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.

“There are parts of me I wish I could train out that I can't. You can train a dog not to bite, sit on the furniture, or piss in the house, but you can't train them to become birds.
I don't like a lot of unalterable things about myself.“

Enid was a character I related to deeply. It was funny, poignant, moving, absurd - I loved it all!

Emily Austin has a way of cutting to the marrow when it comes to reflecting on the queer experience. I will read any book Emily writes because I know I will feel seen amongst its pages.

I may also never look at a bald man the same way again.

This is a book that reminds you that you've never had a unique experience in the best way. That you've done things you feel bad about, shut out memories, held onto hurts, wondered if you're being paranoid, and contemplated on a regular basis if you are in fact a bad person and you've done an amazing job of convincing the world that you're normal.

I could've lived in this world and Enid's day to day for a lot longer. I wanted to dive into each of her relationships and choices for a hundred pages each. Enid is definitely a character that feels a bit like she's tripping through life but is also incredibly capable and together when it matters.

At once both utterly relatable and particularly unique, Interesting Facts About Space is a reminder that we don't have to be perfect, we just have to try.

I will definitely be reading more by this author!

Emily Austin does it again!!! Enid works at the National Space Agency, listens to tons of true crime podcasts, and has a hobby of casually dating women from the apps without getting attached. She's also afraid that everyone is going to discover her secret: she has a parasite inside of her, and it makes her do terrible things.

This book is so darkly hilarious, and made me laugh out loud frequently. At the same time, certain lines are so cutting, and just stab me right in the heart. It’s a satirical exaggeration of anxiety, and yet it’s only a few steps beyond what anxiety feels like to me, so sometimes it describes the experience of anxiety with completely relatable clarity. The relationships are so beautiful that they make me well up. And even amidst a lot of tension that the worst is about to happen (thank you Enid's anxiety), this is an ultimately heartwarming and hopeful novel.

I'm so looking forward to reading anything Emily Austin writes in the future, and I can't recommend this book enough.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This book starts slow and is unique. Yep, unique in a good way. A great way. Once I adapted, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed all of Enid's interesting facts about space. Enid's mom was a really good mom. Enid is a queer, Neurodivergent, half deaf person who works at the space agency. Enid deals with a lot of rude people assuming she can hear. Enid feels that someone is watching her and someone has broken into her apartment. She really likes listening to true crime podcasts. Enid has a phobia of bald men. Seriously when I see bald men. Enid hasn't had a relationship in a long time. But has dated a lot of people.

I really loved this book. I'm excited to have found this author and read her other book. I'm so glad I picked this as my January BoTM pick.

Austin's sophomore novel is witty, relatable, and down-to-earth. The writing style sucks the reader in, and the main character is incredibly well-developed.

Thank you Atria and Netgalley for an ARC of " Interesting Facts About Space". I typically don't pick up books where the synopsis is this vague, but I am so glad I did. The reader learns immediately that the main character Enid, is a little off. She is beyond paranoid, yet listens to true crime podcasts to calm down. She is afraid of strangers and think everyone is out to murder her, but uses Tinder regularly to find someone to keep her company since she is scared of sleeping alone. She watches old videos she posted of herself on Youtube when she was going through her awkward preteen years so she feels better about who she is today. She feels guilt that her father cheated on her mom, and feels like whenever she connects with her half sisters that she needs to check in on her mom and offer her an interesting fact about space. This character would be annoying, if she wasn't so relatable. She portrays all of the fascinating quirks that make each of us exactly who we are supposed to be. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, but what resonated with me the most is when Enid meets a stranger and offers to buy her a sandwich because shes had a bad night. She assures the stranger she is a bad person and not many people want to maintain a relationship with her, and she prefers single interactions even when they are good. The stranger reminds her that regardless of her past with other people, she will always be the nice girl who bought her a sandwich. It reminds the reader that we are a different person to literally every person we interact with, and that is a profound thought.

beautiful, amazing, showstopping, spectacular !!!!

this was by far my most anticipated release for 2024, when i got approved for the arc i nearly passed out! everyone in this room will someday be dead, this authors first book, is one of my absolute favorites and i’ve been impatiently waiting for this release. every part of this book was even better than i could have imagined and i don’t know how to go on reading this year when this is most likely going to be my favorite read from 2024. emily austin, i have to say it, YOU are the star!! never stop writing because your books are so damn good and the mean so much and… I. AM. OBSESSED.

this book is for the paranoid girlies. like every aspect of enid’s character is a paranoid girlie and i get that so much. one of my favorite parts of both of these books is the stream of consciousness writing style. by the end of the story you feel so satisfied. everything fits perfectly together and every little detail that was mentioned in the story makes sense all of a sudden. the storytelling is so good in both of these books. the story feels so incredibly real and that’s what makes is so good. you don’t feel like you’re reading some strange piece of fiction from someones head, you get that this could happen in real life and that makes the ending even better. seeing people, normal people, being okay is so powerful. it makes this book feel like it could cater to everyone. for me sort of being that paranoid girlie i totally get enid and seeing her growth was so heartwarming. not just her personal growth either, her growth in relationships (romantic, familial, and platonic) was beautifully written and almost made me tear up like five times in the last 20 pages. i wouldn’t call enid an unreliable narrator but sometimes you don’t know what’s going on because she doesn’t either and when she finally learns and gets better or just gets help, you the reader feel immense love for her. seeing her happy and just okay was amazing and low key inspirational because with a real story like this it gives hope to anyone how even slightly resonates with enid.

the ensemble of characters honestly makes this book !! form the sisters, to the mom, to vin and polly… even gina I guess… they all made this story have so many more layers. the more you learned about each of them the more complete this story began to feel and it just ended up being so whole and gorgeous and i love it. the writing was so masterful throughout the whole book. multiple times when i was annotating i would write down how greatly a paragraph sounded. after reading this authors debut i believed she couldn’t improve upon perfection and boy was i glad to be wrong. i’m going to end this review now but not because i have nothing left to say, just because i’ve ran out of adjectives for great. i will be talking about this book to literally everyone i know for the foreseeable future. please, please, please run to pick this up immediately when it releases on january 30th, you won’t regret it!! and incase you needed more inspiration to add this to your tbr, just know it was so good i even annotated the acknowledgment…

*thank you NetGalley for the ARC*

This ended up being sooooooo much better than I initially expected. At first, not much at all happened. Our main character, Enid, went to work, went on a couple of dates, talked to her mom on the phone—all very ordinary happenings. I kept reading, though, because I began to enjoy watching Enid develop relationships with others. Also, it was one of my Book of the Month selections (iykyk 😅). At one point, Enid found herself regularly seeing a therapist, and this reader and Enid simultaneously gained an answer to the question ‘Who is Enid?’ While there was a plot to the story, the main focus of this novel was character development. I’m so glad I didn’t give up!

Side note: I loved Polly. I mean, she called a stranger a bitch to her face. What’s not to love?

I loved "Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead", and I wanted to love this one too. But it just felt exhausting to read. I don't think it helped that I don't like true crime podcasts and the main character is obsessed with them.

"Interesting Facts about Space" is a delightful and briskly paced novel that seamlessly blends humor, heart, and a touch of existential exploration. Enid, the protagonist, is a character readers will quickly grow to love, with her quirky obsession with space, peculiar phobia of bald men, and an endearing penchant for true crime podcasts. The narrative skillfully weaves together Enid's comedic misadventures in serial dating with her attempts to connect with her half-sisters after the passing of her absent father, creating a rich tapestry of relationships and self-discovery.

The novel's strength lies in its ability to balance Enid's hilarious escapades with moments of genuine introspection and vulnerability. As Enid grapples with her mounting paranoia and the belief that someone is following her, readers are taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. "Interesting Facts about Space" not only entertains with its witty dialogue and fast-paced narrative but also imparts a meaningful message about embracing our quirks and revealing our vulnerabilities. With charm and humor, this novel explores the beautifully human aspects of self-acceptance, making it a thoroughly enjoyable and ultimately hopeful read.

While I enjoyed the neuro divergent narrator and found this to be pigment and funny, I really struggled to progress through it due to the lack of linearity.

Another interesting, complicated character by Emily Austin. Enid is a half-deaf woman who works at NASA and is terrified of bald men. Austin's writing makes you want to tear through everything she reads.

Thank you Atria for Interesting Facts about Space. I LOVED this book, I felt at times as if Emily Austin was in my head (not sure if that is good or bad but hey it was fun!). I admit, I love the hilarity of a character who is so delightfully herself even though Enid doesn't yet know that is the best part of her, what will save her from her sense of disconnection.

This book, the exploration of problematic family relationships, the desire for connection while running away from it/finding the idea of love and commitment to be simultaneously desirable and genuinely scary or off-putting...,the complete certainty that you might be the one person who just doesn't quite fit in the the puzzle of life... Those feelings are here in this book, along with some wonderful snark, and a character who can reflect a range of intersectional identities with themes on sexuality, neurodivergence a key part of Enid's story.

I haven't read Austin's first book but here I go adding another book to my list... :) This is a great read for fans of Where'd you go, Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, and other similar characters.