Invaded by Melissa Landers

Invaded by Melissa Landers
Buy Invaded by Melissa Landers at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
Summary: The levels of intrigue and excitement are extremely high, making this another page turner. A fantastic follow up.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 368	Date: March 2015
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1423169499
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To save the alliance between Humans and the L'eihr, and save the planet from the deadly algae blooms that threaten to destroy all life, Cara and Aeylx have to persuade the L'eihr that Humans and L'eihr can peacefully co-exist.

For Cara, that means going to school on L'eihr, completing brutal physical education classes, and learning science way beyond what she's been learning in her AP classes on Earth. For Aelyx it means shaking hands and kissing babies, while dodging assassination attempts.

Both of them just want to be with the other, but the only way that could ever happen is if a colony is established on L'eihr. Only, the closer that comes to being a reality, the more Cara is starting to question if she can commit herself to life on a planet so different from her own.

After enjoying the first book in this series so much, I was concerned that this would fall foul of second book syndrome. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry.

Landers does a smart thing in taking her two central characters about as far away from each other as they can get. With Aelyx on Earth and Cara on L'eihr, their stories have to develop independently and individually, with only long distance phone calls to keep them in communication with each other. As I said, it's smart move as it means things can't stagnate.

I really liked how Landers handled the introduction to L'eihr way of life. It would have been easy to have been saccharine about the beauty and wonder of a new and advanced world, or to be overly patriotic towards humanity and our way of life. What Landers gives us is something straight down the middle. Cara is initially reluctant to engage with a lot of the practises that the L'eihr consider ordinary – such as regulating her diet and eliminating sugar – but she comes to realise that there may be benefits to some of their traditions. But she's not afraid to fight for what she believes in, either, fighting for democracy at the colony, rather than the dictatorship the L'eihr follow.

The levels of intrigue and excitement continue to be extremely high, making this another page turner. We learn more about the motivations of the L'eihr, and why they're so keen to form an alliance – which opens up another avenue that could be explored in further instalments. Although this does finish on a satisfying and complete note, I definitely wouldn't turn down the chance to spend more time in the fascinating world that Landers has created.

My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy.

For another fantastic book featuring an alien planet, and humans and an alien race trying to find a way to get along, check out The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Invaded by Melissa Landers at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Invaded by Melissa Landers at Amazon.com.

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