A review by emilyinherhead
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

emotional funny 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? No

5.0

Sometimes you have to joke about things like pickling murdered teenagers. It’s a coping mechanism. It takes the darkness out at the knees.

Enid is a young, queer, neurodivergent woman who is deaf in one ear, terrified of bald men, obsessed with space and true crime, and convinced that someone is following her. She is both a mess of a character and a deeply lovable and relatable one.

Over the span of this story, Enid is worrying about her depressed mother, trying to succeed at work despite needing to collaborate with a bald collegue, finding her place amongst her late father’s “other family,” and trying to figure out who might be lurking around her apartment and why—all while navigating the complexities and nuances of her hearing loss and mental health.

Whenever I see my mom watching her food cook in the oven, I sit next to her and look in. You can’t kill yourself in modern ovens. Well, I’m sure you coud. You could kill yourself with anything if you tried hard enough. When we sit there, though, I feel like we are moths drawn to the memory of what an oven can do to sad women. 

Emily Austin is somehow able to balance humor and deep feeling in the most perfectly compelling way. I laughed, I got teary, I felt seen and comforted. I wanted to hug this book to my chest when I finished it. I’m already eagerly anticipating whatever Austin writes next.

(Thank you to Net Galley and Atria for my digital advance copy)