Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Interesting Facts About Space

Title: Interesting Facts about Space
Author: Emily R. Austin
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: January 30, 2024

I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Shuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Charming • Relatable • Hopeful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you all about black holes and their ability to spaghettify you without batting an eye in fear. Her one major phobia? Bald men. But she tries to keep that one under wraps. When she’s not listening to her favorite true crime podcasts on a loop, she’s serially dating a rotation of women from dating apps. At the same time, she’s trying to forge a new relationship with her estranged half-sisters after the death of her absent father. When she unwittingly plunges into her first serious romantic entanglement, Enid starts to believe that someone is following her.

As her paranoia spirals out of control, Enid must contend with her mounting suspicion that something is seriously wrong with her. Because at the end of the day there’s only one person she can’t outrun—herself.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I picked up Interesting Facts about Space on whim, not knowing what to expect. I had been intrigued by Emily R. Austin's novel Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, but I hadn't gotten a chance to read it yet. With that said, I am so glad to have taken a chance on this one - it was one of those books that just spoke to me on so many different levels.

Told from the first person perspective, the meandering writing style follows Enid's stream of consciousness, allowing for an in-depth glimpse into her inner thoughts, insecurities, and motivations. As a result of this, the pacing is quite slow through the first half, with the plot taking a backseat, and a lot packed into the final third. For most of the narrative, I really had no idea where it was going - and that is exactly why I ended up loving it.

Enid is unique, yet so relatable. I loved being inside her brain and trying to figure out why she is the way she is. Although it tackles some serious topics, there is an underlying comical tone that really set the stage. There were so many 'me too' moments sprinkled throughout. I saw myself in how she notices her mother's struggles when the little things start disappearing. Additionally, when Enid describes needing 5-minutes to rehearse what she will say to the waitress, I just felt so seen.

Interesting Facts about Space is one of those books that is incredibly hard to describe, yet so deeply human. It was a little weird, a lot messy, and in all honesty, not a whole lot happens, but somehow it worked. I was left with a quiet satisfaction and I would definitely read another book like it. I didn't realize Emily R. Austin is a Canadian author and I look forward to reading Everyone in This Room will Someday Be Dead sooner rather than later.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the character study
• anyone who has felt weird and misunderstood
• readers who like neurodivergent MCs

⚠️ CW: mental illness, panic attacks/disorders, anxiety, depression, paranoia, PTSD, self-harm, eating disorder, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempt, stalking, abandonment, murder, death, death of parent, grief, fire/fire injury, ableism, homophobia, lesbophobia, outing, bullying, infidelity, vomit, pregnancy, sexual content, gaslighting, toxic relationship

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"I wish I could have one nice interaction with everyone and then disappear."

"I wonder why some people are like her, and some people are like me… I can’t tell people things like, ‘It’s always so nice to see you’, let alone say something like, ‘I love you’, without feeling my insides curdle. I have to tell them about sunsets on Mars or bake them offensive cakes. I bet she tells Gina she loves her. I bet she doesn’t know anything about stars."

"I will never understand how my dad could stand in the glow of my mom, as if an inch from a star, and be unmoved by her formidable light. It has been devastating to watch her fade in response to him."

Content Warnings