Review: Alienated by Melissa Landers

Title: Alienated

Author: Melissa Landers

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Publication Date: 2.4.2014

Pages: 304

Genre: SciFi

Series: Alienated #1

Source: ARC from publisher

Rating: 5 Stars

Summary (from 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.

Review:

Y’all know I love a good alien book, but a good alien book is so hard to find. Until now. For those of you looking for an intense, thrilling, breathless read with hot aliens and a heroine you can root for, look no further than ALIENATED by Melissa Landers. This book absolutely blew me away. I had high expectations and Landers exceeded each one of them.

I love that Cara isn’t your typical heroine. She doesn’t blindly jump into situations and she has serious reservations (as any sane, normal person would). I love that she behaved and reacted like I feel most people would in her situation.

Well, as normally as one can behave when a hot alien moves in with you.

Perhaps my favorite part, though, is the relationship between Aelyx and Cara. Yes, there are some steamy moments, but Landers doesn’t take the easy way out. She doesn’t have them collide in a combination of insta-love attraction and smoldering gazes that seem to bog down so many YA romances. What works is that she makes us invest in both characters individually before we can rally behind them as a couple. We watch them stumble and fumble and mature into a friendship that naturally goes deeper.

I cannot wait to see what Landers has in store for the rest of this series. Be assured that I will be devouring each book I can get my hands on as they come out because this is one series no one should miss.

 Buy: Amazon