Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Marie-Helene Bertino's most recent novel published in January of 2024 and has been raking in the accolades ever since. Named Best Book of the Year by a dozen different sources including Goodreads, The New York Times Book Review, Time, and Elle, it was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and is one of Esquire's Best Science Fiction Books of All Time. It references animal death, bullying, cancer, chronic illness and death, sexual assault, terminal illness, grief, abandonment, and suicidal thoughts.

Adina was born the moment the Voyager 1 launched - and her mother almost died in the process. Even in her first moments as her mother struggled to stay alive and Adina herself was placed under the lights for warmth, she sought connection. It didn't take Adina long to realize that she was different from other people, but not in the way you may expect. Adina happens to be an alien sent to Earth to observe and report on the denizens of Earth. Of course, it's not really something that she can tell other people and she has no real proof other than the faxes she receives from her superiors. Always on the outskirts, never quite understanding, never quite belonging - not to Earth, but not anywhere else either.

I don't think it's a lie to say that this book is different than anything else I've ever read. Not necessarily in the content matter (Adina is not the first person to suspect she's an alien) but in the way it is laid out. It is strange but captivating. I was never bored and it reads like little snippets of life and reflection from Adina. It is funny, but not laugh out loud funny. It was so interesting because throughout the book, you don't know if Adina is really an alien or if she may have autism which causes her to feel like a social outsider, but it allows you to read it in such a way that you can almost experience the moments as Adina does. I know that this is a sad moment, but I don't feel particularly sad. I know that there is something off about this interaction but I'm not quite sure why. It was quite compelling and I really enjoyed the experience. There is a moment in the book in which Adina (small, small spoiler alert) gets a book published by a small publishing house and a man approaches her to say "I read your book...I didn't understand most of it but I could tell it was good." I feel like nothing summarizes my experience better.

I'm giving Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino 4.25 stars out of 5. I feel like it did exactly what it wanted to do and I appreciated the different view that this book gave me as Adina summarized her findings for her superiors. I'll be putting Parakeet, Marie-Helene Bertino's second novel, on my list to read in the future.

For more from Marie-Helene Bertino, check out her website at https://www.mariehelenebertino.com/

Pairs well with lemon poppy muffins and not throwing something away just because it's old when it still works.

Favorite quote: "Every human dies. But the bad news is that every day they act like they don't know they're alive. They lie or behave inconsiderately or cheat. Each one is a little death." Honorable mention to Yolanda K who is "a double cancer and I'm here to help you love yourself!"