A really fascinating read about life from the perspective of a girl who sees life differently. Was a really informative read and loved the little clips and thoughts. Humorous but sensitive.

Disarmingly profound peek into a different life
—
This feels true. Narrated to the eponymous little alien in a direct and unambiguous present, this novel takes us into the heart of a little girl who is unlike others but who wants exactly what everyone wants: family, companionship, to matter. Stumbling her way through an incomprehensible world, we follow her from first word to a Damascene moment of recognition, and along the way seeing what might be ordinary and everyday to us through new and othered eyes.

Profound and disarming in equal measure, Franklin reveals a new world on the page, where neurodivergence is simply another interesting thing about a character, not the only thing and certainly not the driver of the plot or characterisation. Even through this lens, Franklin shows us the common humanity that we all share, the ability to communicate, the drive to learn and survive, the connections to those we love and hold dear.

Four and a half stars.

Alice doesn’t see the world as we expect her to and that makes her odd. This book explores how Alice engages with the world and how the world responds . A celebration of language and how wonderful libraries can be. The audio of this novel was extremely well narrated by Sally Phillips and this added another dimension to the novel. I did however find the extra reading suggestions at the end of each chapter rather irritating and unnecessary although I do understand that they were amusing. I know that lots of readers will love this book but something didn’t quite gel with me unfortunately as it deals with a very important subject. I look forward to seeing what this author writes next. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien is written in the third person, as if a narrator is speaking directly to the main character - the 'little alien' - who is in fact a neurodivergent little girl. It is really well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one, even though at times I wanted to yell at some of the clueless adult characters.
It is an insight into what it would be like to grow up different and with a non-typical outlook on language, mannerisms, and life in general. Some parts were quite sad when people obviously did not understand her. I would like to think that schools nowdays would be better equipped and have more knowledge in this area, but I'm sure there are still bad ones out there.
If you loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, then I think you would also love this one. Or if you work with neurodivergent children, or any children really, this would be a very important and worthwhile read.
I really did not want it to end. Highly recommend.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien is a charming and unique read that I genuinely appreciated, even though it didn’t completely captivate me. The story centres around a neurodivergent girl who navigates the complexities of human life, which the book cleverly frames through the lens of an “alien” perspective. This quirky premise offers both humour and thoughtful insights into the challenges of being different. While the narrative didn’t fully hook me, the creativity and originality in the writing were definite highlights. It’s a fun, lighthearted read that brings attention to neurodivergence in an accessible way.
Overall, it’s an enjoyable book with a unique voice, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for something whimsical and thought-provoking. 3.5 stars feels just right.

This is a very sweet, tender, informative and unique story which allows us to have a somewhat better understanding of how autistic/neurodivergent people not only see the world at times but how they can be (mis)treated. I have an autistic daughter and this resonated with me somewhat, especially from a social skills aspect and hyper fixating on specialist interests! I loved the second person narration - it felt at times like big alien was giving little alien a reassuring hug, it slightly reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant (loved!) but was also like nothing I’d read before!
Thank you Netgalley for sending.

I enjoyed this book!

This story is told in the second person, narrating the story of a young girl growing up autistic - though she doesn't know it - and discovering what interests her (the Voynich Manuscript) and how to navigate the world (with difficulty). From her perspective, she is so different from everyone around her that she decides that she must have come from another world.

The narrative voice is very amusing, with footnotes frequently giving humorous notes.

This book feels confident and it's hard to believe it is a debut. I'll definitely be looking out for whatever Alice Franklin writes next!

What a joy to read!

Little Alien lives in a world that feels so uncomfortable to her, she doesn’t fit in and never gets things ‘right’. Everything she does goes wrong, even though she always has the best intentions.

Having to move schools because the system isn’t fit for her, she is very unsettled and only has one friend.

Then after watching a program about the Voynich Manuscript when she is unable to sleep, things begin to make sense to her and she feels that she knows where she belongs.

A wonderfully written story of neurodivergence, the good, the bad and the ugly, especially regarding her education.

I loved this read and I’m so glad she found her place in this big, very scary and wonderful planet.

It took me a little while to get used to the second person narrative, and I wasn't too keen on the footnotes, but I did enjoy this in the end. A good insight into some people's experience of being autistic.

Life Hacks For A Little Alien is a touching debut, an intriguing insight into the life of those who see the world a little differently.

Little Alien is our unnamed protagonist who we meet initially as a young child. We see her struggle with life as she doesn’t fit in - and school provides her with endless challenges. Often written off, she is an avid reader and fascinated by language. When she hears about an ancient manuscript written in an as yet undeciphered script, she becomes obsessed with it, convinced that if only she can crack it it will help her find her way in life.

Told in the second person, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that initially, but the more I read the more it made sense as as a reader you really begin to understand how discomforting it is to navigate a world in which you feel like an outsider. It is incredibly moving at times, and your heart goes out to Little Alien who must try and find her place in the world whilst coping with parents who, whilst well-meaning, are often too wrapped up in their own issues to provide her with the support she needs. But there is humour too, and with its fascinating insight into the world of linguistics, as well as a heartfelt tribute to the world of books and libraries, it all makes for a quirky but insightful and entertaining read.

Sad and amusing.
Little alien does not fit in, when someone calls her an alien she believes it. Her Mother is always reading mostly self help books, so alien gets away with lots of things. Her Father worries and tries to help her, but is busy working. She attends a few primary schools, but is asked to leave, usually for things she does not comprehend. She does make a friend Bobby, who supports her.
By chance she sees a documentary about an ancient script and thinks of translated it may help her, she goes to London with Bobby to see it, leading to trouble for them both. She develops her linguistic skills. Her Mother has a breakdown leading to her Father taking them both away.
Little Aliens way of coping with noises and curling up are sad to read, some of her misunderstanding is easy to analyse. There is some hope for her future at the end of the. Book.
Thank you Alice, NetGalley and Quercus for this ARC.

A quick and easy read, that looks into the mind of a neurodivergent child which was interesting, but a lot of the time I just didn't know what to think. It felt disjointed at times. I honestly couldn't decide if I liked the book or not. I understand the book is about the main character figuring out life in her way, but it felt at times there was too much focus on the learning of language and words, and while I understand hyperfixation is something that occurs in neurodivergent kids, it just overwhelmed the rest of the story for me personally. The message it aims to send it a good one, but for me, it just didn't quite hit the mark.

Our main character - Little Alien - is a neurodivergent child and we follow her as she tries to navigate life from primary school to secondary school. The book is written in the second person and you gradually realise that an older ‘Little Alien’ is addressing her younger self. It doesn’t make the reading easy, but isn’t that the point. Life for Little Alien isn’t easy. She struggles to understand social cues and often has ‘meltdowns’ which has caused problems at school. She seems to have one friend only. Home life isn’t easy for her either as her mother has mental health problems and is often hospitalized. But Little Alien is a tough little character who is quite resilient and observant. She is also passionate about language and gets frustrated when her teachers give her books that are for children. She becomes taken with the Voynich Manuscript, an indecipherable manuscript and she embarks on a project to understand it. Her one friend, Bobby, joins her in her quest, getting them both into trouble. You do feel sympathy with her as she seems to be very much on the outside, and you do get frustrated with the behaviour of the adults around her. However, I felt that I was left unsatisfied with the ending. I felt that we were being teased with the Manuscript and her love of linguistics and I expected to see it leading to some place that would make her happy. I felt it stopped half way there.

I feel conflicted about this book. On the one hand I completely related to Little Alien, having felt that way all my life. Trying to understand social cues and language has always been confusing when people don't say what they really mean. This book shows the confusion that goes on in the mind of a neurodivergent child, the battle to find their place and the ignorance and cruelty that can be experienced when you just don't fit neatly into a box.

But on the other hand, the story didn't really go anywhere. It felt meandering and just ended quite abruptly. I felt sad at the loneliness of Little Alien, and frustrated at the lack of understanding shown by her caregivers and educators. I expected the special interest in the Voynich Manuscript to go somewhere it didn't. I longed to observe Little Alien thriving in the world of linguistics and for her to have found her place in the world.

Certainly an interesting story but just left me a bit frustrated and confused. Perhaps this was intentional, but it just didn't fulfil my hopes when starting this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked that the main character is neurodiverse. They are sympathetic and you can feel their vulnerability. I liked the language and library aspects too.

I am not sure I have read many books written in the second person before, it is a construction that is rarely used, and I think, for me, this kept me a little distanced from the action in the book. I wasn’t quite sure what the author was trying to do by using second person until the end, where it became evident that it is the main character talking back to her younger self from a more informed position in the future but, as this wasn’t clear to me until almost the end of the book, I found it an uncomfortable approach. However, I believe that this is a large part of the point , the idea is to keep the reader at a distance and in the dark about why things are as they are in the book, because this is how Little Alien feels in the world. From that perspective, it is clever and successful, but doesn’t make for easy reading.

The book wasn’t at all what I was expecting and even by the end, and weeks after I finished reading it, I can’t decide how I feel about it. I think it provides a valuable insight into what it is like to be neurodivergent in a neurotypical world but, as I have no personal experience of this, how would I know? No one seems to care about Little Alien and her struggles, beyond her parents who don’t know how to help and have problems of their own, and no one wants to help. If this is how life is for neurodivergent children in society, it makes me furious. Little Alien does her best; she has one friend with whom she shares her obsession with linguistics and the Voynich Manuscript, but even he annoys her when he tries to be more of an expert than she is and takes over, getting them into scrapes.

I wanted to love this book – I thought I would given I have loved books on a similar theme and the books which are given as comparators to this – but what I mainly feel having read this book is profoundly sad. Sad that someone so disconnected from the world is not really seen or helped by any of the people around her. I didn’t find the warmth and humour that other people seem to have seen – I wish I had – perhaps if you can find it, this book will be more for you than it was for me.

This book wasn't for me - I appreciated the different point of view in terms of the narration, but it felt slow and meandering, without being enjoyable. I had high expectations (Rosie Project vibes) but they weren't realised!

I liked this book a lot!
It's funny and sad at the same time, and I really enjoyed the 2nd person narration style.

And even though it's a coming-of-age novel, I would have enjoyed reading about Little Alien's adult life a bit more..

In this book, a young girl grapples with growing up on the spectrum and feeling that she must be from another planet. Her fascination with the Voynich manuscript and her mother's mental health issues play a large role in how events unfold.

I enjoyed the way the book presented the main character's point of view, and didn't mind the second-person point of view as much as I would have thought. However, the book felt like it got off to a pretty slow start - maybe appropriately, I was only really gripped by the novel's events when the main character first learned about and became obsessed with the Voynich manuscript. Then the ending felt abrupt, where I wanted to read more about the main character's new "informal" job as assistant to a linguistics researcher.

Overall, a good choice for people interested in neurodivergent points of view, particularly on growing up, although I felt it could have been paced better.

I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I was going to. There were some really fun and heartfelt moments but it took me waaaay too long to read and I just didn’t feel immersed in the story. Definitely an unpopular opinion here as I’ve seen many great reviews! Huge thanks to NetGalley for this Arc!