Name: We Could Be Rats
ISBN: 9781668058145

Emily Austin

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.

“A must read” (Haley Jakobson, New York Times Editor’s Choice author), We Could Be Rats is an unforgettable story of two sisters finding their way back to each other, and a celebration of that transcendent, unshakable bond.

We Could Be Rats

karina

I’m not sure there’s a way to be alive without upsetting people. We’re all in this web together, aren’t we? Everything we do tangles everybody else together. 

Anna Oeltjenbruns

There's no one I can ask. I'm nervous if I google it cops will show up at my apartment. I bet the cops are way too busy to monitor my internet usage. They have homeless people to kick out of vestibules. That one Black man who occasionally drives through town isn't going to pull himself over. It's probably more likely that Drysdale police spend their time gossiping with each other in parking lots or texting their mistresses

I was getting older and losing my capacity to imagine. My dress rehearsal was ending, and I was just going to have to be who I was.

It was a great book that attempted to talk about the ways (queer) people are affected by small towns I think. It’s about family and what it means to be family in the best or worst of ways. There’s also a big reckoning taking place throughout about what makes someone good or bad and I think there’s enough of a mix that shows you how we may just have to live in the grey space. Love Emily Austin as always. 

 suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and sexual assault, as well as themes of homophobia, drug abuse, domestic abuse, and mental illness. the novel also deals with grief, depression, and toxic relationships.  

"I exhaled, looked up from my exposed feet, and saw the clouds above me were pink."

maybe for some expert readers out there, this book is just a little read, but for me: this book is everything. if there's a question, "what’s a book that could define yourself?" i'd answer that question with this book. boldly. not even joking. deadly serious.

this book doesn't only talk about life in general, but i think emily, as an author, wrote this book to validate our feelings, especially for those who are living with trauma that came from a family with parents who are always fighting, even over small things, and of course, for those who are mentally impacted after being left by the people they loved, forever.

what i love the most about this book is that it's not only about one person, but also talks about the people around her who are affected and feel sad because of the things the main character did. i finally found a book that talks about how sometimes we're just too focused and consumed by ourselves, thinking we're the only ones who are sad. but trust me, everyone who actually loves you can feel your pain too. you're never alone, even when you think you are.

and people who seem like they have everything under control, who have achievements or things we couldn’t reach, are also suffering in their own way. they often feel like it’s wrong to be happy or to express their joy, because they think everyone else's problems are bigger than theirs. even though we all wear different shoes, those shoes lead us to places we’ve never known; places that may have been full of struggle, steep paths, rocky roads, ups and downs, and deep valleys. and because of those different points of view, we as readers can somehow begin to understand each other's problems and even learn from them.

and the unique part is, even the book also talks about things in a political way; like the election, where the candidate did wrong things and had a cis mindset, but people still voted for him. it just shows how cruel this world is, and yeah, it resembles any government in this world, especially this country. because of the various topics and sentences that are easy to understand, with so many quotable lines, i automatically fell in love with the book so easily.

what i learn the most from this book is that everyone in this world, especially in our own family, has their traumas buried deep inside their heart, without even realizing it. and everyone in this world is a good person, a decent person. but the things that happened in their life could give them a motive to do things that are morally wrong. and if you think deeply, we sometimes hurt other people's feelings because we're trying to protect ourselves from pain that could go even deeper. sometimes, lying about everything, including saying everything's fine when actually everything is falling apart feels easier than explaining it all, because people's reactions can go either way: as we expect, or the opposite. cause we're human, after all. and to avoid causing more damage, keeping it inside our heart feels easier but it can also lead to difficulties, including trauma and mental illness.

but what matters the most is realizing how important it is to actually reach out for help, especially to professionals. sometimes we don’t even know what’s going on inside our body and end up self-diagnosing everything, which can lead to the wrong conclusions. so it's best to go to a professional to deal with whatever’s happening inside you. and also, meeting people; especially talking to someone you trust about your pain, walking down the street, seeing the sky, those things actually help. they can ease the weight of those negative thoughts and slowly make you feel better.

every little pain matters: when friendships break up, family conflicts, being left by people we loved forever, negative views from others about our sexuality: everything. it all matters. pain is pain, and everyone deserves to be healed.

see how i talk about this book? yeah, no wonder i gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. i love this book so much and it instantly became one of my best reads this year! 🌟

leah

TRIGGER WARNING! suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and sexual assault, as well as themes of homophobia, drug abuse, domestic abuse, and mental illness. the novel also deals with grief, depression, and toxic relationships.  

—


"I exhaled, looked up from my exposed feet, and saw the clouds above me were pink."

maybe for some expert readers out there, this book is just a little read, but for me: this book is everything. if there's a question, "what’s a book that could define yourself?" i'd answer that question with this book. boldly. not even joking. deadly serious.

this book doesn't only talk about life in general, but i think emily, as an author, wrote this book to validate our feelings, especially for those who are living with trauma that came from a family with parents who are always fighting, even over small things, and of course, for those who are mentally impacted after being left by the people they loved, forever.

what i love the most about this book is that it's not only about one person, but also talks about the people around her who are affected and feel sad because of the things the main character did. i finally found a book that talks about how sometimes we're just too focused and consumed by ourselves, thinking we're the only ones who are sad. but trust me, everyone who actually loves you can feel your pain too. you're never alone, even when you think you are.

and people who seem like they have everything under control, who have achievements or things we couldn’t reach, are also suffering in their own way. they often feel like it’s wrong to be happy or to express their joy, because they think everyone else's problems are bigger than theirs. even though we all wear different shoes, those shoes lead us to places we’ve never known; places that may have been full of struggle, steep paths, rocky roads, ups and downs, and deep valleys. and because of those different points of view, we as readers can somehow begin to understand each other's problems and even learn from them.

and the unique part is, even the book also talks about things in a political way; like the election, where the candidate did wrong things and had a cis mindset, but people still voted for him. it just shows how cruel this world is, and yeah, it resembles any government in this world, especially this country. because of the various topics and sentences that are easy to understand, with so many quotable lines, i automatically fell in love with the book so easily.


what i learn the most from this book is that everyone in this world, especially in our own family, has their traumas buried deep inside their heart, without even realizing it. and everyone in this world is a good person, a decent person. but the things that happened in their life could give them a motive to do things that are morally wrong. and if you think deeply, we sometimes hurt other people's feelings because we're trying to protect ourselves from pain that could go even deeper. sometimes, lying about everything, including saying everything's fine when actually everything is falling apart feels easier than explaining it all, because people's reactions can go either way: as we expect, or the opposite. cause we're human, after all. and to avoid causing more damage, keeping it inside our heart feels easier but it can also lead to difficulties, including trauma and mental illness.

but what matters the most is realizing how important it is to actually reach out for help, especially to professionals. sometimes we don’t even know what’s going on inside our body and end up self-diagnosing everything, which can lead to the wrong conclusions. so it's best to go to a professional to deal with whatever’s happening inside you. and also, meeting people; especially talking to someone you trust about your pain, walking down the street, seeing the sky, those things actually help. they can ease the weight of those negative thoughts and slowly make you feel better.

every little pain matters: when friendships break up, family conflicts, being left by people we loved forever, negative views from others about our sexuality: everything. it all matters. pain is pain, and everyone deserves to be healed.

see how i talk about this book? yeah, no wonder i gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. i love this book so much and it instantly became one of my best reads this year! 🌟

i feel completely sucker-punched by this story. literally teared up at work. for everyone with complex sibling dynamics. for the people who grew up in a house on fire and thought that meant the whole world is on fire. i’m not sure i can read this book ever again. at least not now. reading about margit was like looking into a mirror, and sigrid is as familiar to me as the back of my hand. 

big ab

This emotionally spoke to me soO WELL 😭❤️‍🩹🥺

Susan

i could find bits and pieces of myself in sigrid and margit, and as the story unfolds (in true unreliable narrator fashion) you slowly start to piece together the truths and the un-truths and other things shaped to go down like truths of these two sisters’ stories. it was real. i liked it. 

 picked this up because of the title. we could be rats <3

i could find bits and pieces of myself in sigrid and margit, and as the story unfolds (in true unreliable narrator fashion) you slowly start to piece together the truths and the un-truths and other things shaped to go down like truths of these two sisters’ stories. it was real. i liked it. 

 picked this up because of the title. we could be rats <3