An anxiety ridden girl who feels guilty over how much true crime content she consumes? You had me at hello.

This author is such a gift to the writing world. Her last novel is one of my all time favorites, and she brought the same energy and a completely different story to this one. Enid was such a real and relatable character; even when she was making bad choices I loved her and wanted to be her friend. She had a phobia of bald men and I never once laughed or rolled my eyes at her for it, which I think comes back to what an amazing writer Emily Austin is.

"A fast paced, hilarious, and ultimately hopeful novel" truly is the best description, so kudos to whoever wrote that. I laughed, I teared up a little, and I devoured the entire book in less than 24 hours.

☆ REVIEW ☆

“My hobbies include listening to murder stories, having casual lesbian sex, and telling my mom interesting facts about space.”

I have truly never been as excited to get my hands on an ARC as I was with Interesting Facts About Space. As soon as I finished reading Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead, I knew I had to read whatever Emily Austin wrote next.

Interesting Facts About Space is silly, heartfelt, and weird in the best way. Enid loves true crime podcasts and telling her mom interesting facts about space. She also has an intense phobia of bald men. The story follows Enid as she navigates her first serious relationship, complicated family dynamics, and mounting paranoia.

I felt so seen by this book and I’m confident I’ll be an Emily Austin fan for life. She writes about mental health and disability with an unflinching honesty that I really appreciate. Austin’s stories are both highly contemporary and refreshingly human.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC! Interesting Facts About Space will be released on January 30th.

*4.75 stars*

If you liked Everyone in This Room will Someday Be Dead, or you like books about messy women, you will love this one.

Enid is trying to figure out her life and herself while dealing with trauma, mental illness, disability, and complicated family. I love the way Austin writes these messy, anxious characters that are so relatable, Enid’s anxiety spirals and masking worries really resonated with my younger self. This is funny, touching, and very hard to put down. Throw in some interesting facts about space and what more could you want!

The ending wraps everything up nicely, but I wish it could have been a little longer to have had more time with these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. Never have I been more excited and hopeful to receive an ARC as I was for Interesting Facts About Space. I am a huge fan of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead and plan to read every future published work of Emily R. Austin.

I think there is a little bit of Enid in all of us. I am a similar age to Enid (and the author) and she really hit the nail on the head with some of the nostalgic elements in the novel. I will be highly recommending this book to everyone I talk to about books. And I can't wait for the release of Gay Girl Prayers.

There are so many interesting facts about space.
Here are some interesting facts about the protagonist of this novel: she’s obsessed with true crime podcasts, she’s deaf in one ear, she thinks someone’s been sneaking into her apartment, she’s never had a relationship for longer then two or three months, She’s very close with her mother, she orders women off of Tinder like takeout for casual hook ups, she had two half-sisters she’d only recently met, she believes there is a darkness inside her, oh and she has an inexplicable phobia of bald men.
See, queer and quirky, just like the market currently enjoys. Would have been rather trite, but Austin’s too good of a writer for that, making what may have been a collection of gimmicks into a compelling story. No small trick considering that I actually didn’t care much for the protagonist. Yet I was totally in for the ride of her finally sorting herself out. Despite some dark elements, it’s actually a rather optimistic book, shining all kinds of light on the other end, presenting life as both less dangerous and more welcoming than one might have expected. Hopeful, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Quick, humorous, engaging read. Thanks Netgalley.

I love this second book by Emily Austin! It has the same tone as Austin's first book, Everyone In This Room Will Be Dead Someday. The main character in this one is Enid who lives in Ottawa and works as an information architect at a space research centre. She is deaf in one ear, a lesbian, space obsessed, and navigating complicated family relationships. The characters in this book are flawed, interesting and relatable. If you like realistic contemporary fiction with found-family themes and direct conversations about mental health and neurodiversity you'll like this. Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman who are open to reading about slightly older characters.
P.S. One point I had difficulty with this book was Enid's age. She is 26 years, old, but has worked at her job for 4 years, which means that she would have finished her graduate program at 22 years old -- this is a little tight. Also, one of Enid's half-sisters is a nurse, but the eldest one is supposed to be at least seven years younger than Enid. So she would be a 19 year old nurse? It seemed like Enid was supposed to be in her 30s, but maybe the editors wanted her to be younger? This is the second book I've read recently where the character's experiences and timelines don't match with their age. I think it would make more sense if Enid was at least 10 years older in this book.

This is a beautifully written story about a protagonist named Enid. We follow her inner thoughts as she is trying to navigate her life around relationships while also struggling with anxiety and ptsd. She has a fear of bald men, long term commitments, and showing others her true self. She is obsessed with space facts and true crime podcasts.

There's not much of a plot per se but I think that just adds more to the appeal. This is very character driven and Enid is someone that many of us can relate to. Both funny and heartfelt, Emily Austin did a fantastic job!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this arc

Fleabag meets Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Very on-brand for this author: darkly comedic contemporary fiction about a 27-year-old lesbian struggling with mental illness. If you liked Austin’s first novel, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, you’ll almost certainly like this one as well. I read most of it in a day. Kudos for not going where I thought it was going, and for (in my opinion as a therapy patient but not a therapist) a pretty realistic portrayal of therapy.

I learned so much from "meeting" Enid in Interesting Facts About Space; she is a character that will stay with me for a long time. I have attended gender reveal parties in the past, and did not consider how members of the lgbtq community might feel about these parties, but seeing a gender reveal party through Enid's eyes will stay with me. This is the power of books! As readers, we get to live so many lives, and grow in our empathy for all people. Interesting Facts About Space was not a funny and lighthearted read for me, but it was a sad, beautiful and important read for me. My heart particularly ached reading Enid's thoughts during her father's funeral; her father had left her and her mother when Enid was young and was the dad she wished he had for his new family. I think Interesting Facts About Space is a solid addition to the realistic fiction genre, which will benefit from Enid's voice and perspective.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the manuscript for review purposes.

A lovely book about a young woman who seems to be spiraling in her personal life and at work. We meet Enid who is queer and seemingly neurodivergent. She works for a nasa like company and is obsessed with:
Facts abt space
True crime podcasts
Casual dating
Checking on her mom

She hates:
Bald men
Long term commits

As we follow Enid in her daily life of work, dating and avoiding bald men we learn more and more about her past, her relationship with her mom and her half sisters.

This is a very quirky book and lovers of Eleanor Oliohant will surely love this one. I found myself very engaged throughout the whole novel, I laughed a few times and felt a swell of protection for Enid as well.

A great read and one I’ll be recommending this year!

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Interesting Facts about Space releases January 30, 2024

Enid is an avid listener of true crime podcasts and is not known to date exclusively, yet somehow seems to unknowingly find herself as the other woman of relationships more than she’d like.
She gives her best effort when reconnecting with her estranged half sisters, and helping her mother in the depths of her depressive episodes.

When Enid starts to notice unlocked and opened windows and slightly moved objects around her house, she’s convinced that someone is stalking her; coupled with her phobia of bald men and the fact that her new neighbour happens to be bald, you could say it’s not looking good for Enid.

This story is genuinely humorous and unapologetically authentic, encompassing one’s flaws, doubts, and all. The characterizations, thought processes, and scenarios all felt realistic and relatable.
I loved the lgbtq rep, hard of hearing (half deaf) rep, the use of space facts as a coping mechanism, and how deeply accurate depression, ptsd, mental health, and neurodivergence (autism) were depicted.

Everything comes together in a really satisfying and heartwarming way, so I’d recommend sticking it out until the very end with this one!

Thanks to Atria for this ARC!

A little about Enid:
- her family relationships are complicated
- her romantic relationships with women are short or nonexistent
- she’s deaf in one ear
- she listens to true crime podcasts constantly
- she’s afraid of bald men
- she loves to tell her mom interesting facts about space.

Interesting Facts about Space, in short, is Enid’s story, with an exploration on relationships and physical and mental health. I read this book just two sittings because I found it so intriguing. It’s also weird, because it’s about Enid and Enid is weird. It’s an absolutely compulsive read, and I loved the growth throughout these few hundred pages. This is for you if you’re into character-driven stories or enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

In “Interesting Facts About Space,” Enid is in her late 20s and nearing a breaking point. She’s dating casually because she’s afraid of people seeing her real self, she’s unsure if she’s hallucinating about people breaking into her apartment and she’s listening to way too many true crime podcasts. As Enid realizes she has real feelings for a new woman in her life, she also realizes it may finally be time to get help and face her past.

I did like this book. Enid is a great protagonist - dry, generally self aware, frank with the reader about her inner monologue and phobias. I enjoyed seeing her work on her relationship with her mom, and Polly, and her friend Vin.

The ending felt a little rushed, for me, and tied up so nicely. Every question gets answered in the last two chapters, and I would preferred to live a little longer in the aftermath of these realizations.

But I will recommend to others! Especially those that listen to too many true crime podcasts.

How do you begin to a review a book that touched you in a way most books haven’t? I felt like Emily Austin had reached through the pages and the words and was seeing me directly. As an autistic lesbian with PTSD, OCD, anxiety and depression reading about Enid (the mc) was like looking in a mirror in a distinctly uncomfortable way because of how *clear* the reflection was. The way she felt so out of place and out of touch with herself as a kid, the way she couldn’t tell what memories she had made up and which were real, (and so so much more) made me feel so seen. I’m not hard of hearing like Enid, but I struggle with auditory processing and like Enid constantly feel like I’m missing parts of conversations or will reply to something without knowing what the other person said because you’re to embarrassed or anxious to ask them to repeat themselves. Across the whole book Enid is abused by strangers who think she’s purposefully ignoring them when in reality she can’t hear them, and that scene where she finds the courage to stand up for herself was so triumphant! I will say please be careful going into this book if you are easily triggered, as I myself found this book super triggering, even though I absolutely loved it. The writing was phenomenal, and the chapter style with the little episodic ‘snapshot’ paragraphs lended themselves very well to the overall paranoia that we see Enid experiencing. Austin writes an unreliable narrator very well. The whole book felt like a hallucination, was what you were reading actually happening or was it just Enid’s paranoia? It was such an accurate example of what it’s like to live with ocd/paranoia. The way true crime was presented in this book and how it’s simultaneously feeding into Enid’s paranoia while also being comforting to her was super interesting to read, well written and nuanced. Polly and Enid’s relationship was so beautiful to read, especially the way that Polly would stand up for Enid, and the way they both connected over the other’s special interests. The relationship that Enid had with her mother was so complicated and compelling, and I definitely sobbed like a baby towards the end when Enid and her sister Edna connected about both feeling like they had an evil parasite inside. Emily Austin is an incredible writer and now I need to go read her other book! 5/5 stars

Before uploading this digital reviewer copy, I checked the book's Goodreads page and witnessed an avalanche of praise! Readers, without even reading it, were ready to trade internal organs for a copy, lauding Emily Austin's writing. I wondered why I hadn't delved into her work before, especially since the blurb resonated with me—quirky, peculiar, addicted to true crime podcasts, and grappling with a dysfunctional relationship with her mother. It felt like the author had written a book about me, and I wanted to ensure she hadn't spilled too many of my secrets.

Diving into the book, I soon realized that all the accolades fell short of capturing the brilliance of this novel. It has swiftly claimed a spot in my top five fictions of the year, and while voting for the Goodreads Choice Awards may be a tad premature, this book might have ruined me for others. It's exceptional, intelligent, mind-blowing, engaging, and takes your emotions on a rollercoaster of highs and lows. It's simultaneously sad and entertaining, unearthing complex emotions I didn't know I was grappling with.

Enter Enid—a 26-year-old, queer, randomly dating via apps, one-of-a-kind individual, probably on the spectrum, dealing with her inner demons in unconventional ways, mostly paranoid, and working in a space center with encyclopedic knowledge about space, which she loves sharing with her mom.

Her list of grievances includes:

Her father.
Gina: the woman her father left her mother for, starting another family.
Kids who were mean to her in elementary school.
All bald men: an unhealthy phobia with no known reason.
Anyone she loaned a pen to who didn't return it.
People who don't like cats.
A lady who spoke to her for an hour without telling her there was something in her teeth.
Men on the "women interested in women" side of dating apps.
Her landlord and all landlords, who keep texting her not to have a pet in her apartment, even though she doesn't have one!
Married people who try to date her.
People who get on public transportation before waiting for others to get off first.
Her habits include listening to murder stories, having casual lesbian sex, and telling her mom interesting facts about space. However, her routine takes a turn when her date's wife, Polly, shows up at her door crying. Enid lets her in, giving her a bath and offering a shoulder to cry on. This unconventional meeting sparks an unexpected connection, but Enid also becomes wary of someone breaking into her apartment and stalking her. Is it Polly's ex, her obsessive landlord, or her new bald neighbor? Why is she afraid of bald people, and what deeper fears is she avoiding?

Enid's journey to normalcy involves connecting with her half-sisters amid Gina's sarcastic comments, pushing her further into her shell. She must explore and confront her fears, unlocking the possibility of being loved in return.

Overall, it's a mind-blowing, perfect read that I wholeheartedly recommend. I'm thrilled to have discovered another brilliant, auto-approved author.

A heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sharing this fantastic book's digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

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Enid works for the space center. Having grown up to a single mother, unwanted by her father, and deaf in one ear, she’s no stranger to being label weird or quirky. With a manic-depressive mother, and her own paranoia, Enid is convinced something is fundamentally wrong with her. What else would explain why her father started a new family, her half sisters seem to ‘have it all’, her phobia of bald men, and why Enid can’t seem to sustain a romantic relationship for more than a few months. With seemingly only one friend, Vin, Enid is just trying to keep it all together and try and get the parasite inside her from getting out.

This is 100% a character driven novel. It’s an introspective look into Enid’s life and thoughts, with a ‘coming of age’ plotline. I tend to gravitate towards plot-based stories, but this one ended up with a firm grasp on my heart and man the ending got me. Austin explores a wide variety of topics from depression and PTSD to the challenges the deaf community faces. I would just recommend going into this book with an open mind and an open heart.

Interesting Facts About Space is truly a unique story. I wasn’t sure if I’d like this at first but by the end, I had developed such a soft spot for Enid, who is really a loving and caring person. I was so fully invested into her story that I was sad to see it end. Highly recommend especially if you just need something different.


Interesting Facts About Space comes out January 30, 2024. Huge thank you to Atria Books for my advanced copies in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC. This is also my BOTM pick for January 2024.

Emily Austin’s writing continues to be incredible. I loved Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead but found parts hard to read because it felt so bleak. Interesting Facts About Space is masterfully crafted to make us feel hope even when we feel the most unloveable. There’s so much of this book that is delightful to read and humorous in such unexpected ways that I found myself laughing in surprise.

However, it also made me feel seen in a way that is discomforting and in a way I don’t want to think about again. I’ve never related so heavily to character about things I didn’t want and still don’t want to acknowledge in myself. I was chuckling at Enid’s parasite comments and then at 80% in had to put down my kindle so I could Cry (read: choked sobbing) for the first time in probably a decade. I hate this book as much as I love it. I’m so grateful this was the first book I read in 2024.

Highly recommend.

Emily Austin writes as though she lives in my brain. She could write about absolutely anything and it would read like poetry to me and Interesting Facts About Space is no different. I had wildly high hopes for this book and it didn’t let me down in the slightest and I genuinely can’t wait to read everything she puts out!

Eccentric and fascinating Enid takes us through a raw and real journey of self-discovery, sexuality, familial relationships, and mental health. Through painfully relatable prose, Austin’s Enid is convinced she is a terrible person with a parasite lodged in her brain. With her phobia of bald men and seemingly never-ending knowledge of space facts, Enid struggles with creating and maintaining meaningful relationships and being comfortable with herself and her psyche.

In a similar vein to Austin’s Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead, her newest novel is highly character driven and very well done. Austin offers a vulnerable perspective of what it’s like to struggle with mental health. The novel’s primary focus surrounds mental health — with specific attention to parental neglect, trauma, PTSD, autism, depression, self-harm, anxiety, and neurodivergence. Tender and authentic, readers who experience mental health issues will love Enid and foster a sense of belonging as one traverses through her thoughts and worries.

I would recommend that people look into the content warnings of the novel before reading. I loved it but found that some parts were very relatable and a bit triggering. My one critique of the novel is that the ending felt a bit quick. However, it still works if one takes a step back to examine the novel as a whole. I’m so glad that this is the first thing I’ve finished in 2024 and am looking forward to Austin’s future works!

I love Emily’s writing. I’m a big fan. This one didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed this book a lot. I will be recommending this one.