Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early read of this book! Gilda suffers from anxiety, depression, and a little touch of hypochondria. She is well-known at her local emergency room. Though no one – not her parents, her brother, her girlfriend, or those in the ER, seem to understand how much she is not coping. When she is given a flyer about a free therapy group, she decides to attend but when she arrives, it turns out to be at a Catholic church. She is mistaken for a job applicant, and before she knows it, she is the new church office assistant. Which is a problem, as she is an atheist and she is gay. She learns that the previous assistant, Grace, died recently. When the police show up asking questions, they imply that Grace’s death might not have been entirely natural. Gilda, whose anxiety manifests itself with a preoccupation about death and dying, starts worrying about what happened to Grace, and things go downhill from there. I thought this one would be a lighter read than it turned out to be. Gilda is a great character, and she gets herself into some humorous situations. But underneath it all is her depression and her anxiety about the mortal condition. I found myself by turns laughing and worrying, and hoping for a few rays of light for Gilda going forward. If you like the idea of an entertaining premise with more serious undertones, think Memorial by Bryan Washington or Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman or Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple, then I think you would like this one.

Undoubtedly one of the strangest books I've ever read -- or at least one of the strangest main characters. Gilda is painfully aware of her own mortality and that of everyone around her. She is constantly (obsessively) focused on the fact that she and everyone she meets will someday die. The entire book is filled with her thoughts on this subject. Some reviews called the book "hilarious" -- ??!! -- yes, there are some moments of humor, and I will admit that I could not put this book down. What on earth is going to happen next? Did I enjoy it? Not really. But I could not stop reading. This would make a wonderful book for a book club. There is much to dissect here, both in Gilda's words and actions. I have to give this book 5 stars, but it was definitely strange.

I adored this book. The main character, Gilda, was (to me) extremely relatable; her fixation on death is something I personally have (and continue to) struggle with, so that hit super close to home for me. Also, she’s a twenty-something that has no idea what she’s doing with her life...and like, that’s relatable for everyone at some point, right? The book is hilarious, although the humor is really dark - but it still had me laughing out loud, because that’s my favorite kind of humor. Gilda is endearing because she’s so damn relatable - anyone that’s struggled with anxiety and/or depression probably sees a little bit of themselves in her. (Hello never waking up on time and not having the motivation to clean!) It’s definitely not the lightest book, but I flew through it and loved every second, regardless of whether I was laughing or crying. It’s heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time, and I can’t wait to own my very own physical copy.
Whether or not you struggle with anxiety or any mental health related issues, I think this is a good and important read if you’re in the right headspace for it. If you’re someone that does struggle with any of the above, I think it will either make you feel extremely seen/understood, or it will give you some insight into how the same issues are manifested differently in different people; even if you’re not someone that struggles super consistently with the issues in the book, it will probably give you some insight into what it’s like for those that do. A huge thank you to Net Galley, Atria, and Emily R Austin for the eARC.

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 whom she never met.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book centers around Gilda who accidentally gets a job at a Catholic Church although she’s an atheist lesbian. Gilda has a lot of mental health struggles and it’s made apparent throughout the book. Gilda was a hard character to like, but it wasn’t due to her rumination, obsessive thoughts about death and other things, but mostly a lack in character building. I know the author was going for a dark humor vibe, but for me that fell flat and this felt more like a cry for help for Gilda that never seemed to happen, which sadly, happens all too often with those struggling as much as Gilda seemed to be. Overall, this book was good, but not great. I have rounded my 3.5 stars up to a 4 for this because the writing was good and it was a good story, but it’s not a book I would recommend to just anyone as it has a sad tone throughout that isn’t for everyone.

3.75⭐
I quite enjoyed this book. The first person narration, while hilarious (lol'd many times), offered almost painfully immersive insight into Gilda's anxiety-ridden mind. I was surprised at just how good a job Austin did at conveying the cyclical, racing nature of Gilda's way of thinking. Seeing how it amounts to the debilitation she experiences in her day-to-day life and her relationships just makes you feel so bad for her.

Although the story is primarily character-driven, the story starts with Gilda waking up from a car crash, so I was hooked right in. However, the pacing slowed down for much of the second half. This might be attributed to the anecdotal storytelling, which felt kind of random at times when some passages didn't seem particularly noteworthy or insightful. The last ~20 pages consequently felt a little abrupt as well.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when a depressed woman who is obsessed with death happens to show up for a therapy group at a Catholic Church and somehow get hired as the receptionist to replace the one who recently died? An entertaining story with some laughable situations.

3.75/5 ⭐️

This has a dark sense of humor to it and talks openly about murder, suicide, mental health and other things. Please be sure to check out the trigger warnings before proceeding!

I found this hilariously devastating. I suffer from depression and anxiety, as many of us do, but I deal with my situations and darkness by using humor and I felt like Gilda did that throughout the book. The way she handled things and her inner voice was so spot on in some parts I couldn’t help but to feel like I was in my own head at times.

I thought this was a good read and I was fully immersed each time I picked it up. The short paragraph portions throughout the books parts really made this an easy read.

This is a terrific book for everyone who is fucking tired of “Main Character Energy.”

This book is incredibly affecting in small ways. There is really nothing like it. The story centers on Gilda, a character that, of all the characters in the book, seems to inhabit a more liminal, less "main character energy" space. I mean, there’s Gilda’s brother, an alcoholic twentysomething rubberbanded back to his childhood home, where his actual secrets are on Polaroids in a box under the bed. And this guy spends most of the book not texting Gilda back! There’s an eldercare CNA suspected of murdering her clients, but she lives not as the unreliable narrator but in the pages of the local newspaper. There’s all these characters who are dealing with profound grief - a jocular widower, a guilty priest, a repressed father, a stoic old lady who knows how to use email.

But the book's narrative comes from Gilda who barely even knows herself, a living foible falling into wacky best friend tropes. But instead of panic attacks played for laughs, or queer relationships played for tragedy, we get the reality. Life isn’t one lesson wrapped in a Valencia-filtered experience after another. People are flippant and predictable. And in life, many of us have ER visits as a stand-in for actual health care. i certainly have. Multiple times in this book a doctor’s referral to a mental health care professional isn’t taken, not because there’s some great choice made by Gilda to stay repressed, but because doctor referrals rarely get followed up. And it’s not because any of us are bad people who need to learn a lesson in self-care. That just happens all the time!

What I’m saying is, in this book queer girls go on a date Applebee’s, and it’s not ironic.

2 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

I could not get into this contemporary fiction book about an anxious young woman obsessed with death.

Gilda is anxious, can't keep a job and is obsessed with death. She thinks about it all the time. When she responds to an ad for free therapy at a Catholic church, she finds herself accidentally hired as the new church receptionist, despite the fact that she's secretly an atheist, replacing the previous receptionist who died under mysterious circumstances. At work Gilda starts getting emails from the deceased receptionist's friend and too afraid to let her know her friend is dead, Gilda starts responding. The premise sounds good, but I just couldn't get into the book.

I found reading about Gilda's constant running inner dialogue tedious to read and none of her "stories" or thoughts seemed to have a point or relate to each other. I couldn't make it through the book and stopped about half way through. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it had I stuck it out, but if I can't get into a book half-way through, I have to give up. There are way too many books to read to waste the time.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Atria Books. All opinions are my own.

That was an incredibly interesting and entertaining book. It definitely was not my typical read but I found myself laughing, crying, smiling, and having all of the emotions. Thank you atria and Netgalley for my copy! I loved it!

I was sent a free digital copy of this book. The main character is an atheist lesbian who unexpectedly takes a job at a Catholic Church. The email I was sent said it’s “darkly funny” and I’d say it’s definitely more dark than funny. That being said, I’d be open to reading something else by this author because the writing style was unique and different. *Trigger warning for anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.

This book was structured unlike anything I have ever read, but I did not hate it. The main character, Gilda, is a 27-year old lesbian who is atheist. In an effort to try and cope with her anxiety, she attempts to seek therapy, but somehow ends up with a job as a secretary for a Catholic Church. The book is definitely dark as we see the story through Gilda's eyes--where she struggles through life dealing with depression and anxiety. This was a one of a kind read that I was pleasantly surprised by.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced a-arc for honest review.

As a non-Catholic who went to a Catholic university, I really appreciated the perspective and related with it. I don't know if it's the perfect book for everyone, but it was the perfect book for me!

I liked this story. But I didn't love it.
Gilda is very human and, as readers, we learn about every random thought she ever has.
The storyline is funny and odd and bizarre.
Overall, the whole book is written in a very ADHD way. And I've got ADHD, so I could follow it.
But it just took a bit too long to end.
I guess the journey is the point?
It has a good theme that you cannot count out people by putting labels on them. We're all human and we all just want to connect.
The narrator does a wonderful job and she has a very familiar voice. I look forward to listening to more of her work.
Thanks for the advanced copy, NetGalley!

I loved this book! 28-year-old Gilda is...... bizarre. She is obsessed with death, obsessed to the point of losing friends, jobs, and often having run-ins with family. Throughout this she is also lying to many of those around her, including her new employer. As Gilda is settling into her new job, she is also exploring the recent death of Grace, the woman who used to have that position. For as much as there is going on, the book moved really quickly and kept me interested and wanting to know more.

4/5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and

From the cover to the character of Gilda ,I was completely drawn in.Gilda suffers from anxiety and depression at one moment she had me laughing hysterically at another I felt her pain.Gilda who is gay who is trying to fit in a character that will stay in my mind long after I read the last page.#netgalley #atria

Twenty-eight year old Gilda takes on on a stream of consciousness journey through her disorganized ad confused life as she tries to make sense of her truly chaotic perception of the world. A self professed lesbian atheist, she nevertheless accidentally gets hired to be a church secretary in a Catholic Church since she knows how to use a computer and everyone else is clueless. Her long time predecessor, Grace, has recently died and Gilda takes it upon herself to find the murderer. Besides a look into a truly disturbed but barely functioning thought process, the book had little to offer me.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

Everyone in This Room will Someday Be Dead is the wry story of an atheist, lesbian who falls into a job as a receptionist in a Catholic Church. Gilda suffers from debilitating anxiety and her frequent visits to the ER are both poignant and hysterical. The novel is well done, but I found it too difficult to connect to the characters to care what happened.

A huge thank you to @Netgalley Emily Austin and @atriabooks for the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3 stars

I read this book in one sitting, not before I was head over heels in love with the story, but because I was invested in the main character, Gilda. Gilda is a 28-year-old, anxiety riden, atheist, lesbian who is completely fixated on death. Death is all she can think about. She has her fair share of depression and anxiety, which lands her in the ER extremely often. All the staff knows who she is because of her constant visits. One day, Gilda decides to finally seek mental health help and somehow ends up in an interview for an assistant position for the Catholic Church. Gilda becomes the replacement for the 86-year-old woman, Grace, who passed away suspiciously.
Honestly, there wasn't much to this story line. Gilda wants to come to the bottom of how Grace died and that is the whole extent of this book. I wasn't a hug fan of this book but am glad I gave it a shot.