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[2.5 stars] I was quite excited for this release and while it wasn’t necessarily disappointing, it was just a LOT heavier than I typically associate with Austin’s writing. That’s not a critique on her or the book, just a case of my own mismanaged expectations going in. From the premise it’s clear the book deals heavily with suicide, but as a heads up it also touches on addiction, rape, homophobia, and domestic violence. The book includes Austin’s quintessential wit and humour, but doesn’t shy away from some explicit heavier topics that her previous releases only touch on briefly.

The novel is structured in an epistolary format where Sigrid recounts her life in drafts of her suicide letter, which grew repetitive. By design, she rewrites a lot of the same themes or ideas and so you get several similar anecdotes about her child, relationship with her best friend and sister, and her increasing disenchantment with her small town. I liked the themes, but reading so many similar stories about her childhood and fear of growing up got a bit grating. Hearing everything retrospectively creates a detachment between Sigrid and the reader, and I never quite warmed up to her.

Around halfway through there’s a big narrative shift, and the second part of the book worked much better for me. It felt more personal and less detached, which makes sense given the context as to which it arises. I liked the secondary characters more than Sigrid and appreciated the roles they played in the narrative of her life. It feels like a very timely book in the political and social commentary it makes.

We Could Be Rats is not a bad book by any means; if you’ve enjoyed Emily Austin before, I think you could still enjoy this! The writing is solid and the narrative is well executed. With that said, it was heavier than expected for me but also presented in a manner that aligns more with young adult fiction. It’s hard to identify the target audience because the tone and subject matter don’t feel in alignment.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the cute little PR package which included this gem!