2.5 stars. Please don't hurt me. Unpopular opinion and spoilers ahead. Although, if I don't spoil you for this, the author will do it herself: My biggest problem with this book isn't any of the content--I am certainly disappointed by the content; Emily Austin is a favorite author of mine and this is the first book of hers I can't see myself re-reading or purchasing for myself, but nothing about this could possibly be more frustrating than the fact that Austin for some reason chose to spoil the entire book in the author's note/content warning prior to the first page.

The content warning reads as follow: This book deals with suicide, and it does so through the perspective of a person who treats their death, at first, as trivial. Suicide is never trivial. If you or anyone you know is struggling, help is available.

....you're kidding me, right? Because the entire first half of the book is about Sigrid, whether or not she ends up committing suicide, and her perspective on her life. As I reached part two, I was hoping there would be some plot twist that proved this note was not actually a literal plot summary, but unfortunately, it is. Not only does the author's note accurately reveal that Sigrid ultimately does not die; it reveals that her mind/perspective ultimately changes radically. Reading this was utterly pointless once this was solidified; there was nothing to look forward to as the ending and the conclusion drawn by the main character are both laid out by the author before the book even starts. Even before the reveal that Sigrid isn't the one writing the notes, we know that none of what's written, none of the attempted deception or emotional manipulation regarding the idea that Sigrid might die, really means anything in the grand scheme of the book--it's going to land in the place it promised. A slight rephrasing would have avoided this entirely, but that "at first" completely ruins everything.

I understand and agree with the idea and the message that suicide is no spectacular issue, and that someone does not need to have wild and dramatic reasons for reaching such a point in their life. Trust me: Emily Austin is absolutely right about this, and it's worth writing about this mundane reality behind a sensationalized issue. I just don't see her as the person for the job based on reading this.

This stood out to me most during the scenes where Margit was waiting at the hospital to see if Sigrid would die or wake up: I already knew the answer because Austin told me, but I really, really wanted to be able to sit in that moment with Margit, to experience those emotions and that uncertainty. But Austin, for whatever reason, doesn't want you to have that experience. She will not allow actual darkness and uncertainty around the subject of death. While her previous two releases have made me feel intimately connected to her main characters, this one forces you to keep a distance that never truly lets you know these people or feel anything for them. I cried a few times near the beginning because I truly relate to the way Austin writes, but this quickly stopped.

And, here's the thing: this book is something I want to enjoy. This child is me. This perspective on life is mine. Sigrid is deeply, deeply relatable to me. I fear nothing more than growing up. I played with dolls into my teens. As an adult with a stepkid, I still mourn the fact that I'm not a child, and that my childhood was, in many ways, abusive, and a good childhood is not something I could've given to myself. I was the prime candidate for feeling emotionally connected to this book and these people. But I don't. I actually don't think I've ever been less moved by something dealing with such serious topics.

I normally love Austin and feel like she connects to that sense of childlike wonder about the world, the desperation to not have to grow up, the feelings of being neurodivergent and gay--but this book honestly just felt juvenile and repetitive, and like it would've done better as a YA release. There are also a lot of moments that don't make sense--Margit finds a note that says "Don't come inside, I'm dead. Can you write this for me?" on Sigrid's door, but how on earth does she understand what that means? Write what? Re-write the warning about how you're dead and tape it back up? How the fuck does that translate to Margit writing your suicide note? How does she get there? I kept flipping back, assuming I missed a line about Margit finding another piece of paper. Is it my autism keeping me from understanding--like, do other people see that as a reasonable conclusion to jump to?? Is this seriously not weird??

I think the way I would have handled this is to move the first chapter of Margit's section after Sigrid's suicide attempt to the beginning. Reveal what's happened from the get-go, and let us actually understand Margit as she attempts to understand her sister. Then, the twist at the end about what Sigrid was doing gets to hit much harder as the only major plot twist--that twist was good. The twist about Margit writing the note was not.

This also, as someone who attended high school in a conservative area, feels incredibly fake and stereotypical. Nothing to do but sit in parking lots, smoking weed and exploring abandoned places, talking about how you're going to get out of this town, going to a party and sitting on the outskirts of it, yup, got it. How about some actual depth or empathy for the people living and growing up in this place and how they're shaped into bigots by the culture? No? Only a poorly written detached relationship between two sisters? Glazing right over massive interesting issues like parents who get into physical altercations to wax poetic about the dollar store over and over? Got it.

There is still a certain beauty and power to this, as I think is the case with everything Emily Austin writes. It also took me seven months to read this 230-page book, and I think it needed three more drafts, a hundred more pages, and to nix the "lol jk" every few pages. I am so, so sad, but I do understand why this worked for a lot of people and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who likes Austin. Good chance you'll like this more than me. Just...don't read the damn author's note.

I’ve never read another book quite like We Could Be Rats. It’s like—what if you had a classic sort of YA novel, the kind of edge-of-adulthood book that combines silly adolescent fantasies with real trauma, that earnestly includes both playing with barbies and attempted suicide. But then, you crossed that with an obscure Central European Noble Prize winner about the unstable nature of reality and the fundamental impossibility of using narrative to capture human experience. So that, on the one hand, a lot of the novel’s imagery felt not quite as original as it seemed to think it was. But on the other hand, that sense of an unstable narrative reality shifting beneath your feet was so well executed that it was genuinely unnerving.

📖 BOOK REVIEW

📱 WE COULD BE RATS by Emily Austin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Genre: literary fiction
Did I cry: no
Published 1/28/25
My Goodreads review: “not a fav but always enjoy Emily Austin”

💭: i simply adooooore Emily Austin. She writes about raw topics with such a delicate balance of humor that it’s impossible not to laugh yet also relate to the characters on a deeply personal level. Her books always reflect some sort of shared human experience that readers are able to resonate with in some capacity but in a way that highlights the flaws in both the characters and society as a whole.

This book was no different in that sense, however I felt that it was not like her previous books. This storyline was a little more pointed and specific while keeping true to rich character development and dark humor. I felt that it was less silly goofy and more of a serious plot but still had me laughing out loud. It also had some unexpected ~twists~ that i did not anticipate which was a fun little surprise! As always, it was well-written and brilliantly crafted and for that, i will always be an Emily Austin stan. I definitely still recommend tho!!!!

Thank you @atriabooks for the gifted advanced copy, I cherished the ability to read this in the sun on the beach this fall🥹

#booksbyheathreview

I’m never entirely sure how to review books by Emily Austin because they are just so entirely different from literally anything else I’ve ever read. As with her other books, We Could Be Rats is genre-bending, deeply vulnerable, entirely authentic, and borderline poetic. Is it blunt and to the point? Yes. Will it have you laughing out loud? Yes. Will you also be thinking at times, “did she really just go there?” Also yes.

We Could Be Rats is the story of two very different sisters, both in their late teens/early 20s. Margit, the seemingly perfect academic type. And Sigrid, the high-school dropout who considers herself a constant failure. Told partly through journal entries, this story chronicles Sigrid’s attempt at suicide and the impact this has on her and Margit.

Thank you to Emily Austin, Atria, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

Devastating and funny, Emily Austin maintains her status as a must-read author. Grief takes the wheel in this novel letter between sisters and how our shell truly falls apart in the presence of those we love most.

My Selling Pitch:
A book for autistic anxious sisters just trying to survive this hostile government takeover.

Pre-reading:
Normally I love a pink book, but this cover and title are…a choice. I adored Interesting Facts About Space, so I’m expecting big things.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
No, because “I don’t want to be buried with a tampon in” is so real lol.

Hi trump

Lotta undiagnosed autism lol

Sighhh this is too relatable lol

I'm both these girls. The autism and the vigilance lmao. I see me and my sister in this a lot.

Oh god, is she going schizo?

3 books in a row vaguely about sharks is pretty crazy.
Also, all these Hamlet books I pick up, but I fuck hard with Hamlet.

Kinda hope she realizes this IS Hamlet’s to be or not to be monologue lol so she actually does understand it.

Oh god, and her sister is trying to write this in her voice. Oh, my heart. Tears totally just pricked my eyes.

I hate Settlers of Catan lol.

I know I pulled another book’s quotes about Catan and butterfly goo. (Manhunt and Mood Swings respectively.)

YIKES THAT QUOTE WAS SO REAL.

Mo is wonderful. Everyone in this book is so flawed and wonderful.

Oh Greta

Oh god, this book hurts me all the time, fuck!
Blinking back tears at work again.✌️ I love reading. 🫠

Some other book I read recently was my biggest regret is not going to a party. I'll have to figure out which I’m thinking of. I don’t think it was Beartown, but obvi that's also applicable. (Was it Mood Swings? Or How to Kill a Guy in 10 Ways? Either way, those too because we live in a hellscape.)((It’s Ninth House.)) (((It’s a lot of fucking books, okay.)))

I said you're kidding me OUT LOUD about Kevin. HI TRUMP. FUCK YOU VERY MUCH.

I think it’s another 4.5 that I’ll round to a five because it’s so well executed as far as characterization goes. But it is no plot just vibes.

Also ow, I totally get the noxious pink cover now.

Post-reading:
I don’t think this book is gonna work for everyone. I think you need to be a very specific audience to connect fully with this book, but if you’re an undiagnosed autistic with a distant sister who grew up in an abusive, conservative household and somehow came out hopelessly angry and liberal-

Like she’s niche, but she fucks. There’s not much plot. You’ve gotta enjoy a character study, or you won’t like this. I’ve only read one other of Austin’s books, but this also has a psychological twist (especially if you go in blind to books like I do) and a mild mystery to it. I hesitate to even write that they’re mystery books because that’s never the focus, but they do give the audience something to latch onto and try and work out the solution too while they’re being flooded with characterization. And to be clear, it’s a very welcome flood. I love when books are so specific and nuanced that the characters within them feel real. It’s very what actually happened to the author and what was exaggerated for fiction to get at the underlying feelings? It feels lived in. It feels inhabited. I love that.

It’s a quick read that’ll get you depressed and angry, and still a little hopeful by the end of it. I think if you like Fredrik Backman’s quirky characters, then you’ll like this author. I’ll pick up anything she writes. It’s not a book that I think everyone needs to read, but it is a book that will hit you just right if you let it.

Who should read this:
Sisters
Autistic representation fans
Character study fans
Fredrik Backman fans

Ideal reading time:
Anytime

Do I want to reread this:
Yup.

Would I buy this:
Yup, but I wish I liked the cover more. Wish it was bubblegum pink with a rat and a weird Barbie.

Similar books:
* Anxious People by Fredrik Backman-lit fic character study, ensemble cast, social commentary, mental health
* Beartown by Frederik Backman-lit fic character study, ensemble cast, social commentary, mental health
* Intermezzo by Sally Rooney-lit fic character study, sibling dynamics, social commentary, mental health
* Shark Heart by Emily Habeck-lit fic, horror, character study, family drama
* Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe-lit fic character study, family drama, social commentary
* Big Swiss by Jen Beagin-lit fic character study, queer

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sad but sort of hopeful, timely novel. It was a lot more depressing than I was expecting - in a mostly good way. The writing was very accessible and realistic, so it was an easy read in that sense. The subject matter made it hard at times though. It's the kind of book that you should tread lightly with if you're not in a great mental place, but I feel like it's ultimately worth reading.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Emily Austin's most recent release, We Could Be Rats, also happened to be my first ever book by the author (though I'm now very much looking forward to reading her other books); I loved it so, so much.

We Could Be Rats has all the ingredients that make up my favorite type of book: poignant writing, lovable/complicated characters, dynamic relationship development, and a deep dive into what it feels like to grow up. Austin writes about post-schooling malaise, loss of innocence, complicated sibling dynamics, and identity, and she does this in such a deeply relatable way that her words made my heart ache for Sigrid and Margit and my own younger self.

One of the most interesting parts of Rats, for me, was Austin's unique narrative structure. I don't want to elaborate here because I do think it's best not to know much going into the book, but I will say that the mid-book "twist" really did catch me by surprise, and I think that going back and re-reading the book for the second time would likely be an entirely different experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for my advanced reader copy. I suspect this one will stick with me for a long time to come.

We Could Be Rats is an absolutely heartbreaking novel, and it is stunning. It really is a “no plot, just vibes” type of story with no genuine resolution, but it is a beautiful portrayal of growth through family trauma and the bond of sisterhood.

This tackles heavy topics but in a way that was both emotional and hilarious.

The first part of the story is Sigrid re-writing her suicide letter. We learn about her past, the challenges & struggles she encountered that have led to her feeling the ways she is right now. Then the story becomes the POV of her sister Magrit who is the responsible & put together sister.

I found the story to be thought provoking & impactful. This is for sure a quirky and dark read (as Emily's work tends to be) & I really enjoyed it!

thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. i previously much enjoyed emily austin's books and was looking forward to this one coming out. austin has a way of talking about heavy topics such as death and dread but makes the reader feel that everything will be okay in the end. there is a hope that shouldn't be there and it makes her books all the more interesting and un-put-downable.

I read this in one straight run from start to finish, and ended up searching my house for more chores to continue to listen to this gem. I loved the dark humor layered on top of a very real and very serious story. The two sisters were incredibly relatable and I could have listened to the ramblings of Sigrid for eternity.

Alex Aster's first adult romance was a delight!! It was cute with snappy dialogue and it had the right amount of spice. The characters meshed very well together and there's lines written that will make your mother blush!

As usual Austin’s dark humorous writing style is perfection. I’ve never felt more seen as a queer person going through dark emotions and change. The sisters are very relatable and memorable characters, even with the stream of consciousness format.

Thank you Atria Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

We Could Be Rats was a heartbreakingly human story about family, friends. love, loss, community (or lack thereof), and what it means to be alive. Emily Austin has a wonderful way of writing about the human condition in a relatable yet thought-provoking way. I really enjoyed this.

God. This book broke me. Ive been both those sisters. I dont wanna get too much into it, but it was quick and witty and heartfelt and relatable.

This book was amazing! It is unlike anything I’ve ever read such unique and well written perspective. With a twist that I absolutely did not see coming. Also the cover is spectacular!

Honestly the format of this book made it hard to stay in engaged. I understood what the author was trying to do but it fell flat in my opinion. Perhaps I have personal bias because as someone who has chronic suicidal ideations, this just doesn't seem like it was written with an understanding of those types of emotions. it felt like someone guessing what a suicidal person would say. Overall, I enjoyed the theme and was happy when I finally finished it so I could immediately forget about it.

This book delivers an emotional gut punch that lingers long after the last page.

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge that this is a difficult read, particularly for those who have lost someone to suicide or have personal experience with mental illness. Please take note of the content and trigger warnings before diving in.

As someone who falls into that category, I found this novel both painful and powerful. It’s not an easy or conventional contemporary read, so if you're looking for something light, this may not be for you. However, it’s deeply poignant, filled with beautifully written passages that I found myself underlining—phrases that truly resonated.

The story follows two sisters, Sigrid and Magrit, who grew up in a tumultuous and often hostile household. Sigrid escaped into her imagination, creating intricate fantasy worlds in the basement with her toys, while Magrit coped by staying grounded, focusing on school, and trying to maintain peace in their volatile home.

The novel begins with Sigrid attempting to write her suicide note. As she drafts different versions, we gain insight into her past, her struggles, and her present-day life working at the Dollar Mart. Then, the perspective shifts to Magrit, offering an even deeper understanding of their shared history and the emotional scars they carry—not just because of Sigrid’s mental illness, but due to the trauma they endured as children.

Although the sisters never considered themselves particularly close, their bond is undeniable. This story masterfully explores themes of repression, small-town claustrophobia, and the emotional toll of not being able to live as your authentic self. It also highlights the dangers of ignoring or suppressing emotions, making it feel especially relevant in today’s often harsh and unforgiving world.

This is a challenging read, both in subject matter and format, and there were moments when I struggled with it. But ultimately, it’s a moving, thought-provoking novel that left a lasting impact.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read anything quite like this and could not put it down for that reason. The book begins with a diary with a series of suicide notes that become progressively more immersive as Sigrid really begins to elaborate on her life as it is now and from her childhood experience. The diary is resumed by her sister Margrit and the past is expounded on by her point of view of what she went through in their shared childhood experience. There is so much minutiae from so many different captured moments that makes this so unique, but so relatable at the same time. I felt the subject matter was definitely grim, however this author really derived something so fresh and captivating out of the rubble. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley. I would definitely like to read more from this author.