I loved Austin’s first novel and was so excited to read Interesting Facts About Space. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

The story follows Enid, a true crime and space obsessed lesbian who is convinced someone is following her. I felt so very seen while reading this book as Enid navigates dating, family, and mental illness. The writing style is darkly comical and engaging, and though I found it took a while to get going, I became super invested in the story and couldn’t put it down.

To have a LGBTQIA+ character coupled with space is a great combination for me! I really loved it and would read more by Emily in the future.

I absolutely adored this. Although it is a hard book to read in a similar way to how Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is, there's a huge amount of softness in it as well, and Austin gets the balance just right.

Austin's narrators feel so familiar to me, while being completely different, and I think it's that that makes me feel so fond of them - almost painfully fond.

I immediately want to read it again.

My thanks to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Enid has lots of ways of coping with life. She mimics the behaviour of other people to appear normal, and listens to true crime podcasts to drown out her anxious thoughts. She avoids letting people get too close, and finds way to assuage her guilt about forging a relationship with the family her father left Enid and her mother for. But when Enid becomes convinced that someone is following her, her coping mechanisms are no longer enough to keep Enid's life from spinning out of control.

I loved this one. Interesting Facts About Space is a compulsive read, driven by plot and characters alike. The story is broken up into relatively short sections, which make it even easier to read, but the story never felt fragmented. Enid and I don't have very much in common, but I found her such an engaging and likeable protagonist. The characters in Interesting Facts About Space all felt so vivid and realistic that I always understood why they acted like they did, even when they did something that I would never do. There is also a lot of relatable material in this book, even for people who don't find the characters relatable in their entirety.

I found this an incredibly uplifting read, and it helps that Interesting Facts About Space is a very funny book. I repeatedly laughed out loud, especially at Enid's inner dialogue. For me, this was an even better read than Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, sharing many of its strengths and none of its weaknesses. I will definitely be reading more from Emily Austin.

Enid is queer, quirky, neurodivergent and working through some issues. She’s also really relatable (human - flawed!), and I could totally empathise with her inner thoughts and occasional awkwardness in navigating life, family and relationships.

Interesting Facts About Space is a literary fiction novel following Enid. Enid is a lesbian, and she is a serial dater but won’t commit to anyone. She also loves space and true crime. Enid obsesses over her old YouTube videos and has a fear off bald people. She starts to believe someone is watching her whilst thinking there is something wrong with her. This reminded me of the sad girl literary novels in many ways. It was beautifully queer and a fast read. Enid was extremely relatable to me, and it was great to read from a main character who was not perfect. It was clear this was written by Emily Austin because it falls in line with her other books in terms of writing style so if you liked Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead then you’ll probably like this. It was enjoyable so I am giving it 4 stars. It wasn’t a perfect read for me through and the whole true crime obsession did start to annoy me personally but otherwise it was a good read and I would recommend this.

I’ve enjoyed Emily Austin’s previous novels so I was really keen to get my hands on this and if anything it exceeded my expectations. If you’re a fellow weirdo and worry about being a bad person she has such a way of making you feel seen. This novel is a perfect mix of funny, sad, relatable, quirky and real.