I read Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin about a month ago and still don’t fully know how to process what I felt about it, other than the fact it sucked me in and was a single-session read for me. And hey, bonus - it’s Canadian!

The main character Enid is a queer, anxious, neurodivergent mess with a whole lot of repressed trauma. Most notably, her mental health struggles manifest as paranoia about bald men, which increasingly takes over her life as she navigates her job, her friendships, her first prolonged romantic relationship, and a complex blended-family relationship steeped in old wounds. She’s obsessed with true crime and space and on the verge of mental collapse.

There’s no other way for me to say it: This is just a weird (affectionate) little book. Parts of it I related to deeply as someone who is also queer, neurodivergent, anxious, and a millennial. Even the parts I didn’t felt very real. I think it’s a true talent to make a novel feel both bizarre but completely believable and even mundane. In that way, this book is so incredibly human. Enid’s biggest enemy is herself, and her journey through her instability is both compelling and uplifting.

If you want a book that will comfort you with the reminder that we’re all a mess in one way or the other, or if you like realistic yet hilarious fiction that primarily deals with a personal journey about mental health and interpersonal relationships, this one might be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.