Beautyland

Paperback Published on: 27/03/2025
Price: £9.99
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Bookseller Reviews

View all
Beautyland
A stunning meditation on what it means to be human
"What would these people say instead of I love you? I'm scared. I worry I will never recover. I love you is a can of soda that comes free with every meal. ... READ MORE
Red
Beautyland
Sad, Funny, Cosmic
Beautyland follows Adina Giorno, who’s convinced she’s an alien sent to Earth to report back to her home planet via an old fax machine. Sounds quirky, righ... READ MORE
a c
Beautyland
A beautifully tender and lyrical exploration of humanity!
Beautyland is a unique coming of age story about Adina, an alien who faxes her observations about life on Earth to her extraterrestrial relatives. It’s abo... READ MORE
Laura at Blackpool
Beautyland
Had me laughing and crying
“Beautyland” is a tear-jerking and humorous book that had me laughing and crying. I loved how Adina’s (protagonist) voice shone through in her deadpan obse... READ MORE
Ebony
Beautyland
A beautiful gut-punch
It’s hard to break down all the feelings this book made me feel: nostalgic, grateful, lonely, connected, proud, heartbroken, alien. Reminded me of The M... READ MORE
Selma - Waterstones Islington

Synopsis

Meet Adina: a woman who has never felt at home on Earth

*** A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR, JUST LANDED IN THE UK ***

'One of the best books I have read this year’ KALIANE BRADLEY, Guardian
'As tender as it is witty and perceptive' SPECTATOR
'I do not know how my life would be if I hadn't read this book' *Reader review*

Born at the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space, Adina is a baby of unusual perception. Tiny and jaundiced, she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognises she is different, not least because of her strange knowledge of a faraway planet. Then a fax machine arrives at home. Her mission is clear: she must report on the oddities of humankind.

As Adina grows up, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and delights of human existence. But then she starts to wonder. Is there a chance there are others like her out there?

Adina sees our world differently. And her gentle, perceptive – and funny – observations offer a quietly joyful new view of life on Earth, the challenge of knowing ourselves and the miracle of finding our people in this vast universe.

‘A remarkable funny-sad novel’ New York Times
'I loved this idiosyncratic, funny and wise novel' LAILA LALAMI, author of The Dream Hotel
'Joyous and expansive and wonderfully funny' DAISY JOHNSON, author of Fen
‘A book that I will recommend to people for the rest of my life’ DAKOTA JOHNSON

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Vintage Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781529964394
  • Number of pages: 336
  • Dimensions: 196 x 129 x 21 mm
  • Weight: 248g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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Beautyland
A sci-fi book that is heartbreakingly human
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This books follows Adina, a girl who believes she is not from this planet and is instead an alien s... READ MORE
Book.ratkins
Beautyland
Alien or alienated?
Alien or alienated. Adina is born in Philadelphia, she is an awkward child with some strange traits. Her Father tries his best but finally leaves when she... READ MORE
Margaret Moore
Beautyland
So very relatable, but utterly unique
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... READ MORE
Small Adventurist
Beautyland
Original, quirky, literary, moving
Storytelling with a difference – literary, amusing, moving, quirky, original. I’m not sure how to catergorise it, perhaps transcendental sci-fi, though tha... READ MORE
Jayne Southern
Beautyland
Intriguing, tender, endearing exploration of what it means to be human.
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... READ MORE
Zoe (@zoekatereads_)
Beautyland
An alien view of 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 d... READ MORE
Irene Combe
Beautyland
A very enjoyable read
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. This is an unusual book and quite hard to classify. It is not what I would call ... READ MORE
am/am/am
Beautyland
Perceptions from an 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. Sh... READ MORE
Bri C
Beautyland
This will live in my heart forever
I thought I was going to DNF this at around 10% to be honest. It was so sad, and I wasn’t getting it at all, and I didn’t like the writing style, everythin... READ MORE
Elaine
Beautyland
Fascinating character but writing too literary
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for this ARC. In 1977, just as Voyager 1 launches, Adina is born to a single mother. She believes sh... READ MORE
Beate251
Beautyland
Not for me
It was suggested I would like this book because I liked Klara and the Sun and the Ministry of Time. Which I did. Unfortunately I fell for that and Beautyla... READ MORE
Psychoticpat
Beautyland
Loved it, hated that it’s not scifi
Ah, the unreliable narrator: an expected trope in literary fiction but what about the unreliable blurb? ‘Meet Adina: a woman who has never felt at home on ... READ MORE
Huttson Lo
Beautyland
Truly original
I adored this book. It has the very essence of what it’s like to not fit in. If you know you know. It’s poignant and well written and original. Marvellous.
SuzyCO
Beautyland
Sweet and tender, but outstays its welcome through the extra-terrestrial whimsicality 3.5/3
I started this with high hopes, appreciating the fine writing and quirky viewpoint, using the feeling of alienation ‘what on earth am I doing in this world... READ MORE
Lady Fancifull
Beautyland
I felt a beautiful connection
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... READ MORE
Nicole Burstein
Beautyland
A top read of 2025
Holy hell I loved this book. Beautyland is one of those precious, treasured novels that makes you love humanity at least a little bit more after you wip... READ MORE
Sol Noya