Alienated by Melissa Landers

Series: Alienated #1
Publication Date: February 4th 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ B&N

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.

My Rating: 4/5 stars

My Review: Alienated is the suspense packed, alien love story of the year. Not only does it keep you guessing, but it has a fierce female lead and a sexy alien exchange student. Easily a perfect book for all YA fans.

Cara does not back down from anything. So when she's approached with a generous scholarship offer, as long as she lets an Alien shadow her around all day, she obviously accepts. Yet Cara's friends are not so open to a L'eihr 'hanging out' with their friend, Cara is left with a choice between the scholarship of her dreams, or her best friends.

Cara Sweeney is one of the most well-rounded characters I have ever come across. Not only is she brilliantly smart, but she also has her mind set to be the best there is in everything she does. I absolutely love characters like Cara, its so nice to see such a determined person, rather than having a 'Bella' character who only looks for love. 
Throughout the story we get to see Cara develop as a character, and let me tell you, once this girl sets her mind on something, there's nothing she won't do to finish her task and do the right thing.

Who doesn't love a mysterious bad boy, who ends up being all cute and in love. That's why Aelyx is one of the hottest male (alien) characters I have ever come across. Sure he may not have too many emotions at the beginning, but we definitely get to see him grow, open up to the family and change his views about Earth and the people that live on it. He's super smart, very sexy and did I mention mysterious?? 

The world-building in this story is very well written. There were some areas where the author just skimmed past, but most of the places were very well explained. 

I was really stuck between giving this book a four or a five, but I ended up giving it a four over a few small reasons. First, I would have liked the mystery part of what Aelyx was doing on Earth to stay a mystery a little longer. This was one of the parts that made him hotter as a character, and kept the reader interested in the book just so they can find out whats going on. Secondly, I would have liked to see more out of Cara. We get this whole spiel in the beginning of the book how she's valedictorian and leader of the debate committee, yet throughout the book we didn't really see her excel much, most of her thoughts were about Aelyx, and while that might be nice for the romance aspect, I felt like we kind of missed out on some character development there.
I know these may seem like a few minor things, but I honestly would have like the book much more if it was a tad different. 
Please keep in mind that these are my personal preferences, and its just me being extremely picky.

I absolutely can't wait to read the next book in the series, and continue on the adventure with Cara and Aelyx. They have definitely grown on me.
I highly recommend this book to all YA fans, especially those Paranormal and Fantasy lovers. Alienated is a story you definitely don't want to miss.

Happy Reading,
-Aneta