Review: Invaded by Melissa Landers

Invaded by Melissa Landers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2015
Publisher:Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 3rd Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 12+
Pacing: Slow
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Romance, Aliens

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BLURB:

Cara always knew life on planet L’eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L’eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a new school, surrounded by hostile alien clones. Even the weird dorm pet hates her.

Things look up when Cara is appointed as human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L’eihr. A society melding their two cultures is a place where Cara and Aelyx could one day make a life together. But with L’eihr leaders balking at granting even the most basic freedoms, Cara begins to wonder if she could ever be happy on this planet, even with Aelyx by her side.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx, finds himself thrown into a full-scale PR campaign to improve human-L’eihr relations. Humans don’t know that their very survival depends on this alliance: only Aelyx’s people have the technology to fix the deadly contamination in the global water supply that human governments are hiding. Yet despite their upper hand, the leaders of his world suddenly seem desperate to get humans on their side, and hardly bat an eye at extremists’ multiple attempts on Aelyx’s life.

The Way clearly needs humans’ help . . . but with what? And what will they ask for in return?

I liked ‘‘Invaded’’ a little bit less than I did ‘‘Alienated,’’ and that is because of the countless plot holes.

The first book is fun. I mean, there is petty drama between Cara and her best friend, but the interplanetary student exchange is so entertaining—especially since Aelyx is adorable when he doesn’t know what humans mean exactly with their ambiguous expressions (more precisely the ones with sexual connotations, haha).

This book is very different. For one, it’s more serious: there is more danger, more action, more conspiracy. Also, Cara and Aelyx are separated for eighty percent of the book. Since they all have their own thing to deal with—Cara is trying to assimilate her new surroundings and Aelyx is trying not to get himself killed—it made sense for them to be apart.

The world-building is much more developed in this book, because we get to learn more about L’eihr and actually ‘‘see’’ it. There are many things shocking about this planet though—it’s like a dystopian version of our world. They don’t get to raise their children or choose their own job and any crime is punishable by death.

Ouch. So I quite enjoyed learning more about this planet; Melissa Landers did a good job of creating/developing it.

But let’s go back to my main complaint: the plot holes. Oh, there are so many of them. ‘‘Invaded’’ very much feels like the ‘‘middle book’’ of a trilogy. In ‘‘Alienated,’’ we are slightly introduced to the conflict, in ‘‘Invaded,’’ we get more info about it, but obviously the author cannot tell us everything or there would be no need for a book three.

So, yes, there are plenty of unnecessary and repetitive scenes. It’s almost as if we get a day-by-day in both of Cara and Aelyx’s lives. That’s how slow it feels.

Still, I enjoyed this. Not my favourite series by Melissa Landers—you should try ‘‘Starflight’’!—but I like the humor and world-building a lot.

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