My enormous thanks to Elizabeth Masters and Ana McLaughlin at Quercus for sending me a surprise copy of Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin. I’m delighted to share my review today.
Published by Riverrun on 13th February 2025, Life Hacks for a Little Alien is available for purchase through the links here.
Life Hacks for a Little Alien
‘Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes’
From her first words to her first day at school, Little Alien can’t help but get things wrong. She doesn’t understand the world the way others seem to, and the world doesn’t seem to understand her either. Her anxious mum and meticulous dad, while well-intentioned, are of little help.
But when Little Alien sees a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript – a mediaeval codex written in an unknown language and script – 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 this charming, witty, and profoundly moving novel about the power of language, the wonder of libraries – and how to find a path that fits, when you yourself do not.
My Review of Life Hacks for a Little Alien
A neurodivergent child tries to make sense of the world.
Life Hacks for a Little Alien is such a brilliant read. There are so many elements here that, despite being relatively brief, Life Hacks for a Little Alien would reward being read several times over. The presentation of language – its diachronic and synchronic development, its capacity for misinterpretation and confusion, and its key to understanding and our sense of who we are – is stunning. That might make the book sound dry or inaccessible, but not a bit of it. There are witty footnotes, definitions, and warmly humorous further reading suggestions that make this story zing with interest and engagement. I found myself laughing aloud throughout my reading.
I loved the fact that Little Alien is gender ambiguous in appearance and is never referred to by a proper name other than the endearments from her parents. This means that the character feels relatable and universal. Whilst Little Alien is possibly far more neurodivergent than the majority of readers, how she thinks and feels is exactly how we’ve all thought and felt at some points in our lives. She could be any or all of us. This makes the story incredibly impactful and moving. The representation of authority from school teachers to the police, for example, is so deftly handled that the lack of understanding towards Little Alien feels terrifyingly realistic even as it is funny and entertaining.
I also loved Little Alien’s obsession with the Voynich Manuscript. I had never heard of it previously but was so convinced by Alice Franklin’s writing that I had to find out if it is real. It is! The inability to define and fully understand the manuscript echoes to perfection the manner in which society fails to have the key to neurodivergent individuals. It shows how children like Little Alien may have skills, intelligence and understanding encoded in their own personalities that others cannot appreciate.
With themes of intelligence, linguistics, integration, difference, the power of reading and, above all, the humane and sensitive exploration of who we are as individuals, I thought Life Hacks for a Little Alien was superb.
A love letter to language, to difference and to all those who’ve ever simply wondered about life. Life Hacks for a Little Alien is a witty, humorous and affecting story that deserves to be read far and wide. It provides the reader with understanding and a sense of belonging. It’s really quite wonderful.
About Alice Franklin
Alice Franklin lives and works in London. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Life Hacks for a Little Alien is her debut novel.
