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.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an arc of this book! All opinions are my own.

I have been waiting for the next Emily Austin book after I absolutely devoured Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead and this book did not disappoint. All I wanted to do was read this book and I found myself taking a little-too-long lunch breaks at work just to keep reading.

In this book we meet Enid, a woman obsessed with space and true crime whose paranoia slowly takes over her whole life as the book progresses. Enid drives this book and I found myself right there with her as she worries about her neighbor, her coworkers, and her family. As someone who can related to Enid ( a LOT), the ending of the book gives me hope for all of us weird women out there.

Emily Austin is an auto-read author for me and I can't wait to see what's next!!

I went into this book thinking it would be funny and light - but it was kind of the opposite. It was sad, dark and weird. There was behavior related to trauma that we didn't learn about until the end, and it made me wonder WTF was happening during the majority of the book. I found the main character to be hard to like, there was too much focus on her being "weird" to the point of annoying. We all have our quirks and when they are constantly brought to the attention of others they become everything that you are and not just a part of your personality. There were many parts of the book that just lost me and made it hard for me to really truly love it. It was a very quick read though, so if you are looking for something different and fun, this may be a better fit for you.
Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

"Interesting Fact about Space" is a contemporary story about a woman, Enid, who is utterly obsessed with space, which I found to be incredibly relatable because like Enid, I, too, am really fascinated by space. Enid has a phobia of bald men, (lol), she is a lesbian (great LGBT rep!), she has an obsession with true crime (who doesn't?), and she’s trying to forge a new relationship with her half-sisters after the death of her absent father.

Enid is such a unique and interesting character to me.. She spends most of the book pondering if she is a bad person and feeling paranoid that someone is following her and breaking into her home. I can relate to her more than I care to admit, haha. There is something so witty and charming about this story despite at times the subject matter getting heavy/sad.

I really enjoyed Emily Austin's writing in this book and I feel like this is one of those books that reminds its readers that it’s OK to be who we are, and more importantly, that it’s OK to NOT be OK. I really enjoyed this one and it has me interested in reading more books from this Austin,

This was an EASY 5 star rating and I will be recommending it to my space-obsessed friends and family members and will be purchasing a hard copy ASAP!

16/02/2024
*netgalley arc* I didn't realize this book was from the same author as everyone in this room will someday be dead when i requested it on netgalley. I have had eitrwsbd on my tbr for the longest time now and after reading this im even more excited to read this. I am so lucky and thankful that I got approved for this because I truly think i just found my favourite book! Despite coverage of alot of heavy subject matter, this book felt like a big warm hug to me. I felt seen in alot of ways and somehow that mixed in with the smooth pose of the writing brought me alot of comfort. It is a poignant tale of feeling unfitting which I think many of us have felt at some point and for others maybe a whole lives told with alot of love in it. If you haven't, check it out!

I absolutely loveeeee this author and I will be reading everything she does for the rest of her career. She writes the most fun and quirky lesbian characters and it’s so enjoyable!

Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead was one of my favorite books of 2022, so I was very excited to dig into this. I liked this book slightly less — I’m more of a Gilda than an Enid so I was less personally affected by every word — but it’s still fantastic. Emily Austin knows how to write lesbians with feelings!

Have you ever worried that something was inherently wrong with you? This is the question at the heart of Interesting Facts About Space. At first, I found this book slow and kind of aimless, but it wrapped up fantastically. Emily Austin writes with incredible insight into the human experience. Even without experiencing the same things as Enid, I was able to deeply engage in her experience and find myself represented in her character as well. There is such empathy in this writing, and the novel guides the reader to a place of both hope and humanity.

I loved this book so much. I was trying to come up with a more specific genre than contemporary to describe this to my wife and I came up with “mentally ill lesbian” as the most apt genre, and after this book, I want to read more in that genre. Everyone go read this, especially if you ever wonder if you are secretly a terrible person.

Emily Austin’s writing is incredible. In her second novel Interesting Facts About Space, Austin gives us an intimate look inside main character Enid’s head as she navigates relationships with her adult half-sisters, a new partner, and her mom, and faces a serious phobia of bald men. Enid’s physical and mental health is handled with such care, and I internally cheered every time she expressed a feeling to a loved one and they could relate. Emily Austin is officially an auto-read author for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Enid loves space and true crime, has a phobia of bald men, and thinks she might be a terrible person. After years of only hooking up, she thinks she might be falling for someone. She's afraid someone is breaking into her apartment and she worries constantly about her mother. This is the story of a short time in Enid's life when things start to turn around.

Like Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead, Austin brings to life a character grappling with mental illness. I sped through this book, with its ample chapter breaks and relatable characters. It is character-driven with excellent writing. I'll continue to pick up Austin's work in future.

Wow! Emily Austin does it again. She somehow knows how to perfectly capture the human experience in a realistic and funny way. I see so much of myself in her characters.

I was such a huge fan of "Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead" so I had super high expectations for "Interesting Facts About Space" and I was not disappointed in the slightest.

We need more characters like Enid who are real and flawed and just trying to get through life in the best way they can.

If you want to think a lot about your life and why you are the way you are and have some good laughs along the way pick up this book.

5/5 stars!

This book is genuinely funny HAHA like some of my highlights genuinely made me laugh out loud. Enid is a mid-twenties woman who feels socially awkward 24/7 and has a terrifyingly debilitating fear of bald men. We learn about her and the trauma from her past throughout the novel in a way that does make you feel for her, especially when she touched upon her experience as a hard of hearing individual. I liked the character dynamics, the side characters added a lot, and I was really rooting for Enid throughout the whole book.

Even though I liked our main character, I found the book overall quite repetitive - and I think the pacing of the book is a bit jolted? Like, I did enjoy how the story wrapped up but the very end feels SO abrupt compared to the rest of the book that it took me by surprise. I enjoyed Austin’s writing and will definitely be checking out her debut and future books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

I liked Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead but enjoyed this one a lot more and flew through it in days. I don't want to give too much away, as the story unfurls and ends up being much more than it appeared at the outset. The book I finished just before this one was full of flat, unbelievable characters, so Austin's world of fully fleshed-out, complex people was a pleasure to inhabit. She's funny and smart and insightful and weaves a mystery, space facts, true crime podcasts, trauma recovery, and family into the best novel I've read so far this year.