Published By: Riverrun
Pages: 304
Released On: 13/02/2025
Little Alien lives with her mum and her dad in the South-East of England. Her mum has a ‘how-to’ guide for every situation, and her dad is always kind and always right. And there is her best friend Bobby, who coincidentally has a bob.
But it is only when Little Alien sees a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript – a mediaeval codex written in an unknown language and script – that she begins to suspect that there are other people who feel just like her. Convinced that translating this manuscript will offer the answers she needs, she sets out on a journey that will show her a delicious taste of freedom.
So begins Little Alien’s story, told from the perspective of an older, wiser linguist, whose guidance will help Little Alien navigate a world that makes her feel like she doesn’t belong.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Riverrun for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
**CONTAINS SPOILERS**
I do believe this is Alice’s debut novel.
This sounded so whimsical and odd and magical and right up my street. The synopsis instantly made of me think of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, which I loved.
The formatting was a bit off on my digital version which meant, where there were asterisks pointing you towards little extra bits at the bottom of the page, I had to hunt for them, but once I understood that it was fine. I don’t usually like the addition of little bits at the bottom because it feels like an add-on – like, it’s it’s that important, put it in the main text. But I liked it in this story.
It wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it would be a fun, frivolous adventure about an alien, but it’s not. It’s about a girl who is on the neurodiversity spectrum – be it autism or something else. It’s about what it’s like to grow up feeling different, like an outsider. And as soon as I had that thought, it became really obvious. But it did make it quite intense when I was expecting a read that was going to be a bit easier than that.
My Mum used to teach at a school for children with disabilities and learning difficulties, and so I grew up around people with varying degrees of autism and perhaps that gave me a different outlook on this book than most people. I do believe Alice herself is autistic, and so she does a good job at describing what it can be like, because it’s difficult to explain to someone else how you view things, because that’s your normal.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book in the 2nd person, and I’m not sure I’m a fan. I prefer 3rd person, but do enjoy 1st. 2nd just feels a bit…I don’t know, I couldn’t gel with it at all.
It started well and instantly drew me up, but it dipped at about 35% through. It got very detailed about the history of language and whilst that interests me, it felt too drawn out in this situation and unfortunately I found it a bit tedious. But it did find it’s way again by the end.
Overall, it’s an interesting read, definitely not what I was expecting. It’s not perfect and needs a bit of tidying up, but I can see what she was trying to do and it was an interesting way to explore neurodiversity.
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