over the weekend, i read Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin. after reading Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead (EiTRWSBD) in a day a few weekends ago and it instantly becoming one of my favorite books i’ve read this year (haven’t written a review yet, though), i promptly put on hold/checked out whatever else i could by Austin at the library. Interesting Facts About Space was first to come available.

and wow it did not disappoint. though i will say it didn’t hit quite as hard for me as EiTRWSBD. maybe because the description of depression in that one felt so spot on? also maybe because i had some minor issues with the description of ptsd (spoiler, i guess) in this one? or maybe it was the pacing? EiTRWSBD has such a solid build up of tension that you can absolutely feel things coming to a head. whereas Interesting Facts About Space felt slightly slower-paced.

in any case, i did still really like this book. enid is a highly relatable character to me as someone with anxiety, c-ptsd, and a bad biological father. like her, i also struggle with my brain regularly reminding me of everything awful i’ve ever done. i’ve also genuinely worried about being a bad person before—even if i don’t believe in the concept of good/bad people.

her experience with disability is also relatable, despite us being disabled differently. i didn’t really buy the fully repressed memory business, especially since it caused such a debilitating phobia. but i did absolutely buy her paranoia and anxiety—and also her instinct to desensitize herself to certain fears by leaning into them (like space and true crime).

it was also funny, in Austin’s own way. i do wonder if her books read as funny to folks who’ve never dealt with mental illness, since they are sometimes a bit darkly funny. but considering that’s not me, i laughed out loud several times from enid’s quips.

while i did feel the ending was a bit abrupt (i think it could’ve used one more chapter), i did also sort of appreciate it in a “things don’t get better overnight” sort of way.

so overall: not my favorite of Emily Austin’s of what i’ve read so far, but still a really good read. i also did indeed learn some interesting facts about space from it.  🌕