Alienated: Review

Synopsis:

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 seriously don't know how to write this review. Alienated is just so FREAKING good! I will try to explain how awesome and how much I love this book. Okay so this book starts with Cara's family accepting a L'eihr exchange student called Aelyx. And from that everything explodes. Cara keeps receiving threatening notes, she's being boycotted by her friends. It only gets worse every day. And then a new problem unveils. And people are turning their blades on the exchange students. They have to fight if they want to go through this alive.

There's hardly anything that I don't like about Cara. She's super smart, strong, logical. But she's also compassionate, generous and caring. (Spoiler) She lives with Aelyx, who by the way, acts like a cold jerk when he first came to Cara's house. Since he can hardly consume anything from Earth, Cara is determined to find something that he can tolerates (or even likes) so that he will be comfortable. And the more awe-inspiring part is, she's willing to endure bland taste for him if it means that he's comfortable (because Cara likes food with a strong taste). It's certainly very admirable to say at least. I, for one, won't be able to do the same thing if I was in her place. Cara also doesn't afraid of standing up and express what she thinks. She isn't afraid of people being nasty on her and stand on hers and Aelyx's ground. How can one not like a girl like Cara?

To be honest, I don't know what to think of Aelyx when I first read him. He's pretty cold, infuriating, and downright arrogant. When he first came to Earth, he thinks humans are beneath his race, which is something that I don't really like. I dislike one looking down on others simply because they're different, so I'm not sure if I'll like him or not. But over time he softens up and he's quite a sweet and interesting guy. He goes from a guy who want nothing more than destroying the alliance between L'eihr and Earth to someone who will do anything to protect it. He does grow on me and I think I really like Aelyx. He and Cara might actually be one of my OTPs this year.

I also like the fact that the author gives us quite a lot of information about L'eihr without dumping it like -- um -- dumping sewage. The information are quite interesting, and it makes a huge contrast to humans. There's one thing I didn't expect from this book. While I read Alienated, I begin to understand how volatile we humans really are, but I also understand what might actually happen if people are being too logical, emotionless and cold. It's a nice discovery. The whole not-dumping part makes reading this book even more enjoyable. I hate people pouring information into my head in one sitting.

The plot is perfectly paced, with the perfect mix of romance and action. The characters are well-developed and just plain awesome, and the background is downright fascinating. This might actually be one of my favorite series.

Rating: 9/10