WE COULD BE RATS follows Sigrid, a young woman penning her suicide note. Each chapter takes the form of a draft of said note before abandoning it and starting over. I mean, how do you honestly put into words why you’re choosing to end your life when it isn’t as simple as “I’m depressed”?

Over the past few years, Emily Austin has firmly placed herself into my upper echelon of writers. I simply adored both EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM WILL SOMEDAY BE DEAD and INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SPACE; WE COULD BE RATS is no exception. The way in which she writes about mental health is unlike anything I’ve personally ever experienced. She burrows deep into the minds of her characters, turning them inside out for the world to see – warts and all. You get to know them on an intensely intimate level; she allows their deepest fears and emotions to seamlessly rise to the surface almost like a pot boiling over or an exposed untreated burn. Sigrid’s story is both terribly sad at times but also laugh-out-loud funny with the book featuring a big twist that just about made my jaw hit the floor. Austin is operating on such a creative high right now, I simply cannot get enough of her work.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy, but picked up my own physical copy this week. WE COULD BE RATS was one of the best books I had read last year and I can’t wait for others to read it when it hits shelves this week.