Marie Helene Bertino always writes such interesting book with so much heart. Adina has been sent to earth to report on the human condition. Having recently read her short fiction collection, Safe As Houses, I believe this novel began as an exploration of this idea in her short story “Sometimes You Break Their Hearts, Sometimes They Break Yours.” Adina communicates with her planet using a fax machine. She in an observer of humans who becomes more human as the novel progresses. Adina acts a mirror reflecting and strange and wonderous and terrible humans can be. Bertino’s writing never fails to make me laugh and feel. Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and to Netgalley for the advanced review copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the eARC!

I should be able to use words to describe this book, but I just cannot! This was my first encounter of the most amazing kind of Marie-Helene Bertino's writing. I gobbled this book right up. How to describe it? It's about Adina, the main character, and our following of her journey from childhood to adulthood and her ongoing connection with aliens via a fax machine. Like what? That's the most amazing story plot, in a gist, ever. I loved the storytelling of this coming-of-age story (and beyond) of Adina and how she copes with life. Literally, after I read this, I borrowed PARAKEET and 2AM AT THE CAT'S PAJAMAS to read because I stan Marie-Helene Bertino! If you read any book this year, read BEAUTYLAND!

Ahhh! Immediate five stars... I wish I could give me, to be quite honest.

I am so thankful to FSG Books, Marie-Helene Bertino, and Netgalley for granting me advanced digital and physical access to this gorgeously written masterpiece before it hits shelves on January 16, 2024.

Adina isn't from Earth, and she's aware of that from when she's projected onto Earth, and her mission is clear -- to report her findings on humans of Earth back to her superiors via faxes on her mother's state-of-the-art machine. From day one until the end of her life, she knows her purpose and is mystified by the people around her daily. Readers are catapulted into a view of her elementary school days, private high schooling, interactions with friends and foes, and her accepted start into adulthood, leaving North Philadelphia to head out into NYC's bustling world.

Adina looks at things differently, and she isn't bullied, but people flock to her side, thinking she's funny, smart, and talented. We watch as she goes through the many trials of life, facing small rejections, dating and then breaking up, writing a book and then not doing how to process the success that follows, and other normal acts of life, but through a different telescopic lens.

Beautyland has a beauty and grace about it that left me with the most extensive book hangover, and really unable to process the emotions that seeped out me after putting this one down. I wish I could continue to read the inner thoughts of a creatively, unique FMC, but alas, I'll just continue to recommend this gem from now until forever.

This book just didn't work for me. I've read from this author before and I can't get into her writing style. I thought the plot sounded so interesting, but the author's prose is so long-winded and confusing. It took me hours just to get through one chapter. I enjoy quirky stories but this one made no sense, and Bertino was trying way too hard. Very pretentious.

I think there's a lot to love here, but it might not be the book for me. I enjoyed about as much of the story as I didn't enjoy, which isn't a total loss. I was just hoping for more of a fleshed out story and this struck me as something more interested in creating a vibe or a feeling.

This is a beautiful book. An aromatic Carl Sagan obsessed alien named Adina is sent to earth to observe its viability as a new home for her people, a collective form of consciousness that communicates with her via fax machine. Adina’s eagle eyed observations of human life begin with her girlhood with a single mother in Philadelphia and continue through adolescence and into adulthood spent in queens. When Adina's best friend is diagnosed with cancer, the book turns into a striking meditation on loss.

The form allows Bertino to wax poetic and offer the kinds of philosophicalc thoughts on existence and humanity. What would seem frivolous tangential and overwrought in another book is delightful here. Adina’s reflections are just as often humorous as they are heartbreaking and raw.

I love this.

I think I found a new favorite book of all time in this one! I adored this gorgeous, profound, and one-of-a-kind story. Adina's insights and observations of humans made me see the world anew. Bertino's prose, humor, and knack for storytelling shine from beginning to end and I delighted in every moment--even the ones that broke my heart.

The premise of this book was a beautiful metaphor for the myriad ways that we experience loneliness and belonging, joy and heartbreak, hope and resignation. It made me want to be more thoughtful about the ways that I belong and the ways that I feel different and really examine the whole idea of what it means to be human. I grew up in the same generation as the main character, but our life experiences were very different, and yet there was still so much authentic resonance... that feeling of "yes, I know that piece of truth" and "yes, me too!"

300+ pages is usually a lot to me as someone who reads short lil books but I whizzed through this one!!

1977 and a vessel is launched into space full of photographs and sounds of ‘typical earth scenes’ to tell extraterrestrials the human story. As this is happening, Adina is born. One day after a fall, Adina is ‘activated’ and begins communicating via fax machine to beings on her home planet, taking notes on humans and human life.

This book is a quiet one, written simply but so effectively and moves from scene to scene quite quickly, following Adina from birth to older age, giving snapshots into human life. An added bonus I wasn’t expecting is that two of the main side characters are queer and Adina is herself aromantic/asexual which I loved!

This book was such a pleasant surprise and one I’ll be widely recommending- dare I say it’s already a contender for one of my fave books of 2024!?

A beautiful ode to being human, girlhood, growing up, friendship, grief, fitting in, aging, loneliness and connection.

Major thanks to NetGalley and FSG for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts:

Borders on twee and that indie-feel from the 2008's, but once you get into the swing of an alien girl sent to earth to fax back the going-ons of life to her homeland, you realize it's in Bertino's wry eye that you understand who we are and the way we act. Inventive. Fresh. A great sense of renewal. It sharpens its focus on humanity and, done brilliantly, on girlhood.

"𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴—𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯? 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯."

It's also about grief and grieving (a very interesting surprise given I'd just come out of Akbar's Martyr!, who was one of the early readers for this book), friendship, and again, I must mention, girlhood, because this one is for the girls!!!

"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦."

We're all a bit alien. We're all completely human. We are not alone in what ostracizes us, though we may feel that way. Because when you get down to it, there's a resilience in our species that will always overcome the worsts, to prove that there is greater good in the world.

"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦. 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵."

Bertino hits home with all emotional swells that it began hard to read the last few portions because my eyes started to blur. It was then I realized I was crying. Crying! Bertino got me good. And she will do the same for you.

An alien intelligence in a human girl, sounds like a fun premise to me. When I started reading the book I wasn't sure if Adina was really an alien or just a super quirky teen. The reports she faxes to her people make you think maybe she is just autistic. I won't give away any secrets here. What I originally though was clipped writing really reflects her interactions and understanding of the world and, once I got over that, really helped the character blossom in my mind. We follow her into adulthood where her insightful takes on relationships, still from a quirky outsider perspective, show she is trying to be human. Ok, perhaps I'm not doing this book justice. I really enjoyed character and was rooting for her. I wanted her to share her interpretation of the world. I wanted her not to be so lonely. I wanted her to find her people. I loved watching her grow.

Audacious, intelligent, smart-girl-lit, all you need. Dream-ride, incisive, detailed. Sail theough the sky. This is a NOVEL.

LOVED! such an earnest exploration of what it means to grow up and feel other. such a memorable protagonist that i will never forget!

A mesh of magical realism, sci-fi, and human observation, this stunning novel follows a sensitive alien named Adina from her birth through her life. From the beginning, Adina feels different and alienated from those around her, and when she discovers that she is an alien sent to Earth for the purpose of observing the human species, she begins faxing her superiors her observations on humankind. Her observations range from poking at the absurdity of having a body ("Human beings produce water from their eyes when they are sad, happy, or sometimes just frustrated!") to the limits of describing our human experience ("Language is pitiable when weighed against experience"). It is through these observations that Marie walks her readers through the highs and lows of making out and falling into loveless relationships and working at dead-end jobs and grieving those we love the most. She reminds us of why we love and lose and are willing to do it again, and how our own alienation is exactly what connects us. I would also recommend readers to read the short story this is based on, Marie's "SOMETIMES YOU BREAK THEIR HEARTS, SOMETIMES THEY BREAK YOURS" on the Indiana Review.

2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas is one of my favorite books of all time, and when I first discovered it I instantly declared Bertino to be one of my new favorite authors. Since then, I've tried Parakeet AND this latest, and feel completely flummoxed. For some reason, I cannot engage with any of her writing since 2 A.M. AT ALL. The magic and lyrical nature of that story were so incredible to me - and yet that similar writing style in the subsequent books has me utterly confused, lost, and uncertain as to why. I couldn't get into this one at all, despite a very cool concept (ditto Parakeet). From the opening pages, I felt like I was wandering in the dark - and not in a good way. Others love it, and seem to respond to it the way I did to 2 A.M., so I guess it just goes to show that the magic of chemistry is something that defies formula or logic. I will continue trying Bertino's new books, in the hopes of recapturing that magic. But this one just wasn't that for me...

Once upon a time, a young woman from Philadelphia told me that joy is the best kind of happiness, because it is happiness that can only happen if you know sadness too. I was thinking about that a lot, reading Bertino's latest -- not just because she's also from Philadelphia (as am I) and this story happens to be largely set in Philadelphia, but because by that definition, it is the most joyful thing I've read in a long time. It's so much more than a coming-of-age story, because it somehow manages to tease humanity while also celebrating it, to poke at the very real awfulness that we are capable of and to shine a light on the little moments of goodness... but it never feels saccharine, it never feels gimmicky. It feels honest and revelatory, like a bright light from a distant star. It asks its reader to open towards the beautiful ineffable and walks with you along the way. Or to put it a little more locally, it's that life jawn.

I am really struggling to find the words to describe how I feel after reading this book. I wish Adina was here to put my thoughts and feelings into the perfect sentence.

Adina is an alien who communicates with her planet via a fax machine. Although this is not a science fiction book, it kind of sounds like it is. BUT IT ISNT!

I felt like it could be construed as "Adina is a literal alien" or "Adina feels alien in the world" and both work for me. I found this book to be so thoughtful about humanhood. Is humanhood a word? It doesn't matter. I could have highlighted 90% of this book but instead I will go back and read it at another time.

Towards the end of the book, Adina appeared more human than ever before when she was dealing with a very human emotion. I felt her pain so deep. I am still struggling with my emotions from this book.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I am definitely a fan of hers now. I also read the authors note which was also very touching.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and netgalley for my advanced copy!

It’s 9pm and I am going to bed, until I convince myself that I’m not sleepy yet and I should stay up until 10 to keep reading Beautyland because I’ve had a hard time putting it down all day. Then it’s 10:30 and I’m about to turn the lights off when I think, well, what’s the harm of another 15 minutes at this point?

Now it’s midnight and I’m crying sideways, sobbing so hard it’s difficult to breathe and tears are streaming from my right eye into my left.

Beautyland was addicting from the start, it felt so fresh and fun while riding this undercurrent of tension that kept me completely engrossed. With a good sense of humor and well-developed characters, this was poignant and beautifully written. I absolutely loved it, even though I have to try to fall asleep now with a wrecked heart.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy

I requested this novel because I thought it might fall into that sweet spot between literary and science fiction, and it kind of does? I think fans of a more fragmented narrative style will find a lot to love here, but those hoping for a truly alien-alien story might want to look elsewhere.

Having decided years ago that I had read enough bildungsroman for one lifetime, I almost set this one aside, however I'm glad I stuck with it. I fell in love with Adina for her humour and how she naviagated a world she struggled to connect with. It's these aspects that make the former-bookseller in me want to tell all the fans of Convenience Store Woman to check this out.

<i>"Voyager 1 spacecraft launches in Florida, containing a copper-plated phonograph record of sounds intended to explain human life to intelligent extraterrestrials.......The astronomers hoped to include the Beatles’“Here Comes the Sun,” but Columbia Records asked for too much money. It’s hard to make human beings believe in things." </i>

So creative and beautifully written. For lovers of Jenny Offill and sci fi. A really sweet little novel!