Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead

I don't really owe anyone anything. I am an animal, brought into existence without my consent, left scrounging to get by.

This is a dark little novel about depression and anxiety and the things they push us to do. Gilda is already halfway to a breakdown when she's in a ‘minor car accident' that leaves her with a broken arm and a destroyed car. She's given an ad for therapy, which leads her to a Catholic church, which leads her to a job where she has to hide the fact that she's a lesbian. While Gilda was pushed to extremes here, I found myself relating strongly to her character. Avoidance as a result of extreme anxiety can lead us to do a lot of ‘weird' things and I understood where she was coming from, even as I knew her actions were in no way sustainable.

I really enjoyed reading this, as much as someone can ‘enjoy' something so anxiety-inducing. Austin is able to convey the difficulties of mental illness so well and is a fantastic writer who I look forward to reading more by.