Invaded by Melissa Landers
(Alienated #2)
Genres: Young Adult, SciFi
The romantic sequel to Alienated takes long-distance relationships to a new level as Cara and Aelyx long for each other from opposite ends of the universe...until a threat to both their worlds reunites them.
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?
For a big majority of the book, Cara and Aelyx were separated. That did kill a bit of the romance, but I think that the communication between them kept that spark alive and kept me interested. This book focused less on them meeting, getting over their differences, and falling in love and more on the world as a whole and their future together. Some of the decisions Cara made did make me scratch my head, but she's on a planet entirely unlike her own. The only tether she has to her home and herself is her brother, who leaves halfway through the book. Cara went through some intense changes, and I was happy with the way she handled them. She had a lot thrown at her in this book, and I felt like she responded strongly and true to herself. I still want to be besties with her!
Cara wasn't the only one dealing with a lot. Aelyx had his fair share of issues, too. Again, sometimes I wanted to shake him because I couldn't understand some of his decisions. But when you think about the immense pressure on his shoulders, the entire fate of the human race y'all, I realized that I would crumble under that. I think Invaded shows a lot more of who both characters are, and I like where Melissa Landers is taking them.
Some things that are hinted at in Alienated are brought more into focus in Invaded. The Jaxon storyline surprised me, but I liked it. I thoroughly disliked him and I'm curious to see if he'll pop up again. There is a lot of development for all of the characters, not just Aelyx and Cara. I hope to see more of that in the future!
All in all, Invaded was such an amazing follow-up to Alienated. It answered a lot of questions, but also left some of its own. I cannot how much love I have for this series. SciFi fans and skeptics of SciFi both need to read these books. They're perfect in every way, and my fingers are crossed for another book about Aelyx and Cara! I desperately need it!
