This was another book by Emily Austin that I just ate up. This was so good. This is not my normal genre at all but this is the second book by this author that had me hooked. The writing is dark and witty and impactful. It’s definitely worth the read.

*“A moving story about two very different sisters, and a love letter to childhood, growing up, and the power of imagination.”*

I first tried to read the physical copy of this but found that the audiobook is better. With epistolary novels (or anything similar), my brain just absorbs the story on audio because it doesn’t feel too one sided that way (anyone else?).

Anywhooo, a lovely story about sisters who grew apart and found each other again. A story for those whose adult journey just didn’t turn out the way they expected and or what the society expected!

Thank you Atria Books for a copy!

In this contemporary literary fiction, you primarily follow Sigrid. She did not graduate high school. She works at a dead-end job. She's trying to navigate early adulthood. Through Sigrid's suicide notes, the reader is able to understand from her perspective the challenges she is facing. Her sister, Greta, finds these notes and is faced with a challenging task of sharing the news with their family.

Emily Austin does a wonderful job inserting humor into the story, while still maintaining a powerful and deep story. This was actually my first book by the author and I'm super impressed...so impressed that I picked up another book by her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion and review. After reading this ARC, I purchased a physical book for my home library :)

This novel finds such a unique way to explore grief, trauma, and mental illness. I've never read anything like it! Emily Austin is so adept at writing about neurodivergence and mental health. Reading one of her books feels like looking into my own brain; she puts to words experiences I couldn't even begin to articulate. I find all of her characters so deeply relatable, and Sigrid and Margit were no exception (in fact I couldn't decide which one of them I related to more). I continue to be impressed at the way Austin crafts such a thoughtful, dare I say almost gentle lens through which to examine dark thoughts and experiences. Her portrayals are honest and unflinching, but with a touch of softness. I will read anything she writes without question or hesitation.

This book is poignant, it's beautiful, it's existential, it's devastating. It feels very relevant to this moment in time: if you've ever felt like your life is an endless cycle of clocking in and out while the world burns around you, this book is for you. As usual, Austin does such an excellent job balancing the heaviness with humor and with hope. It's difficult to say much more without spoiling it!

This book definitely won't be everyone's cup of tea. Not much happens in this book in terms of plot. It's told entirely through recollections and is very character driven. It's also heavy. That being said, I wholeheartedly recommend this one (and highly recommend looking into the content warnings before you begin)!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

I thought that this was such a creative exploration of mental illness and grief. The twist that happens in this one had my jaw on the floor, and I thought that it portrayed the message of this book’s themes really well. I love Emily Austin!

I talked about this one in episode 188 of Book Talk Etc.

So, so good. I will literally read anything she writes. If you loved her first book you will love this. I would recommend even if you have not read anything by her. So funny and heartwarming.

Unlike anything I've ever read before... Emily Austin writes with such an inviting voice and such deep emotion

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

I adore this author. She is so adept at capturing a variety of neurodivergent characteristics and mental wellness challenges. With this novel she has become an auto-buy for me. Please take gentle care while reading as the content is quite heavy. Beautiful, but heavy.

This was such a strange nostalgia inducing book. I had high expectations after loving Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead. This book surprised me. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

It’s difficult to say anything about the book without spoiling it but I’ll try my best. The synopsis doesn’t give that much away and I think it best for readers to go in knowing very little.

As the synopsis says, the story is about two sisters growing up. But it’s so much more than that. First, there’s Sigrid, who feels like it would be great to be a rat at a fair feasting on treats, scaring people, hanging out with rat pals, eating trash, and dying in two years after having a blast. Then there’s Margit who is meant to be the golden child of the family. The depiction of the relationship between the two sisters is painfully accurate at times. Austin perfectly captures the relationship between the two sisters. The book also delves into drug addiction, suicide, SA, and more. I’d advise checking trigger warnings.

The book doesn’t go from point A to point B. It takes you on a ride at the fair (where there are little rats feasting). Just buckle in and enjoy where the story is going to take you. There are sudden drops and unexpected turns. Just go with it, trust me.

(Skip this section of review if you want to go in blind)
At a certain point in the story, there’s a change that happens which was unexpected to say the least. I love when a book manages to surprise me and make me rethink the whole story. This is a book that gives readers a lot to think about. I know I’ll definitely want to re read this book again.

That said, I don’t think this book is for everyone and that’s OK. Austin’s writing manages to be engaging and surprisingly funny and profound. I’d recommend this book to anyone, especially if you have a sister.

I’d also highly recommend checking out Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead and Oh, Honey.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for providing me with an ARC for review.

An emotionally impactful read that solidifies Emily Austin as an auto-buy author for me.
I consumed this entire book in a coffee shop one morning and could not put it down for a second. It's dark, heavy and emotionally gripping.

The way that this book dealt with such a heavy topic but it told the story through the eyes of a girl who just wants to somehow explain herself and her reasons using dark humor. The relationship between the sisters was so realistic and organically expressed throughout the attempted letters. I felt a deep personal connection to this story with the way childhood trauma was handled here.

I was amused and emotional scarred and that's the way I like my lit fics!

If Emily Austin writes it, I will read it. I find Austin's style of writing so fun to read and honestly it's just so relatable. This novel in particular is about a very heavy subject so definitely check trigger warnings before reading. I still found the dark humor good but I did kind of get bored a little way in. Nothing bad about the writing, I think the topic just got a bit heavy and I kind of got lost on me. I still enjoyed it overall though, but I would say compared to Austin's other novels this would be ranked last.

Thank you so much to Neutrally and Atria for the eArc!

While this isn't my favorite Emily Austin book, its still very well written, and is a great story about familial love.

“I decided that deep down we’re all who we were when we were kids. I think being a teenager is about hiding all your quirks and contorting yourself to fit in and impress people, and being an adult is about re-finding who you were when you were eight years old.”

This book was different than I expected in such an interesting way. The entire book is told through memories recounted by two characters, and the first half of the book is entirely theoretical suicide notes. It was such a unique way to present the story and kept me engaged the whole time because I didn’t really know where the story was going. While the story brings humor to relieve some of the heaviness, this book explores deep topics including complex family dynamics, sister relationships, mental health, and addiction. This was a very impactful book that I will be thinking about for a long time to come.

Note: Please check content warnings if needed because this book hits on a lot of heavy topics.

Thank you to Emily Austin, Atria, and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emily Austin’s We Could Be Rats is a poignant and darkly humorous novel about sisterhood, mental health, and the weight of the past. I thought Austin did a great job balancing heavy themes with dark humour and hope. I am not a book annotator, but this would be the kind of book where you could easily highlight quotes and passages because the writing was so sharp and interesting. I loved the contrast of the sisters and the exploration of family and life. Looking forward to reading more of Emily Austin's work!
Thank you Atria Books for the copy through NetGalley.

emily austin is such a unique storyteller

this is my first novel by her and the stream-of-consciousness storytelling by sigrid and margit shows how different they are. Sigrid’s chapters are always telling about memories from the past. She longs for her childhood, is nostalgic to a fault and misses the way everything used to be. I understand her and how she starts to realize how cruel and racist and homophobic the people around her are being in their “jokes”, but is unable to do anything and wishes to return to before she noticed this. Margit’s chapters are always focused on the present and the future, always looking ahead. Their shared childhood trauma left them in two different ways. Sigrid became the black sheep, the scapegoat and stayed stuck in her childhood. Margit became the golden child and peacekeeper, constantly looking ahead to escaping her family and having her own future. The unreliable narrator aspect had me feel like I was tripping, but in a good way

“Where does that creativity go, I wonder? Why do we lose that?” “I know I’m not God, Jerry. If I were God, things would be different.” “I always believed everyone was ultimately good.”

If you could be anything at all, what would you be? 🐀

We Could Be Rats by @emilyraustinauthor took me right out. All the laughs you'd expect from her, but at this new depth she brings you to. (pub day 1/28!!)

Admittedly this isn't (strictly) what we think of as classic Emily Austin, but is that a bad thing? This impressed the heck out of me. Like, get you a girl that can do both. Emily can do both and then some, exhibit A.

What I love about Emily's writing is that it's a sort of choose-your-own-adventure. If you want quirky, unique laughs, Interesting Facts About Space 🚀 & Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead 🐇 are both a very safe bet. But even there, depending on the reader there can be much more under the surface. Her way of writing allows for that wiggle room to keep diving deeper if you want, but lazy river-ing it and relaxing into the laughs can be just as much fun.
Or do what I do and read them all 8374 times.

I went in blind and it worked out really well for me.*If you have any topics or situations you prefer to avoid, def check out the TWs before reading. They're really important in this one.*

Buddy read this w @womenvsthevoid and am so so so glad I did, to connect w someone over connecting w a book is really friggin cool. Esp when it's someone like Bron 🫶🏻

{Thank you bunches to @netgalley @atriabooks & @emilyraustinauthor for the early DRC! & @bibliomich for thinking of me when spreading the wealth. To come to anyone's mind as "a huge Emily Austin fan" is SO cool (and accurate) and appreciation doesn't begin to cover it 💕}

3.75 overall-

This is certainly a novel where things don't happen. We learn of the world through characters' recollections. And if you enjoy that you will enjoy the book. This is a book that, if you are part of the target audience, will articulate heavy, complicated emotions you've felt but find difficult to address. This book strikes at a very specific feeling or sensation, but as an LGBT person whose worldview often clashes with my community and family, as a person in their 20's during this decade, as someone who feels they are clocking in amidst the world falling apart- this story gave words to an amorphous unease within me that feels impossible to grapple with alone.

I have complicated feelings about this book, but overall the last third of the novel has left me feeling out of breath and like I need emotional aftercare. after the first third of the novel I felt concerned that the book wasn't go anywhere because the narrative is, up until the middle of the book, solely told through theoretical suicide notes and this constant backpedaling and rug-pulling making you distrust every word on the page. But once the story leaves that specific type of storytelling and moves into Sigrid and Marg's journals the story begins to truly shine.

Offhand comments, a local election, all these details pay-off in the end. I was surprised, but deeply enjoyed, how much local politics takes the center stage as individual threads in the story like Sigrid's dead-end cashier job, drug issues, homelessness, sexual assault, depression and listlessness, all coalesce into the truth that ultimately all these difficult things are directly affected by political choices and politicians. Austin is always funny, and at times I wonder if the narrator is annoying simply because I relate so much to the overly-anxious, overthinking interior narratives of her characters. I wish Sigrid and Marg had more distinct writing voices, but ultimately this book surprised me and while I was a little frustrated by the constraints of telling a story by journal entries I think this book is a wonderful reflection of our unique predicament as people alive in 2025 America.

Once again I am feeling very pleased and fortunate to be reading at the same time Emily Austin is writing.

Why are the reviews for the books you love the most the hardest to write? And why are those the ones that never fail to remind me that when we read a book, we bring the entirety of our life experiences into the reading. No book will hit everyone the same, because none of us have lived the same life.

We Could Be Rats by Emily R. Austin was my first five star read of 2025, and it's my new BFF book. I read Interesting Facts about Space, my first book by this author, back in August, and I still haven't posted a review for it. Both books cut into my heart and have buried themselves there for ever. I will read anything this author writes.

From the very first page, I knew this book would leave me an emotional wreck. Just like with Interesting Facts, I cried for hours. Shifting perspectives between sisters, time and topic jumping, the story isn't told in a straight line which makes perfect sense for these characters and this book. There is a jarring moment about halfway through that causes you to question everything you’ve read up to that point. But, I didn’t think of it as a trick. We can live beside someone our entire lives and never truly know them. Most of the time, we don’t even know ourselves. Life is the trick. This entire existence that no one even asked for.

I saw bits of myself in both sisters, especially Sigrid. The recklessness of my youth. The impulsivity. My brain always in a battle with itself. And then there's the question of how can you love or even tolerate a family who would support narcissists who commit and joke about sexual assault, unabashedly use racist and ableist language, and can’t even recognize the people you love as valid human beings worthy of life and the most basic rights.

Emily Austin’s books are like receiving an adult diagnosis for something that has been a part of you your entire life. You unlock memories from your childhood and beyond, and you look back and point and say, this and this and THIS and this. All this was _____. It’s validating, but It also involves a lot of overwhelming and complex emotions like anger, resentment, and grief…and you want to wrap your arms around younger you and give her all the support she needed back then. Cause with support, there is hope. Cause when you’ve felt alone all your life like you’re some kind of monster, the feelings you feel when you finally feel seen are painfully amazing.

Thank you Atria for the copy to read and review.

🐀 We Could Be Rats - Emily Austin

4 ⭐️ - This is a very different read but I liked it. There’s some major trigger warnings here so before to check them out and be easy on yourself.

This story, and its characters, is quirky yet serious, and heartwarming yet heartbreaking. Austin touches on some difficult and heavy topics but does so in a delicate, light way that isn’t disrespectful. I enjoyed the characters. I felt for them and appreciated them as individuals and as sisters. This book will give you a lot of things to think about and a lot of emotions to process, but I think it’s necessary. At just about 250, this book is easy to read quickly but will stay with you afterward for a while. Definitely recommend, but also recommend with caution.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for the early ARC. This one is out now and is a BOTM add on!