Gosh, she's done it again! Marie-Helene Bertino's previous novel "Parakeet" was released in the depths of summer 2020, when authors couldn't go on book tours to promote their novels and we all sat through a lot of Zoom interviews. It was total serendipity that I read an early 2021 Lithub interview with Ted Dodson wherein the interviewer asked "What book from the past year would you like to give a shout-out to?" and he mentioned Parakeet (really cute interview that I recommend reading - disclaimer: Ted is MHB's partner). Needless to say I rushed out to purchase Parakeet and was absolutely wowed, leading me to pick up this book for several bookish friends and continue recommending it just about anytime I was prompted for a suggestion.

It's with that unbridled enthusiasm for the author that I learned Beautyland was coming soon (January 2024) and I was lucky enough to read an ARC thanks to NetGalley and Farrar Straus & Giroux.

Beautyland is such a warm and loamy novel with big heart. The protagonist Adina feels everything so deeply, just like the most sensitive people, despite being an alien sent by her superiors to report on the human condition. In addition to being tender, Adina is also funny in her observations: "When it was time to decide the official food of movie-watching, human beings did not go for fig Newtons or caramel, foods that are silent, but popcorn, the loudest sound on earth" or "Why are there two words (thaw and dethaw) for what you do to a frozen chicken and only one for missing your best friend?"

She's keenly aware of how she needs to lie low to fit in, for pop culture has showed her "what humans do to extraterrestrials in film and television. Americans, especially those who live in suburbs, cannot be trusted," citing E.T., Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Small Wonder and ALF. Adina is a child of the 1980s, after all!

We follow Adina through her school years as she learns how to be a teenager with its cliques and betrayals, an adult who holds down a job, a woman who experiences love and loss. I was not ready for the book to end. There's a tenderness to the way Adina moves through life and observes what many of us chugging along take for granted or don't even remark on. I'm so excited for January 2024 when I can pick up a hard copy of Beautyland and go through the rollercoaster or laughter and tears all over again. Simply one of my top reads in recent memory!

Bertino's "Beautyland" is an absolute gem of a book. It was a joy to read and made me believe in girl aliens who hail from Philly. Pre-order this book now!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Beautyland.

The premise is unique, unlike most themes in science fiction where the alien is usually malevolent or kind and being pursued by evil government forces.

Adina is a stranger in a strange land; a literal alien born into the body of a human girl to a single parent.

Her mission is to observe and learn as much as she can about the human race.

She uses a fax machine to send her observations and questions to her home world, and their replies are equally quirky, hilarious, and astute.

Much like Adina.

Adina is a fascinating character; she's emotional and sensitive, eager to learn, and says what she thinks. She doesn't lie, she feels and sees and thinks. and a lot whole more.

In a way, she is more human than human.

As she navigates the biggest stages of her life; childhood, teen angst, young adulthood and middle age, Adina learns what relationships are, how humans interact and don't say what they mean and sometimes do but not in the way they're supposed to.

Adina learns what it's like to love; love her mom, her BFF, her dog, and experience joy, sorrow, grief, and tragedy.

Adina, in many ways, reflects how many people feel at some point in their lives; that we don't belong in our bodies, in this world, in this time. That the world is crazy and no one understands how we feel, think, and see.

That we must belong elsewhere, somewhere, but not here.

That we're all the same, not different, but more similar than dissimilar, and in the end, we all end up in the same way, not gone, but part of a collective whole.

My only caveat with Beautyland is the author's writing style. I wasn't a fan of it.

The writing was disjointed and confusing, the broken sentence distracting.

I wondered what the title meant and I liked how the author explains the meaning behind it toward the end.

she will fax that being physically present in one place while your mind is in another is loneliness. loneliness can make you hang with phonies to distract yourself. loneliness can make you send a ratty record into space. her superiors will fax you have crossed an important threshold in your training. they will fax you are the best human. so much better than those j girl slut-bags. they will fax we are proud of you.

i finished beautyland at 1am with tears streaming down my cheeks.

'sometimes you break their hearts, sometimes they break yours' from bertino's collection safe as houses is my favorite story of all time. so when i realized that beautyland would expand that world, i was both thrilled and apprehensive. and magically, bertino delivered. there was enough familiarity carried over from the story that adina felt like an old friend, but the narrative was still fresh and captivating.

there are some meta moments that stick the landing without feeling contrived. the prose is ornate without feeling untouchable. there is bertino's dry and literal humor, better than ever. the momentum is so sturdy that i could forgive a sudden time jump of about ten years in the span of three paragraphs, even if i did have to flip back a few pages and do some mental math.

adina feels everything so very deeply (is this alien or the signature of humanity?) and bertino's voice is deft enough to take your hand and carry you along. there isn't much in the way of grade school plot construction, because ultimately this novel is about a life, and the many highs and lows experienced as the earth spins on. and isn't that something anyone can inhabit?

i hope every person who has ever looked up to the stars alone in the deep night finds this book and with it, some comfort. i know i have. i think i always will.

[with thanks to netgalley and fsg for the advanced reader's copy]

Beautyland started a bit slow (for me) but by the time we got to the High School chapter, I could not put this down and finished it all today.

This book was so unique and funny and fun to read. I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next. There was at least one scene (when she writes articles for the school paper) where I had to put my ereader down to laugh.

I don't really know what else to say! I enjoyed reading it and it made me laugh and cry more than once. I just finished it less than an hour ago and I'm going to need some time to soak it in before reading anything else.

Wow - Beautyland is a tour de force. It is a hilarious, poignant, and surprising novel. The writing is stunning, and I am in awe of the author’s talent.

Adina spends most of her time faxing observations of her life on earth to her superiors on her faraway home planet. But is she really an alien or a person trying to make the best of her surroundings? Whatever the case, Adina is incredibly lovable and her observations alternated in cracking me up and breaking my heart. Truly a book that reminded me of why I love reading. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a moving, smart, and thought-provoking read.

Thank you very much to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful story.

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. Adina Giorno is born in Philadelphia and quickly realizes that she’s an alien. The appearance of a fax machine shows that she is not only an alien, but one who was sent here to report back to her dying planet to see if Earth might be a place for her people. Or Adina might just feel alienated from others and hides behind this fantastical story. She moves to New York and her friend in publishing sells a book of Adina’s reports back to her home plant and it becomes a surprise hit. All of which never makes Adina feel like she belongs here.