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A review by angethology
We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
1.5
I've never been so unmoved and unimpressed by a book that explores suicide and depression. Thought this would be such a meaningful, or cute book for me I can resonate with as I have a sister myself where we often call each other a rat as a joke. In the first half, the novel is divided into chapters labeled as final letter attempts by Sigrid, each one taking a trip down memory lane in hopes of finding the perfect letter to leave behind — a letter that leaves traces of sunshine behind, yet Sigrid can't help but manages to cloud it with dark memories every time.
In theory, this sounds like a unique concept, even more so when a twist is revealed in the second half from the perspective of Sigrid's sister, Margit. But this ends up feeling like a teenager's whiny diary who's on their first venture into writing. And although some of the issues that Sigrid faces, such as addiction, feeling inadequate compared to their sibling, and homophobia, are all common issues that the average person can at least relate to, the morsel of sympathy I had slowly depleted like a deflating balloon as I make my way through the book.
It feels entirely self-indulgent and, worst of all, because of how much backtracking there is, the first half is utterly meaningless. [Beware for spoilers from now on] You can't end every chapter with "lol nvm I lied," every single time and justify it using an unreliable narrator, it's just half a step away from the fav middle school creative exercise, ".. and then she woke up." I can absolutely empathize with someone going through depression, suicidal ideation, abusive family dynamics etc — but to act like those are "technically a kind of cancer or aneurysm, but metaphorically," is so .. cringe-worthy. And the constant rhetorical validation and questioning like, "How about you? How are you feeling? Are you sad because I'm dead?" is actually exhausting to read, what in the wattpad writing.
I don't need characters like Sigrid to be a "perfect victim"; being unlikeable is one thing, and something I can appreciate in fiction. But employing this narrative technique for further exposition every time feels extremely lazy and uncreative. I don't feel anything after reading this book except annoyance, I don't see the siblings' multilayered, complex relationship the way the author intended. Instead, it feels emotionally manipulative. The author is basically telling me exactly how to feel, as opposed to trying to tug at my heartstrings using well thought-out language and background, and I'm not the type to not get emotional with these types of stories.
Super surprised at the positive reviews here, but oh well. I do have one favorite quote that is super adorable: "I used to joke, "I wish we were rats" because, if i could choose how the world worked, we would all be rats at a fair .. We would roll around in garbage and suck on our sour keys."
In theory, this sounds like a unique concept, even more so when a twist is revealed in the second half from the perspective of Sigrid's sister, Margit. But this ends up feeling like a teenager's whiny diary who's on their first venture into writing. And although some of the issues that Sigrid faces, such as addiction, feeling inadequate compared to their sibling, and homophobia, are all common issues that the average person can at least relate to, the morsel of sympathy I had slowly depleted like a deflating balloon as I make my way through the book.
It feels entirely self-indulgent and, worst of all, because of how much backtracking there is, the first half is utterly meaningless. [Beware for spoilers from now on] You can't end every chapter with "lol nvm I lied," every single time and justify it using an unreliable narrator, it's just half a step away from the fav middle school creative exercise, ".. and then she woke up." I can absolutely empathize with someone going through depression, suicidal ideation, abusive family dynamics etc — but to act like those are "technically a kind of cancer or aneurysm, but metaphorically," is so .. cringe-worthy. And the constant rhetorical validation and questioning like, "How about you? How are you feeling? Are you sad because I'm dead?" is actually exhausting to read, what in the wattpad writing.
I don't need characters like Sigrid to be a "perfect victim"; being unlikeable is one thing, and something I can appreciate in fiction. But employing this narrative technique for further exposition every time feels extremely lazy and uncreative. I don't feel anything after reading this book except annoyance, I don't see the siblings' multilayered, complex relationship the way the author intended. Instead, it feels emotionally manipulative. The author is basically telling me exactly how to feel, as opposed to trying to tug at my heartstrings using well thought-out language and background, and I'm not the type to not get emotional with these types of stories.
Super surprised at the positive reviews here, but oh well. I do have one favorite quote that is super adorable: "I used to joke, "I wish we were rats" because, if i could choose how the world worked, we would all be rats at a fair .. We would roll around in garbage and suck on our sour keys."