Alienated

3.5 out of 5 Stars

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. (from Goodreads.com)

I just read a scathing review of this book on Goodreads. Was it flawless? No. Were the characters in-depth and multi-dimensional? Not in the slightest. Was it entertaining? It was decent. 

I wouldn't say this book was awful, but I wouldn't say it was amazing either. It's right there in the middle for me. Mediocre. The writing isn't terrible. There was humor which I enjoyed. The premise was interesting. The scathing review said it wasn't creative but I beg to differ. The idea of an alien exchange program is pretty inventive. 

Let's talk about the characters for a bit, first. 

Cara starts out smart and savvy, a fiery redhead with determination. But as the story goes along she becomes more and more of a victim. She lets things happen to her and I didn't like that. For someone who was supposed to be so determined, stubborn, and headstrong, she was sure a pushover. She runs a blog that's pretty witty at first. Her journalistic need to find the truth is pretty much nonexistent once she decides she is in love with the alien boy. All of her friends abandon her, yet she still chooses Aelyx. Now what teenage girl who is even remotely popular at school do you know that would throw all of her friends and her ranking away for a boy everyone else hates? Especially as her life gets threatened. Cara seems to have a whole different moral set than most girls her age. I kinda wish there was more fight in her. That she would have started blaming Aelyx and searching for the truth behind some of his sketchy ways rather than becoming a milk-toast and sappy girl who falls for the mysterious bad-boy. Landers could/should have really honed in on Cara's journalist traits, have her discover the truth herself, and then have to decide if she would expose him or if she would keep his secret simply because somewhere in the ride she had fallen in love with him. That is the true conflict, to me, but it gets glossed over. Or something. I'm not even sure. 

There's a part when she is confronting Aelyx and wants the truth. How does he get away with not telling her? He starts touching her. Instead of seeing through it, Cara gets all weak in the knees for him. What is that teaching girls? That their man can do anything he wants as long as he kisses her and swoons her just right. Ugh. 

And Aelyx. The alien boy. I'm not sure why he suddenly falls for Cara. It seems to come out of nowhere especially after how much he supposedly hates Earth and humans. He obviously hates Earth enough to come up with a plot with his friends to destroy Earth. Even after discovering said plot, Cara is angry but eventually takes him back because he's misunderstood? What? And what's with the aliens looking just like humans? Landers could have had some sort of Beauty and the Beast thing going where Cara sees past an intimidating, otherworldly exterior and falls in love with him. 

Tori. I enjoyed her spunk. But then she becomes stereotypical and betrays Cara for what? No good reason. For someone who was supposed to be even more fiery and stubborn than Cara, she sure turned her back quickly. While we later find that she wasn't entirely a traitor, it still just plays off as too convenient and dramatic for the plot. 

Eric. Stereotypical jock. I'm not sure where the attraction is with Cara and him or how they became involved. I think it would have been better if they were just platonic friends that grew apart and Cara sees him and Tori hooking up as an extra stab in the back. 

The parents. So goody-goody for their own good. Always making out which is gross. I'm not sure why that needed to be in the story. And they let their daughter get away with murder. And they hold their ground even as their jobs and social lives are at stake. I'm not sure I know of any parent who would actually do that. You would think at least one of them would start thinking "Hey maybe we should send the alien back before the town decides to tar and feather us." 

The ambassador. Aelyx's ambassador or whatever is supposed to look old but not really be old. He's also monotone. I understand why Landers has him that way and it gets explained, but he's supposed to be a somewhat antagonist yet he ends up being forgettable because he's so drab. Speaking of antagonist...I'm not really sure who the actual antagonist is in this book. Was it Aelyx? Is it The Way? Is it Cara? There's just no telling. 

Syrene and Eron. Aelyx's friends are alright. They serve as points to help move the story along but Syrene is too angry all the time to relate to. Eron doesn't get enough stage time to really be significant. 

Despite the flaws in the character building, I didn't mind it. There are other YA books I've read where I have been frustrated with the characters all the way through reading. That wasn't the case with this. I just wish, for once, authors would create a love story that wasn't perfect, where the characters made stupid decisions and lived with those choices, where the headstrong girl stayed true to her character and didn't get swayed by some handsome stranger. 

That brings me to the themes in the book. This is where I think Landers did a good job. She shows that tolerance and discrimination are real human acts. Cara does serve as the ideal in this aspect. She sees how her classmates and people in her town treat Aelyx and she sees a problem with it. Her parents stand up for Aelyx constantly. Looking at Alienated as a lesson in acceptance and overcoming differences sheds a whole new light on it. Beyond the obligatory romance (really, I don't understand the attraction just like with most YA novels out there) we find a story of how humans treat those who are different which is a theme that is entirely relevant in our time (Ferguson riots ring any bells?). 

While I didn't hate this book, I also don't think it was my favorite. Now, that being said, I didn't like Divergent when I first read it also. It took reading the second and third books and watching the movie for me to really fall in love with that story. I will continue to read what Landers has to offer with this series. Hopefully she can add some elements and depth that will catapult it from mediocre to outstanding. 

Panic

WOOT WOOT!

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most. (From Goodreads.com)

I devoured this book. Oliver is a constant favorite of mine in the YA genre. She has a knack for capturing imagery and emotion. This book was interesting because it felt dystopian but it was set in present day America. The characters are believable and developed well. The romance between Bishop and Heather doesn't seem forced in any way. All in all an excellent read and another gold star for Miss Oliver. Fans of her Delirium trilogy won't be disappointed, however, it takes some adjusting because it isn't as fast-paced and breathtaking as those books. I do like, though, that Oliver has managed to create a world like the Hunger Games set in our own present-day life. That, in itself, is a statement. 

Hush, Hush

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Angel Feathers

Pretty sweet book cover, eh? That is what drew me to this book. When you peruse the books in the teen fiction section these days it seems they're all the same. Here's the general synopsis I've noticed. See if it sounds familiar:

Unattached, uncoordinated girl meets dark, handsome, mysterious guy. Several events push them together. Girl falls for Mystery Man against her better judgment. Girl discovers that the mysterious one is some sort of supernatural creature. Girl still loves the guy despite the danger. All live happily ever after.

Now here's the brief synopsis for Hush, Hush.

Meet Nora Grey, also known as Unattached, Uncoordinated Girl. Nora is forced to partner up with Patch, a.k.a. Dark, Handsome, Mysterious Guy, in her biology class. Things start happening. Nora hits some guy in a ski mask with her car, blows a huge dent in the car, but then she looks and the dent is no longer there. All sorts of different illusions like this take place. Throughout several other events which orbit around Patch who mysteriously pops up wherever Nora is, she discovers that he is, in actuality, an angel. Not just any angel, but a fallen angel. For some reason, she's still attracted to him even after she finds out that her fallen angel boyfriend was really trying to kill her so he could become human. (Oh hey, that contained spoilers. Sorry.)

So. Becca Fitzpatrick's novel isn't exactly original. Yeah she plays off a lot of the mythology about angels which is interesting. Most of it surrounds Cheshvah (sp?) which is a month in which fallen angels are allowed to possess a body of a Nephilim and basically be human for that month. The mythology is interesting but it seems like she just scratches the surface of it.

Vee, Nora's bff, is the most entertaining one to read. Her character comes to life for me and I actually wish Nora was more like her. Why can't the main character in these novels be a little more funny and eccentric? Why does it always have to be the girl who takes herself too seriously that ends up involved with some supernatural creature? While Nora is a reliable narrator and is a really independent thinker (unlike Bella from Twilight who becomes so obsessed with her vampire that she becomes a really weak character) she pales in comparison to her friend who has more life to her. What attracts these immortal creatures to the mundane ones? Wouldn't you think they'd want to go for the girl with more spunk? Maybe Becca Fitzpatrick will write a love story for Vee. If she does, I am so there.

I like how things all came together. There were seemingly two or three storylines going on. 1) Nora and Patch, 2) Elliot, Jules, Nora, and Vee, and 3) Nora's visits to the shrink. All of these stories combine nicely by the end, but some of it seems forced. I don't know how to explain it but sometimes Nora takes leaps in her logic and it just doesn't feel natural. As a writer, I know what Fitzpatrick was doing. She didn't know how to get the characters to a certain point so she had to force them to make silly conclusions in order to get there.

The whole Elliot thing was weird, but it made sense by the end. I won't spoil it but I knew there was more to Jules and I kind of figured he was using Elliot in some way. Fitzpatrick made that a little obvious by making Jules so quiet and disappearing all the time.

The characters are well-written enough. Patch just seems to be sort of flat. I don't really understand his motives yet because the chemistry between him and Nora isn't all that wonderful. I didn't feel it as intensely as in other books. Even Bella and Edward's lusty romance has more chemistry than Nora and Patch. Patch seems to be forced into a box though. Almost too stereotypical, nothing too surprising with him. And he never really shows emotion. Just has these dumb little smiles.

Fitzpatrick fails with creating a sense of place. There's no atmosphere. She tries. But it flops. The fog around Nora's house is too convenient. She could have done so much with that. And I never get my senses brought into the story. (This has been a complaint about my own writing so I know how difficult it is...I just figure with a published book it wouldn't be as prevalent. Maybe they just don't think teens will care. Which they probably don't...) Most of the writing relies on Nora's sight. Once in awhile she smells Patch who always smells like mint soap. She could have described Delphic more and given us a more environmental standing. During my reading of this I usually just felt like I was floating and not in a good way.

All in all, this was a decent read. The mystery aspects of the story kept me going and I actually didn't want to stop reading. While it's not literary, if you keep in mind the audience Fitzpatrick is trying to reach (watch out Twi-hards, everyone's targeting you!) then it's actually a really well-done piece of work. I give it 3 1/2 out of 5 angel feathers.