Invaded

Written by Melissa Landers

Narrated by Madeleine Lambert

Cara always knew that 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 start to look up when Cara is appointed human representative to a panel preparing for a human colony on L'eihr. A society that melds 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.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Aelyx finds himself in 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 they hardly bat an eye when extremists make multiple attempts on Aelyx's life. The Way clearly needs humans' help, but with what? And what will they ask for in return?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781494578398

Reviews for Invaded

[jessika.c · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I may be into high school drama clicheed type of stories because they are my true guilty pleasure but I read so many terrible reviews for the first book that I’m just not going to touch it. I don’t feel like reading about the failures of a valedictorian. Reading the second book I think I got the basics: Cara is now attached to Aelyx (ha ha I hated his name) #partners4lyf, his friend and sister’s partner died at the end of the first book, Aelyx is some super important dude for the L’eihr counsel of important people and that’s why the book cover is upside down again only with him on earth this time, Cara was almost killed at the end of the first book, and tensions are still there between earthens and l’eihrs. Am I wrong? Moving on.This was interesting. Cara begins to live life as a L’eihr would with rigorous exercise and diet so her body could transform like a ridiculously hot alien. They put her in classes with other L’eihr’s her age but those are too hard even for her super smart self to the point where she has to volunteer at a kindergarten class so she might be able to pick up basic physics the five year olds are learning. To top things off, she must take some right of passage called a Sh’ovah that is considered holy and supreme among the L’eihrs that would grant her rights as a L’eihr citizen. Like holy crap that was fast, it takes people up to 15 years to become US citizens. But on L’eihr all you have to do is be buried naked under clay. Sorry…I promise I really was entertained by this book.Meanwhile, Aelyx and his crew are on Earth on some PR tour trying to find favor with Earth leaders. Members of the way are concerned for his and Syrine’s well being that they threaten to cut ties if their lives are threatened so they are assigned a bodyguard to keep them safe. Oh I forgot to mention Syrine in my basics: she was the b* of the first book I guess. I’m actually kind of happy Aelyx made a friend in David but I couldn’t help but still think of him as a sleeze that seduced Syrine. They were an okay couple though. Despite myself Aelyx and Cara were cute. Their holograph calls or whatever were sweet and they actually did the whole long distance relationship thing. Their conflict was reasonable but the resolution was eh. When they were together I could just feel the sparks. Not my favorite couple ever but I could feel the love they had for each other instead of that teenage lust thing most YA couples do.Is this a spoiler? oh totally but I really hated how much authority Cara had in the end. Like damn girl you won state debate twice but that doesn’t mean you’re qualified to run an alien colony as a human ambassador or something. And Aelyx as a L’eihr ambassador was a doormat. I have a feeling this will create serious conflict in the next novel…which I am totally going to read.

[calavari · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Invaded by Melissa Landers This is the second book of the Alienated Series, for the review of the first book, click here.

As before, I liked it but not so much that there was a book hangover or real nail biting. The character development was good, the plot was good, the twists and turns were good, the writing was good, I like the dual first person POV. I don't have any complaints, I just wasn't over the moon for it. It's also among the YA that was really written for teens to read it, in my opinion. And that's not because it's angsty or any other derogatory way that people sometimes allude to this. It's just really about the development of these teens and their real and complex emotions about this stage of life and the way it leads into the next one. While they are trying to change the world, the boundaries with which normal teens operate are stretched but not in the way that they are in books like The Hunger Games or Cinder. I don't want to spoil anything with exactly the difference there, but I hope you all get what I mean anyway.
It makes for an interesting story and a good read when I'm in the mood for something a little intriguing but that won't monopolize my mind until I'm done with it. I was left with about the same feeling as the first one, kind of like a show that I'll watch on Netflix if I have a free afternoon but don't feel the need to binge on once I'm in it. I'll definitely pick up the third one when I get the opportunity.

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I think I prefer the first novel in the series a bit more, this was good too. The AFS like alien/Earth exchange program seemed to work so well in the first novel, with Cara's family even playing a role in how Aelyx acclimated to Earth. Now, because of the political motivations of the the L'eihr and the earth's governments, Cara's solitary exchange to L'eihr seems to be less helpful for the furtherment of relations between the planets. Cara gamely tries to adapt to L'eihr life and schooling. The obstacle course alone would have been my downfall, but the food may be a close second. I did like the alternate world Landers created for L'eihr, complete with historical figures, etc.

[englisherna · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Seriously? What happened with that ending?!!! I feel like it was rushed and I will definitely not be satisfied if the story just ends there. This story warrants a third book not because it was so good but because it ended the way it did.
I'm quite disappointed because I really liked about three-quarters of the book but the happenings toward the end fell flat and, like I said, felt rushed.

[brandileigh2003 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to read Invaded because I loved Alienated and couldn't wait to find out more about Cara and Aelyx. I remember loving their romance and while I knew it would be hard to see them apart, the plot of trying to save the human race and form colonies of humans on L'heir, the home of Aelyx, This focuses on the political aspects and the attempts on Aelyx's life and threats from a human extremist group that does not want the alliance between the species. Cara doesn't have the easiest time making friends and fitting in at first. The clones don't accept her as easy as she'd hoped. Though she does have her brother for a while and Aelyx's sister Elle. The plot started right away with threats to Aelyx, and Cara's difficulties. She feels inferior because they are more physically fit, genetically more evolved, and more brain capacity. But her strong and fiery personality is just what they are looking for. With all of the cloning, they feel less and they are hoping for an alliance to introduce variety in their gene pools. We did get some of Aelyx's point of view, and my favorite there was his new friend David. They learned a lot from each other, and David is another one who is a good example of what the L'heirs should be looking for in humans for the colony. Also with him, we get to see the depths of his feelings for Cara again, even though they face challenges related to getting used to another planet, society and way of living, as well as something that may be enough to end their relationship. I also learned even more about his character in the way that he treats Syrine, and how their rocky friendship and trying to patch things that have went sideways. Cara shows her strength in this one as well, she learns more about the society, their advanced physics, and even begins to catch up in the physical department with the help of a PT teacher she dubs Satan. But she is surrounded by challenges as well as secrets. She uncovers a theory that begins to shape itself more and more about the heritage of both planets as well as another challenge that totally took me by surprise. There was plenty going on, but I loved the deepening of the family ties, especially her and Troy, and when they are back on Earth, how they begin to see some of the human frivolities and both question if they really belong in either place, and where they fit with each possible decision. I loved seeing her work with the babies and toddlers. It started out that she wanted to learn more about the foundations of their society, their cultural norms and beginnings of the math and science that was so different from what she learned. But she is also placed in a situation that showed more of the huge differences between the cultures, what they see as a family unit, how breeding/cloning has changed or differs from the human family unit. The book ended on a pretty cliffie place, but I can also see why it is a good place to stop. It set up challenges to the romance, big questions that need to be answered and so much hinging on a decision that Cara is going to have to make. I will definitely be continuing this series!Bottom Line: Great second book learning about how both Cara and Aelyx try to fit in and form the planetary alliance.