Darcy appears to have built a quietly perfect life: she’s a librarian, married to her wife Joy, living in a sun-filled house by the lake with two cats and shelves overflowing with books. But when she learns of her ex-boyfriend’s death, unresolved guilt sends her into a mental health crisis that forces her to step away from work. Upon returning to the library, Darcy is met with mounting community unrest over book bans and intellectual freedom, pushing her to confront grief, personal agency, and what it truly means to show up for herself and for others. Told with warmth and insight, this novel explores queer adulthood, mental health, and the enduring power of libraries and community.

I generally really like Emily Austin’s books, and this one fits her signature style well. Her stories tend to be rambling, random, and deeply introspective. They’re less about plot and more about living inside a character’s mind. This is very much a literary, philosophical reading experience rather than an atmospheric or fast-paced one. While I enjoyed the ideas and themes here, I didn’t love this book quite as much as I expected to. I didn’t connect with Darcy as deeply as I have with Austin’s previous protagonists, and there’s one storyline involving a photograph that didn’t quite work for me, the consequences of it felt slightly out of place or like a sidetone.

That said, I really enjoyed Darcy and Joy’s relationship, and Darcy’s quirks. Especially her struggle to organize her personal bookshelves felt painfully relatable, if it was just a side ‘quest’. I loved getting an inside look at the local library and Darcy’s day-to-day work, and I appreciated how thoughtfully the book handled mental health, especially the reality of returning to life after a breakdown and the support systems that make healing possible. Overall, this was a reflective, meaningful read that just didn’t fully click for me emotionally. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

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Is This a Cry for Help? comes out January 13, 2026. Thank you to Atria Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my review.  If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.