Alienated- An Alien Love Story

                Hello!  First let me just say I have apparently given up on any type of normal sleep schedule what so ever while on this current nights rotation.  Every time I think I have it pinned down I have a fantastic day of no sleep for 48+ hours followed by a hard sleep and losing a day so yeah I give up.  I’ll take it where it comes.  That being said, I plan to read more when I can’t sleep so whoohoo staying positive on that front!  I’m also working on things to help improve my blog and make it more user/viewer friendly and FUN.  So let me know what you think of the changes as they happen over time so I can keep improving. 

                Today I wanted to talk about my thoughts and feels on Alienated by Melissa Landers.  This is the first book in a series, I’m not 100% sure if it’s a trilogy a duology or what.  There are currently two books out and a novella between them.  I have only read Alienated at this point but I really enjoyed it and I look forward to diving into the novella and sequel in the near future.  I mentioned some changes, I’m going to start giving my rating up front of the review so you know ahead of time my general feel of the book.  I’m also working on adding my very own rating system tab (what the stars mean for me).  I think this one is self-explanatory though ;)

Rating: 5 Stars

                Alienated is about aliens.  The L’eihr made contact with Earth two year ago and helped Earth out with a cure for cancer, showing they wanted peace.  Not everyone was on board with aliens being out there but both parties are working towards a treaty and to get things rolling they want to start a student exchange program, study abroad has a new meaning.  Basically the selected group of L’eihrs teens would spend the school year on Earth in different selected areas and then the host teen would spend the next year on L’eihr.  For Cara Sweeney it seems like a simple enough idea, share her home with an alien and get a free ride to her dream college and during the visit get a first-hand look at the L’eihrs and build her journalistic profile. 

               

                The L’eihrs are nearly identical to humans physically, other than they are all smoking HOT.  Not a bad trait if you ask me.  Still when Cara meets Aelyx (A-licks) her sexy alien exchange student, his differences seem clear as he seems aloof, cold, and for someone so brilliant also somewhat dense on basic ‘human’ emotions.  Things hit a snag as she starts to get to know him better as her town starts to jump on the anti-L’eihr bandwagon and school becomes downright hostile.  Police escorts, threatening notes, etc. 

               

                Cara realizes as time passes and she gets to know Aelyx more, understands him, that she likes him.  As a friend and maybe even something more.  But Aelyx has some serious secrets he’s been hiding, his reason for coming to Earth and more.  The violence continues to escalate as everything starts to unravel and Cara has to choose to fight for her planet and the boy she has come to love.

                I first saw this book on Book Tube at abookutopia’s channel, and I just realized as I typed this how many books I’ve read recently after hearing about them on her channel.  Anywho she was gushing about it and I loved the cover, such vivid colors and a girl lying on Early full of color looking up and a sexy guy lying on a much duller color looking down kind of mirroring one another was catching.  Plus, after reading Jennifer L. Armentrouts Lux series featuring aliens on Earth I was wanting more and thought the concept of them coming out and trying to start an exchange program was fun.    

                This story has a lot of elements working for it.  The alien aspect is a fun twist but really the story is about people; our nature and the connections we make.  Aelyx is completely different from Cara.  They are literally from two different planets.  Being around people different from yourself with different cultures, beliefs, tastes, and so on is going to lead to some hilarious moments.  Make those two personalities both stubborn and competitive and that just ups the ante.  Cara and Aelyx constantly banter back and forth and in a sense compete with one another, mostly Cara trying to prove she is smart even compared to his genies level brain.  Aelyx also struggles to understand human concepts and emotions like those used for a certain digital pet game.  They both start out unsure of the other but as the story builds and time passes they are able to get to know one another and they come to find that alien or human some things have no bounds and the connection grows.  I LOVED that this was not insta-love at all.  There was instant attraction for Aelyx of course he’s hot that’s natural but it took time to learn to even like one another but the chemistry and tension are there.  Plus learning about the differences between the worlds is rather fun.

                Also something you don’t see a ton of in YA books is a supporting and present family. Most YA something happens to the parents, they’re never around, or leave a lot to be desired.  Basically they are background characters we don’t learn much about unless it’s a huge plot point like paternity or family line or business type things.  Landers managed to create a nice little family for Cara that were both supportive and unique.  They had a story of their own that fit with the overall story nicely.  They made jokes and were there to help but most of all they are there in the actually main story.

                The real icing on the cake is that his book about aliens is very realistic.  The way that people can jump to one conclusion based on a prejudice and no amount of fact will tell them otherwise.  It’s almost scary how real this is. 

                Having a prejudice about one thing, in this case that aliens are evil creatures and need to leave Earth, and using any argument no matter how ill thought out or including any facts/research to shove your ideas onto people.  Then those whom dare to disagree are suddenly a traitor to Earth.  I was working on my review for this book originally back when my neck of the woods was dealing with a bit of chaos over a flag.  I won’t go into details, because I’ve stayed out of it online thus far, but as I had to take calls on the matter daily for over a month I had a front row seat.  People all over the US and some in other countries, yes we had some international callers, saw something on Facebook which must be 100% fact after all.  They felt they knew the whole story and felt justified to call and pass judgment.  Truth, not one person that called had all or even half the facts, only what was being sensationalized and warped by media.  Some of the L’eihrs have a bad opinion of us on Earth just as some humans have an issue with the L’eihrs, an inherent mistrust.  Only when the L’eihrs are on Earth and around people are they able to see the whole picture and not just some parts.  Yes there are good and bad to everyone.  No one is immune.  Nothing is 100% white or black.  I have witnessed people up in arms about something they believe in powerfully and I see both sides just like in the book you see the struggle and the increasing aggressive moods of everyone.  So bravo to Landers for capturing that realism while at the same time not dragging it down but keeping the overall mood light and enjoyable with the way the story is written.

                Overall I really enjoyed this book and rated it 5 stars.  I have not started the sequel just yet, so many books to read and so little time, but I look forward to delving into the novella then the Invaded in the near future.  Spread the love and share your thoughts in the comments below.  Have you read this series yet?  Would you volunteer or even accept an alien exchange student into your house? Let’s discuss!