From the time that she was a baby, Adina has been different. The way that she sees the world is unique, and it means that she never quite fits in.

And eventually she discovered why. After she receives a mysterious facts instructing her to report on the people of Earth. Because Adina, with her gentle, compassionate and funny perspective she's things in the people around her that others might miss. And the reader benefits accordingly!

Charming, slightly poignant storytelling gets this story 3.5 stars. This is not to be missed.

Beautyland was an interesting and emotive read. It had slight elements of A Stranger in a Strange Land. I believe everyone will like this one, particularly if you have ever felt like an outsider – in the sense that you are seemingly watching the world go on without you really being there. The writing for me is what got me hooked and the story quickly followed. I’m talking that by the end of the first few pages I was completely hooked.

I loved Aida and the way she views the world and it’s inhabitants, it was a refreshing read that gives you a sense of comfort but also asks you to look at yourself and the relation to those around you and your environment. In all I really loved this one and would highly recommend it.

As always thank you to Random House UK for the advanced copy to review, my reviews are always honest and freely given.

I came away from it feeling both cracked open and gently held. This is a novel for anyone who’s ever felt like they’re watching the world from a few steps removed and still hoping, always, to be part of it. It’s small and vast at once. I adored it.

This one blew me away from the start. No slow-burn, no getting into it, just wham - this is great.

It's kind of like a modern version of Stranger in a Strange Land, a favourite of mine, in that it concerns an alien reporting on just how damn weird human beings are.

Adina is a girl growing up in Philadelphia. She is also an extra-terrestrial consciousness planted in a human body. She reports back her findings on humanity to her alien superiors. Adina's observations and reports are at times hilarious, at times profound and often moving.

The book isn't overly sci-fi. It can be viewed simply as a lovely and quirky telling of an everyday life. In fact, one might suggest that Adina is not an alien at all, just a woman who feels alien in this strange world, but where's the fun in that? She's an E.T. through and through!

The final quarter of the book dropped off a little for me and I was mildly disappointed with it but there was enough in the earlier parts to earn a full 5 stars.

sadly this book wasn’t for me i found it really hard to get into and it just didn’t grasp my attention but i know from reading others reviews you may love it
so give it a go!

Holy moly. What did I just read, and can I do it again? Beautyland is unlike any book I’ve read before. With a slightly off-kilter tone, and eccentric observations of humans and earth, this transcends genre definitions. It's absurd, and even more absurd because it is so relatable.

The novel features an asexual MC - although sexuality is not a main theme of the novel. Themes include parenthood, poverty, home, and grief. But most of all, Beautyland manages to make the reader feel seen, and reachable, by connecting them to the mind and experiences of one little alien.

Born in the day Voyager1 launches, Adina always considered herself an outsider. These are her perceptions of the human world she lives in, or tried to. She communicated with her alien colleagues by a fax machine and waits for their replies for guidance. A lot of disconnected phrases, a slow story that could have been amazing, and the plot that really just ambled along

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
Beautyland
by Marie-Helene Bertino (Goodreads Author)
154351518
Hannah's reviewApr 25, 2025 · edit
liked it
bookshelves: to-read

Beautyland is a poignant and inventive exploration of alienation, identity, and the search for belonging, all told through the eyes of Adina Giorno—a young woman who believes she is an alien sent to Earth to observe humanity.

Born in 1977, the same year Voyager 1 launched into space, Adina's arrival is marked by a cosmic synchronicity that sets the tone for her life's narrative. Raised by a single mother in Philadelphia, Adina feels different from an early age. At four, she experiences a moment of activation, connecting her to her alien kin on Planet Cricket Rice. Equipped with a fax machine, she begins transmitting observations about human life, documenting everything from the mundane to the profound.

Bertino's writing is both humorous and tender, capturing the intricacies of human behavior through Adina's outsider perspective. Her observations are sharp, often highlighting the contradictions and complexities of human existence. For instance, she notes the peculiarities of human rituals and the emotional undercurrents that drive everyday interactions.

The novel's structure mirrors Adina's journey, with chapters divided into stages of a star's life cycle—Stellar Nebula, Massive Star, Red Supergiant, Supernova, and Blackhole. This cosmic framework underscores the themes of transformation and the passage of time, aligning Adina's personal growth with the universe's expansive timeline.​

At its core, Beautyland is a meditation on what it means to be human. Adina's alien status serves as a metaphor for the feelings of isolation and otherness that many experience. Her journey is one of self-discovery, as she navigates relationships, loss, and the quest for meaning in a world that often feels alien.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC

The blurb talks of Aliens and our protagonist reporting back to her home on those odd humans. The book was nominated in the Science Fiction Goodreads Choice Award. Additionally genre tagged as Science Fiction.

While all of this is technically true, it's really a literary fiction coming of age story with a sprinkle of Sci-Fi.

This was not what I was expecting. Alongside an ethereal and detached writing style and a story that that didn't live up to it's hook, this just wasn't for me.

I can totally understand why other readers would love it, but I wasn't the right audience for it sadly.

Storytelling with a difference – literary, amusing, moving, quirky, original. I’m not sure how to catergorise it, perhaps transcendental sci-fi, though that doesn’t capture the tenderness and human emotions. I loved the notion of sending fax messages to aliens – and receiving replies! Much thought-provoking observations about how we live and fit in. Or not.

A Cosmic Masterpiece of Human Experience

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino is an extraordinary novel that defies categorisation. It follows Adina Giorno, a young woman from Philadelphia who believes she's an alien sent to Earth to observe humanity. Through her unique perspective, Bertino weaves a narrative that is both deeply human and profoundly otherworldly.

Adina's observations, relayed via a fax machine to her extraterrestrial superiors, offer sharp, poignant, and often humorous insights into the human condition. From the mundanities of daily life to the complexities of relationships and grief, Bertino captures the essence of being human with remarkable empathy and wit.

The novel's structure, blending Adina's childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, mirrors the journey of self-discovery and belonging. Bertino's prose is both accessible and lyrical, drawing readers into Adina's world and making her experiences resonate on a universal level.

Beautyland is a testament to Bertino's storytelling prowess, offering a narrative that is as imaginative as it is emotionally resonant. It's a book that lingers long after the final page, prompting reflection on what it means to be human in a vast and often bewildering universe.

I've been so deeply moved by this book, and as someone who grew up an undiagnosed autistic obsessed with space, only a few years younger than the character of Adina, this story felt deeply familiar and beautiful. A part of me is still her even now, an alien trying to figure it all out, longing for home.

The thanks at the end, and Marie-Helene Bertino's own name suggests that this might be a more personal story than I initially assumed, but the highest praise I can give it is that it often reminded me of one of Anne Tyler's slightly more out there tales of the lives of square pegs in round holes. We start in 1977 with the birth of Alina, who the book suggests was born contemporaneously with the launch of the Voyager space probe, and is an alien implanted into a human body. It's an interesting conceit that allows the book to use Alina as more of a commentator or human lives, but it's a conceit that is treated with a light touch - more like magical realism than science fiction. As Alina grows she has lessons in her sleep in "the night classroom" which could just be dreams. There is also a fax machine in her bedroom that she sends her reports off to, and the fax occasionally replies or asks questions. Her role on Earth is to report back to her people on Planet Cricket Rice. But the book's main thrust is growing up as the daughter of an Italian American single mother in Philadelphia. And again, the milleau is treated like Anne Tyler talks about Baltimore.

Beuatyland (named after a beauty product store in Philadelphia, which is a lot less important to the plot than you would imagine) charts forty years of women's lives: Alina's but also her friend Toni (short for Marie-Antoinette, which feels like a reference to the author). The vignettes are described robustly, even if they are relatively ordinary: Alina's attempt to join a dance troop, her stint as a diner waitress, her New York office job. Bertino finds the humour and pathos in the every-day, even when it passes her observer by, and when the book slips into a darker, more tragic mode near the end, it never shies away from the seriousness. There is also a warmth in the family relationship between Alina and her mother that moves from antagonistic to understanding, partially as her mother also moves from trying to get by as a single Mom to being emancipated by education. And indeed, Alina's reports to Planet Cricket Rice eventually becomes a best-selling book, something that in itself Alina is ambivalent about. I really enjoyed Beautyland, it was a one-day read, and whilst it has an unusual and oddball conceit, it actually is a very relatable story of a life.

This is not my usual type of book and I struggled to a) get into the book and b) understand what was happening. However, the writing draws you in and the details of Adina’s everyday existence told from an ‘ alien’ viewpoint keeps you captivated. Is Alina an alien or just a lonely young girl with a different brain? Is her fax machine connected to anywhere and who is answering it? And how wonderful her mother is, to keep going and stay positive in the face of poverty and the daily struggle of life. An ultimately rewarding read if you stay with it.

I struggled to get into the story at the beginning, then I let myself enjoy the writing rather than try to control the story. It was enjoyable once I did, perhaps because it is quite different from my usual go to genres. I’d recommend to friends who want to branch out and try something different!

I think this is going to be a DNF for me, but not a DNF forever. I think a DNF in this particular format. I do think I'll get on better with this book via audio, but the pieces just haven't slotted into place to get that to happen. I just couldn't get into the writing style in the first couple of pages, but I feel with a different approach, I might get on with it.

A coming of age story written from the viewpoint of Adina, an alien sent to observe humans. Emotional, beautiful storytelling that will resonate with readers.

Lovely book observing what it's like to be human from the pov of an alien girl. Recommended for people who like coming of age and quirky books.

This coming-of-age story spans the childhood and early adulthood of Adina, an alien born on Earth to report back on humanity. Her observations about the world are wonderfully deadpan, cutting through the mess of social convention.

The structure is unusual; particularly in the first half, it sometimes felt like I was reading a movie montage of small moments throughout Adina's childhood, some of which didn't necessarily connect to anything else. This half of the novel was also my favourite, as I felt the balance was perfect between sincerity and humour, whereas the second half tips more towards serious and emotional topics - but this is not a criticism as it totally makes sense since Adina is now an adult.

I would recommend this one to fans of Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, and Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin.

Unfortunately, due to the formatting of the eARC I received, I was unable to see the fax replies sent by the aliens, or any text messages mentioned, but I don't believe this has made a significant difference to my reading experience or to my rating.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino captures so effectively that universal feeling of not fitting in and not knowing how to be human. Such a compelling read. I would snap up whatever Bertino writes next.