Emily Austin’s debut <i>Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead</i> was so much fun to read (you can check out my raving review <a href=https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4694846500>here</a>). If you didn’t click that link, well, I think you should know that the last line of that review mentions how upon finishing her debut, I went on Goodreads and immediately added this very book to my TBR. A year and a half later, I’m here and honestly I will say that I wasn’t as in love with this one. This is probably (and almost certainly) my fault. I way overhyped what this book was going to be. My advice, don’t fall so hard for an author you put them on an unreachable pedestal.

Now, even though I didn’t fall madly in love with this one, I still had a great time. The protagonist, Enid, who is deaf in one ear, has some quirks: she fears bald men (a strange phobia, yes), has an almost borderline addiction to listening to true crime podcasts (a pastime I could never get behind), dates several women from dating apps without ever committing to long-term relationships, and regularly calls her mom in times of crises to share with her interesting facts about space (boom! title of the book). Ultimately, this sounds like all unrelated ideas, but Austin does a great job tying everything together - almost in a way that was just a bit too tidy for me. I like being left in the dark, and Austin just connects it all with a blindingly bright light.

To sum up my actions/emotions/thoughts while reading: I was confused, I laughed, I gasped, I cringed, I related. Oh, and I learned a lot of truly interesting facts about space.

I’m going to give this a solid 3.5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance reading copy!

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I GOT THE ARC??!

Are you joking? I’ve been wanting this for over a year now. I am too excited!!!!!!!!! (can you tell?)

This book is for anyone struggling with who they are. Enid doesn’t like much about herself and often feels like there is a parasite in her spewing hateful thoughts. Interesting Facts About Space is a raw depiction on mental health (mainly anxiety, phobias, PTSD, depression and bipolar) while also having it’s funny and often heartwarming moments. Emily Austen is able to captivate what it means to be human - all the good and bad that comes with it - into a wonderful book. I loved Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead and I loved this one as well.

Really tried to temper my expectations going into this one. I love love loved Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead, and I didn’t want to get my hopes too high. But it didn’t matter because I loved IFAS so much!!!! High expectations and all.

Austin’s writing is laugh out loud funny while also being emotional and poignant. Her characters are so real and unique. I had no trouble connecting with them. I will always enjoy anything she writes. It’s certainly not the most plot heavy book, but I didn’t mind that at all. It was such a smooth and easy read. Although I tried to slow down my reading speed because I didn’t want it to end.

It’s just a really beautiful book, and I’m so happy that Emily Austin exists and writes books.

The only negative thing I can and will say about this book is that I do not love the cover… I really want a physical copy, but I don’t KNOW. It’s just not my fave color palette.

Austin’s craft is impeccable in the way she so uniquely captures Enid’s voice. I found Enid’s path through healing painful and heartbreaking and hopeful.

Emily Austin's work always makes me relate so hard to it in ways I'd rather not process but am thus forced to. In a good way.

This book is about Enid and she is very unique. She loves learning about space and true crimes. She is afraid of bald men and feels someone is watching her. Her family is complicated too. This is a quirky story told entirely from Enid’s POV. She has a job at the space center and her best friend Vin is a co-worker there. It takes a little bit to get used to the style of writing as Enid goes through the routines of her days. Her complicated family includes a caring mother that battles depression and half sisters that are from the family her dad created when he left her.

I don’t want to give spoilers but there is humor, weirdness, and the story draws you into her world. I did like that she gets therapy and there are real reasons and explanations for some of her behaviors. And as someone who is becoming more and more hearing impaired I was intrigued that her deafness in one ear factors into her behaviors. This is a wonderfully interesting book if you take the time to sink into Enid’s world. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC and I am leaving an honest review.

My second book by this Canadian author and it was just as interesting as her first! I can tell this one won't be for everyone just because of its stream of consciousness, meandering style of first person narration but I didn't mind that at all.

It also starts off sort of slowly but builds as Enid spirals more and more, finds herself entangled in a new relationship, tries to grow closer to her half sisters and eventually begins going to therapy to deal with her anxieties and PTSD from her childhood.

I really liked the mental health and hard of hearing rep in this book and learning how only being able to hear from one ear affected Enid's day to day life. There's also discussion that she may be neurodiverse which definitely seemed likely.

Overall a well written, thought-provoking read that was excellently read by my very fav narrator, Natalie Naudus! Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I requested this book on a whim and I'm so glad I did! It started a bit slow for me as I adjusted to Enid and her quirks, but I quickly fell in love with her and was so invested in her story.

Enid works for the National Space Agency and is full of facts about space. She was born with only one hearing ear, has some intense phobias, and has recently tried to create a relationship with the two half sisters she met as an adult. Enid is sure a bald man is stalking her, and is also trying to navigate dating.

I loved Enid, I just wanted to give her a hug and help her -- make everything okay for her. I also loved the relationship that she and Polly developed -- I loved Polly and the ways in which she was steady and stable for Enid.

The relationship between Enid and her mom was so realistic and well-written. I could feel how much Enid worried, and the reasons why, and the work arounds she had come up with to insure her mother was okay.

Vin was one of my favorite characters and I was so glad that Enid had someone who she could commiserate with.

Overall this book is very quirky, somewhat depressing, but with lots of hope, humor, and optimism. I would definitely recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Enid loves space. Her father left her and her mom when she was 6 and had a new family so she has half sisters. She met them at his funeral. She listens to true crime podcasts and speaks to her mom a lot. She is a lesbian and has never had a serious relationship. She's pretty sure something is wrong with her. I understand it's supposed to be funny but it fell flat for me.

4.5/5 stars - I reeeaaaaallly enjoyed this book. I've never read Emily Austin, but I will definitely be finding her previous novel! This book was melancholic, fraught with anxiety and social anxiety, complicated because of previous bad behavior of Enid's father, but I plowed through the book like there was some compelling mystery -- there wasn't! I just really wanted to keep moving along with Enid and her journey. I felt like she would certainly come to understand herself more somehow, and I was right. I ached for the young Enid who always took care of (and still takes care of) her mentally ill mother. I loved the smattering of space facts - and found myself looking up most of them because I couldn't believe they were true! A quirky, sad, strange book about regular people figuring stuff out. A gem.

amazing and thought provoking work. i learned a lot abt space, and this book was super captivating. thanks for the arc.

One of my favorite books of all time is Emily Austin's "Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead" so I was thrilled to see she had another book coming out. Interesting Facts About Space has the quirky main character energy I fell in love with reading her other book, so it's no surprise I loved this one too.

The story explores mental health and developing a sense of self as an adult, and while it can get heavy, there is a fun aspect where a fact about space is thrown in as a "palate cleanser." I loved the little space facts and the way it related to the main character.

For all the quirky book loves, this one's for you.

4.5 stars. Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
I love Emily Austin's work. After "everyone in this room will someday be dead" I decided I would read anything she writes. I was genuinely so excited to get to read this from Netgalley for a review.
Enid is trying her best to navigate existing. Emily Austin does an incredible job capturing small moments of life and thinking and logic and emotions that are so relatable to me and yet so hard to explain. Enid is now seeing how she's reinforcing her own beliefs about fitting in and what she deserves and what that means for her and the people around her. The story is full of clever and unexpected detail - working at a space agency is such a great idea - and the phobia of bald men and how that ultimately ties into the story is unexpected and well written.
I finished this book as fast as life would let me. I thought about it when I wasn't reading it. I am excited for whatever else Emily Austin writes and I will be there waiting to read it.

Interesting Facts About Space is a thought-provoking, reflective, and at times emotional story of Enid, a woman who is struggling to navigate a new relationship with her estranged half-sisters, her deep connection to facts about space and her mother, and the increasing fear that someone is watching her. As Enid's story progresses, she becomes less and less sure of who she truly is in the face of mounting anxiety.

I was so taken by Enid as a character. She was incredibly compelling and I really appreciated that the novel was structured in such a way that almost felt like individual thoughts that Enid was having from moment to moment. The short section breaks allowed me to feel as though I was moving through Enid's daily life alongside her, which really made the story feel more personal.

I think that Emily R. Austin has a great skill for getting to the heart of worries and anxieties that so many people have and she crafts her characters so well as a result.

Overall, this was a fantastic book and I highly recommend it!

I don't even know if I can fully articulate why this worked for me so well, but I loved every single thing about this. Completely unputdownable and like if I let all of my intrusive thoughts win (in a good way).

I was apprehensive about this one, but I actually really liked it! I am all about stories that involve queer people and mental health, and this was a great mix of the two.

Enid, who works at the Space Agency, is a lesbian with a messy dating history, an obsession with true crime, and a phobia of bald men. Interspersed with interesting facts about space, Enid tries to figure out how to balance her increasing paranoia with concern for her depressed mother and how to seem normal to her two half-sisters. Oh, and how to navigate a relationship with a woman whose wife Enid slept with.

The chapters are long, but they're broken up into smaller scenes. The style took some adjustment, but I loved the way mental health was portrayed. As someone with PTSD and anxiety (and probably autism), it was really easy to identify with Enid's character. I enjoyed this one much more than Austin's previous novel!

As a big fan of everyone in this room will someday be dead, interesting facts about space is a phenomenal story about PTSD and the impact that mental health has on our lives. I loved all the side characters, and the romance was a fun addition that did a lot for the plot. The story ends weirdly and rushed, but honestly I sort of loved it. This isn't her entire story its just a snapshot.

I received an advanced review copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you Atria!

This one’s for the girls with Daddy Issues and mental illness. Emily Austin are you in my walls?
Really though, Austin’s portrayal of a woman who believes she is all bad and the people who love her was deeply moving to me. Enid is fully realized and floundering. I can see a crystal clear picture of her, and I can see how scared she is moving through the world. And I can feel her love and the love others have for her.

My first five star of 2024. I haven’t felt this connected to a main character since June 2022 when I read So Happy for You by Celia Laskey.

Summary:
This is a contemporary slice of life story following Enid’s day to day life. Enid is a lesbian who works at the Space Agency. She is deaf in one ear and enjoys listening to true crime podcasts. She struggles with phobias and connecting with her others. The title of this book is because whenever Enid communicates with her estranged half sisters, she feels guilty on her mom’s behalf, so she calls her mom to tell her an interesting fact about space in order to cope with that feeling.

What worked:
-Main character’s voice - so unique, specific, and nuanced. It’s like I’ve never read anything like this before and it was a thrilling experience to be inside her head. I could’ve read 100+ more pages of this.
-The way the main character describes being perceived was incredibly specific and relatable
-The book balances all types of relationships. Our main character navigates work relationships, familial relationships, friendships, and romantic relationships. All of these relationships were given equal care and page time - it didn’t feel like one aspect was more important than the other
-Mental health conversations: Our main character struggles and copes with mental illness including: CPTSD, hypervigilance, and phobias. Our main character is also neurodivergent. These mental health conversations which included struggles, diagnoses, coping, and healing were given the care they deserve – not just thrown in there haphazardly

Caveats:
-Despite giving this a five star, I am not necessarily recommending this to everyone. The main character’s personality and stream of consciousness will not be for everyone.
-This book was stronger than Emily Austin’s previous book, Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead (EITRWSBD) which I gave a three star. Interesting Facts About Space (IFAS) gave more development to both the main character and the side characters, and it had a couple mystery plot elements throughout that gave the book more suspense and conflict than EITRWSBD had
-That being said, the narration in both books were incredibly similar - almost as if I was reading from the exact same main character. If you liked EITRWSBD, you will like IFAS. If you didn’t like EITRWSBD, IFAS has more going on in the story to potentially be invested in than EITRWSBD did, so you might enjoy it more.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This book publishes January 30, 2024.

Every year, it seems I stumble upon an unexpected book that completely blows me away. What can I say about a book that makes you laugh out loud and resonates on a personal level, but perhaps maybe even makes you ugly cry? I'm not crying, you are!

Enid is highly relatable when you get to the core of her being. She loves true-crime, knows interesting facts about space (hence the title), is highly suspicious bordering on paranoia and trying to navigate life when she thinks she is inhabited by a parasite that makes her a bad person. Many of us have experienced moments where we've questioned our own goodness based on certain events, and how we are too weird for this world -- no one can possibly understand what it's like -- only to discover shared experiences that bring forth emotions we can't help but express.

I absolutely adore Enid, as Emily Austin takes us on a journey through a brief period in her life, exploring what has shaped her identity. This exploration includes delving into past traumatic experiences, coping with a disability (being deaf in one ear), navigating online dating, and exploring relationships with family and friends. The way the novel was written, reminded me of my brain and how it thinks through situations, a little bit of back and forth, jumping through various threads. Not to mention the dark humor of it all which resonated with me on a personal level which kept me highly entertained while consoling my overthinking brain.

What a compelling and emotionally rich experience.

PICK UP THIS BOOK AND READ IT. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!!! Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Austin and Atria Books for an advanced e-copy of this book. It was such an unexpected treat; I cannot thank you enough.