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illusie's review
2.0
This book was out of my comfortzone. I'm not much into science fiction. Surprisingly, this was not what bothered me in this book. I didn't like the high school setting. It was too much a book for teenagers, and I did not really enjoy it. The MC Cara annoyed me, because she is often mean to others and thinks she is better than anyone else. The book had some fun part, but overall I thought it wasn't worth it. I won't continue reading the series
yodamom's review against another edition
3.0
Yes, it is another one that just stopped mid paragraph, mid action, in the middle of everything ! I am cursed.
Good audiobook, semi predictable teen drama with some teen angst, alien hate, and a corrupt government.
Will I read book 2 ? If they have it at the library maybe
Good audiobook, semi predictable teen drama with some teen angst, alien hate, and a corrupt government.
Will I read book 2 ? If they have it at the library maybe
mehsi's review against another edition
3.0
I heard quite a lot of varied opinions. Some absolutely hate this book, quite a lot find it ok, and some others love it.
My opinion? Well, it is ok. It wasn't what I expected, it wasn't always good and sometimes I just found it way over the top. And I am not even talking about the characters.
Since I don't feel like writing much I will just do a pro-con list. :)
Pro:
-Fun idea, a transfer student from space. I was really interested in this kind of idea, since of course you get enough problems with him. Will he like the food? The hosts? The school? The various other things? How about customs and all that? And with that we get to the next point.
-What happens when you get said alien transfer student in a human world.
-The Cover. Absolutely gorgeous and lovely.
-The first few pages.
-The blog parts. I was really sad when those disappeared. Such a nice idea.
Cons:
-The alien words, most of the time I either didn't know how to pronounce them (which is really annoying if they pop up often) or I didn't know what they meant. Some words are explained near the end, but sorry by then I couldn't even care, or I totally blocked out the word.
-The romance. Sorry, just a bit too unrealistic. A spock-like alien pops up and after not even a year he has emotions and wants to rip the pants of the girl he is staying with.
-The whole over-the-top scenario. At the beginning there were protests and all that, but by the end it was full-blown war, people died, got wounded or other. And I am sorry, but that was just silly.
-The alien or Aelyx (how the hell you ever pronounce that, no clue, I just went with what the principal/guy at the beginning said). I just didn't like his attitude, how he swayed between liking Earth, and hating it. He even wants to sabotage the mission, and for what? Because humans and all, he never gave them a chance to show them who they were, how they are. Also his non-emotions and how he dissed everything and everyone because he was so obviously better. *cough cough*
-Tori and Eric. Yes I know, the ending and all, but come on, for most of the book they both are total douche-bags and they even.
-The whole Cah-ra thing, it was fun once, to see how he pronounced it, but it got boring pretty quickly.
So all in all, a decent book, but well at times I just got annoyed with various things. Will I read the next book? I am not sure yet. Maybe I will try, see if it gets better. And mostly it will also be because I am curious about the fate of Earth.
Review first posted on: http://twirlingbookprincess.com
My opinion? Well, it is ok. It wasn't what I expected, it wasn't always good and sometimes I just found it way over the top. And I am not even talking about the characters.
Since I don't feel like writing much I will just do a pro-con list. :)
Pro:
-Fun idea, a transfer student from space. I was really interested in this kind of idea, since of course you get enough problems with him. Will he like the food? The hosts? The school? The various other things? How about customs and all that? And with that we get to the next point.
-What happens when you get said alien transfer student in a human world.
-The Cover. Absolutely gorgeous and lovely.
-The first few pages.
-The blog parts. I was really sad when those disappeared. Such a nice idea.
Cons:
-The alien words, most of the time I either didn't know how to pronounce them (which is really annoying if they pop up often) or I didn't know what they meant. Some words are explained near the end, but sorry by then I couldn't even care, or I totally blocked out the word.
-The romance. Sorry, just a bit too unrealistic. A spock-like alien pops up and after not even a year he has emotions and wants to rip the pants of the girl he is staying with.
-The whole over-the-top scenario. At the beginning there were protests and all that, but by the end it was full-blown war, people died, got wounded or other. And I am sorry, but that was just silly.
-The alien or Aelyx (how the hell you ever pronounce that, no clue, I just went with what the principal/guy at the beginning said). I just didn't like his attitude, how he swayed between liking Earth, and hating it. He even wants to sabotage the mission, and for what? Because humans and all, he never gave them a chance to show them who they were, how they are. Also his non-emotions and how he dissed everything and everyone because he was so obviously better. *cough cough*
-Tori and Eric. Yes I know, the ending and all, but come on, for most of the book they both are total douche-bags and they even
Spoiler
get together!-The whole Cah-ra thing, it was fun once, to see how he pronounced it, but it got boring pretty quickly.
So all in all, a decent book, but well at times I just got annoyed with various things. Will I read the next book? I am not sure yet. Maybe I will try, see if it gets better. And mostly it will also be because I am curious about the fate of Earth.
Review first posted on: http://twirlingbookprincess.com
bookishjosh's review against another edition
4.0
Alienated is the perfect book which refutes the saying "Do not judge a book by its cover." I practically fell in love with it the moment I saw it featured on one of Sasha Alsberg's (abookutopia) videos. Thankfully, the phenomenal cover was not strategically created to cover up bad content.
Basically, this book is about an adorably nerdy girl named Cara who hosts (lives with) a ridiculously attractive foreign exchange student (and alien) named Aelyx. The reasons behind this set-up are initially political in nature, but soon both of these prejudiced teenagers find themselves in an us-against-the-world love story that could determine the fate of their respective planets. Now if your interest hasn't been piqued in the slightest, then I don't know what else will. Har-har.
Even though the romance was quite predictable, Alienated still gave me a memorable reading experience. I finished it almost four months ago, but I keenly remember the many times it made me grin in delight. I was able to relate with Cara's fondness for academics, as well as with Aelyx's generally reserved personality. It really loved how the introverted sides of these characters made them (and their interactions) more unique and interesting.
The setting of Alienated is also something to be praised. The environment within the book was reminiscent of the typical American public high school, but it was nevertheless intriguing because of the backdrop of gossip, paranoia, and violence. As a consequence of the tenuous relations between humans and aliens, both Cara and Aelyx's lives were almost always at stake. I never knew that academic life had the potential to be so dangerous, all thanks to racial prejudice.
In its totality, Alienated lives up to the expectations evoked by its beautiful cover. If you're looking for a mixture of sci-fi, romance and political intrigue, then this is definitely the book for you.
Basically, this book is about an adorably nerdy girl named Cara who hosts (lives with) a ridiculously attractive foreign exchange student (and alien) named Aelyx. The reasons behind this set-up are initially political in nature, but soon both of these prejudiced teenagers find themselves in an us-against-the-world love story that could determine the fate of their respective planets. Now if your interest hasn't been piqued in the slightest, then I don't know what else will. Har-har.
Even though the romance was quite predictable, Alienated still gave me a memorable reading experience. I finished it almost four months ago, but I keenly remember the many times it made me grin in delight. I was able to relate with Cara's fondness for academics, as well as with Aelyx's generally reserved personality. It really loved how the introverted sides of these characters made them (and their interactions) more unique and interesting.
The setting of Alienated is also something to be praised. The environment within the book was reminiscent of the typical American public high school, but it was nevertheless intriguing because of the backdrop of gossip, paranoia, and violence. As a consequence of the tenuous relations between humans and aliens, both Cara and Aelyx's lives were almost always at stake. I never knew that academic life had the potential to be so dangerous, all thanks to racial prejudice.
In its totality, Alienated lives up to the expectations evoked by its beautiful cover. If you're looking for a mixture of sci-fi, romance and political intrigue, then this is definitely the book for you.
readwithkiekie's review
4.0
I really, really enjoyed this book! Cara was head strong and I loved her relationship with Aelyx, however, the book was heavily predictable. I guessed about Tori and Eric in 30 pages and I also caught on about something else before it happened. Alienated is a very quick, fun read. Definitely picking up the sequel.
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
Slowly I'm discovering that there are so many sci-fi books out there that fit my taste! I have to admit that a lot of fight sci-fi will never be my favorite, but when it becomes more political, has a little more romance and has some more interesting science, I'm on board. When I saw this book my curiosity was immediately there. This sounded like an amazing mix between traditional YA and sci-fi. I bought the entire series and hoped for the best.
I was absolutely not disappointed! On the contrary, actually. I really enjoyed the politics in this book. The aliens and the humans start an exchange program. The humans need the advanced technology from the aliens and the aliens need the human race to get their emotions back (quite literally). However, just like in some real life crisis there are quite a lot of people willing to go very far to keep strangers out and to let fear rule their lives.
At the eye of the storm are our two main characters. Our heroine is an easy to like girl. She is quite clearly smart, she is caring, she is willing to give people chances to become a better version of themselves and even though she thinks before she acts she does carry her emotions quite visibly and honestly. She's not going through an easy time, but apart from a few very human and realistic breakdowns, her fierceness is quite inspirational.
I also loved reading from our hero's point of view. Being in his head gives us an amazing insight in the Alien-culture. Landers clearly put some thought into her fictional foreign planet. She thought about the science, the consequences and most of all she created a social and political climate that fits the characters we get to know. However, she also left enough room for our hero to grow, which means that eventually it's quite impossible NOT to like him and root for him, despite his mistakes and flaws.
I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
I was absolutely not disappointed! On the contrary, actually. I really enjoyed the politics in this book. The aliens and the humans start an exchange program. The humans need the advanced technology from the aliens and the aliens need the human race to get their emotions back (quite literally). However, just like in some real life crisis there are quite a lot of people willing to go very far to keep strangers out and to let fear rule their lives.
At the eye of the storm are our two main characters. Our heroine is an easy to like girl. She is quite clearly smart, she is caring, she is willing to give people chances to become a better version of themselves and even though she thinks before she acts she does carry her emotions quite visibly and honestly. She's not going through an easy time, but apart from a few very human and realistic breakdowns, her fierceness is quite inspirational.
I also loved reading from our hero's point of view. Being in his head gives us an amazing insight in the Alien-culture. Landers clearly put some thought into her fictional foreign planet. She thought about the science, the consequences and most of all she created a social and political climate that fits the characters we get to know. However, she also left enough room for our hero to grow, which means that eventually it's quite impossible NOT to like him and root for him, despite his mistakes and flaws.
I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
chuskeyreads's review
2.0
Honestly, I expected more from this book considering the high ratings, but I'm utterly disappointed. It took me five days to get about halfway-way through before I finally gave up and skimmed the rest.
The characters were shallow, especially the main character Cara. I felt no sympathy or much of anything for her because all she does is whine about her best friend and ex-boyfriend or obsess about how cute the alien boy is. I teach high school, and our AP students have much more depth and complexity.
The plot, slow and tedious, begins with Cara bragging about how awesome she is - so awesome in fact, that taking AP Calculus over the summer (not possible, BTW) has secured her spot as valedictorian on the first day of school. Whatever. The rest of the plot is just as pedestrian and predictable.
The two best parts of the book are 1. The cover, and 2. The lack of a love triangle (hallelujah!).
I really wanted to like this book.
The characters were shallow, especially the main character Cara. I felt no sympathy or much of anything for her because all she does is whine about her best friend and ex-boyfriend or obsess about how cute the alien boy is. I teach high school, and our AP students have much more depth and complexity.
The plot, slow and tedious, begins with Cara bragging about how awesome she is - so awesome in fact, that taking AP Calculus over the summer (not possible, BTW) has secured her spot as valedictorian on the first day of school. Whatever. The rest of the plot is just as pedestrian and predictable.
The two best parts of the book are 1. The cover, and 2. The lack of a love triangle (hallelujah!).
I really wanted to like this book.
wordsunbound's review against another edition
4.0
I'd give this a 3.5-4 star. The book is very good and definitely a fast read, but there were moments that I felt that the characters needed a different reaction to something so they weren't all blurring together. However, I'm definitely going to read the next book.
gmamartha's review against another edition
3.0
With the alliance between earth and L'eihr depending upon the valedictorian and a rebellious Aelyx, their own relationship develops. Including details on how each culture 'makes out' physically. This is obviously the beginning of a series when this exchange student arrangement goes against mob rule.