2.5 stars

Gilda, the m.c., makes an important realization in her young life that she continues to contemplate now, when readers meet her, in her 27th going on 28th year; death is everywhere.

It's apparent from the start that Gilda is an unusual individual. Readers get snippets of her experiences, and these flashes reflect the way she operates...without a ton of follow through. There are also strange details that bubble up. For example, she gets in a car accident right at the start, and when she goes to the ER to get checked out (seemingly a normal response), she reveals that she goes to the ER all the time (an atypical activity). There's a lot of this mysterious, is she okay or should we be worried type of stuff going on really throughout the novel, and while it at first makes Gilda an intriguing character, her *mystique* became grating for me pretty quickly. More than anything, I just feel very concerned for her. She is clearly not well, and this is highlighted by how few people seem to notice or care. She becomes a mirror for everyone else's needs and an almost vacuous space instead of a complete person. The whole time I was reading this, I just felt...sad.

Reviews and blurbs suggesting that this is in any way a humorous read completely baffle me. I found this to be a dark, depressing work with a character who may have some hope at some stage, but knowing about the world in which she dwells, even I finished the novel wondering what the purpose of that hope might be. This is the exact opposite of what I wanted to read in the late stages of the pandemic, and I don't think I would have appreciated it much more in happier times.

Hoping the best for Gilda and for anyone who ventures forth into a pit of despair with her...

I would like to thank the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-book ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

I'm not really sure what I expected when I started this book, but it probably wasn't what this book actually was. There's a LOT to unpack with this book. But not in a bad way. The main character is certainly different and the story of her life is - wow. But not really in a bad way.

I power-read this book, couldn't really stop, and I'm not sure what I really feel about it yet. It's a bit overwhelming. But I think that I really, really like it. There will be a re-read of this in my near future, I'm sure. For now I'm going with a 4 star review because I think I did really like it. Certainly memorable.

I loved this! A really sweet story about finding your place, with a healthy dose of humor. I totally saw myself in Gilda.

This book is alternately painful and painfully funny. Totally pick it up for the LOL moments that reviews are buzzing about, but don’t forget to slow down and appreciate this book for what it really is- an unsentimental and (in my opinion) pretty darn accurate portrayal of what goes on inside the mind of a human struggling with mental illness. I loved that this book doesn’t try to “explain” Gilda- we just get to experience what it’s like to be in her head for this brief period of time.

Gilda is an unemployed-lesbian-atheist-twenty-something trying to make her way through the world while struggling with undiagnosed mental illness and a family that simply doesn’t discuss that kind of thing. Her anxiety brings her to the hospital so frequently that she has formed relationships with the workers there, but she consistently leaves without the help she needs. When she comes across a Catholic church flyer advertising mental health services, somehow she ends up with a job as their receptionist. Predictably, hijinks ensue.

The funniest moments in this book happen as Gilda is dealing with the consequences of accidentally finding herself employed at the church:

“It is unclear what my role is today, but I was asked to stand at the entrance to the church, and because of that, I suspect my role might be: gargoyle.”

And, in conversation with a nun:

“‘Be careful!’ she says, taking the rosary out of my hands in the same way she’d confiscate a knife from a toddler. ‘Breaking a rosary is bad luck. It means someone’s mad at you,’ she explains. I have a feeling that if I broke a rosary, that person would be her.”

At a baptism:

“I am battling an intrusive thought right now involving this baby’s soft spot and the marble floor beneath us.”

Sometimes, Gilda’s observations are less funny and more just….. lovely and perfect:

“‘You have a classic case of impostor syndrome.’ I told her that I’m not sure that’s a real syndrome. I said I wonder if everyone’s an impostor. What if beneath every lawyer’s suit and every stay-at-home-parent’s apron, everyone is just a baby who doesn’t know what they’re doing? I wonder if anyone really identifies as the adult they’ve morphed into.”

(I do not.)

“We laugh; we make involuntary sounds when we find things funny. Laughing is adorable, if you really think about it.”

If you find yourself growing weary of Gilda’s constant dark thoughts or her inability to function- I beg that you stop and ask yourself what it must feel like to actually BE Gilda- she is powerless to control it. There is a very funny interaction Gilda has with a nurse who suggests that Gilda simply try mindfulness to work through her anxiety. Major eye roll. I won’t spoil it, but keep your eyes peeled.

Gilda can’t make her thoughts magically go away or smile herself out of it (as one ridiculous acquaintance would have her do)- so multiply your exhaustion at reading Gilda’s dark streams of consciousness by 10 (or some other arbitrary number, I’m not doing science here) and you might get an idea of what it’s like to actually BE a Gilda.

Like this- which is funny, but also not:

“Every dish I own is now on the floor of my bedroom. I find the prospect of collecting these dishes, let alone washing them, exceptionally daunting. Envisioning myself picking up even one cup knocks the wind out of me. I reached for a cup earlier, and it felt as if I’d run a marathon. I almost immediately fell asleep.”

That’s a funny bit of writing!!! It’s also a real feeling that people battling depression actually feel. So yes, giggles and laughter are important- books are for entertainment, I understand- but don’t forget that this is real life for a lot of people.

At the end of the day, though- Gilda starts to get it-

“‘Listen—because this is really important. We are all just floating in space, okay? Think about it, we’re just ghosts inside skeletons, inside skin bags, floating on a rock in space. If there is anything that would make you feel happy to do, please do it.’”

That came straight from Gilda. The challenge for her then becomes: How does Gilda apply the same concern and compassion that she feels towards those she loves to herself?

Finally- if there has ever been a more perfect ending to a book, I haven’t found it.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the advance review copy!

Gilda is a relatable character and this novel feels especially timely. I loved the humor, but I also recognize it's not going to be for everyone. Opening with Gilda getting into a car accident and told through snippets of memories, scenes, and Gilda's sharp insights, this is a compelling character-driven novel about dealing with anxiety and a meditation of the absurdity of life.

(Formal review will be forthcoming from West Trade Review.)

At first I thought this was the wrong book to pick up if you're full of anxiety, as I am. There were in fact moments when I had to put it down because it was making me more anxious. But then I realized it was like therapy, and it is comforting to know there are others out there just as anxious and more. The beauty of this book is that there is a lot of humor in the depiction of Gilda's anxieties and how she copes, and while she tends to spiral out of control at times she always pulls herself back from the brink. As a lapsed Catholic I also found her observations of the Church to be right on point.

This book is so darkly funny and I cannot stop talking about it to anyone that will listen. Let me emphasize dark. This book has been called depressing by some readers and I can see why. The main character finds herself in so many cringe worthy situations but the subtle humor is spot on. I think fans of Fleabag should try this!

When we first meet Gilda, she is the victim of a car accident. It is in this brief incident that the reader begins to discover, what will be, the driving force behind the future decisions made and the actions taken by this character throughout the book. Gilda is a depressed lesbian atheist who is obsessed with death and dying (not just as it relates to her, but to others as well). On top of this, Gilda is also working very hard to hide each of these facets of her personality as she struggles to get through her daily life. She has lost her job at a bookstore because she stopped showing up for work. Realizing that she may need help, she decides to visit a church listed on a flier she receives advertising therapy. When she arrives, she finds herself on the receiving end of a job offer to fill an opening for an administrative assistant. And just like that, Gilda is now a depressed lesbian atheist who works at a Catholic church.

This was a tough book to rate. At first blush, my rating would have been three stars as I found it to be a somewhat less than uplifting read. However, I decided to give it four stars due to the author's handling of a difficult subject. Ms. Austin does an admirable job of letting us inside the mind of someone who is depressed. We get to know Gilda and understand how her thought processes work. In addition, we begin to want to see her succeed, to get the help she needs, and to find a relationship that makes her happy. There are moments of humor as well as sadness, but it is the combination of the two that make this a book worth reading. Definitely, a good choice for book clubs.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC. Expected publication date: July 6, 2021 by Atria Books

I adored this book. I suffer with severe anxiety and I just related so much to Gilda. I read this book so quickly. Thank you for this beautiful piece of literature. One of my favorite quotes:
“Listen—because this is really important. We are all just floating in space, okay? Think about it, we’re just ghosts inside skeletons, inside skin bags, floating on a rock in space. If there is anything that would make you feel happy to do, please do it.”

This book is a lot darker and drearier than the blurb would have you believe. Dry humor isn't usually my thing which is maybe why I didn't find it hilarious at all. For most of the story, Gilda is depressed and not feeling her feelings which makes it hard for the reader to feel any feelings.

Despite all that, I read this book in one sitting and enjoyed each of the characters. I think this book was actually an accurate representation of what it might feel like if the main character is depressed. Most of the books make that feel like there are big negative feelings, even though it's usually an absence of feelings. It's just that reading a book with the main character in that state is hard to enjoy.

with gratitude to netgalley and Artia books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like I should have enjoyed this book a lot more than I did. I think it wasn’t the right time for me to read this, and maybe at another time I would have felt more for Gilda, other than just frustration. I didn’t dislike the story, and actually did laugh out loud a few times, and related to so many areas, but I just couldn’t get invested in the narrative or in the characters.

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is the story of Gilda, a woman in her late 20’s who suffers from severe anxiety, so much so that it really restricts her in her ability to keep a job, focus, maintain relationships, and just move forward in her life. This anxiety is also paired with depression and the feeling that everything and everyone is going to fall/die at any given time (which leads her to also be pretty hypochondriac too). Gilda halfheartedly goes to join a therapy group in a local church but ends up working for the church because she doesn’t correct them when they think that she is there for the receptionist job. She starts to live this life where she becomes one person who she thinks she has to be at work, another self who she thinks she needs to be with her girlfriend/around others, and yet again her other self when she is alone.

The thing is, Gilda is at times funny and heartwarming, and you want to hug her, and it annoyed me that I couldn’t get invested in the book. I think it’s because having spent most of my life battling my own anxiety (and parts of it battling my own depression), I just didn’t have the energy to stay inside Gilda’s head, and the entire narrative is literally what goes on in Gilda’s head.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gilda is a gal with with a full plate already, when she accepts a receptionist job at a Catholic Church.
Gilda has both depression and anxiety and is also preoccupied with death. When she finds out the prior receptionist has died, she is intrigued and wants to find out more.
Gilda is also an atheist and a lesbian, both of which complicate her situation even further.
It was a cute book and had a lot of darker humor. Emily Austin showed the side of depression as well as anxiety that so many people hide. Humor often is used simply to survive.
I enjoyed the book and its characters, I was pleased with the ending.
I found it an easy read and a good way to pass the time and I would recommend it as such.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for offering me the digital perreleased copy in exchange for my honest review.

Don't miss the release on July 6th 2021

I liked this story... I found it to be relatable, funny, introspective, and heart felt.

Gilda is a daughter, a friend, a partner, a sister, and someone who is not feeling heard or seen, someone who is trying to figure herself out and due to the constant outside pressures of family, finds herself questioning everything; especially, death.

There were a few moments that took my breath away and I was happy to see, Gilda stand up for herself against her family. Sometimes in order to be heard you have to be blunt and honest, even if that honesty isn't appreciated. I did find Gilda's role in her new job to be light hearted and often funny, yet pretending to be someone who is deceased may not have been the best course of action... I'm just saying.

I highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book.

I preface my comments with the fact that I take mental health and well-being very seriously. Anxiety and depression are real. They can be crippling and society must do a better job of destigmatizing these issues.

With that being said, I cannot remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a book!

Do not read this book for the plot.

Read this book because you need that deep down belly laugh, or because you are looking for real, relatable characters.

I believe we will all see a little bit of ourselves in this novel.

Gilda is a 28 year old, gay, athiest, who works at a Catholic church, suffers from extreme anxiety and is in the ER every week. She is obsessed with the meaning of her existence and death.

You might relate to her.

Or, maybe it's Giuseppe, the go-getting entrepreneur try to be boyfriend, or Father Jeff, Gilda's boss who struggles with the death of his former employee, or Eleanor, Gilda's girlfriend who struggles with her mixed signals.

Anxiety, depression, substance abuse, religion, aging, sexuality, all of these issues are addressed in this book in a light-hearted, ridiculous way.

And, that works for me! Sometimes, it takes a book like this to get people talking.

A 4⭐ read that you should pull from your shelves when you need a break from the norm, when you have a day to just sit by yourself or when you need a little pick me up.

The world is full of people with their own issues. We all need to listen.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

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

I can't say I liked or enjoyed this book. It is so overwhelmingly depressing, so many people are depressed, and there doesn't seem to be any help for these depressed people, that I too lost the will to go on. At the same time, I felt compassion for all the people we meet. I wanted things to be better for them but then, that's part of the problem of the main character. She seems to think her life might have a scrap of worth if she can only make people smile. 

Twenty seven year old animal loving Gilda is also a lesbian and an atheist. She is so depressed that she can't even put her dishes in the sink so she just piles them up in her bedroom, a leaning tower of food rot. She can't remember when she has showered and she loses her latest job because she forgets to go to work. Or was it because she forgot to get out of bed. Whatever. All she can think about is death and she see no reason to exist for herself or anyone else. Nothing matters and she can't even pretend to care. She longs for the day when maggots will eat her rotting flesh. 

One day, as Gilda trudges toward a Catholic church that advertises therapy sessions, she accidently gets hired for a job there. Now she is an atheist, lesbian, liar because she has to pretend she's not gay and that she is Catholic and that she knows what she is doing. Maybe it's fitting though that the elderly lady who previously had her job is dead and might have been murdered. That's life, make it to old age and you suffer the indignity of being maybe murdered. 

So I'm reading this story and feel like it's not good for me to be reading this story but every now and then, I really, truly laughed out loud! It felt good but the rest of the book's sad state makes it hard to remember why I laughed. I almost gave the story 3 stars because it seems weird to give it 4 stars when it made me feel so bad. Still, it appears there is hope at the end of the story but I can't be sure. Is it an illusion?

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

3.5 obsessed with death stars

Gilda is a young woman struggling mightily with depression and anxiety. She was recently fired from her job for missing several shifts in a row and she’s in a minor car accident as the book opens.

She stumbles into a receptionist job at a Catholic church and doesn’t disclose that she’s an atheist and a lesbian. There are some very humorous moments as she describes various rituals at the church and how absurd they seem! She’s also obsessed with death, and it occupies her thoughts quite often.

At times I really enjoyed this character and her journey and other times it was very dark and hard to read. She spends so much time at the emergency room that the staff there all know her. What is very disappointing is that she gets countless referrals to psychiatry and rarely ever gets that help. I think this is likely a sad and true reflection of mental health today.

I’m glad this one ended on a hopeful note and I think this author is definitely one to watch!

Someone once described this book to me as deadpan and now I cannot think of a better descriptor. From the title through the final page, it is a dark humor that is hard not to love. Great read, would definitely recommend.

You will either really enjoy this book or reeeally dislike it. Personally, I was a fan.

Austin does a great job detailing Gilda's compulsive, anxious thoughts. Through the composition of Gilda's thoughts, we manage to get a view of everything that has happened before we meet Gilda, which sets the stage for what she's about to encounter. The humor is in the plot, not necessarily in the content of the dialogue or in any of the characters being witty. If anything, the content / dialogue between characters makes the "dark" vibe palpable.

Would recommend for folks who like single-narrator storytelling.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

This was actually pretty funny which was unexpected given the title. I would definitely recommend this one.