We Could Be Rats

It’s obvious by now I don’t attack my tbr in order, and sometimes I see a book title that makes me so giddy, pulls me in so fast, that any attempt at orderly tbr reading goes out the window about a thousand miles an hour. Sometimes the choice is not well made but whew, this one was. Was I expecting an actual emotional roller coaster that made me cry and reflect on my own growing up as a queer individual? Not to the extent I received. I read this in one day and I only felt like a minute passed. The quirky title did nothing to prepare me for this beautiful, resonant read.

With a unique format that I won't spoil, Emily Austin has woven a beautiful story about two very different sisters who grew up under less than ideal circumstances. She touched a lot on the despair and monotony of being stuck in your small hometown. Side note — this book made me cry TWICE and learning that Austin listened to the album Stick Season while writing it really made sense to me. As a queer woman also living (mostly against my will) in the conservative rural already I grew up in, I related to a lot of what Sigrid was feeling.

Deeply emotional, often funny, this is absolutely my favorite novel from Emily Austin so far.

Please allow me to share a timeless quote from a review of Emily Austin’s Interesting Facts About Space: “Emily Austin is a precious gem and all of her books are perfect.” Wow, what an amazing quote. What absolute genius wrote that? It was me. I wrote it.

This book is so. good. I needed to read it. Both in a “I’m a fan of Emily Austin, I need to read this” way and a “I need to read this for my soul” way, though I didn’t realize the latter until I was finished. It feels like reading someone’s diary (and I guess part of it is kind of reading someone’s diary) so it’s very raw and authentic. The strained relationship between Sigrid and her sister Margit is so interesting and even a little frustrating as the reader because you just know they could be great friends since they’re so alike. But they don’t realize it and it’s like… ahhhhh!

I don’t know how she does it, but Emily Austin creates characters that I always relate to in some way. There’s always something about them that calls out to me and says “I’m you and you’re me,” and then I laugh and cry the whole time because it’s true. This time, the thing that grabbed me most was Sigrid’s relationship with Greta. Everything about it screamed “this is your relationship with your own friend,” and it was lovely and heartbreaking and at times it was painful to read.

I’ve found that a part of me is healed every time I read one of Emily Austin’s books. I’m convinced that eventually, she’ll write enough of them that I’ll be completely cured. Can’t wait!

I received an ARC of this book from Atria via Netgalley.