Friday, February 13, 2015

REVIEW: Alienated (Alienated #1) by Melissa Landers

Title/Series: Alienated | Alienated #1
Author: Melissa Landers
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Published: February 4th 2014
Format: Paperback | Pages: 368
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Romance
Source: Amazon
★★★★★ (5/5) Stars!!!

Melissa Landers | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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.


Before even knowing what it was about I had to have this book. If only just to stare at that gorgeous cover all day long. Then I read the blurb and that was it, I needed it in my hands immediately. The thing about Alienated is that it's not just a beautiful cover. The beauty of this book lies on the pages as well. The blurb also reminded me of a show I fell in love with that sadly only lasted one season before it was canceled called Star-Crossed. They have a few similarities so it was nice to find something to fill that little void it left behind. But it was also very different so it felt like a new experience and not something I'd read or seen before.
"Why is it always the crazies who make their voices heard while everyone else shuts up and does nothing?"
What surprised me the most though was just how thought provoking it was, well for me at least. So I apologize in advance if I get a bit deep with this review. This book got me very angry and frustrated at times. Basically it made me both sad and kind of ashamed to be a human. I mean people were scary horrible in here! The frustrating part of it was that I understood the reason behind everything. I didn't agree with their methods of expressing themselves but I understood. We're afraid of things we don't know, things that are different. Which is why it's 2015 and things like racism and turning on the news and seeing that a college student has been beaten to death simply because he was gay are still relevant issues in our society. That fear and intolerance breeds and fuels hatred and bigotry. Which you see a whole lot of in this book and it really made my heart sad.
"Earth girls really covet stones from the ground?" Syrine asked in disbelief. "My human's a male. I wonder if he'd enjoy a nice satchel of dirt."
As much as I would love some sort of L'eihr exchange program to be a reality, especially back when I was in high school. Sign me up! I would have worked my behind off to get in on that! Truly though I feel like any sort of intelligent life forms cruising by in the galaxy would take one look at our planet and what we've done to not only it but each other, and be like, "Yeah...no. Let's keep looking Bob." Yanno, because an alien would totally be named Bob.
A small grin curved his lips. "Let's just say we're getting your fight back."
I fell in love with these characters. Cara was adorable and sweet and such a force of good. She stood up for what she believed in and didn't back down or give up on what she believed in no matter what life or her so called friends and community threw her way. I mean she does lose her spark for a while but with everything she goes through who wouldn't. Aelyx had to grow on me. I mean I didn't instantly dislike him, but I wasn't exactly his biggest fan either. It really didn't take long though as we watch him go from cold and distant to someone full of emotion and end up falling hopelessly for him. Watching him navigate our world which is so different from his own was highly entertaining. 
Holding his fingertip an inch from her face, he traced an imaginary line down the bridge of her nose and across the apples of her cheeks.
Oh man and the romance! I just have one word to describe the chemistry between Cara and Aelyx. Wow. There's nothing else I can say to even try to articulate it. I mean at one point they don't even kiss yet and I though for sure I had a one way ticket to combustion. What I wouldn't give for Aelyx to teach me a thing or two about sh'ellam. If you've read it than you know what scene I'm talking about! *Fans self*
"It's chocolate. You'll love it." 
"That's what you said about Skittles. I vomited a rainbow afterward."
Alienated has become an instant favorite of mine. I love books that produce the kind of thoughts and emotions that this one did. It's one of the best kind of surprises when all you're expecting is a complicated yet fun little love story. I can't wait until my copy of Invaded gets here. I'm both beyond excited and extremely nervous knowing what's in store for these two at the start of it. Hopefully Amazon is as good as they normally are with pre-orders and it gets here on release day because the anticipation of what's going to happen is just about killing me!




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