Alienated by Melissa Landers

Alienated by Melissa Landers
Series: Alienated #1
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: February 4th 2014
Source: Publisher [Netgalley]

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.

Alienated is a book I've been looking forward to for so long! I heard about it waaaay back at the start of 2013 and have been dying to get my hands on a copy ever since. So, when I came across a copy on Netgalley I just had to request it and then I was even more excited when my request was accepted! I've been trying not to read this book for so long since I wanted to wait until nearer the release date, and it was definitely worth the wait. I absolutely adored this book!

Alienated follows our main character Cara Sweeney who is going to be sharing her house with an alien. The aliens made contact two years ago and Cara has been picked as one of the first to be involved in the L'eihr exchange program. Cara gets a free ride to any college she wants by participating in this exchange and she thinks her future is set. But then Aelyx arrives and Cara isn't sure what to think of him. He looks identical to her, but he couldn't seem more alien. Cara's town starts rioting and petitioning against the L'eihrs and Cara stars to receive threatening notes. Cara and Aelyx start to grow close, but she doesn't know that Aelyx has been hiding something from her. Something that will have deadly consequences. 

Right from the start I was hooked because Aliens! Ever since reading The Lorien Legacies and The Lux series, I've became a massive fan of aliens and that's the first thing that drew me to this book (well, second because that cover <3) and I was super excited to read it. Luckily, I wasn't let down by Landers aliens. The L'eihrs were... interesting. They physically resembled humans, but they didn't have the same emotions as humans. It was like they were kind of detached from anything that could invoke emotions, so it was definitely an interesting concept. There were also a few other things we learnt about the L'ehirs but I can't really mention because it'll slightly spoil things, so you'll just have to read it and find out for yourselves.

I really loved Cara. When she first heard that she'd been chosen for the program she initially doesn't want to do it but then the money/scholarship to any college she wants sways her. Obviously you're going to be swayed by the opportunity to get into any college you want and I probably would have done the same. But as the book goes on, Cara starts to learn about Aelyx and the L'eihrs, and realises that she's glad she's taken part in the exchange because she's got to meet Aelyx. Cara is a tough character with a strong spirit and she always fights for what she believes in. She's such a sweet and caring character and goes out of her way to make Aelyx feel at home on Earth. Her blog entries had to be one of my favourite parts of the book though. They were hilarious most of the time and always showed how strongly she supported the L'eihrs.

What can I say about Aelyx. Well, he's an alien, he's snarky, arrogant, sweet and I completely fell for him. I will admit that there were moments when I wanted to shake some sense into him, but for the most part I loved him. Aelyx was completely out of his comfort zone on Earth. He doesn't know anything and it was actually pretty hilarious seeing him integrate into the human world because he was just completely baffled by it. As the book went on, Aelyx developed into such a fantastic character. He was so different from the boy alien that he was at the start of the book and I adored the change in him. 

Aelyx and Cara's relationship is now one of my favourites. It took a while for their friendship to develop at the start. Cara instantly liked Aelyx, but Aelyx was holding back and was too focus on his 'mission' to think about making friends. But they're basically thrown together and their friendship is definitely one of my favourites. And then their friendship developed into romance and it was just so adorable. There was just this connection between then and when they both finally acknowledged it, it left me so happy. Melissa Landers can definitely write make out scenes *fans self* I mean, just, wow.

The story line actually surprised me. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. There were a lot more thing going on than I'd anticipated. Obviously I adored seeing Aelyx and Cara's friendship develop, I also enjoyed seeing Aelyx adjusting to life on Earth. Cara was being targeted by the anti-L'eihr and it let to threats and acts of violence against her, so that was definitely interesting to see even if it did make me sick to my stomach that people were willing to take their protests that far. I also enjoyed seeing what Aelyx was doing for his 'mission' even if it did make me want to punch him after the consequences were revealed. I never expected there to be a lot of action in this book, but the ending was craaaaaazy! And I'm not even exaggerating because it totally was and was totally unexpected. But I loved it. I'm super excited for Invaded now because I'm looking forward to learning more about L'eihr and the aliens, plus, I'm looking forward more Aelyx and Cara because they're just adorable.

Overall, I ended up enjoying Alienated a lot more than I thought I would. I loved the aliens, the story line, the romance and everything else about this book. I need to buy my own copy purely to have that pretty cover on my shelf (It's totally not so that I can re-read the make out scenes. Definitely not...) It's definitely one I'd recommend if you're looking for something light and fluffy with a bit of action thrown in because it'd be perfect.