Review: ‘Alienated’ by Melissa Landers

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them.

Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.

Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.

But when Cara’s classmates get swept up by anti-L’eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn’t safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara’s locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class.

Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she’s fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

[From Goodreads]

Book details

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Publisher: Hyperion

ISBN: 9781423185253

Series: Alienated, #1

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Review

Do you ever finish a book and kind of falter for a moment? Your brain is telling you that maybe the plotline wasn’t perfect, or that the characters were too perfect, or that the writing style was not up there with literary giants like Charlotte Bronte or whoever. But your heart keeps chiming in and yelling, “THIS IS AMAZING. I LOVE THIS BOOK. YAY ROMANCE. YUMMY ALIENS. I’M SO HAPPY.”

Then you sit back and realize you’re grinning like the Cheshire Cat because you’ve just discovered your latest guilty pleasure.

This is one of those books. Prepare yourself for minor plot holes, a seemingly flawless teen heroine, and her actually flawless love interest. It’s not perfect. And yet… I’m so totally in love with everything about it.

Alienated made me feel all mushy inside. Reading it was so much fun, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t giggle like a thirteen-year-old every third page or so. It’s a marvelous blend of humor, romance, suspense and sci-fi, perfect for chasing away your latest reading slump, or just forgetting about real life for a little while.

Rating: 4/5

Recommended to: JLA Fans, especially those of you who loved the Lux series.

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The Last Word

FIVE REASONS YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

1. If you’re sad and you’re feeling like the world is out to get you, WORRY NOT. Cara knows how you feel. And there’s an alien within these pages that will comfort you.
2. NO ANNOYING ROMANCE TROPES. I repeat: NO LOVE TRIANGLES. NO INSTA-LOVE. Three cheers for Melissa Landers.
3. JLA (Jennifer L. Armentrout for all you mundanes that are unacquainted with the queen of alien love-fests. Go read Obsidian immediately) rated it five stars on Goodreads.
4. Attractive aliens.
5. It will make you laugh uncontrollably. Sometimes out of second-hand embarrassment. More often because aliens are super weird, and they do crazy stuff like spit out chocolate (???) and do extensive research on human mating rituals.