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.

Description:
Adina is born to a human mother in the late 70s, but knows she's actually an alien sent to observe and catalogue humanity.

Liked:
A really fresh voice - deeply touching without being overly sentimental. I cried a lot. Really loved Adina and her family and friends. Very, very endearing.

Disliked:
The ending felt a little rushed and at times it was hard to tell how much time had passed.

Would absolutely recommend. I’d heard a lot about this one and was prepared to be disappointed, but it lived up to the hype.

Beautyland is one of those books where everyone who reads it will have a completely different experience. A literary style, sci fi trappings, emotional beats...it's a mish mash that shouldn't work, but does.

Adina is an alien, but she could easily be neurodivergent, a minority or growing up in another culture. Her observations are clever and pithy, the kind of thing you don't notice until they're pointed out and then they're so obvious you wonder how you didn't notice them before. I did find some of her languages choices odd - her dog has a name but she continues to call him 'the little dog' in narration? - but that could be a literary convention that I just don't know about.

Heartfelt, honest and, despite the concept, very human, this will stay with you for a long time.


Movie Recommendation: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – A heartfelt and emotionally resonant film about an alien stranded on Earth and the human boy who befriends him. Like Beautyland, it explores themes of connection, belonging, and the wonder of the unknown.

Book Recommendation: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell – A deeply moving novel about a Jesuit mission to make first contact with an alien species, blending literary depth with science fiction elements. Much like Beautyland, it’s a story of discovery, culture shock, and what it means to be human.

I’ve been longing to read ‘Beautyland’ ever since I first heard about it, and given all the rave reviews, my expectations were pretty high. Fortunately, this is one of those rare books that exceeds all expectations and no review will ever do it justice. If you’re thinking about picking it up, all I can say is: Do it! Experience it for yourself!

What made this book so special for me is the quality of the writing, which manages to be poetic yet readable, clever yet unassuming; the humour, which is quiet and sometimes dark, and has a wonderful way of catching you off guard; and the deep connection I felt with Adina. I loved all her observations—each one ignited a spark in my mind, a moment of recognition about the strangeness of humans and all the constructs we engage in. The book left me with a kind of bittersweet hope, and I can’t wait to read it again.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Marie-Helene Bertino and Random House UK, Vintage for the ARC. My review will be posted on Instagram, Amazon UK, GoodReads and The StoryGraph.

What a beautiful and tender coming of age story. I'm sure there's some Adina in all of us, as we try to navigate life in the 21st century. Such a relatable character that only I rooted for from the very start, drawn into her experience of our world as an outsider whilst trying trying to belong. I'd love to see this translated onto the big screen. Utterly unique.

4.5/5

Adina is born in 1977, on the same day that Voyager 1 is launched into space. She is raised by a single mother in Philadelphia but born with the knowledge that she is different to her human peers. One day, she is delivered a fax machine from ‘the superiors’ on her home planet to report her findings and to establish whether their race could survive on Earth.
Adina catalogues the highs and lows of the human experience; from her childhood onwards and spanning over multiple decades, whilst coming to the realisation that there may be others like her doing the exact same thing.

This was both poignant and touching in abundance; I adored it. I loved experiencing the 1970s and beyond through Adina’s innocent yet witty narration. It looks at finding beauty in the mundane but also examines themes of loneliness and detachment. An absolute gem of a novel 💜

Adina is an alien, sent to Earth to observe life and send reports back to her home planet via a fax machine her Mum finds thrown out.
I felt it had vibes of Klara and the Sun, someone who observes life around her, but always feels apart from it all.
There were ongoing themes of friendship, loneliness and feeling like you don’t belong.
It felt a bit disjointed in places and it didn’t really meet my expectations from the other reviews I’ve seen.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beautyland is an imaginative and introspective novel with a unique premise—a girl who believes she's an alien sent to Earth to observe human life. Marie-Helene Bertino’s writing is thoughtful , and Adina’s perspective offers some genuinely moving insights about identity and loneliness.

That said, the pacing can feel uneven, and while the writing style feels alien-like and is appropriate to the novel, I felt rather lost in the story because of it.

While it didn’t fully land for me, I appreciated its originality. Worth a read if you deeply enjoy science fiction stories.

Thank you to Marie-Helene Bertino, Random House UK, Vintage | Vintage, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Beautyland is a coming of age literary fiction based in Philadelphia and New York. It has very weak, tentative sci-fi links so I wouldn’t recommend it for readers who prefer sci-fi over lit fic.

I found I loved parts of the novel and then felt I could put it down and never care to pick it up again at others. The insights into human nature and friendship were beautifully written though. I would also say that this is good representation of neurodivergence, despite the character not being explicitly labelled as such.

2.5⭐️

I thought this was alright, but there wasn't anything that super interested me about it. I think it's slightly misleading to describe this as sci-fi because it's much more just a coming-of-age literary story with a few alien metaphors thrown in. If you removed the extraterrestrial elements and the fax machine, very little about this would actually change, except that it loses the one thing that makes it vaguely different from other coming-of-age stories set in America.

This was nicely written and captured a sense of the isolation and despair you often encounter as you grow up, enter adulthood and navigate a confusing world without any real guide or direction. I also think there was some decent underlying commentary on class and how weird some human social conventions are. However, it just failed to be anything special for me and didn't leave me thinking about very much. It was a little boring at times, and there were lots of sections that I just felt like I had read before.

Not bad at all, just not really anything else either. If you want a coming-of-age story that might be relatable if you've ever felt out of place on Earth, then you could do worse.

I really enjoyed this Book and so glad i could finally read it after seeing all of the Hype online about it... I was not disappointed! Tracing Adinas life from Childhood to Adulthood we see musing on the meaning of being in our world. We also see Adina making connections with the people (and animals) around her which was not only profound but witty and perfect all at the same time!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this early copy.

The blurb of this book intrigued me and though this isn't my usual genre, I decided to request this book as I fancied reading something different...this book was definitely unique!

I've read nothing like it before (so therefore it is original!) and the book is quirky and moving at times, exploring something that I can relate to - what it means to feel like to be an outsider, never quite at home in some environments.

Though some of the writing wasn't easy to follow and the pace was slow at first but moved on as I read further, it is sharp and intriguing. I liked the way it made me think about identity, belonging and being human.

Would recommend to anyone looking for something quirky and original to read.

This was such an interesting read. I loved the idea of alienation and how that feeling changes as you get older but it can often still be there.
Adina is a fantastic character, innocent but determined to seek her own path.
The book felt like it would be good for anYA audience as well as adults.

When I was offered this as an arc I found the concept really interesting and right up my street. I found the reality very confusing. I didn’t really understand the concept or what was going on. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Thank you Vintage books for the arc in exchange for an honest review! 💜 4.5 ⭐

Adina was born at the moment when Voyager 1 was launched into space. She knew she was different from early childhood, and when a fax machine arrived in her home she realised her mission is clear: report on the oddities of humankind.

Adina's perspective on the world was intriguing, endearing, sometimes a bit bizarre, but always gentle. Her observations through life made for such an interesting read, her voice unique and enchanting.

"There's a reason it's called alienated. Because I am an alien, I am alone. When you are alone, there is no one to tell: There is a bird whose call sounds like hoo-where-la-hoo! Or, there's a spider landing on your head. So you tell yourself. There's a spider landing on my head. I should move."

I think if you enjoy books by Sayaka Murata such as Convenience Store Woman, or something like Mina's Matchbox by Yōko Ogawa, you'd really enjoy this. It's kind of weird-girl fiction, but quite an innocent view of the world (unlike some of the content in Murata's books, but some of the character qualities felt similar to me).

I read this in one sitting, such a pleasure to read. Thank you again to the publisher for the arc.

"The human life span was perfectly designed to be brief but to at times feel endless. A set of years that pass in a minute, eternity in an afternoon."

"To reach the end of your life and wish you had time for a few other roads - what could be more human?"

I just... didn't get it. I don't even really know what to say. I'm happy to read books that are a bit quirky and out there but this was just a miss for me.

Review not posted anywhere else.

Unfortunately this book wasn't me. DNF at 5%. I found it really difficult to get to grips with what was going on and the characters. I felt myself skimming through without taking the information.