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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I need to read the sequel asap. The chemistry between Aelyx and Cara is amazing! Can't wait to read more about Jaxen as well.
I have a feeling it's about to get juicy.
I have a feeling it's about to get juicy.
I absolutely loved this book. It is definitely similar to Jennifer L. Armentrout' Lux series so, if you loved that series make sure to check out this one. There are only a small handful of similarities between the two so make sure you don't go in thinking they will be exactly the same. I loved the character development and the relationship between Cara and Aelyx. I found them to be extremely lovable and I cannot wait to read the second book! Definitely check this book out!
I really, really enjoyed this book! Cara was head strong and I loved her relationship with Aelyx, however, the book was heavily predictable. I guessed about Tori and Eric in 30 pages and I also caught on about something else before it happened. Alienated is a very quick, fun read. Definitely picking up the sequel.
I'm not a big fan of sci-fi, but this was great! very easy to get into! Can't wait for the 2nd book
This was a whirlwind read. I read it over two days and it all feels really crazy.
I found this book because I learned that Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon are critique partners with Melissa Landers. I love Corp and Langdon, so just because they are partners with Landers, I assumed that I would love Alienated as much as I love Doon.
I was wrong and right at the same time.
THINGS I LOVED
-The plot was super great. Aliens and exchange students sounded super interesting and it was. Aelyx is an alien but he doesn't feel like one (probably because his skin isn't green). The aliens are different than humans though.
- though the plot wasn't what i was expecting, it was still super good. I loved the tension between earthen and the exchange students from L'eihr.
-Aelyx. I loved being inside of his brain. How blunt he is and how he is so unafraid to insult humans. His perspective of earth was the coolest just because his life on L'eihr is so different. Also, I think Aelyx and the planet L'eihr is so abnegation. Aelyx's room is gray. They have drab colours and very tasteless food, which just makes me think of abnegation. I also loved his character development. The L'eihr race has been overbred and now their people are beginning to lack emotion. Aelyx is on earth for an experiment that he will learn emotions. When he first arrives on earth, he is so emotionless and he doesn't really care about much. I loved seeing him change. Seeing his jealousy and him realizing that he cared for Cara so much. I also love the way he says Cara's name. For some reason, I say it in a way that is actually creepy and not at all romantic. Aelyx was wonderful
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
-The writing style. This book is written in third person. I don't know if it was just me, but it was weird reading. To me, it felt like the author kept forgetting that it was third person. It felt like she kept switching between first and third person. It didn't, but I got confused when it referenced Cara in third person. I also kept getting confused when it said her (referencing Cara) because I thought it meant some other girl. I mostly think this is just the way I read it, but the writing did feel rather choppy, and it took me a while to get into it and stop feeling so confused.
-The romance. I really like Aelyx and I like Cara too. I also like the fact that they fell in like, but their romance was very frustrating and infuriating. A better way to say it is: I like the fact that they had a romance, but not the way it was carried out. For such a long time, they are friends, they both care about the other, but neither will allow themselves to 'like' the other because they live on different planets. And for fear that the other doesn't feel the same way. They finally realize that they both are in 'like' with each other (because I don't believe they are in LOVE) after they play a little game that ended up not really a game at all. At the end of the game, it was like they had been in love for THREE YEARS ALREADY!!!!! They went from friends to THREE YEARS!!! It was crazy 'like' and I loved it and hated it at the same time. I loved that they finally realized that they were both falling for each other. Also, (after they started liking each other out loud) Cara and Aelyx didn't know how to be around each other without one of these two things happening. A) they argue, avoid each other, hate the other or B) they are madly in love and can't stop touching. It was two extremes and I hated that there was no middle ground. Cara would be madly in love with Aelyx and the next moment she would be stewing in anger. I DON'T UNDERSTAND
-Relationship Drama: I hate relationship drama. I hated Aelyx and Cara's relationship drama a lot. It was infuriating, but it also drove me to read the book faster. What happened is that they would be all lovey dovey, something would happen and they would fight and avoid each other for a few weeks. Relationship drama is only okay when it adds to the story and makes the relationship better in the end. And if there isn't too much of it. I think that Aelyx and Cara did benefit because they got over it and they liked each other more, but my problem is there was TOO MUCH relationship drama. It was a cycle of lovey dovey and angriness and fighting, kissing and hugging and "I hate you." This was rather tiresome and I didn't like it at all.
-Another point about the romance: I don't know Melissa Landers' views of love and love at sixteen, but I sure don't believe (think it is very unlikely) for someone to love/find their 'soulmate' (if you want to call it that) at sixteen. I do believe in crushes and being lovingly interested in someone but I don't call it love. Especially closer to the end of the book, phrases like: when Cara's parents realize that Cara and Aelyx are in 'like' with each other- "We're in love", when in an argument- "but I love you", after a fight (and this is paraphrasing)- "Cara hadn't felt this sick since she had gotten the flu in kindergarten. But then again, she hadn't lost THE LOVE OF HER LIFE at age six." I do believe that Cara and Aelyx have feelings for each other, but I would not go as far as to say that they are in love.
So this seems like a rather negative review, but I did enjoy it. I gave it three stars which is based on my enjoyment while reading. I had a great time reading Alienated. It was just that as I started writing this review, I remembered all of the things that annoyed me so much. Thanks for reading my rant.
I found this book because I learned that Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon are critique partners with Melissa Landers. I love Corp and Langdon, so just because they are partners with Landers, I assumed that I would love Alienated as much as I love Doon.
I was wrong and right at the same time.
THINGS I LOVED
-The plot was super great. Aliens and exchange students sounded super interesting and it was. Aelyx is an alien but he doesn't feel like one (probably because his skin isn't green). The aliens are different than humans though.
- though the plot wasn't what i was expecting, it was still super good. I loved the tension between earthen and the exchange students from L'eihr.
-Aelyx. I loved being inside of his brain. How blunt he is and how he is so unafraid to insult humans. His perspective of earth was the coolest just because his life on L'eihr is so different. Also, I think Aelyx and the planet L'eihr is so abnegation. Aelyx's room is gray. They have drab colours and very tasteless food, which just makes me think of abnegation. I also loved his character development. The L'eihr race has been overbred and now their people are beginning to lack emotion. Aelyx is on earth for an experiment that he will learn emotions. When he first arrives on earth, he is so emotionless and he doesn't really care about much. I loved seeing him change. Seeing his jealousy and him realizing that he cared for Cara so much. I also love the way he says Cara's name. For some reason, I say it in a way that is actually creepy and not at all romantic. Aelyx was wonderful
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
-The writing style. This book is written in third person. I don't know if it was just me, but it was weird reading. To me, it felt like the author kept forgetting that it was third person. It felt like she kept switching between first and third person. It didn't, but I got confused when it referenced Cara in third person. I also kept getting confused when it said her (referencing Cara) because I thought it meant some other girl. I mostly think this is just the way I read it, but the writing did feel rather choppy, and it took me a while to get into it and stop feeling so confused.
-The romance. I really like Aelyx and I like Cara too. I also like the fact that they fell in like, but their romance was very frustrating and infuriating. A better way to say it is: I like the fact that they had a romance, but not the way it was carried out. For such a long time, they are friends, they both care about the other, but neither will allow themselves to 'like' the other because they live on different planets. And for fear that the other doesn't feel the same way. They finally realize that they both are in 'like' with each other (because I don't believe they are in LOVE) after they play a little game that ended up not really a game at all. At the end of the game, it was like they had been in love for THREE YEARS ALREADY!!!!! They went from friends to THREE YEARS!!! It was crazy 'like' and I loved it and hated it at the same time. I loved that they finally realized that they were both falling for each other. Also, (after they started liking each other out loud) Cara and Aelyx didn't know how to be around each other without one of these two things happening. A) they argue, avoid each other, hate the other or B) they are madly in love and can't stop touching. It was two extremes and I hated that there was no middle ground. Cara would be madly in love with Aelyx and the next moment she would be stewing in anger. I DON'T UNDERSTAND
-Relationship Drama: I hate relationship drama. I hated Aelyx and Cara's relationship drama a lot. It was infuriating, but it also drove me to read the book faster. What happened is that they would be all lovey dovey, something would happen and they would fight and avoid each other for a few weeks. Relationship drama is only okay when it adds to the story and makes the relationship better in the end. And if there isn't too much of it. I think that Aelyx and Cara did benefit because they got over it and they liked each other more, but my problem is there was TOO MUCH relationship drama. It was a cycle of lovey dovey and angriness and fighting, kissing and hugging and "I hate you." This was rather tiresome and I didn't like it at all.
-Another point about the romance: I don't know Melissa Landers' views of love and love at sixteen, but I sure don't believe (think it is very unlikely) for someone to love/find their 'soulmate' (if you want to call it that) at sixteen. I do believe in crushes and being lovingly interested in someone but I don't call it love. Especially closer to the end of the book, phrases like: when Cara's parents realize that Cara and Aelyx are in 'like' with each other- "We're in love", when in an argument- "but I love you", after a fight (and this is paraphrasing)- "Cara hadn't felt this sick since she had gotten the flu in kindergarten. But then again, she hadn't lost THE LOVE OF HER LIFE at age six." I do believe that Cara and Aelyx have feelings for each other, but I would not go as far as to say that they are in love.
So this seems like a rather negative review, but I did enjoy it. I gave it three stars which is based on my enjoyment while reading. I had a great time reading Alienated. It was just that as I started writing this review, I remembered all of the things that annoyed me so much. Thanks for reading my rant.
Genre: high school drama, alien race relations, exchange students
Summary: Cara has been hand picked to host the first ever L'eihr exchange student. This is an amazing opportunity for Earth to get to know the superior race that is almost exactly biologically like humans. However, paranoia gets out of hand and suddenly, Cara's home town is no long safe for her and Aelyx to go to school. But when Aelyx reveals his true reasons for participating in the exchange program, Cara will have to decide whether or not he is worth fighting for, even if it means abandoning everything that she has ever known.
Response: I have a feeling that you either love or hate this book, that is why I am in-between. I liked the premise, alien exchange students. And I liked Aelyx's reaction to things. But the plot was clearly set up for a trilogy and a love triangle is forming, I can totally tell. The big secret that Aelyx was keeping seemed kind of anti-climatic at the end, especially when it paled in comparison to the real problem they uncover at the end. While Cara and Aelyx were fairly well developed as characters, I felt the secondary characters were just cardboard cutouts filling in until the narration returned to our darling protagonists. It would have helped the emotional impact if the readers could connect with these secondary characters, like they were expected to at the end.
Summary: Cara has been hand picked to host the first ever L'eihr exchange student. This is an amazing opportunity for Earth to get to know the superior race that is almost exactly biologically like humans. However, paranoia gets out of hand and suddenly, Cara's home town is no long safe for her and Aelyx to go to school. But when Aelyx reveals his true reasons for participating in the exchange program, Cara will have to decide whether or not he is worth fighting for, even if it means abandoning everything that she has ever known.
Response: I have a feeling that you either love or hate this book, that is why I am in-between. I liked the premise, alien exchange students. And I liked Aelyx's reaction to things. But the plot was clearly set up for a trilogy and a love triangle is forming, I can totally tell. The big secret that Aelyx was keeping seemed kind of anti-climatic at the end, especially when it paled in comparison to the real problem they uncover at the end. While Cara and Aelyx were fairly well developed as characters, I felt the secondary characters were just cardboard cutouts filling in until the narration returned to our darling protagonists. It would have helped the emotional impact if the readers could connect with these secondary characters, like they were expected to at the end.
With my re-read, I noted some some plot holes I didn't see before but overall enjoyable.
I want to thank Disney Hyperion for supplying me with a copy of this book at ALA Midwinter 2014 to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way changed my opinion or review.
Blurb 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.
I can honestly say that originally, the only reason I wanted to read this book was because of it's cover. I mean, it is fascinating how they decided to incorporate the vibrant colors of earth with the more muted colors of L'eihr. And once you start reading the book, this contrast makes complete sense! And, of course, the two characters on the front certainly give an indication of what you're in for. Although the male doesn't quite fit what I pictured while reading and figuring out the male MC.
Cara is a great character. What I loved most about her was her ability to stand for what she believes in. And her tenacity to try and always do the right thing, even though she may not have been sure what road it might take her down. She is strong, and strong willed, and she's just full of spunk and life. I loved that she was so open in accepting Aeylx into her home and trying her hardest to make him feel comfortable, despite his standoffish ways. I also love that her blog is incorporated into the book. Reminiscent of Jennifer Armentrout's character Katy in the Lux series, but with a twist as the blog is not about books. Cara is just the right amount of teenager to give her those awkward and unsure moments, while she still possesses quite a bit of maturity. My favorite thing about Cara is how realistic Landers made her. I can completely picture myself as a teen with this girls swagger and brain power.
Aeylx, well, as many have heard before "holy hot alien babies!" Yup, he's totally swoon worthy. Even with his flat and emotionless affect at the beginning of the book, I still liked him from the start. His standoffishness makes him almost endearing. He evolves so much during this book. Definitely the character that breaks the mold and changes the most. He goes from what comes off as a snobby thinks who he is kind of guy, to this gentle, loving character who can warm your heard with his whispered words and butterfly kisses. There wasn't anything Landers could do to make me dislike him, and I really think she tried with what he was hiding!
The secondary characters were honestly not much to write home about. I did like Tori. She was spunky. But I also got annoyed with how quickly Cara's friends jumped to the other side of the fence when it came to Alien versus Human. While I understood the need to show they were scared of the unknown, they did not even take the time to see if the alliance could work for them and jumped to conclusions. I do, however, understand how this could happen quickly if Earth were ever to make contact with another species. I don't think we would all be so quick to accept life from another planet or world.
I've been very into science fiction lately. I am just loving reading about alien lifeforms and how we perceive they would interact with us if we were faced with meeting them. And Landers is no exception! She gives us a story with a plot that is fast paced and interesting. I don't think there was truly a dull moment in the book. I started the book and finished it very quickly. Always a sign that a book has totally held my interest and captured my attention. Landers added plot twists you didn't see coming, characters who turned their backs and betrayed others when you were least expecting it. And Landers gives us a unique plot: an alien race that has made contact only a few years ago and wants to form an alliance that would be of benefit to both species? Why not? And the way they go about creating an exchange program is reminiscent of my travels when I was a teen to a foreign country where I lived with a family that barely spoke a word of English! It brought back great memories of how we had to adapt and learn to communicate so we could get to know one another and live in harmony! Landers chose to weave a political element into the book that could come off as controversial. At the same time, I was totally intrigued by how she was building her world (I'm not usually the political type at all).
One thing I loved about the romance in this book is that it was not insta-love. As a matter of fact, Cara and Aelyx seems to pretty much just tolerate each other for the first half of the book. I found that to be a nice twist on what usually comes off as love at first sight in most YA novels. Landers allowed the characters to grow and get to know each other until one day they kind of just fell into realizing there was more there than just friendship. It was refreshing. And the romance was not heavy at all, but light and cheery and gave my heart flutters!
I will say that I did find some small plot holes in the story, which is why this book gets a 4 instead of a 5. There are some time line breaches that didn't make sense.
All in all I truly enjoyed this book and, while the ending was a bit predictable, I am looking forward to seeing how the story and the relationships of the characters play out in the next book!
I want to thank Disney Hyperion for supplying me with a copy of this book at ALA Midwinter 2014 to read and give an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way changed my opinion or review.
Blurb 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.
I can honestly say that originally, the only reason I wanted to read this book was because of it's cover. I mean, it is fascinating how they decided to incorporate the vibrant colors of earth with the more muted colors of L'eihr. And once you start reading the book, this contrast makes complete sense! And, of course, the two characters on the front certainly give an indication of what you're in for. Although the male doesn't quite fit what I pictured while reading and figuring out the male MC.
Cara is a great character. What I loved most about her was her ability to stand for what she believes in. And her tenacity to try and always do the right thing, even though she may not have been sure what road it might take her down. She is strong, and strong willed, and she's just full of spunk and life. I loved that she was so open in accepting Aeylx into her home and trying her hardest to make him feel comfortable, despite his standoffish ways. I also love that her blog is incorporated into the book. Reminiscent of Jennifer Armentrout's character Katy in the Lux series, but with a twist as the blog is not about books. Cara is just the right amount of teenager to give her those awkward and unsure moments, while she still possesses quite a bit of maturity. My favorite thing about Cara is how realistic Landers made her. I can completely picture myself as a teen with this girls swagger and brain power.
Aeylx, well, as many have heard before "holy hot alien babies!" Yup, he's totally swoon worthy. Even with his flat and emotionless affect at the beginning of the book, I still liked him from the start. His standoffishness makes him almost endearing. He evolves so much during this book. Definitely the character that breaks the mold and changes the most. He goes from what comes off as a snobby thinks who he is kind of guy, to this gentle, loving character who can warm your heard with his whispered words and butterfly kisses. There wasn't anything Landers could do to make me dislike him, and I really think she tried with what he was hiding!
The secondary characters were honestly not much to write home about. I did like Tori. She was spunky. But I also got annoyed with how quickly Cara's friends jumped to the other side of the fence when it came to Alien versus Human. While I understood the need to show they were scared of the unknown, they did not even take the time to see if the alliance could work for them and jumped to conclusions. I do, however, understand how this could happen quickly if Earth were ever to make contact with another species. I don't think we would all be so quick to accept life from another planet or world.
I've been very into science fiction lately. I am just loving reading about alien lifeforms and how we perceive they would interact with us if we were faced with meeting them. And Landers is no exception! She gives us a story with a plot that is fast paced and interesting. I don't think there was truly a dull moment in the book. I started the book and finished it very quickly. Always a sign that a book has totally held my interest and captured my attention. Landers added plot twists you didn't see coming, characters who turned their backs and betrayed others when you were least expecting it. And Landers gives us a unique plot: an alien race that has made contact only a few years ago and wants to form an alliance that would be of benefit to both species? Why not? And the way they go about creating an exchange program is reminiscent of my travels when I was a teen to a foreign country where I lived with a family that barely spoke a word of English! It brought back great memories of how we had to adapt and learn to communicate so we could get to know one another and live in harmony! Landers chose to weave a political element into the book that could come off as controversial. At the same time, I was totally intrigued by how she was building her world (I'm not usually the political type at all).
One thing I loved about the romance in this book is that it was not insta-love. As a matter of fact, Cara and Aelyx seems to pretty much just tolerate each other for the first half of the book. I found that to be a nice twist on what usually comes off as love at first sight in most YA novels. Landers allowed the characters to grow and get to know each other until one day they kind of just fell into realizing there was more there than just friendship. It was refreshing. And the romance was not heavy at all, but light and cheery and gave my heart flutters!
I will say that I did find some small plot holes in the story, which is why this book gets a 4 instead of a 5. There are some time line breaches that didn't make sense.
All in all I truly enjoyed this book and, while the ending was a bit predictable, I am looking forward to seeing how the story and the relationships of the characters play out in the next book!
Erm, Liked the story but the ending just ... ended. No cliffhanger but no real closure either.
There was no instalove, which was a good thing, but I didn’t like Cara and Aelyx together. I can’t quite put my finger on why I didn’t like them though.
I wasn’t expecting so much backlash from earth about the L’eihr - I thought, based on the blurb, that everyone would be jealous of Cara and would like Aelyx.
I wasn’t expecting so much backlash from earth about the L’eihr - I thought, based on the blurb, that everyone would be jealous of Cara and would like Aelyx.
I have a lot of opinions on this book, and not many of them are good.
I expected Cara Sweeney to be a role model type of character. I was very wrong. She was so selfish and I honestly did not care about her at all. She risked the lives of her family and friends to run off to an alien planet with an alien who she dated for like a day and a half.
I felt that her relationship with him moved way to fast and she mostly liked him because his looks.
Another critic I have is on Cara's blog posts. They all seemed very childish and simply-worded. Cara is supposed to be this overly-smart valedictorian and yet her writing is easily similar to that of a younger kid.
I also thought Aelyx's perspectives were repetitive and not very intriguing. Almost all of his perspectives are just him calling his friends and vaguely talking about their plan to destroy the alliance.
In spite of all of this, I did think the book was an easy read and is defiantly a better book then the second one. There were parts of it that I enjoyed, such as the scenes where Cara tried to cook food similar to that on L'eihr and the debate scene with Ashley.
Because of all of this, I gave the book 2.75/5 stars.
I expected Cara Sweeney to be a role model type of character. I was very wrong. She was so selfish and I honestly did not care about her at all. She risked the lives of her family and friends to run off to an alien planet with an alien who she dated for like a day and a half.
I felt that her relationship with him moved way to fast and she mostly liked him because his looks.
Another critic I have is on Cara's blog posts. They all seemed very childish and simply-worded. Cara is supposed to be this overly-smart valedictorian and yet her writing is easily similar to that of a younger kid.
I also thought Aelyx's perspectives were repetitive and not very intriguing. Almost all of his perspectives are just him calling his friends and vaguely talking about their plan to destroy the alliance.
In spite of all of this, I did think the book was an easy read and is defiantly a better book then the second one. There were parts of it that I enjoyed, such as the scenes where Cara tried to cook food similar to that on L'eihr and the debate scene with Ashley.
Because of all of this, I gave the book 2.75/5 stars.