This is one of those books I find difficult to review because I can appreciate that it’s really good writing and that it has merit but I personally didn’t enjoy it.

I went into it thinking that it would be some ethereal, futuristic sci-fi alien weepy in the style of Set My Heart To Five. However I felt somewhat cheated by the fact that it really is just a bildungsroman set a few decades ago. I see what the point is, but it just doesn’t appeal to me, clever as it is.

I’m very much an outlier on this, but this book didn’t work for me. At all.

A coming of age story about an asexual girl who is on the spectrum and believes she is an alien. Told in the third person with a total lack of emotion, it was like reading a sterile and very long speech.

A painful slog but I made it to the end, somehow.

1⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to @vintage and @netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino in exchange for an honest review.

We follow Adina, an 'alien' growing up on Earth. Adina documents her journey through life, her childhood, friendships, family, adulthood and grief, sending her findings as notes to her superiors via a fax machine. Adina tries to make sense of human life; our interactions, our behaviour, our relationships and notices the little things we don't see. This is a cosy, emotional read for anyone who has ever felt as if they don't belong.

I was really looking forward to reading this book after reading the synopsis - but I'm afraid I struggled. - not helped by the download that I received missing FL or FI from any word that should contain them (who knew there were so many words!)
The prose is written to reflect Adina's feeling of distance (of being different) to the world around her. This is definitely successful, however it also had the result of stopping me becoming invested in her and the events that happened to her: She suffers major loss and I didn't care.
I had to make myself pick up the book as I wasn't really interested in seeing what happened next.

Born to a human mother in Philadelphia in 1977 just as Voyager 1 begins it's journey, Adina struggles with the idea that she is not of this world and is in fact an alien. She dreams nightly of a classroom and her alien teacher Solomon who informs her that she must report on her findings about humans and their myriad of behaviours. When her mother finds an old fax machine Adina uses it as a means to communicate with her alien brethren.

What follows is a touching tale of childhood to adulthood as experienced through the eyes of a daughter of a single mother, a loyal friend to Toni and Toni's brother Dominic and as an escapee to the Big Apple.

At it's heart this tale is a human one, of grief, alienation and depression yet it also manages to be heartwarming and uplifting.

✨2 stars✨

I knew when I was offered to read this ARC that while the premise sounded interesting, it wasn’t what I usually read but I was willing to give it a go.

Sadly this book just wasn’t for me and I found myself bored throughout. There were humorous parts so I think if you like the description of the book then you should still give it a go when it is published!

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I enjoyed this book, its original storyline was intriguing.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review..

The style of this book was absolutely not for me - I found the pacing slow and the style almost unreadable. I think this will be a marmite book - plenty of people loved it, but I sadly wasn't one of them.

I just want to start this by saying I was given this book as an ARC but all my reviews are my own thoughts

I was suggested this book because I read the favourites by lane Fargo. I decided to read it because I thought the plot sounded interesting but sadly this book wasn’t for me
The book is written in short and random sentences that made it hard for me to read. I understand this could have been done to Adina’s thoughts but for me it just made it difficult to read. The lack of dialogue made it even more tedious for me. The ending was ambiguous and never really explained anything which really put me off.

I may look into more books from this author but as of right now, the writing style wasn’t really for me

This is an incredible read. It reminded me a bit of Matt Haig's The Humans. I was intrigued from the very beginning and couldn't put this down, I devoured it in two days.

The story is of Adina who believes she is an alien and is on Earth to report back to her superiors (via a fax machine!) about what she was discovering. She was living her life trying to figure out things about the human race whilst also waiting to be picked up again one day and return to whatever planet she was supposed to be living on... whilst also living as a human. We see her grow up, we pass through various eras, changes in fashion and music. We see Adina question things like what even is the point of having a boyfriend/husband? Why do humans say one thing but mean another? Adina tries to fit in as a teenager, we see her struggle with rejection... it makes us question is she alien, is she neurodiverse? We never really know...

It's a very interesting take on the world, on human behaviour, of the way scientists are trying to fathom what life could be living out there...

I am so glad I got to read this book as it is one which will stay with me for a long time. It's emotional, clever and has gone straight into my top reads.

I'll definitely be looking out for more from this author again!

I enjoyed the author’s previous book but this one, not so much.
I found it difficult to read. It is mainly a series of statements with very little dialogue. If adina is really an alien it is a sad book.
If she is not but is actually autistic then it is an extremely sad book and left me feeling bereft. I wish I hadn’t read it.
Also any word with a ‘fi’ or an ‘fl’ in it had a blank instead of the letters. How did that get through editing?

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

It was suggested I would like this book because I liked Klara and the Sun and the Ministry of Time. Which I did. Unfortunately I fell for that and Beautyland is nothing like either of those brilliant books. The book is written in short, sometimes even random, unconnected sentences. Possibly to reflect Adina the extraterrestrial's train of thought, I'm not sure, but it's very irritating. Also my copy had all 'fi' missing from the text which made repeatedly guessing words very annoying. I did understand I think where the author was coming from and what she was trying to do with this book but I'm afraid it just didn't work for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

This is definitely not the kind of book that I usually read but what a novel. Poignant, heartbreaking but full of life. Loved it

This is an interesting one. The story is intriguing but the writing style got in the way. It is written in short soundbites, almost stream of consciousness in style, with little dialogue. I found it tedious to read so I skimmed to the end. The ending was ambiguous and did not explain anything.