Earth is in need of planet L'eihr's technology but L'eihr won't help out Earth before they have an alliance where everyone agrees to the terms. Cara and Aelyx need to make sure that alliance will be formed by pleasing their people. Cara needs to please L'eihr and Aelyx needs to please Earth. Both knew it would be a huge adjustment and them being away from each other doesn't make things any easier. Especially because both are being targeted and the alliance is in danger.
First off, the characters! Cara seriously grew so much onto me. I can't believe that I didn't like her at first in Alienated. This character really has a very big task and she's very sure of herself to make it true. Her determination and her trying so hard was something I really appreciated. Especially because she's now on another planet, surrounded by species who don't like her at all, Cara is really being tested. I appreciated that this character showed us to always believe everything will come to a good end, and didn't give up.
I did love the fact that the author made the balance between her being totally alright and not giving up and then give her moments where she really doubts if she can do this and want this. I think that's a very realistic perspective of life as well, the ups and downs, and our character has these moments which gives the book a very realistic twist (well in the feels department since Aliens are not real yet.)! Cara really surprised me by her actions and motivation and I'm really keen on her!
Then we've got Aelyx, also he is on a planet where the species will test him. Also Aelyx the alien has changed a lot over the past two books, his hatred for mankind has simmered down now he knows Cara. During the book we'll also see his perspective and his feelings towards her and can I just scream? He's so adorable! Another trait in this character was his patience on the unknown planet and try his hardest to form the alliance. He's also really gentle, gentler than I had expected, and really caring which really is a trait that I feel he had less in Alienated!
The bond between Cara and Aelyx will be tested as both are on unknown territory and are away from each other's support, but they're still there for each other and that will be highly appreciated by the readers. Both of them might be far away from each other, but the cuteness and gentle, comforting moments will get a chance in this book as well. Something I really appreciated to see as I was a bit scared that we wouldn't see these moments at all because they were apart. However readers might also really appreciate the fact that they're on their own, it really gave them the chance to feel one with the planet they're on and also made sure that the characters knew further development!
Lastly, I really want to talk about Cara's brother! It might come as a surprise but he really grew on me! I don't want to spoil too much because it really is something to enjoy during the read, but I just love this character so much. He's really funny and caring but in his own way and I was really happy that we'd get to know him after all. Troy is a very surprising character, especially after all the things we already knew about him (which weren't all the most positive ones) and readers will really be pleased by him!
The plot really surprised me the most, because it felt like a huge contrast and I actually really liked that. I'm in love with the fact that it's a reversed world where both characters go to the partner's world and live there. Of course there's this bigger task that's important while they're there but still, it is something really cool!Especially because now Cara lives on planet L'eihr we'll even get more drowned into the culture and above that get to see the landscapes, the government, the daily schedules and how everything works on the planet. Get ready to become full L'eihr! I really think this is a great asset to the book to see the functioning of this other planet and the contrasts it shows with ours.
But as I already mentioned, a bigger task needs to be done: the alliance. It's only because of the alliance that both character now reside on each other's planet. Thank you alliance, now I know how planet L'eihr looks like. The alliance between the two should help the earth with it's problems but readers will soon try to find out why the L'eihrs want this alliance: what's in it for them? And that's how all the suspicion starts to take place.
It's not a secret that the Earthlings hate Aelyx and it's also not a secret that L'eihrs hate Cara, these relationship between the alien and the earthlings and the earthling and the aliens will really create a tension and more division in both camps. The remaining question is how everyone is going to react to the tension and that was also the surprising moment in this book. (Which I'm not going to get say because hello spoilers!)
This book actually really contains a lot of surprise and I really loved it a lot more than I did Alienated because there's a lot more action and mystery that's supported by the tension. Above that now Cara resides on L'eihr she won't only find out more about their culture but also about many more other cultures in the galaxy which once again gives a nice twist to the story. When we finally find out what on earth is actually going on, you'll be actually really surprised by this as it is something unpredictable, yet fantastic to find out. I have to say this outcome was actually a lot more twisted and original than I had expected. Then again, I hadn't expected anything like this in the plot.
Next to mystery, action and thrilling I really felt like the story made a lot more room for the feels. Now the characters are divided, the tension will also be transferred onto their relationship which then causes moments of comforting, love and caring but also moments of jealousy and uncertainty which I actually really appreciated. The bonds created will receive a new dept that was really amazing to witness and of course there are also the family bonds and friendships that get more attention!
Lastly, I noticed that this book has a third in a series, but I don't know if I want to read it. It's not that I hated the two books in this series, not at all. In fact I absolutely enjoyed them! However the author made it look like this was the last in the series as the end feels really the end for me. I'm satisfied with it. I think that's a good thing actually, if readers want it to be the end they can but they can also go on and explore further. I did notice that there's a suggestion that opens the way for a third book, but I also thought that it could be a future thing that we wouldn't ever know and didn't really mind that. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, either read on or stop here and make this my ending. Either ways are possible and I like that about the series.
PS: I actually originally thought that this was a duology! That's why I thought this was the end, until I found out a few minutes ago that there was a third in the series!
This book shows such a contrast to Alienated! The characters are now more evolved but still show their traits and strengths through the book. I even felt like we finally got to know them a lot more and a lot better, which is a very big asset to this book. Above that the plot takes a whole new turn as the worlds are now reversed: Cara is on the planet L'eihr and Aelyx is on earth. I really loved to see this going that way because both are foreign on the planets and that causes a lot of new things and a lot of adjustment. We finally also got to know the L'eihr culture a lot more because Cara lived there and I must say this culture was nice to explore! To top it all off, the two characters need to make the alliance between the two races stand, but some don't agree and sabotage which gives the plot a taste of action and suspense! I loved this book even more than I did Alienated!
“When you preach hatred, how do you expect your followers to respond?”
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