Alienated by Melissa Landers tells the story of Cara Sweeney, teenage high school student and Aelyx a young L’eihr visiting Earth. The concept is pretty straightforward. Some years prior to the story, the people of Earth had made contact with an alien civilisation the L’eihr. The two peoples have an amicable if distant relationship and in order to foster a greater understanding of their respective cultures a student exchange program has been initiated. Cara and Aelyx are chosen as two of the six young ambassadors for the program. I have to say I really loved this book and thought it was beautifully written. What I liked Character development. Both Cara and Aelyx undergo a great deal of character development throughout the book. Interestingly, Cara’s arc is almost the opposite of many young adult protagonists. She starts the book confident and sure of her path but as she goes through the challenges of the exchange, her self assurance is given quite a beating. However she still remains true to her word despite significant pressure. Aelyx’s journey is more of overcoming prejudice – he starts off determined to hate his human hosts and has an ulterior motive for joining the program. As…
Alienated by Melissa Landers tells the story of Cara Sweeney, teenage high school student and Aelyx a young L’eihr visiting Earth. The concept is pretty straightforward. Some years prior to the story, the people of Earth had made contact with an alien civilisation the L’eihr. The two peoples have an amicable if distant relationship and in order to foster a greater understanding of their respective cultures a student exchange program has been initiated. Cara and Aelyx are chosen as two of the six young ambassadors for the program. I have to say I really loved this book and thought it was beautifully written. What I liked Character development. Both Cara and Aelyx undergo a great deal of character development throughout the book. Interestingly, Cara’s arc is almost the opposite of many young adult protagonists. She starts the book confident and sure of her path but as she goes through the challenges of the exchange, her self assurance is given quite a beating. However she still remains true to her word despite significant pressure. Aelyx’s journey is more of overcoming prejudice – he starts off determined to hate his human hosts and has an ulterior motive for joining the program. As…