Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You know how sometimes friends can see your situation so much more clearly than you? It's like that, but Adina's an alien and she's observing the human experience.
Just wow, Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino has really hit me with all the feels. There was a wonderful nostalgia with this read as it follows our main character, Adina, through birth into adulthood. She discovers that she is an alien (or rather, is she??) and believes she is to report to her other life form "superiors" about human life. Filled with beautiful juxtapositions of the complexities of life, yet simple and literal explanations for each one, I love how Bernito captured the ins-and-outs of life in such organic and nuanced ways. My absolute favorite read this year!
funny
lighthearted
reflective
Cute and funny book with witty remarks about being human and life on planet earth.
"Human beings fetishize no organ more than the heart. This manifests in language, the heart has its own vocabulary. When they like someone they say: There's a girl after my own heart. They will stand or sit very close to the person they love with their heart. Bless your heart. Cross my heart. When they are sad they say: My heart is broken. They will tell large groups of people things they don't believe. But the heart is just a muscle with an important job. Only an area in the body."
"Eyes are another commonly fetishized part of the human body. The seeing parts. But once they were only pockets of sensitive atoms on the foreheads of primordial fish. Sightless skin that yearned to make something fantastic out of light. It had to invent looking to look."
"Light is the only artist. It created the tools to see."
"By far my favorite human emotion is joy. Because it is so misunderstood. Because it contains all the others. "
"The human life span was perfectly designed to be brief but to at times feel endless "
"To reach the end of your life and wish you had time for a few other roads- what more could be more human? "
"Human beings fetishize no organ more than the heart. This manifests in language, the heart has its own vocabulary. When they like someone they say: There's a girl after my own heart. They will stand or sit very close to the person they love with their heart. Bless your heart. Cross my heart. When they are sad they say: My heart is broken. They will tell large groups of people things they don't believe. But the heart is just a muscle with an important job. Only an area in the body."
"Eyes are another commonly fetishized part of the human body. The seeing parts. But once they were only pockets of sensitive atoms on the foreheads of primordial fish. Sightless skin that yearned to make something fantastic out of light. It had to invent looking to look."
"Light is the only artist. It created the tools to see."
"By far my favorite human emotion is joy. Because it is so misunderstood. Because it contains all the others. "
"The human life span was perfectly designed to be brief but to at times feel endless "
"To reach the end of your life and wish you had time for a few other roads- what more could be more human? "
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty close to a 5 star book for me. The observations about humans and human nature were insightful and humorous. The author also did a beautiful job immersing us in the character’s feelings of otherness, loneliness, and yearning for home. Full of insight, whimsy, nostalgia, sadness, and hope, Beautyland encapsulates what it feels like to be different, to not always belong, but to still be surrounded by love.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated