A perfect story about breaking and healing in that quirky writing style we’ve grown to love from Emily Austin. I did not really know what to expect going into this book but I was very moved by Sigrid and Margit’s story.

The thing I really like about Austin’s books is that they are always very unique, and this one is no exception. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in based on the description and I was not prepared for what the story ended up being. I was also very surprised by the first big twist. It took the plot in an unexpected direction that I found fresh and fun.

I loved the tone of the writing as well. It was quirky and conversational and made it highly enjoyable to read. I flew through this not just because it’s a fairly short book, but also because it was written in such a friendly way. Definitely check it out!

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for this ARC. We Could Be Rats is out 1/28

Another book hit out of the park by Emily Austin. This one was definitely a little darker than her other two books I’ve read but still was an amazing read! She is truly a great writer who knows how to impart some wisdom along with little pockets of humor. Her books make me feel like I’m not alone!

We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
✨ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
💃🏼 Vibes: Melancholic stream of consciousness.
📕 If you like ______, you’ll like this: Blue Sisters; unreliable narrators
📖/🎧 Read Type: ARC (thank you @netgalley, Atria Books, and Emily Austin!)

“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 all live well, sampling every possible ounce of happiness.” This novel begins with several drafts of Sigrid’s suicide notes, all addressing issues with her family and estranged childhood friend, Greta. Within those, it tells the story of Sigrid, who is imaginative and rebellious, and her more conventional sister, Margit. The rest of Sigrid’s story explores her issues with growing up and fractured familial relationships, examining childhood trauma and mental health struggles.

Emily Austin has become an auto-buy author for me. I requested this ARC because I loved Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead. In the same way that story explores the inevitability of death, this novel explores the inevitability of growing up. This reads like a love letter to the innocence of childhood. The prose is raw and lyrical in a completely relatable way. (I.e., “It's not that I was desperate to be someone else. It's not that I hated myself. It's just that when you get older, you are suddenly required to be the person you are. I felt like I was cast as a character I wasn't able to play.”) It’s a book that will stay with me for a long time!

This novel will be published on January 28! 📆

I was wholly drawn into Sigrid and Margit’s heartbreaking (yet healing!) story. The pacing was perfect, and their lived experiences felt rooted in reality. I will be reading more by Austin.

I want to start by thanking Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! Emily Austin’s writing is truly one of a kind. I have had countless “oh, so that wasn’t a unique experience?” moments when reading her work, and We Could Be Rats was no exception. I (oddly enough, as they are intentionally so very different) saw myself in both Margit and Sigrid. Their shared experience in childhood is something that was so valuable for me to read, as someone who also grew up in a tumultuous home, in a town that was predominantly white and conservative. I feel especially comforted by the way she touches on religious trauma, and the way that continues to affect you into adulthood. The way Emily Austin can put you in a character’s mind is what makes her characters feel so raw and relatable. I could go on and on, but the moral of the story for me is that no matter work of hers you read, you’ll come away feeling like someone sees you, and understands you.

Austin never fails me. This is another perfect brain candy book that approaches heavy topics in a lighthearted manner. The epistolary format was very easy to follow and engaging. This was a tender examination of sisterhood dynamics as well as how it feels to grow up and losing the magical lens of your childhood through negative experiences. This book called to mind how as children we are just simply ourselves and don’t even consider the way others may expect us to be. As we grow, we learn to change aspects of ourselves to make ourselves “fit” and we forget how to be ourselves until adulthood when many ultimately learn rediscover our authentic selves. It also demonstrated how we chip away at ourselves every time we aren’t authentic and the toll that takes on a person. This bittersweet story pulled at my heartstrings. I will always recommend Austin!

Wow. I am utterly speechless. We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin is nothing short of extraordinary. This deeply moving and thought-provoking novel delves into the complexities of mental health and the profound ripple effects of suicide attempts, offering a raw yet compassionate portrayal of humanity at its most vulnerable.

Emily’s masterful storytelling shines through in the unforgettable journey of Sigrid and Mag, two sisters whose lives are interwoven with pain, resilience, and an aching need for connection. Their struggles, reflections, and growth throughout the story left me completely captivated and emotionally wrecked in the best way possible.

This isn’t just a book; it’s an experience. Emily Austin handles heavy themes with such tenderness and nuance, making it impossible to put this story down. It’s a powerful reminder of the importance of empathy and the strength it takes to keep going when life feels impossible.

Five stars aren’t enough to express how much I loved this book. It’s an absolute must-read for anyone who appreciates stories that make you think, feel, and see the world just a little differently.

A huge thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this brilliant novel early. We Could Be Rats will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you soooo much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC in exchange of an honest review.

I fell in love with Emily Austin's writing when I read Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead last year.
When I saw that she had a new book coming, I was hyped to say the least.

The best way to describe my experience with this book is that I loved it so much that I actually took my time with it instead of bingeing (which is what I usually do with books I'm hooked on).

Her writing style is pure gold.
Her themes and subjects are perfection.
Her character work is wonderful.

Read this if you're looking for something profound, yet easy to read. Something sapphic, something any millennial will relate with. A book that will stay with you.

I'll go add to my Emily Austin shrine now.

I LOVED THIS BOOK

“When you're a kid, you assume you're just getting a taste for all the memorable experiences life has in store for you, but the truth is, most people don't spend countless nights running through the streets with their friends. They spend a handful of nights doing that if they're lucky.”

When I was in high school, my class was assigned to read Sophie’s World. I don’t remember anything about this book except for the rabbit telling Sophie that as we age, become adults, we lose our childlike wonder. And our childlike wonder is the meaning of life. I related to that, because like Sigrid in We Could Be Rats, I too, was not ready to leave the boat of childhood behind to become a swamp monster of an adult.

To this day, I marvel as much as I can. And it’s easier with kids, to be frank. The airplanes in the sky, the computer in my hands, the blades of grass between the cracks in a sidewalk. The rabbit, the hawk, the robin eating grub. All of it is a marvel and all of it is amazing. Most days, my clouds are pink, like Sigrid hopes for.

But other days, my clouds are grey. And other days, I also wonder if I am real.

In the most vulnerable way I can put this, if you read this book, you will know the heart of the way my brain works. You will meet me in my truest form. You will understand thoughts I have that I cannot put into words as elegantly as Emily Austin did. We read to challenge our ignorance, our self, our world view. But this was a rare occasion. I read this book and I looked into a mirror the entire time.

What a powerful and profound gut punch of a book.

It should not have taken me this long to read my first Emily Austin novel, but lucky for me, and anyone else who’s in the same boat, We Could Be Rats was everything I wanted it to be and more.

The novel follows two sisters, Sigrid and Margit, and opens with Sigrid’s suicide letters to her family and friends. In those first chapters, we learn how alienated and lonely Sigrid feels among classmates, her family, and at home in Drysdale, their small, conservative town. She writes extensively about how she never really wanted to grow up, and that her childlike imagination became a coping mechanism to deal with family turmoil.

As the youngest sister, Sigrid felt that she was always working against the norm and should’ve been “more like Margit,” the people pleasing, over-achieving older sister. As I kept reading, it became clear to me that their dynamic was the crux of the story. The guilt that each sister felt with the way they treated each other in response to their environments, and the love they have despite those factors.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Atria books for the ARC of one of my most anticipated books this year!

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book, because while I liked interesting facts about space, I didn't feel a strong connection to it. This, however, was unequivocally a book /for me/. This about a complicated relationship between two sisters who grew up in a tumultuous household, both dealing with that trauma in very different ways. I love book that explore sibling relationships, and this one was just so perfect. I loved reading about this sisterly bond and how their lives diverged, yet remained tethered through their family. The writing was great and I found myself immediately sucked in, mainly reading this in two sittings. I can't wait for this book to be out in the world for all to read!

We Could Be Rats, like many of Austin's other works, sneaks up on you, hitting you right through the heart before you have any time to emotionally prepare yourself as we follow two sisters, Sigrid and Margit, as they attempt to navigate the messiness of growing up and the relationships and losses that come with it. Austin's work never fails to read with such raw and genuine honesty, creating such lovable and real characters that make you feel seen in a way you didn't know you needed. The dark and sardonic comedy is a delight as always and acts as a great contrast to the heavy, nuanced topics while never detracting from the seriousness (only Emily Austin could make me laugh out loud while while reading different iterations of a suicide note). We Could Be Rats feels like a really exciting progression for Austin in how she utilizes the storytelling format and how her characters can have a greater effect on the story and its perception. While I don't think anything could ever beat Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead as my favorite Austin book, this one is close behind! Let us all be rats and feast on this life together!!! 🐀❤️

Emily Austin writes outstanding characters and depicts the human experience so well. I really appreciate how honest her characters are. Serious topics are handled with care and humor. Her style of writing stands out as well, especially in this book. WCBR is full of heartache but worth a read!

An instant favorite for me. This story follows the narrative of a suicide note and the multiple attempts to write one that grants closure, comfort, and an overall view as to why Sigrid would want to take her own life. The twist however sent me into a tizzy and there is the matter of family dynamics, mental illness and trying to grapple with the world we live in.

WE COULD BE RATS by Emily Austin

ARC review | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️| general fiction

Release date: January 28, 2025

Publisher: Atria Books

*check content warnings before reading.

Sigrid, a Dollar Pal employee who hates her job and isn't too fond of her hometown, Drysdale, either, is a twenty-year-old with a longtime resentment for growing up and leaving her childhood behind to behave as all adults do. She didn't graduate high school, and spent much of her time with her best friend Greta, wandering their town. As an adult, Sigrid is doing her best to exist beneath the weight of her childhood and teenage life, with parents who had explosive fights she still remembers and Greta's friendship lost to drug addiction. The novel also follows Sigrid's older sister, Margit, who doesn't understand Sigrid's personality or her resistance to adulthood. With complicated relationships and relatable questions regarding the nature of growing up, this book is about both Sigrid's detachment and Margit's desperate attempts to understand her sister.

This is by far one of my favorites; this book is moving, emotional, and hilarious as Emily Austin weaves together emotional memories, vital issues, and humor to create Sigrid and Margit's stories. I love how naturally this novel sheds light on important societal matters and the struggles of living in a small town filled with limited worldviews. It's imaginative, with a lot of emphasis on Sigrid's actual imagination, which influenced her childhood memories fundamentally, alongside her approach to growing up. A novel about Sigrid's navigation of her existence and her resentment of adulthood, 𝘞𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘉𝘦 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘴 is a beautiful, real, and deep novel about childhood trauma, growing up, and coming to terms with your existence. With LGBTQIA+ representation, a celebration of sisterhood, true friendship, and genuine sadness, this book is an emotional adventure, and I loved every page.

Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books, and Emily Austin for providing a review copy of this book! Make sure to grab your copy on January 28!

I really love when a story can make me feel something. Something that lingers with you for a moment or few days-after the story is over. “We Could Be Rats” does in fact do that.

Austin beautifully writes two POV’s of sisters - each opposite of one another, having their own perspective of their upbringing, relationships and struggles.
(Tw: suicide)

Without spoilers, the story is heartfelt in a gut wrenching way and yet still hopeful. The writing is solid, easy to navigate and the dual narration is unique. This one will sit with me for a while🥹

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love lit fic about lesbians with complex and weird inner worlds.

This book is stunning. Humorous and insightful. Deeply touching. Austin did a fantastic job examining how interconnected people’s struggles are and how deeply other people’s pains and neuroses can affect those around them. A brilliant story of understanding and compassion.

Review: We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin

Austin has cemented herself onto my bookshelf with both Everyone in the Room Will Someday Be Dead (5 stars) and Interesting Facts About Space (4.5 stars). I find that each book since her debut has captured me a bit less with this one being somewhere on the cusp of 3.75-4 stars.

I will skip the summary as you can find that in multiple places.

Please note there are several sensitive topics (SA, DV, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, suicide etc.) and many are dealt with quite flippantly. This is not because they are unimportant but because the characters attempt to gloss over the issues or ignore them as a coping mechanism. That being said the topics discussed were not an issue for me at all, I actually appreciate that they were brought up. I also like how the characters normalize these issues because it is so ingrained in their life and/or as a way to simply keep going. This is a reality for many people and Austin depicts that very well and ultimately with care and respect.

The novel is divided into three parts: Sigrid’s (FMC) attempted suicide notes, making the first section epistolary format which I really enjoyed! Because the first section proves that the narrator is unreliable I never knew what to believe but that did not affect my experience, I enjoyed it to be honest. (I love chaos!) The second part was her sister Margit’s POV and the third and final part was Sigrid’s POV.


CONS
My biggest issue was with the first of the three sections as it got very repetitive. So much focus was on a fictional/childhood world that Sigrid wanted to escape to and it kept saying the same thing. Some details were included various times and it almost made me feel like she didn’t trust her readers to catch on or follow her thread. In a way, this worked because they were “drafts” of her suicide note, but at the same time I started to get bored. Furthermore, the first section talked so much about a desire to be a child forever and live in a world where imagination was King until it was overdone. We get it: Sigrid wants to escape adulthood, she is mourning the loss of her childhood, and she feels alone, but I do not care about cotton candy clouds and unicorns that much. Please move on from the same narrative.

This would have benefitted from shortening the first section and lengthening the second and third. I would have fewer qualms in section one if it were shorter and some of that info was transferred to the individual POVs.


PROS
Once I reached the second and third sections I was fully invested. I loved seeing the way Margit and Sigrid became two entirely different people despite growing up in the same hostile and abusive environment. I think Austin captures sisterhood so well, the way they loved each other and hated each other so passionately and unintentionally distanced themselves was very accurate. Yet, in the end, they were each other’s biggest fans and support systems.

Additionally, I liked the angst that Sigrid feels for the social climate that she is forced to live in. I love the mention of Indigenous issues even if it was brief, the acknowledgment of queer white privilege, homelessness, and in general the frustrations of living in a world that does not care about the effects it has on others.

Despite a turbulent opening to the book, I think Austin stuck the landing, I loved the ending!

This eARC was provided by Atria Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I will be posting to Goodreads, Storygraph and Instagram on January 28th.

Review to Be Posted:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

**"We Could Be Rats" by Emily Austin** is a quirky, heartfelt story about two friends navigating life, love, and all the messy bits in between. With sharp wit and a touch of melancholy, Austin captures the rawness of human connection and the awkward, beautiful chaos of finding yourself. At its core, this book is about friendship, identity, and the strange ways we try to figure out where we belong.

This one’s got it all—laugh-out-loud moments, emotionally charged scenes, and characters that feel like real people you’ve met (or maybe *are*). The writing is clever and sharp, pulling you in with its honesty and humor. While it dives into some heavier themes, it never feels too heavy, balancing the bittersweet with the hopeful. The pacing works well, and even when things slow down, you’re happy to hang out with these characters.

The only reason it’s not a five-star for me is that a couple of plot points felt a little too neat or predictable, but honestly, it didn’t take away from how much I enjoyed the ride. Emily Austin has a way of writing that feels so personal and intimate—it’s like sitting down for a heart-to-heart with a friend.

If you’re into books that make you laugh, cry, and think all at once, *We Could Be Rats* is worth picking up. It’s a charming, heartfelt read that’ll stick with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an eArc of this book in exchange for a honest, unbiased review!