A review by readingpicnic
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

5.0

I received an online ARC of this book from the publisher. Emily Austin is proving to be one of my favorite authors of whom I will read anything they write. I adored this book and its neurodivergence. I found myself relating to so many passages as an autistic person, and although everyone's autism presents differently, I think this book will be incredibly relatable to neurodivergent readers, especially those who question their own "goodness" often like Enid. The story almost felt like it was filled with autistic easter eggs, and every time I felt seen by an autistic trait that I share with Enid, I got a little excited. I appreciated that although Enid has a special interest in true crime that she is also self-critical of this and acknowledges the issues with the consumption and popularization of true crime that has affected real people's lives, while also highlighting that neurodivergent people often do not have a choice in their special interests, which doesn't make them bad people. I found myself laughing out loud so often while reading this, and one of my favorite scenes was the inner monologue as Enid prepared a "transphobic" gender reveal cake for her half-sister's baby shower.
In terms of critiques, I found some of Polly's dialogue to sound a little unnatural. I also wished Polly had taken more accountability for outing Enid to her step-mom, but her not properly apologizing in that situation that could just be a part of her character. Enid was a bit too forgiving of some of Polly and Vin's actions in the story to the point that it felt like they were not properly held accountable. I felt that a lot of the dates that Enid went on were not necessary to the story or moving along the plot, so I feel that some of those scenes could have been left out without compromising the book.