hard to pass oneself off as a devout catholic, can it? People pretend they believe in all sorts of things. Hasn't she been an imposter all her life, aren't we all in small measures just pretending? She has always felt like the 'foreign object' in every setting, just waiting to be rejected. She hides, pretends to be catholic, dates a man because she is supposed to be heterosexual in this farce that is spinning out of her control. It's depressing, funny, clever, and horrifying. She is doing everything she can to keep the façade from crumbling. Why? The ever present question. She wanted something to distract her mind from all the crippling thoughts of existence, instead there is more to worry about. Horror of it all, Grace's death may not be so easy to ignore when questions about how she died arise and so the plot thickens.

Then there is her brother, who is falling apart, drinking himself sick and her parents who prefer to keep up appearances and bury their heads in the ground. Just more evidence that everything is rotten. Is everything pointless or is her mind invaded by negativity and depression? Everything she tries just makes the spill of her life spread, she can't make sense of life nor other people. Worse, she doesn't know how to inhabit herself, let alone invite happiness in.

This is an intelligent, strange little read about a life that has derailed. Maybe something will force her out of this strange role she is playing. Maybe she and everybody will just die like Grace. Yes, read it.

Publication Date: July 6, 2021
Atria Books

"Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead" by Emily Austin is destined to be one of the best books of the summer. It follows the story of Gilda, a 28 year-old atheist and lesbian, whose anxiety and depression make it difficult for her to live a full life. After getting fired from her job, she winds up accepting a secretarial position at a Catholic church. As if working a job for an entity that views everything she is as sin isn't difficult enough, Gilda discovers that the woman who previously help her position was potentially murdered.

As someone who lives with often paralyzing anxiety and depression, this novel really resonated with me. The author tells Gilda's story without judgment or criticism. Though this book is humorous (at times laugh-out-loud-funny), the author is not making fun of Gilda, or any of us who have the same issues that Gilda does. Gilda's interactions with others, especially her parents, show how much anxiety and depression are still misunderstood and dismissed. Gilda's belief that pleasing those around her will lead to her acceptance and thus a lessening of her depression and anxiety is also a feeling I know all too well.

As a Christian (but not Catholic), I was a bit concerned that this book would come off as anti-Catholic or anti-Christian. My concerns were unfounded, Though the book mentions that the church views homosexuality as a sin, it does so in a way that is as neutral as possible. The author does not make the church the "bad guy" in Gilda's life; indeed the church has positive influences on her.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this fabulous book, in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Atria books for providing me with the E-ARC. As well as Goodreads and Atria books for sending me the physical ARC (I won a giveaway so I'd say I have good luck).

Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead follows Gilda who is hyper-fixated on death and very much a hypochondriac. When she decides to seek out therapy, she ends up accidentally employed at a Catholic Church... as an atheist. She is replacing the previous Administrative Assistant who recently passed away. Gilda becomes super obsessed with the circumstances surrounding the previous assistant and the rest you must read to find out!

As someone who shares VERY similar anxieties with the main character, I was SO excited for this book. There were so many quotes that I resonated with and felt extremely connected to Gilda. I also tone the author decided to go with. There were many solid one-liners and laughed a little bit while reading it.

The book then took a turn and then I felt that I no longer related to her anymore and then it sort of unraveled that turn and so I guess I relate to her again? Unfortunately, that left me feeling confused and also bummed that it went that route. I'm still very puzzled and feel a bit disoriented from the last 30 pages or so. The structure of this book didn't flow well for me. There are no chapter breaks only "parts" and it made the book feel a bit choppy.

I do think this book is very unique and was really unpredictable and I think if you are a fan of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, you may be a fan of this book!

HIGHLY recommend this one!!! Will be using this for an upcoming book club. I read it in one sitting!

Gilda, a late-twenties atheist (who’s also a lesbian), is a ball of anxiety. She’s on a first name basis with the staff at the local hospital due to how often she’s in the ER with panic attacks. Oh, and she has a habit of ruminating on death, often going out of her way to look up ways people have died in the news. In a mundane twist of fate, Gilda is given a flyer for free therapy at the local church but when she gets there, the parish’s pastor thinks she’s there about the job opening, which had just been vacated…because the secretary died.

This book is oddly fun! Gilda is awkward and her stumbles through her job at the church are funny. The text is quite choppy though and jumps from one event to another without much in the way of transitions. I’m reading this choppiness as the author’s way of showcasing an anxious person’s mind. While it is cute and a lighthearted rendering of an otherwise important look at mental health, I did often wonder why Gilda was going about smaller things the way she was. Nonetheless, I thought this was a fun read.

Side note: As someone who grew up in the Catholic Church and went to Catholic schools and came out on the other side very skeptical of the whole organization, the author includes the funniest line about Gilda accidentally snacking the body of Christ and finding it so tasteless she wanted to email the manufacturer.

A funny and gutsy debut that effectively balances the darkness of living with mental illness with the lightness of a young woman’s journey of self-acceptance.

I read 37% of this and was bored with the characters. I expected something edgy and witty from the description. There were a couple of good lines but the narrative didn't come together.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

I loved the title of this book which is what originally got my attention. This is Gilda's story, and she is an anxious and depressed young woman. Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead follows Gilda as she navigates a difficult part in her life, but the title also perfectly represents who Gilda is.

The book is fast-paced. Sure the protagonist is anxious and has some depression, but there is still a lot of humor here. And while a book about an anxious character might be something that would make a reader anxious, this book is one that you can easily fall in love with. Her random thoughts about the world around her are certainly ones that pop up here and there for just about everyone. At times I was upset with Gilda for failing to take action in her own life but her story is highly relatable.

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead
June 11, 2021

Book Review
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead
Emily R. Austin

reviewed by Lou Jacobs


readersremains.com | Goodreads



A heady mix of themes exploring death, sexuality, and mental health explodes with a heavy dose of humor in this debut gem by Emily Austin. Our reluctant heroine, Gilda, a twenty-seven-year-old anxious atheist and self-professed lesbian cannot stop ruminating about death.

She’s constantly thinking about the glaciers that are thawing, the sea turtles going extinct, and often will surf the net and click on articles, such as: “Weird Ways People Die.” She recently has been fired from her job at the bookstore, as her employer felt she was untrustworthy and irresponsible and not fit for customer service. It wasn’t her problem that she had difficulty waking up and was rarely on time and frequently missed shifts. She admittedly is consumed about thinking about litter, nuclear bombs , racism, child abuse, and how disgusting humans are. Imagine every human being has a butt—and how disgusting is that!

Gilda is worried about paying her next rent. She doubts there is much of a market for lesbian sex workers, and since she is such a bad actress, straight sex work is out of the question. She has a collection of dirty dishes in her bedroom. Adding one atop another feels like building a castle, with each addition more risky. The thought of washing them, feels a lot like going for a jog. She will do it tomorrow. And then, our bumbling and kindhearted Gilda is involved in an auto accident. Although her arm is obviously broken, she refuses an ambulance.

“I do not like to be a spectacle. I would rather be run over by another van than be surrounded by paramedics touching me inside such a conspicuous vehicle.” She drives herself to the emergency room, and is met by a nurse, who asks about the problem today. Even the janitor recognizes her and greets her, with a “Hey, girl” She is known in hospital vernacular as a “frequent flyer.” She has been told a multitude of times that “nothing is wrong with you” and you’re probably experiencing a panic attack and is referred to a psychiatrist. This time her arm is casted, but not before she is questioned about the possibility of being pregnant. She emphatically states that there is no chance of that. And muses to herself that they think she is celibate. I am not. I am just gay and thus blessedly exempt from the hazard of pregnancy.

Gilda coming to the realization that she needs help coping with her mental health, responds to a flyer for “free therapy” and finds herself at the doorstep of a Catholic Church. Father Jeff greets her, assuming she’s here for a job interview, to replace his loyal and recently deceased receptionist Grace. His interview is sparse with little in the way of significant substance and quickly hires her when she admits to being familiar with the computer and the internet. He fails to even obtain her name, address, or phone number. When Gilda shows up and checks the Church inbox emails, she notes an ongoing stream of unanswered emails from Rosemary, apparently a dear friend of Grace. She can’t bear to ignore the emails and doesn’t have the courage to tell her the “bad news.” Instead, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Rosemary, impersonating Grace by email. This reluctant Catholic is consumed trying to learn about the mass and other “Catholic things” and attends mass daily and listens intently to Father Jeff’s sermons. She learns it is an abomination if a man lies with another man and must be put to death. “Yikes! Thank God this doesn’t seem to apply to women. I’m disappointed that God is so homophobic, but glad that he’s forgotten about lesbians. I guess I would rather be forgotten than put to death.” (Much of the humorous repartee takes place in Gilda’s mind.)

Another musing of Gilda’s that must be recounted. “It turns out the crackers I stole are the body of Christ. After eating more than half the bag, in which I paired Cracker Barrel cheese with God’s transubstantiated body … I googled the crackers so I could leave a review … I planned on writing … Boring. These crackers are tasteless and bland.” In one of Father Jeff’s sermons he proclaims: “One day you are going to die … everyone in this room will someday die… It’s important to remember every day that passes brings us closer to the day we die.” Gilda muses: I wish he had chosen a different topic. Gilda has been known in conversation to say, “I’m dying.” When queried with: “Yikes, how long do you have?” she answers gravely, ‘I have no idea.” Gilda’s life starts to unravel the day she fields a call from Deputy Parks from the city police department. Apparently, the death of Grace may have occurred under suspicious circumstances. Grace was one of the patients of nurse Laurie Damon, who has recently confessed that she intentionally over injected elderly patients with drugs to end their life and suffering.

Emily Austin on her first outing has provided a literary “screwball comedy” that explores multiple significant themes with aplomb and hilarious understated humor. Her propulsive prose demands out loud laughing and page-turning. Her darkly funny meanderings may provide some offense to the religiously inclined. Under all this humor, we are treated to a deep and moving portrayal of everyday life, while coping with depression and anxiety, in order to establish relationships and a meaningful life. It allows us to appreciate the fragility of mental health and the tribulations of sexuality. Shining through this warm hearted and tender narrative is the essence and fragility of the human condition. We can all relate to the cringeworthy and unusual predicaments that plague Gilda’s life. It’s important to know Gilda’s thoughts about the question: When did you come out? “I never know how to answer that question, because I don’t feel like I am out. I feel like I am in a constant state of coming out, and likely I always will be. I have to come out every time I meet someone.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I sincerely cannot wait to read Emily Austin’s next offering, considering this gem is actually her debut muse.
Available on Amazon

3.5 stars

Meet Gilda, a quirky, introverted young woman who often thinks about death and is kind of stuck in a rut. Her house (and her life) is just a little bit…in need of repair.

I really liked hanging out with Gilda. She is endearing and funny and weird but also relatable and kind.

I also thought that the murder mystery was a bonus addition to the plot!

This book touched so many hot topics (mental health, religion and belief, sexuality, assisted suicide) yet it somehow managed to bundle them all together in a messy little package. And it totally made sense!

Thank you to Atria books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

At the very beginning, I decided that Emily Austin is a top rank storyteller.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

"I think I am an imposter. Twenty-seven years ago I was a baby. Before that I was a clump of cells. Before that I didn't exist. How could I be a bookstore clerk, or a Catholic, or a woman, or a person at all? I'm a life force contained in the deformed body of a baby"

3.5 stars rounding up. This book is well written and provides a stunningly realistic view into the life of an anxious and severely depressed individual. However, I can't say I'd recommend this book to anyone. It's just to cringey and overwhelmingly sad.

Gilda is a 28 year old lady who is barely hanging on. She loves animals but doesn't want to get a pet because all she can think about is how it'll someday die. She piles dirty dishes in her room because it's too overwhelming to take them to the sink. She loses her job at a bookstore because it's too overwhelming to show up when she's scheduled to work, and thus, she gets fired. She drives a totaled car because after getting into a car accident, it was too overwhelming to file a police report or submit an insurance claim. And she routinely shows up at the emergency room because of crippling panic attack that lead her to believe she's going to die. One day she saunters up to an address on a flyer offering free therapy only to discover it's a Catholic church. When the pastor mistakenly believes Gilda is there to interview for a secretarial position, this atheist lesbian is too overwhelmed to correct him, so she accepts the job and constantly worries about being found out. This lie leads to other lies that makes her already depressing life spiral deeper and deeper into a worry-filled, anxiety inducing, and rather pathetic existence.

Austin writes about Gilda's life as a depressed person with such accuracy it leads me to wonder if she has had extensive personal experience with this condition herself - as a therapist or with a close friend/family member or herself. I could probably look this up on her bio, but right now, I'm too overwhelmed to do so. The writing is well done, the characters were believable, and you couldn't help but root for Gilda to get better. However, this book was extremely difficult to read. I felt my anxiety creeping in every time I turned a page. And I personally have a hard time with books/shows/movies that portray someone who starts out at a mediocre baseline and due to their own poor choices, keeps digging themselves deeper and deeper into a bad situation (I couldn't bring myself to watch Breaking Bad because of this) and Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is an example of this type of story arc.

One thing that nagged at me is with the quantity of times Gilda walks into the ER with severe panic attacks, wouldn't someone there have recognized the severity of her depression and done more to help her instead of routinely turning her away? Or am I just naive as to how ERs deal with neurological issues as opposed to physical injuries? Although the ending provides a glimmer of hope for Gilda, I couldn't help but think the entire storyline wouldn't have existed if she'd gotten the help she needed after her first panic attack and subsequent ER visit.

If Eleanor Oliphant was transplanted into My Year of Rest and Relaxation, the result would be something like Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead. And that is a true, raving compliment. I love this darkly funny book, and I related to Gilda more than I care to admit.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for a advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one went by faster than I thought it would and with less plot than I expected it to have but that didn’t bother me, which was also a surprise. Gilda is really going through it — relatable — and she lands herself in a situation that feels high stakes at times only because she herself puts a lot of pressure on it. But what I loved about this story is that really the stakes feel low and the point is that everyone is just doing their best to make it day-to-day. I really enjoyed this quick read, though at times it was dark because Gilda really needs a lot of things — among them, people to take her seriously and help her out.

This is 4 stars for me. I laughed but also was worried and thought a lot about death.