Title: We Could Be Rats
Author: Emily R. Austin
Genre: Contemporary
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: January 28, 2024

I received a complimentary eARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted

T H R E E • W O R D S

Peculiar • Complex • Nostalgic

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her older sister Margit is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society.
But Sigrid’s detachment veils a deeper turmoil and sensitivity. She’s haunted by the pains of her past—from pretending her parents were swamp monsters when they shook the floorboards with their violent arguments to grappling with losing Greta’s friendship to the opioid epidemic ravaging their town. As Margit sets out to understand Sigrid and the secrets she has hidden, both sisters, in their own time and way, discover that reigniting their shared childhood imagination is the only way forward.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Interesting Facts About Space was one of my most unexpected and surprising reads in 2024, so I could not help but add Emily Austin's 2025 release, We Could Be Rats, to my list of most anticipated tiles.

With humour and great care, Emily Austin delivers another deeply raw and emotional story featuring two sisters who have lost touch, and which explores the power of imagination, childhood trauma, regret, and reconciliation. She manages to capture the vast realm of human emotion in such a haunting fashion. The social commentary sprinkled throughout adds an extra layer, yet it never overtakes the underlying story.

There's an entirely unique structure and point-of-view to this story, while Austin's writing style itself is so distinctive. It's one of those books that I wasn't sure what I had just read when I finished, yet I knew it affected me on a deeper level. Somehow she takes rats and manages to incorporate the metaphor flawlessly within the narrative. The book itself is on the shorter side, yet the characters are complex and highly relatable.

We Could Be Rats wasn't what I was expecting, yet it was so much more. The way in which Austin handles mental illness really speaks to me. A story of anyone who has ever felt unseen, alone in the world, and that life is a constant battle. There are certainly days, I, too wish I could be that rat gouging on sugary food at the fair without a care in the world. I definitely need to go back and read Everyone in the Room Will Someday Be Dead now.

📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• stream of consciousness
• sister stories
• up and coming Canadian authors

⚠️ CW: mental illness, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, suicide, depression, medical trauma, drug use, drug abuse, addiction, sexual violence, sexual assault, rape, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, homophobia, lesobophobia, biphobia, death, death of parent, grief, cursing, alcohol, cancer, terminal illness

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"There are only so many days in a year, and a lifetime. There aren't enough carefree days like the ones I had with Greta, I guess. I think of those times as scarce and precious now. I didn't appreciate them then. I do today."

"It occurred to me that everyone needs someone who understand them and believes in them. Having even one person who really gets you, and likes you, feels sort of vital for survival."

"I'm not sure there is a way to be alive without upsetting people. We're all in this web together, aren't we? Everything we do tangles everybody else together."

"I think part of why losing Greta feels so catastrophic is because she was the only person who I felt understood me, and who I understood. I felt alone without her."

✨Book Review✨
We Could Be Rats - Emily Austin 🇨🇦

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonshusterca for providing an e-arc of one of my most anticipated 2025 titles for review!! This one releases January 28th.

This book follows two sisters who are very different, Sigrid likes to push the status quo and ruffle feathers while Margit just wants to keep the peace. Sigrid didn’t finish her highschool diploma while Margit has gone off to university away from their small minded town. We witness their bond in flashbacks and understand what’s made them so distant.

A tragic event forces Margit to try to understand Sigrid and her secrets. The result of this is an exploration of the unshakable bond of sisterhood and shared childhood as both sisters confront and heal parts of themselves.

If I’m being honest this is probably my least favourite Emily Austin book I’ve read to date, but I still love me some Emily Austin. I enjoy her voice as a writer and will pick up anything she writes in future. I enjoyed the sisterhood aspect of this book and laughed several times throughout at the humour in the darkness of this book. I appreciate her choosing a different format than you would typically see in a novel to tell this story.

3.75/5 ⭐️ for those who enjoy a more unserious approach to very serious topics in fiction, quirky characters, small towns, and reading about sibling dynamics.

P.S. Check trigger warnings before hopping into this one.

Emily Austin’s books continue to speak to me! The amount of highlights I have in this book…..

As is the case with many of her books, this read as a stream of consciousness type of writing. I was thoroughly invested in sisters Sigrid and Margit and their small town. This book even had a sort of “plot twist” so to speak.

This book is undeniably for sisters. I felt very seen in Margit’s POV as an older sister. I even felt a little called out.

This book is for people who sometimes feel a little uncomfortable in life and sometimes want to throw pie across the room. These characters will help you to feel ~seen~

I found out pretty quickly that this book was not for me. I have decided to up my rating to two stars instead of one after reading some of the rave reviews on the book. Sadly, it has not resonated with me in that way. After about two chapters, I felt myself already checking out of the book - which is already horrible sign so early on. I dnf’d at chapter 13, the 30% mark.

The concept of this book is really interesting but the description did not elude to the actual content of the book, which I didn’t find out until I got to the trigger warnings page.. After the first few chapters I was like…. ok…. what’s next? Instead of moving forward in the story, we just keep sort of repeating the same themes over and over. Around the chapter 7 (attempt 7) mark in this book, I was found myself a bit aggravated about the constant repetition. Then at chapter 13, I had to stop. I read another review where someone said it felt like a long tumblr post and honestly, I agree (negative connotation). I don’t know what comes next or when the book picks up. Maybe Sigrid’s part would have been more compelling but I don’t have the mental fortitude to continue on.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria books for a free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5⭐

250 pages later and I've cried my way towards dehydration and have done nothing but think about my own life and childhood.

Both characters were so relatable. It's interesting to think about how the same trauma can shape us differently, but the goal is still surviving.

I hope to pause more often in life to appreciate the small things and to dream more.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for access to this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.


My first 5 star of the year!! 🐀💘

This made me so emotional !

This an ode to childhood, to not fitting in -in your small conservative town, to sisterhood and wanting more for yourself and those you love.
I don't have the proper words to express how much this meant to me but this has cemented Emily Austin as a new favorite author.

read this book!
But check trigger warnings!!

This book was absolutely beautifully written. I do not usually like books that are super poetic and meaningful, but the way this was full of life and story and actually legitimate twists i didn’t see coming. There were all these powerful metaphors that were also slightly humorous (like the quote in the photo) but also told the story of family, addiction, friendship and life in SUCH a unique way! I was so surprised by this. Please get this when it comes out!

This is one of the most brutally honest books I’ve ever read—it felt like stepping into the main character’s diary. Austin captures the raw, unfiltered complexity of human thought and emotion, shining a light on the parts of ourselves we often hide. We all have secrets, make mistakes, and sometimes don’t fully understand why we do what we do. Through vivid storytelling, this book portrays the struggles and pain of navigating life’s challenges with remarkable authenticity. It’s a poignant reminder of how complicated people can be. I highly recommend it to anyone searching for a story that feels real, especially if you’re facing struggles of your own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

This book.... there is so much complexity, pain, and tough subjects tackled in these pages. It was not what I expected by any means, and I really am overall unsure of my full feelings on the book. But, the characters felt so real and honest. It reminded me of how relationships are never what you fully think they are.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on January 20th, 2025. Links provided.

We Could Be Rats is a heartfelt novel that tells the story of two sisters navigating the complexities of life, family, and the enduring power of imagination. Sigrid, restless and disillusioned, drifts through her small-town existence working at the Dollar Pal, having abandoned traditional expectations of adulthood after high school. Her refusal to conform baffles her older sister Margit, who struggles to bridge the growing gap between them. Beneath Sigrid’s rebellious exterior lies a deep sensitivity shaped by a turbulent past, from the violent storms of their parents’ fights to the heartbreak of losing her best friend Greta to addiction. After Sigrid endures a suicide attempt, Margit seeks to unravel the mysteries of her sister’s pain. In the process, the two rediscover the magic of their childhood imagination, rekindling the bond that can guide them both toward healing and hope. This moving story is a poignant tribute to the resilience of sisterhood and the journey of growing up.

All in all, while I found Sigrid and Margit’s story very emotional and moving, it still was not quite what I expected. Told in multiple parts from the perspectives of both Sigrid and Margit, this book felt like reading each of their individual journals/diaries. Their story was moving with its raw emotion and complex portrayal of sisterhood. Sigrid’s struggle with her past and her deep inner turmoil felt heartbreakingly real, and her story of pain, detachment, and the longing to escape was relatable. It captured the complicated, often painful journey of truly understanding someone you love well. Sigrid and Margit’s relationship felt authentic, filled with tension, frustration, and moments of tenderness. I was especially drawn to how Margit’s efforts to comprehend her sister’s resistance to the world around her revealed so much about both of them - the unspoken hurt from their childhood, the weight of lost friendships, and the invisible scars that shaped their choices. Their story reminded me how easy it is to misjudge those closest to us and how difficult it can be to reconnect when life pulls us apart. What made this book stand out was how it showed that healing isn’t about fixing everything but about reconnecting, as well as understanding the healing power of love and the enduring strength of sisterhood.

CW: Suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, sexual assault, rape, addiction

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of We Could Be Rats in return for my honest review.

We Could Be Rats Is a beautifully written novel about the complexities of relationships, the importance of being true to yourself, and honoring your weirdness.

Sisters Sigrid and Margit have a complex relationship. One is conventionally successful at college while the other is stunted, working a dead end job in her hometown. When one sister does the unthinkable, the other steps in to help in the only way she knows how.

I adored the pacing and literary style of this novel. Emily Austin's writing is both beautifully poignant and laugh out loud hilarious. I related very much to both sisters and found numerous similarities between their upbringing and my own. I, however, would definitely look up trigger warnings before picking up this novel.

I want to thank Atria Books for the advanced reader copy - it was an honor to read one of my most anticipated books early! I thoroughly enjoyed We Could Be Rats and can't wait for the publication date so I can buy copies for my friends!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting access to this book.

If I am being honest, I struggled with how to rate this book. This was mostly because of the heavy subject matter in this book. While I didn't necessarily "love" this book, interestingly enough, I was hooked till the very end. I almost want to describe this book as mesmerizing...but I also feel like I could describe this in a better way. If anything, Emily Austin tackles a hard subject in a beautiful and careful way that makes the reader hooked to this story. Overall, I would rate this book at least 3.5 stars.

This book is important. Its important because it brings up stuff people dont want to…suicidal ideation, purpose, anxiety, self acceptance, self loathing, social acceptance. It gives air to topics that are often suffocated. Im beyond grateful Emily Austin exists. She has a way of articulating whacky thoughts I have every day but am too rooted in shame to share. She somehow makes me feel accepted, smart and seen. This book is important for people age 17-37 especially. I am so grateful for the prompt to consider what life was like when we were children and the need to return to that kind if existence in adulthood. Ill never look at rats the same way again.

This is my favorite Emily Austin book to date! I appreciate the character building in this novel so much because I truly feel like I understand the thought processes of the characters, and empathize with them as well. This book also had a unique twist that kept me engaged, and I loved how the chapters were written as letters.

I really enjoyed this book, it was an incredibly emotional journey through the lives of two sisters growing up in the same environment, but who coped in very different ways. There were many quotable passages that hit home very hard for me personally even though I grew up as an only child.

“You always said you were introverted, but I don’t know. You might just get tired carrying the mental load required to monitor everyone around you.”

“Friendships change when people grow up, I guess.” ………. “I wondered sometimes if maybe she and I were only meant to be friends for that phase of our lives.”

“I feel like I don’t know the things I’m supposed to. I feel like I’m pretending.”

I think we all have parts of us who relate to Sigrid, who longs for the freedom of childhood, who loathes having to become an adult, and who just doesn’t understand the motions of adulthood, because they really don’t make much sense, do they? And then there’s parts of us who relate to Magrit, who has a need to control things, both emotions and actions, who feels a need to be accomplished and praised for being “normal” even if that’s not what is truly wanted.

This is a beautiful example of an unreliable narrator, with twists of shifting POVs. It’s also a fairly open ended book. I think readers will need to be okay with not fully knowing everything for certain because of this. Personally I always have enjoyed this theme, but I know it’s not for everyone.

Overall, this is a big five star in my book and I’m very appreciative for the chance to read and review it early!

Emily Austin does it again my friends. An unforgettable story about two sisters, childhood and the bittersweet journey of growing up that gave my reading palate the refresher it needed... with probably the most unconventional way to start a book.

I always appreciate about Austin’s work is her ability to tackle difficult subjects with a touch of dark humor. This novel is no exception. And my friends, the story doesn’t shy away from exploring heavy and emotional themes. I recommend checking the content warnings listed at the beginning of the book. before diving in.

The main thread through it all is about the reality of growing up and leaving your childhood behind. This made me think deep about who I am as a person today and how I used to be when I was younger. It made me think about trying out new personalities to see what works best to 'fit in', when you stop believing in certain things, leaving your imagination behind, is it okay to lie to others to make them feel better or save them pain?

At its core, this book delves into the realities of growing up and the loss of childhood wonder. It made me think deeply on my own journey into adulthood —the ways we try on different identities to fit in, the moments when we stop believing in certain things, and the heartbreak of leaving behind the imaginative worlds we once inhabited. It also checks morality; is it okay to lie to others to make them feel better? How do we reconcile the complexities of our inner worlds with the demands of reality?

Austin’s knack for creating unreliable narrators shines here. Despite their eccentricities and flaws, the people in this story feel achingly real. Their small-town lives, family dynamic, and personal struggles are so intricately detailed that I couldn’t help but recognize pieces of my own experiences in theirs. These characters will linger long after the final page.

With her insightful prose and deeply human storytelling, Emily Austin proves once again why she’s a standout voice in contemporary literature. This is a book that will make you laugh, cry, and question what it means to grow up while holding onto the pieces of yourself that matter most.

Another 5 stars to the talented Emily Austin. Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and Emily R Austin for an advanced e-copy of this book. A physical copy will be on my shelf upon release (Jan 28th, 2025).

i loved the premise of this book and wish i could have taken longer to really sit with each of the stories. my goodness, what a lovely idea this compilation was :)

This book was overwhelmingly, and undeniably shocking. These characters are full of their own unique love and also pain, that was raw and real.

I enjoy Austin’s writing style so much, and this was no exception. I enjoyed the second half of this book even more than the first!

"I'm not sure why we tell kids everyone's so unique. We aren't really. I get wanting to make kids feel special, but most people are more of the same. It might be easier to grow up if kids weren't sold this tale that we're all exceptional... We're mostly ordinary." Page 26

By Canadian author Emily R. Austin, We Could Be Rats is a coming-of-age story about two sisters, Sigrid and Margit, who have drifted apart after one stays in their small hometown after high school and the other moves away for college. With an interesting format, this book was emotional, yet pragmatic. It reminded me slightly of the movie Lady Bird. Definitely check the trigger warnings before picking it up, as there are some sensitive topics!

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy of We Could Be Rates by Emily R. Austin in exchange for an honest review!

I am so sad that this book didn’t resonate with me. I loved “Interesting Facts About Space” and her poetry collection, “Gay Girl Prayers”, which were genuinely both five star reads for me. However I just didn’t mesh with the characters or the premise. This does deal with some serious topics that I don’t often read about. However I think my issue was more with the storytelling. I liked the beginning more with the unconventional formatting but was ultimately let down when it shifted. I feel like I still didn’t really understand the characters or their motives by the end. I would still recommended to Emily Austin fans, especially if they liked all her other books. I would also recommend to those who resonate with some of the serious topics in the book, as it might be better received.

Thank you to Net Galley, Atria Books, and Emily Austin for allowing me to read this e-arc.