Mini Reviews: Alienated & Sekret

Author: Melissa Landers
Series: Alienated, #1
Published: February 4th 2014
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Format: Hardcover, 352 pgs
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

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.

For all the hype that surrounded this novel (and especially the pretty cover) prior to its release, Alienated ended up being pretty unremarkable. In it, Melissa Landers focused on delivering three things: humor, romance and a strong message about diversity and tolerance. Unfortunately, even that proved to be too much for this debut author and in the end, only the strong anti-xenophobic message was successful.

The romance, no matter how well planned, cannot reach its full potential without strong and well built characters, and neither Cara nor Aelyx were remarkable in any way. To make matters worse, Cara’s friends and family were no more than underdeveloped cardboard cutouts whose actions lacked any real explanation or depth. As for the humor, there were some actual laugh-out loud moments, which helped me warm up to this book significantly, but overall, it was a strong case of trying too hard, and when humor was most needed, all attempts fell flat.

If not for the strong intercultural message, Alienated would be an entirely unremarkable and pretty forgettable novel. As it is, I’m likely to recommend it to younger readers purely for its educational value.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influneced the opinions expressed in this review.

Author: Lindsay Smith
Series: Sekret, #1
Published: April 1st 2014
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Format: Hardcover, 337 pgs
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

An empty mind is a safe mind.

Yulia's father always taught her to hide her thoughts and control her emotions to survive the harsh realities of Soviet Russia. But when she's captured by the KGB and forced to work as a psychic spy with a mission to undermine the U.S. space program, she's thrust into a world of suspicion, deceit, and horrifying power. Yulia quickly realizes she can trust no one--not her KGB superiors or the other operatives vying for her attention--and must rely on her own wits and skills to survive in this world where no SEKRET can stay hidden for long.

One should really be able to trust a blurb by someone as brilliant as Elizabeth Wein, but apparently, that’s really not the case. Sekret is a book that held so much promise, with a story about young psychic spies in Soviet Russia blackmailed into working for the KGB. And yet somehow, it ended up being my biggest disappointment of the year so far, made even worse by my extremely high expectations.

I can’t really fault Lindsay Smith or the publisher for false advertizing. We were promised a story about psychic spies in a very interesting historical setting, and that’s exactly what this book is. What’s more, it is clearly extremely well-researched and even thrilling, at least at first.

The problem, for me, was the emotional aspect of this book. Sekret reminded me of a delicious treat tightly wrapped in cellophane: I could see, but not touch or smell or taste or feel in any other significant way. When I try to pinpoint a reason for it, it all comes down to Yulia. Sekret desperately needed a stronger, clearer heroine, someone with far more character and strength. She should have been the light leading us through this horrible and dark story, but instead, we ended up blundering in the dark right alongside her.

So unlike Elizabeth Wein, who says that this beautiful novel left her aching, I was left severely disappointed, hoping that this young author with so much potential might do better next time.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influneced the opinions expressed in this review.