Alienated - Book Review

Alienated (Alienated #1)
by Melissa Landers

What is it about:
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.

What did I think of it:
And again this is a book where the aliens are human in appearance, but I knew that going in, so it wasn't a disappointment this time.

As for the rest of this book:
It's a pretty compelling read.

The anti-L'eihr feelings of people were uncomfortable to read, because the word L'eihr could have been easily swapped with another, and this would just as easily have been a contemporary read about intolerance.

Cara and her family were a breath of fresh air compared to most other humans in this book. And maybe that's my one grumble: I don't want to believe that so many people would be so biased. I had wanted there to be just a few more people to take the L'eihr's side.

That being said: Aelyx sure doesn't make it easy at first to be liked. Even in the scenes that were told from his viewpoint he sounded like he had a big stick up his ass. But luckily he loosened up a bit and he started to grow on me eventually.

All in all I very much enjoyed this book. I had wanted to see a bit more acceptance, or at least a spark of hope that humans can learn to be less intolerant, but maybe that will happen in the next book. I will most probably try to get my trotters on it to see what happens next for Cara and Aelyx.

Why should you read it:
It's a compelling YA SciFi read.