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.

Special thanks to the publisher, Disney Hyperion, for sending me an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. Alienated by Melissa Landers will arrive in stores on February 4th, 2014. 

As soon as I saw Alienated on Goodreads, I knew that I just had to read it. An alien exchange student? It sounded so fun, and the concept reminded me a bit of another YA book I enjoyed, Singing the Dogstar Blues. Plus, the cover is gorgeous (I even painted my nails to match it, you can see the pic at the bottom of this post)! When I got the ARC, I stared at the cover for a bit, and then my cat came and stared at it. Seriously.

So here’s what I enjoyed about Alienated:

The Modernized Aliens-On-Earth Scenario

A lot of the books I have read that involve aliens are Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic or SciFi in space or the aliens are a “secret”, so I thought it was really cool to see how the author handled aliens coming down to modern-day Earth. The way the author used the protesters and the fangirls made me think that the scenarios really would be what it would be like if aliens came down to Earth now!

The Go-Getter

I loved what a go-getter the main character, Cara, was. She knew what she wanted, and she worked to get it. She had a lot of determination, and I appreciate that in a main character.

The Underlying Message

I loved the underlying message of acceptance in this story! I liked that it didn’t feel preachy or forced, but it definitely got the message across that you shouldn’t judge people before you get to know them.

Cynical Cindy Says

To be perfectly honest, this book wasn’t my cup of tea. However, I have some friends who I think would absolutely love this book, so I would not hesitate to recommend this to fans of the romance/scifi mix.

I loved the Alienated cover so much that I painted my nails to match it: