Just finished Beautyland and curious what others thought. It was on a lot of "best of 2024" lists but got no nods from any prize committees.
What are others' opinions on the main character? Was she really an alien, or maybe she had autism or…? I'm not entirely sure where to stand on that. I suspect it's more likely to be a result of neurodivergence than a sci-fi novel. It's not sci-fi. So then, did she just kill herself on the ferry at the end?
There were other, less important loose ends that bothered me as well. She had a gift for acting, but that was just dropped on the floor after not receiving a scholarship. Her Italian teacher accused her of cheating, and nothing came of that. Suspicion of plagiarism is pretty serious in a private school like that and wouldn't just get swept under the rug.
a couple of other things that just bothered me more generally. The idea that her book was so popular is self-indulgent on the part of Bertino. As if we should take for granted that the faxes she was making up were so insightful that the book would, of course, be a hit. And lastly, I'd love it if American writers would stop fetishizing NYC. It's just a city. There are many large cities around the world. Ours isn't that special. It always strikes me as provincial.
Overall i enjoyed reading the book. It was clever and I liked the characters. It read fast and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something emotional but easy to read.
by hawkhandler