Interesting Facts about Space is the first novel I’ve read by Emily Austin. The style of writing is extremely immersive and makes it an easy book to get lost in. Enid’s world is fascinating, blunt but passive, confusing but literal. To me, it was about surreal. Being hyper-aware of the minute details of someone’s life was unsettling but interesting. The romance aspect didn’t work for me, but the oddness and the way they tumbled forward was sweet. The not-quite mystery that carried through in the background stood out the most to me. It’s a memorable story for its uniqueness, but also for the genuine portrayal of neurodivergence and the complicated relationships within families.

Emily Austin is officially an auto-buy author.

'Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead' is one of my favorite books of all time, so I could NOT wait to read this. And guess what? 10/10! A million stars. AMAZING

Great mental health rep, engaging writing, realistic and flawed, but lovable characters <3

This was an interesting "sad girl" kind of book. Your main character is space-obsessed, lesbian, bald-man-fearing, half-deaf, true-crime-podcast-listener Enid who is struggling with dating woes and extreme anxiety and paranoia.

She's just live laugh loving and setting up grapes behind her door to catch the bald man who's maybe breaking into her apartment?? And sharing interesting facts about space with her mother when she doesn't know what else to say. She's quirky and extremely relatable and human. There were laugh-out-loud moments, and heartbreaking moments, with a weird almost-twist at the end. I enjoyed spending time with Enid. It had a "can't look away" quality to it even though it didn't have much plot to uncover.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

If you liked Eleanor Oliphant, then this book is for you. Enid was raw, real, and relatable. Part character study, part healing and addressing mental health, part love story, I read it in a single sitting!

Interesting Facts about Space is the new release by Emily R. Austin, author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead. It is funny and entertaining, reminiscent of Graeme Simison's The Rosie Project, but with a queer young female narrator. Enid finds true crime podcasts soothing, is deaf in one ear, has a phobia of bald men, and is an expert on space. Her social interactions are limited to brief hookups from the fourteen dating apps she has installed on her phone, one gay guy from work who gets her, and her depressed mother whom she communicates with largely through relating facts about space. When someone breaks into her apartment, her fears escalate to paranoia. Her way of seeing and interacting with the world will keep you chuckling while you turn the pages.

Interesting Facts About Space is a quirky, lovely book about self-discovery and self-acceptance and self-love, and about just how hard all of those things are to accomplish. Our narrator is Enid, who is obsessed with outer space and true crime podcasts, who has a phobia of bald men and is terrified of commitment, and who usually deals with her emotions by quashing them way, way down. We meet Enid at a pivotal moment in her life, as she is trying to forge a relationship with her half-sisters, dealing with the threat of a stalker, and accidentally stumbles into a new romance.

It's a book where not a lot really happens, it's just a character study focused on a young woman fumbling her way through life -- but it kept me completely engaged, from beginning to end. The narrative has an addictive, compulsively readable quality, at turns laugh-out-loud funny and sweetly touching and insightful. It's a sneakily complex, smart book, wrapped in an entertaining package. Enid is a charming, lovable, and relatable protagonist, and the supporting characters felt so genuine too; I was moved by how much they truly cared about Enid, even when she wasn't being the best daughter/sister/lover/friend.

At its core, Interesting Facts About Space is a book about what it means to be gloriously, imperfectly human, how we are all messy and broken and beautiful -- how important it is to love ourselves despite and because of it all, and to let our people love us too.

Enid is the narrator of this character-driven, deeply emotional, quirky (in the best way) page-turner. As a queer woman living with hearing loss, Enid has enough societal challenges as it is, but she is also beginning to wonder if she is truly losing touch with reality. We follow her while she navigates through complicated relationships, a reckoning with the past, and a journey of self-discovery.

This was a page-turner for me for two main reasons: the chapters are divided into smaller vignettes (my tired brain loves that), and there is a psychological mystery at the center: what is causing Enid’s struggles? She is complex, funny, relatable (to me), and lovable despite her many human flaws.

This novel absolutely blew me away with its psychological depth, understanding of OCD, neurodiversity, as well as other mental challenges. Although Enid is sometimes a prickly character, her lovable qualities were so strong that I was rooting for her the entire time. I wanted to stay in her world and find out what happens! My heart will never be the same. I cannot say enough good things about this incredible novel!

There are some very heavy subjects dealt with so check out CWs.

Enid is lovable, quirky, and refreshingly human. Her story is a 'real person' story with the type of cringe we can all relate to. The neurodivergent and queer representation is fantastic and there are definitely some laugh out loud moments. Still, something about reading this made me feel sad. I wasn't ready for this.

I loved this book. I picked up pretty early on that Enid was likely autistic or at least neurodivergent but I think the way the author went about utilizing this and not disclosing until close to the end was well done. I loved the narrative voice and the fact that at times, we didn't know what was reality and what was Enid's anxiety/paranoia. Well done, I will definitely be checking out the author's debut.

The narrator of Interesting Facts about Space is captivating as readers are immediately drawn into her often anxious and spiraling internal moderator. Even with the sparse language used in her writing style, Austin introduces us to well-rounded, rich characters that have certainly stayed with me long after I finished this book. I am confident readers will love the humor and heart in this book.

I'm a mom to three kids and all three are neurodivergent. One is on the spectrum. And has been obsessed with space for nearly her entire life. She follows the news about Space X on the daily (but don't get her started on its founder). She's also queer. And she loves cats. This book follows the somewhat ordinary life of Enid as she tries to figure out who she is and coming into her own as an adult who is possibly on the spectrum with some mental illness thrown in and has a few dysfunctional family relationships. This book was fantastic and I hope it earns all the praises it deserves.

I was so excited to be approved for "Interesting Facts about Space." The main character was quirky and likable. I thought Enid was relatable and I was rooting for her the entire time. I loved the LGBTQ+ representation as well. I flew through this one and absolutely loved it.

A rather strange but surprisingly touching read!

So I won't lie, I found parts of this book to be really weird and a little cringey, but some of that became wrapped up in our main character, Enid, a well-written neurodivergent soul, who struggles with a variety of phobias and some issues caused by being born deaf in one ear. Enid copes by focusing on space facts and listening to true crime podcasts. She's a serial dater (and is a lesbian, which makes this book wonderfully queer) who has never had a serious relationship.

We find Enid struggling to develop a relationship with her half sisters, whom she's never really known, as her father abandoned her and her mom when she was just a kid. As a result, she grew up dealing with her mom's depression and mood swings. Enid slowly realizes that some of her fears (such as being terrified of bald men) might relate to her difficult childhood. She starts to think someone is breaking into her apartment. This all sounds serious, but much of this book is witty and quirky. It's told in very short snippets from Enid's point of view, with flashbacks going all the way back to her childhood.

Some of these snippets are definitely odd (Enid had a YouTube channel as a kid, for instance, and she recorded some weird stuff). But overall, as we get to know Enid and watch her trying to form bonds with her half sisters, struggle to be a good daughter to her mom, attempt to actually form a real relationship with a woman named Polly (whom she meets in quite an interesting way), and maintain her closest friendship with her co-worker Vin... well, she grows on you! There are some very touching moments, some bizarre ones, some sweet ones. You have to really give this book a chance and truly experience it--it's hard to describe. It's different and character-driven, and I think it's worth a read.

Interesting Facts about Space - Emily Austin 3 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to review this book. These are my honest opinions.
First, a breakdown of my rating system:
5 stars - phenomenal book; I’ll recommend this one to everyone, I want to live in this world, and I will read this one over and over!
4 stars - great book. I enjoyed the story and the characters, but I probably won’t reread it.
3 stars - good story and characters. I can’t see myself coming back to this one, but it was an entertaining read
2 stars - hard to finish. The story was not for me, and I had to make myself keep reading.
1 star - DNF. Absolutely could not finish.

Where to start with this book…. When I first heard the premise, I thought it sounded very cool. As I began reading, however, I found that the execution and intention were very different. 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. You know when there’s a thing that you really don’t want to look at, but you can’t keep yourself from looking and looking and looking? That’s this book. Enid struggles with everything; her relationships with her mother, half-sisters, possible love interests, work colleagues, neighbors, etc. She has a lot of fears and paranoia, including an incredible fear of bald men. She loves space and will frequently call her mom and spew facts about space to her when she is struggling. Her coping mechanisms begin not working for her, however, and we begin to see the unraveling. I pushed through this book (finally) and when I found myself at the end, I was satisfied with the journey. Would I take this journey again? Absolutely not. Am I glad I finished? Yes, I can honestly say it was worth the read. In the beginning, I would have given this book 2 stars, but by the end, I feel 3 is a better rating for my perspective. I believe this book gives great insight into the mind and inner workings of someone like Enid, and we all need more understanding for others in our lives.

Enid consumes SO much true crime, has a phobia of bald men, and texts her mother space facts as a wellness check. Despite none of those being things I do, I related TOO MUCH with Enid. It's really wonderful how Emily Austin manages to write down my own internal dialogues as though she's heard them. Funny AND real...what a combo.

I graciously received an e-ARC of Interesting Facts About Space. This is my true and unprompted review:

I'm always a sucker for a LGBTQIA+ book...add in the fact that our main character is not only a lesbian but is also neurodivergent...count me in! Overall, I enjoyed this read. I can usually keep track of separate characters, plots, and timelines even when they hop around, however I did find it difficult at times, although I believe that was purposely done because we were experiencing the everyday struggle that our main character, Enid, was facing. I think that would be more difficult for someone who is traditionally thought of as neurotypical to follow. This is a book that I believe speaks to a very specific type of reader, thankfully, I just happened to be within that group!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for having the opportunity of reading and reviewing this ARC.

Something about the way Emily R. Austin writes characters makes me feel connected. Like there are weird particular thoughts that you think no one has ever had before and then there’s something reflective in here. I loved her debut and I loved this. The ending was a bit tidy but in a way that felt like a hug.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the e-ARC!!

There were so many things I liked about this book the characters, the dialogue, the murder podcasts and obsession with Dateline, the space facts, the love story. Definitely a hit with a few missteps in adding a mystery to the plot that wasn't needed. But not enough of a distraction to detract from the many great moments.the mother daughter relationship and dealing with mental illness was poignant. Loved the best friend banter. And I could go on but then you wouldn't need to read the book.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

I was a huge fan of Austin's debut novel and was so excited for this one. I was not disappointed. Austin's way of capturing living with anxiety is so spot on, I could almost swear that Enid is based on myself. It is not a plot heavy book, so keep that in mind before purchasing or reading. I absolutely love her writing style and will be excited to recommend this for library led book clubs! Thank you NetGalley!

I love Emily Austin's writing so much and this book somehow still greatly exceeded my expectations she has the best writing style and space is cool af so like double bonus points 12/10 would recommend