Alienated by Melissa Landers Review + Giveaway

Alienated by Melissa Landers
(Alienated, #1)
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Disney Hyperion; 352 pages

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.

This cover, I love you. Seriously, how cool of a cover is this? I remember first hearing about this book when I saw the cover reveal and I needed to know what this book was all about. I mean, obviously aliens, right? But kudos to the cover designer because this is one of my absolutely favorite covers . . . ever.

But that's not what makes a book, right? It's all those pretty words inside that make it what it is. All those pretty words make up quite a freaking fantastic story. Two worlds colliding and not necessarily in the best way.

Cara is awesome. I want her as my BFF because she's so chill, so smart and really, just as nerdy as I am (well, maybe a little more but I love that). She was the only American chosen to play host to alien boy from L'eihr - but these aliens are almost identical to us humans. She couldn't be more excited because it opens up her future to the future she's always dreamed. Plus, she gets to be one of the only humans to interact with these alien species and that's just awesome.

While I adore Cara in the way of be my best friend forever way, it's Aelyx that totally captures my heart. He's cold and dangerous when he first gets to earth the longer we see him around Cara and her family, the more human he becomes. His hatred toward human food is quite hilarious. So many times just his reaction upon foods that I enjoy leaves me in fits of giggles. He's not only described as one of the best looking men you might come across but his personality is what truly wins the reader over. His feelings for not only Cara, but the whole human race evolve and it makes him question everything he originally came here to do. The best scene involves Aelyx, a computer and a search engine starting with something along the lines of how do I . . . I will leave it at that (note: this may not be exactly what he was searching as but silly me never marked it so I have no idea where it is in the book).

My absolute favorite part of this book was seeing Cara and Aelyx interact with one another. When the world is against them and they have no one to turn to but each other . . . well, it's highly amusing and you can see the progress these two are making toward each other. It makes me smile just thinking about it. And, it makes me never look at skittles the same way again.

Creating two species who are very similar yet have so many differences was brilliant and well done. It really makes me wish I were Cara, to experience something as great as this. This story is filled with betrayal, violence, hatred, firsts and so much more. The idea of trying to get two species, one extremely intelligent to play nice and agree upon an alliance is scary. So many things could wrong and in fact, a lot do go wrong in the process and the ending has me twitching for book two. I need more of these characters, these worlds and this story and I need it now, please.

Thank you so much to Disney Hyperion for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have already bought my own hardcover copy of this book, because I loved it so much, so I have no use for an ARC anymore. I'm offering one lucky reader the chance to win this book! This giveaway is open to US residents only. This giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST on February 13, 2014. May the odds be ever in your favor!

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