Book Review: We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin

A moving story about two very different sisters, and a love letter to childhood, growing up, and the power of imagination—from the bestselling author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead and Interesting Facts About Space.
Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her older sister Margit is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society.
But Sigrid’s detachment veils a deeper turmoil and sensitivity. She’s haunted by the pains of her past—from pretending her parents were swamp monsters when they shook the floorboards with their violent arguments to grappling with losing Greta’s friendship to the opioid epidemic ravaging their town. As Margit sets out to understand Sigrid and the secrets she has hidden, both sisters, in their own time and way, discover that reigniting their shared childhood imagination is the only way forward.
What unfolds is an unforgettable story of two sisters finding their way back to each other, and a celebration of that transcendent, unshakable bond.

I absolutely love Emily R. Austin. We Could Be Rats is not an easy read, and while I didn’t enjoy it as much as Interesting Facts About Space, this was a book that really spoke to me. I don’t want to spoil the story too much, but We Could Be Rats is a three-part story about suicide, trauma, childhood nostalgia, justice, friendship, otherness, and loss. It may not be the best book to read if you’re in a rut, but it speaks of undeniable truths.

“It might be easier to grow up if kids weren’t sold this tall tale that we’re all exceptional. It might make it less jarring to become an adult if we knew the truth the whole time. We’re mostly ordinary.”

Austin writes great, complex neurodivergent sapphic characters. People trying to put their lives together while stumbling over all the ugly bits. They feel profoundly human, and often they remind me of myself.

“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.”

Emily Austin can deliver very simple but powerful statements that resonate deeply with me.

“I don’t want to stand under fluorescent lights for ten hours every day and watch the world rot.”

The three-part structure makes the book feel slightly disjointed, and the middle section was my least favorite, but it’s absolutely worth reading.

“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. We would roll around in garbage and suck on sour keys.”

Emily Austin’s next book is out in just four days. I can’t wait!

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lomeraniel

My name is Elena. Since I was a little child I loved science fiction and fantasy, and I can’t resist a good novel. In 2015, while wait I started to listen to audiobooks and I discovered the pleasure in being able to read while doing my daily tasks, so there’s always an audiobook playing on my phone. If you see me with my Bluetooth headphones on, please be gentle, I get easily startled.

I live with my boyfriend, which I met during my six-year stay in Belgium, four cockatiels, eight lovebirds, and a hamster in Madrid, Spain; and I like to spend my free time knitting and sewing while listening to audiobooks.