Alienated
Alienated Trilogy - Book #1
Disclaimer - This is not a Romance Genre Series
By Melissa Landers
Hyperion - February 2014
Young Adult Futuristic Romance
It had been a mere two years since the L'eihrs had made contact with earth. And although Cara wasn't afraid of the aliens, she didn't want one living in her home. She had plans and goals in her life, and having an intergalactic exchange student following her daily to class wasn't one of them. But she had been one of three students selected for this "honor", and although she excelled at debate, this was something she couldn't talk her way out of.
Out of options, Cara agrees. When she meets Aelyx, he seems just so, alien. Colorless almost. He prefers everything drab. She and her parents welcome him into their home, and Cara leads him to her school, but she has no intention of warming up to the boy.
But soon, it is them against the world. The other students, their parents, members of the community. Slow at first, but the anti-L'eihr movement spreads turning everyone against the L'eirhs and, by association, Cara and her family. Threats are made against them, and Aelyx is really the only person, other than her parents, that Cara can turn to. One of the few people talking to her, one of the few people she trusts.
Aelyx, however, is keeping secret his intention to undermine the success of the exchange program. But as he and Cara grow closer together, he becomes conflicted. For if his plans succeed, it wouldn’t just be Earth he would never see again. He would never see Cara either, and she would be left to face the consequences of his actions.
Alienated is an intergalactic exchange student romance fraught with danger, aliens, betrayal and a budding romance. I had been fascinated by the idea of this story from the moment I learned about it. Then I saw the cover, what a perfect representation of the characters and their worlds. I expected a typical futuristic romance between two teenagers with the typical alien challenges. Instead, this story actually pushed further into the psyche of humans. How would we react if aliens made contact? Would it be like on Star Trek where we could work together? Or would we reject any idea of working with aliens? Join an anti-alien group and protest the aliens? Outcast anyone who is associated with them? I don't really think any of us will truly learn the answer to this question, but this story does pose interesting questions. I eagerly await the second story - which has another perfect cover.
Kathy Andrico - KathysReviewCorner.com