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A review by skywhales
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
oh my god. like oh my god. emily austin i will swear my loyalty to you forever if you want just say the word
i like characters who are very different from me a lot of the time. there are a lot of ways to enjoy characters. but i don't think i've felt seen the way i felt seen reading this book in my entire adult life. enid is a lesbian with a weird relationship to gender who's probably autistic. she plans out her social interactions and replays them in her head later. she shares fun facts with her mom. she's worried she's a terrible person. she's a different person to everyone in her life. she overthinks and lets her anxiety take over and has weird and bad and maladaptive coping mechanisms and god i loved her. i genuinely felt my breath taken away by how much i related to her at times.
honestly every character in this felt so real and genuine and likable (mostly) with their own quirks and flaws and i found myself finding something to like in all of them. particularly polly. sometimes it's hard for me to see what the narrator sees in a love interest but i adored her. she wasn't perfect but that just made it all the easier to see why she fell for the equally strange and imperfect enid. and this won't make sense until you're at that bit but "i love weird little bugs, remember?" made me exhale and close the book and hold it to my chest because i had such big feelings.
god. fuck. i think i also really like books that are depressing, and sad, and deal with fucked up shit, but end in a way that reminds us that despite all that, things can be good. and we can be good and we can get better. my problem with a lot of "cozy" fiction is that it feels afraid to deal in dark topics in more than a few brief mentions, or else dark topics come out of nowhere and feel so shocking that they throw you out of the narrative entirely. i Love, however, books that are dark and sad and occasionally get worse before they get better but they do get better. i think it might hit harder when we actually see the protagonist having to fight so hard for that improvement.
also i have a lot of mostly negative feelings about true crime stuff and was wary about that going in but i think it was not only tied very well to the character but the worst elements of it were discussed and touched upon in a way i was worried they wouldn't be.
i like characters who are very different from me a lot of the time. there are a lot of ways to enjoy characters. but i don't think i've felt seen the way i felt seen reading this book in my entire adult life. enid is a lesbian with a weird relationship to gender who's probably autistic. she plans out her social interactions and replays them in her head later. she shares fun facts with her mom. she's worried she's a terrible person. she's a different person to everyone in her life. she overthinks and lets her anxiety take over and has weird and bad and maladaptive coping mechanisms and god i loved her. i genuinely felt my breath taken away by how much i related to her at times.
honestly every character in this felt so real and genuine and likable (mostly) with their own quirks and flaws and i found myself finding something to like in all of them. particularly polly. sometimes it's hard for me to see what the narrator sees in a love interest but i adored her. she wasn't perfect but that just made it all the easier to see why she fell for the equally strange and imperfect enid.
god. fuck. i think i also really like books that are depressing, and sad, and deal with fucked up shit, but end in a way that reminds us that despite all that, things can be good. and we can be good and we can get better. my problem with a lot of "cozy" fiction is that it feels afraid to deal in dark topics in more than a few brief mentions, or else dark topics come out of nowhere and feel so shocking that they throw you out of the narrative entirely. i Love, however, books that are dark and sad and occasionally get worse before they get better but they do get better. i think it might hit harder when we actually see the protagonist having to fight so hard for that improvement.
also i have a lot of mostly negative feelings about true crime stuff and was wary about that going in but i think it was not only tied very well to the character but the worst elements of it were discussed and touched upon in a way i was worried they wouldn't be.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Lesbophobia