📚 Book Review 📚

🚀 Interesting Facts About Space ☄️


When I found out Emily Austin was publishing another novel I had to check it out because I really enjoyed Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead. Like her previous book, this one has a very quirky protagonist struggling with her mental health. Enid (the protagonist from this book) "deals" with her mental health struggles by avoiding them. The title refers to one of her preferred avoidance tactics, focusing on interesting facts about space. Enid is relatable amd loveable with a deep fear that she is not a good person. She struggles with her family relationships as she tries to forge a new relationship with her half sisters after the death or her estranged father yet still remain supportive towards her mother. She keeps much to herself out of fear but when she finally allows herself to share some of her thoughts and fears she finds that not only is she not alone in her feelings, but she is deeply loved by those around her. This is a quirky feel-good story that I highly recommend!

What a read! Although a little difficult to follow at times, Interesting Facts about Space is a book centered around character development than plot-- something that took me time to accustom to the nuances of the developments of each character. The intensity of the simple moments throughout Enid's life portrayed a character struggling to come to terms with herself and her relationships with others. Overall, a great, easy read with much food for thought.

'Interesting Facts about Space' has that magic that always comes from Austin's writing. Her voice is so unique: a mix of dark and casual, quirky and almost surreal, but very grounded in reality, detached but deep.

The plot is hard to consolidate, but the basics are that we have Enid, a neurodivergent, half-deaf, lesbian who works an office job at a space agency, obsessively listens to true crime podcasts, and spends a significant portion of her life checking in on her mentally ill mother, with whom she connects by sharing interesting facts about space. Enid has largely blocked out her past, has a massive fear of blind men and is terrified of someone who may or may not be breaking into her apartment. She has also newly connected with her two half-sisters after the death of their father — who had abandoned Enid and her mother — and that relationship is still being developed. Enid also regularly hooks up with women, but never in a way where there's something personal, until a unique connection that we get to explore (and which I loved). We are entirely in Enid's head as this is all happening, and it's fascinating to see how she views the world.

I really enjoyed the book for the most part, and highlighted a good amount of the writing. It does feel like about halfway through there's a change that's too sudden and poorly developed, and that felt like a weird departure/change of personality, that could have been written much better.

If you, like me, have ever worried that you’re a terrible person, you might identify with Enid. She thinks she may have a parasite inside of her, is afraid of bald men, and can’t really remember anything of her adolescence. She rewatches YouTube videos from that time that she can’t delete to torture herself. True Crime podcasts are her comfort zone, and she serial dates women without ever having lasting relationships with them. When she starts dating (?) the wife of one of her hookups, someone breaks into her house, and her paranoia takes over. Do we deserve happiness if we think we’re horrible people? Does anyone else ever really understand us, and are some feelings universal?

I absolutely loved this book. I picked it up because I enjoyed Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, and I wasn’t disappointed with Austin’s sophomore effort. I identified more than I’d maybe like with Enid, and I appreciated all of the actual facts about space, hence the title. It’s funny, heartbreaking, and relatable. I recommend for my fellow neurodivergents and anyone who has ever felt like they are the only one who ever felt or experienced something. It will remind you that you’re not alone.

OOF. i wasn't sure what to expect with this book when all i had heard was the main character had a phobia of bald men but i definitely didn't realize it would be a deep exploration of her trauma. a lot of aspects of this book made me feel uncomfortable in the best way because it just felt so REAL. i was rooting for enid the whole book and i love how every question i had was answered by the end. this makes me really excited to read more from this author because i loved the discussions on mental health, as well as gender and sexuality, that she brought up in this book. also, the title is super accurate because there were definitely a lot of interesting facts about space!

tw: ptsd, ableism

Enid is an anxious lesbian who loves true crime and has a serious phobia of bald men. She’s trying to form some sort of relationship with the half-sisters her estranged dead father left behind. And she constantly calls her mom to share space facts and to check in on her. OKAY! While this made me laugh out loud a few times, it kind of felt like a lesser plotless version of EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD. I read EVERYONE in January so it’s fresh and the emotional profiles of Enid and Gilda are just way too similar. I was excited to see Austin’s range, but this had me wondering if she has any? 🥴 Not my fave, but also not my least fave. Maybe my expectations were too high.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I love a quirky narrator, and this delivered on that, plus it centered on a queer person, so even more bonus points! As I tried to describe this book to my partner, it was hard to nail down what the "plot" was beyond getting to know the protagonist. It did eventually build up the suspense, but I didn't care because the book was such a delight to read.

A sweet story that makes you stop to think about neurodivergence and how awesome it makes the universe. Loved the plot and character development.

The main character in this book is neurodivergent and this book is written in first person. That means we’re hearing her thoughts about the world and her interactions with people in the way that she perceives everything. This makes it a bit hard to get into. For quite a bit of the book, I was struggling to find a plot or purpose. However, that being said I really appreciated the perspective on neurodivergent thought processes. I really liked the book, the space facts were of course, awesome. Overall a quirky and unique book.

Emily Austin is an auto-buy author for me. I love her weird little books and characters and writing style. Flew through this and felt like our MC was SO relatable to fellow millennials. All the stars!

This is my first Emily Austin read, but will not be my last. I enjoyed the character development of Enid and I appreciated the authenticity with which the relationship between Enid and her mother was written. I found myself hoping Enid would stop self-deprecating and see how loved and appreciated she is by her family and friends, but as she develops throughout the story, it is clear that she was carrying heavy trauma. I would like a prequel to this book that delves more into the relationship between Enid and Chelsea, and I’d love to see what an interaction between them would look like in adulthood. That level of Enid’s past experience and present identity really upset me. No one deserves to be bullied. While I give this book 3.5/5 stars, I did enjoy the story that was told and the character development. I just needed more plot line or maybe more pacing to the “big reveal” about the fire.

All in all, I loved the author’s writing style and look forward to enjoying more of her books.

thank you netgalley for the advance copy.
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i want to inject everything this author writes straight into my veins. this was so good and, even though i don’t have a phobia of bald men, very relatable

A poignant, funny, wise story that I’ll think on a lot post-read. Beautiful writing and characters! Loved this one.

I loved Enid's complicated, loving mother-daughter relationship as well as her best-friendship. But I was distracted by what felt like uneven pacing, multiple willfully delayed resolutions, and slapstick-seeming scenarios.

In Emily Austin's Interesting Facts about Space, Enid is obsessed with space, and she could talk all day about black holes and the universe. She uses the sharing of space facts to deflect from emotions, uncomfortable situations, and facing the truth.

In her spare time, Enid loves true crime podcasts and dates a variety of women from dating apps. She's beginning to understand that she's coping with past trauma that she's blocked; that she has social anxiety; that she has phobias and isn't clear on their roots; and that she's operating under a consistently high level of stress.

Meanwhile she's trying to come to terms with the death of her previously absent father--and build relationships with her estranged half-sisters. Her quirky, beloved mother struggles with depression, and Enid struggles to keep an eye on her.

Enid is exploring a new love interest when she becomes consumed by the idea that someone is following her. (And the stalker seems to have her most feared quality: he's a bald man.) Is this a paranoia inspired by her podcast listening? Or is someone really after her?

I was intrigued by the book's premise, and I loved the science facts Enid spouted off at times, but in general, the story's tone frequently felt oddly zany, and the pacing felt uneven to me.

At times the novel was so absurd as to seem slapstick, so that the important issues underlying the story were potentially poignant but not actually (for me) so. The bald-man phobia and the stalker premise were each so over the top in their willfully delayed resolutions, I felt myself growing irritated.

I loved the idea of a complicated, imperfect, thrillingly expanding unconventional family. I loved the mother-daughter love. And I loved Enid's best-friendship. But I thought Enid's romantic "love," when it was called such, felt juvenile in that it seemed superficial, based on brief and limited connection, attraction, interest, and knowledge.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of NetGalley and Atria Books.

emily austin's debut 'everyone in this room will someday be dead' very quickly became one of my favourite books of 2021, and her sophomore novel 'interesting facts about space' was just as fun & quirky as her first. the book follows enid, a lesbian obsessed with space & true crime, and afraid of bald men, who fills her time going on dates & forging relationships with her estranged half-sisters after their father dies. but very quickly, enid begins to spiral into paranoia that someone is following her, and that something may be wrong with herself, too. i loved following enid's thought spirals, as they were the perfect combination of dark & hilarious. austin's humour really shines in this one, and while i loved her first more, this one is definitely not one to miss.

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily R Austin was a very interesting read. I didn’t really know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised. Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you anything about it at any time. She loves to learn more about it and she loves to tell her mom these facts. She is quirky and fun and has a very strange phobia, bald men. She listens to true crime podcasts and she serial dates women from different dating apps. She can’t seem to find the right one or commit to the right one. While living in her little world , she is also trying to connect with her half sisters.
Th in its start to get weird when she is convinced she is being followed. She can’t figure out who it is but she has a guess. But she can’t prove it and as the days go on she start to lose her mind. As her mid spirals out of control, she can’t get out of her own way. This was a quick, engaging read. Enid was such an honest character. She has flaws and idiosyncrasies but she is human and I appreciated it. This was a 4 star read for me. I enjoyed the story and the characters. I want to thank Netgalley, Atria Books and the author for my copy of This book for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this one. I hope you enjoy it too.

A quick but not necessarily fun read. You get sucked into Enid’s frame of mind immediately. I always love an emotional journey revolving around the madness of women. Would recommend.

3.5 ⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Receiving an advanced copy was a delightful surprise. I believe both existing fans and newcomers will find it equally enjoyable.

I loved this book from the first page. Enid is just the type of quirky character that I love to read about and find such a connection with- I was hooked! I’m very interested to find other works by Emily Austin now!

I feel like this book is deceptive in that it comes across as kind of light and funny but was actually quite dark. I think I'd like this better if I re-read it but the whole time I was wondering what was up with Enid, the MC, if she was just quirky for the sake of being quirky or if there was something else going on, and for that reason the book fell somewhat flat for me. I do think the story was enjoyable and it was easy to fly through but maybe was just not what I was expecting, nor could I completely follow where it was going.