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.

4.5 ⭐️! I spent about the first 1/4 of this book asking myself what the heck I was reading, but was so intrigued by its quirky nature and compelling writing that I ended up finishing it in less than 24 hours.

Interesting Facts About Space is one of those stories that has very minimal plot but such well-written characters. It centers around a neurodivergent person and focuses heavily on mental health and self-discovery/acceptance while told through a humorous lens. I also appreciated the LGBTQ+ representation!

The way IFAS is told makes me think of “Juno meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” Idk a better way to describe it 😂

(Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books, and Emily R. Austin for a free e-ARC in exchange for this honest review!)

Emily Austin is proving to be one of my favorite authors of whom I will read anything they write. I adored this book and its neurodivergence. I found myself relating to so many passages as an autistic person, and although everyone's autism presents differently, I think this book will be incredibly relatable to neurodivergent readers, especially those who question their own "goodness" often like Enid. The story almost felt like it was filled with autistic easter eggs, and every time I felt seen by an autistic trait that I share with Enid, I got a little excited. I appreciated that although Enid has a special interest in true crime that she is also self-critical of this and acknowledges the issues with the consumption and popularization of true crime that has affected real people's lives, while also highlighting that neurodivergent people often do not have a choice in their special interests, which doesn't make them bad people. I found myself laughing out loud so often while reading this, and one of my favorite scenes was the inner monologue as Enid prepared a "transphobic" gender reveal cake for her half-sister's baby shower.
In terms of critiques, I found some of Polly's dialogue to sound a little unnatural. I also wished Polly had taken more accountability for outing Enid to her step-mom, but her not properly apologizing in that situation that could just be a part of her character. I felt that a lot of the dates that Enid went on were not necessary to the story or moving along the plot, so I feel that some of those scenes could have been left out without compromising the book.
Overall, I adored this book and am so grateful to the publisher for allowing me early access to read it. I felt so seen as an autistic lesbian by this story, and I will be recommending it to all of my neurodivergent queer friends.

~ARC provided through NetGalley~

The amount of relief I felt knowing I'd end 2023 reading at least one truly great novel. Emily Austin really wowed me with her debut, "Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead." Her out-of-sync, odd female protagonist Gilda struck a chord with me and I recommended that book to everyone. It was so refreshing to get a new Austin book and find it had the weirdness and curiosity that I was hoping for.

The main character, Enid, is born from the boygenius lyric: "When you cut a hole into my skull. Do you hate what you see like I do?" from "Souvenir." She is strange, self-loathing, and knows so many interesting facts about space. I love how the story meandered between the different relationships in Enid's orbit. They each felt so separate, but ended up weaving together in the most satisfying way. I also loved the representation of deafness. As someone who works with adolescents with hearing loss, many of whom have unilateral hearing loss, like Enid, I appreciated the ways in which Enid's hearing loss impacts her and adds to the story in a meaningful way.

This book should be on everyone's most anticipated list for 2024.

I think I’ll be reading anything Emily Austin writes now. Just like Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, this book is dark yet funny and has a very anxious lesbian protagonist with a distinct voice and inner thoughts. I found some parts of this almost painful to read but I also couldn’t put it down. I also think it’s a book that’s best read without knowing too much in advance. Highly recommend, with the content note that this deals with pretty severe mental health struggles and complicated family dynamics.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Follows a twenty-something queer, hearing impaired woman as she navigates complicated family and romantic relationships, all while attempting to manage her intense paranoia with true crime podcasts and talking about outer space. If you deal with mental illness in any capacity, you will feel incredibly seen by this main character. It’s both hilarious and heartfelt, a really stunning look at the intricacies of an anxious mind and how it affects all aspects of your life.

Last December I read and LOVED Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead by @emilyraustinauthor . I am happy to report that Austin’s new book, Interesting Facts About Space, is even better!

Emily Austin does such a great job of writing mentally ill and neurodivergent queer characters. I found myself highlighting line after line—she was able to put into words so many familiar feelings and experiences. The cast of supporting characters also really shine in this novel! I loved seeing Enid grow with the support of her family and friends.

If you liked Emily Austin’s first novel (which if you haven’t read, you should!) I can’t recommend her new novel enough! Interesting Facts About Spaced releases on January 30th, 2024. Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Lots of mental health issues in this story and if you're not a fan of main characters that can't seem to get out of their own way, you'd better skip this one. I'm usually not bothered by such, but even I could feel my frustration with Enid start to build. Maybe things hit a little too close to home? I'm glad I stuck with her though because the payoff was worth it. There's so much packed into this novel and everything is so difficult, but it's also pretty darn beautiful. Fans of Emily Austin will not be disappointed.
#NetGalley

Interesting Facts About Space is the simultaneously hilarious, perplexing, and devastating story of 20-something Enid, a queer woman who’s navigating a career, challenging family and romantic relations, and the nuances of neurodivergence, mental illness, and hearing loss. She also uses true crime media as her primary coping mechanism, knows a lot about space, and has a severe phobia of bald men.

I can’t fully explain how much Emily Austin’s main characters - Enid here and Gilda in Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead - mean to me, or how her writing communicates so many things I’ve thought and felt with such insight and precision. With Interesting Facts About Space, Austin has established herself as one of my all-time favorite, must-read authors, and I can’t wait for whatever’s next.

Thanks to netgalley and atria for an early copy of this incredible book.

Honestly through a good chunk of this book I kept thinking wtf?? It all comes together in the end however.

Enid comes across as a very mentally unwell person. She’s trying to protect her depressive mother, still healing from her father abandoning them to have a whole new family, figuring out how to have a relationship with her half sisters, paranoia, fear of bald men and a whole lot of relationship drama.

It all comes together when she FINALLY goes to therapy (thank God) cause yeah that was a lot.

Tbh this was such heavy lifting and Enid comes across as so unlikable I’m not sure I’d recommend this one unless you enjoy the mess of someone in the midst of a healing journey.

This was fantastic. This book just pulled me out of a three-month reading slump. I absolutely devoured it.

The story follows a 20-something queer woman named Enid as she navigates her relationships, career, mental health, and an irrational fear of bald men. It's at once hilarious, devastating, and deeply relatable. Austin is a literary genius.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoyed Austin's first novel, Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead, as well as fans of authors such as Sally Rooney, Elif Batuman, and Melissa Broder.

I am so grateful to have read this book.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this title.

I can’t say enough good things about this book!!! I loved Emily R Austin’s last book and, now that I’ve read this one as well, I can confirm that she is my favorite author.

Enid is all of us, trying to hide and wanting to be seen. Doing good person things and still believing you might be terrible.

I’m so thankful I was able to get an ARC of this book and I can’t wait to buy a hard copy when it releases in January!

I really enjoyed this book. I was sort of misled with the title (I was hoping for the facts about space to direct the narrative), I still loved all of the facts about space. I think this book is what I'm beginning to label "explorations of self", and these are not books I typically gravitate towards, but am finding myself pick up more often.

I think this is a really well-written book about trauma, grief, anxiety, and life in general. I related a lot to Enid and how she processes things. Though I was sort of confused on where we were going and what journey she was taking me on, I was happy to let go of the reins.

The way Emily Austin can embed you deeply into her MC's brain is so impressive. I enjoyed Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead, but this novel is even better.