Thursday, January 9, 2014

Review + Giveaway: Alienated by Melissa Landers

Title: Alienated (Alienated, #1)
Author: Melissa Landers
Pages: 352
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: February 4, 2014
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.

My Thoughts: I became really curious about Alienated after I saw the lovely cover and started to hear good things about the story from other readers. I couldn't help going in expecting to love it too. While it did have its cute and funny moments, unfortunately I wasn't quite as captivated with Alienated as I had hoped.

One reason I couldn't connect with the story were the characters. I didn't think Cara and Aelyx were memorable as far as main characters go. I actually had a difficult time remembering what happened to them in the first half of the book when I finished reading. They weren't unlikeable characters though. Cara was nice and compassionate, and Aelyx grew a lot and was funny in his own way. But they never really stood out to me, and I didn't feel myself passionately rooting for them. I couldn't even believe in their relationship. They had some romantic moments together that were sweet and at times hot. However, I didn't feel I ever understood why they loved each other, especially when it came to Aelyx's feelings towards Cara considering he was suppose to be lacking in emotions.

Cara and Aelyx weren't the only characters I couldn't click with. I didn't care at all for Cara's ex-friends. Although they did try to redeem themselves later on, I was still relieved they didn't have much scenes. I also didn't like the way most of the characters reacted to situations that arose throughout the book. Everyone was so quick to snub Cara and her family because of Aelyx, and there was so much mob mentality going on with the L'eihr haters. The social issues in Alienated were given lots of attention and could easily be compared to the horrible events that happened in our own history and still currently happening in our world today. But I never felt strongly about the issues in this book. It didn't have quite the same impact for me.

Another problem I had with the characters was that it didn't seem like the whole exchange program was well planned or thought out by either the humans or the L'eihrs. The hatred for the L'eihrs had been escalating for two years, yet from what I remember there wasn't any sort of protection from the local police or government set up for the aliens and the human families hosting them until after the protests and threats got really bad. Plus, no one bothered to consider what type of food or anything the L'eihrs would prefer. It was all up to the host family to figure out, which I thought was weird because this wasn't your typical student exchange program. There were aliens and an important alliance involved. In Cara's case, it also seemed she was more responsible for Aelyx than her parents were. Maybe it wasn't like that at all, but that's how it came off to me.

Although Alienated might not have been as enjoyable as I expected, I still found myself wanting to know what happened to Cara and Aelyx in the final chapters. If you've been wanting to read this book, don't let my review discourage you. As I mentioned before, I've heard lots of high praise for Alienated from other readers, and you might just fall in love with the story and the characters as well.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars



I'm giving away my ARC of Alienated to one lucky winner! Giveaway is open to US residents only and ends January 23. To enter, check out my Giveaway Policy and fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

37 comments:

  1. I have heard wonderful things about Alienated. :)

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  2. sad that you were a little disappointed by alienated. I am so hyped up over this book and love the cover.

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  3. Thanks for your thoughts. I have heard many good things about this book and will try to read it just to see what all the hype is about!

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  4. I'm looking forward to reading this book because it sounds like a good book!!!

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  5. I have been looking forward to reading this book for months. I fell in love with the cover from the beginning its just so beautiful. Then when I read the synopsis I was like "I need to get this book as soon as possible". I can not wait until it comes out :)

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  6. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this cover is so beautiful that I want to read it just for that reason. The summary has me hooked too. I just hope I think it's better than most people think it is. Because I've heard not a lot of people enjoyed it. Thank you so much.

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  7. I cant wait to read this book. I love the cover.

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  8. I love the premise of this book and I am excited to read it

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  9. I absolutely love this cover, so I am drawn to this one. Story sounds good, too.

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  10. I'm excited for Alienated because I love supernatural ( I guess aliens are supernatural?) stories that use the supernatural backdrop to explore human emotions and this book sounds perfect for that.

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  11. I have not read an alien type book in a while so I'm excited to read about that. The Cover is also to die for! Thank you for the hosting this giveaway!

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  12. I've been looking forward to this book. I thought the synopsis sounded interesting. Plus it's generally has gotten good reviews. Your points made in this review were interesting though. I understand what you mean by not being able to connect with the characters because that really is a big part of the reading experience. If you don't like the characters the story is based upon, it's not going to be as enjoyable. I'm interested in seeing how I'll enjoy it when it comes out for sure. Then again, I'm usually a bit skeptical about books that receive quite a bit of hype.

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  13. I can't wait to read this one! It sounds super original :) I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this one as much as you'd hoped... but thanks for the amazing giveaway!! :D

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  14. I really love the cover, I'm thinking about getting this book just because of that. :x I'm a bad person...

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  15. This sounds like the type of book that I would love! I can't wait to read it :)

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  16. I am super excited about this book!

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  17. It sounds interesting and it has a gorgeous cover!

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  18. I've been looking forward to this book ever since the cover reveal. I can't wait to read it, I love anything that has to do with aliens.

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  19. Absolutely!! Ever since I first heard about this book I've been DYING to read it!! It's been on my TBR list and I am so excited about it being released!!

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  20. I'me very excited for Alienated, that may also have something to do with the gorgeous cover!

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  21. Alienated is one of my want to read books of all time! Can't wait to read it!!

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  22. I think this sounds interesting, but I do have when you cannot connect with the book, so I am apprehensive about putting this on my TBR

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  23. I'm extremely excited! My book blogger friend got an ARC and LOVED IT!

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  24. I've been wanting to read this book since I hears about it! Thank you so much for the giveaway!

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  25. I am so excited to read Alienated!!
    It sounds amazing!!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

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  26. Yes!! I am sooo excited to read Alienated! I've been waiting for this book for a while (:

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  27. I am so excited to read Alienated! It sounds so good! The cover is just gorgeous too. I am definitely getting this book when it comes out.

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  28. Sounds sooo good! Seems everywhere I turn on the blogs I have seen it, Def makes me want to read it!
    and the cover is great~!

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  29. Yesssss! I've been wanting to read this for a while. Looks amazing :)

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  30. Sounds amazing!! I want it!! I want it badly!XD
    Thanks for the awesome giveaway

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  31. i want to read it so badly... RIGHT now. . .

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  32. I've seen this book all over Goodreads and really hope I win! Thanks for the chance and good luck everyone!

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  33. My daughter and I have been wanting to read this book so bad!! We would love to win this book, so thank you for the opportunity with this great giveaway!!! I know you said that it did not live up to your expectations from all the high praise and reviews you had already heard, I hope that we are not disappointed. I think my daughter is going to love it though and she has been anticipating this book for awhile, so again thank you!!!!!

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  34. You would not believe how excited I am about the release of this book. I love alien books. :D And Zombies. Cannot go wrong with either. Seriously, INCREDIBLY excited to read this. :D

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  35. I absolutely cannot wait to read this book, I am so in love with the cover! (:

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  36. I've heard mixed reviews about this book. I'm anxious to see for myself what it's all about.

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  37. I've been mainly looking forward to seeing the cover of this book in print, rather than the actual book (sorry). Sorry that this book didn't meet your expectations. It's sad that it was underwhelming in terms of romance, which seems to be the main focus, and the whole exchange program. Hopefully the next book will better flesh things out.

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