It was a good book - beginning of a trilogy, although I do think the text was quite bland. Not just not enough spice (we have to appreciate spice), but really, lacking character development. This may be biased as I prefer books written in 1st person perspective, but it's also that the author didn't really put the time into explaining some details.
Cara's parents just let her do stuff even though at the beginning she stated they were very protective of her because her brother had already left, which I found stupid, because the parents would say 'Cara Sweeney you will not be leaving this house until you are old enough to fend for yourself (or similar idk), and literally a minute later they helped her execute her escape plan. And then I feel like we didn't get enough of an explanation as to why her parents weren't part of HALO or didn't even question Aelyx at all. Too trusting perhaps? But then they said they were so protective of Cara??
But anyways. Great book, definitely looking forward to the second book to see what happens!! ( )

A touch predictable. Easy, enjoyable reading though. I didn't mind the world building except a particular medical detail stood way out. L'eirs apparently don't have a pulse point in their thumbs like humans do. The main alien kept measuring pulse at the neck with his thumb.

I know it's a fictional world. Still, every time I read that it yanked me right out of the story. It never gets explained either.

Other than that no issues with it. Probably won't go chasing the next one down. ( )

"High school senior Cara Sweeney gets more than she bargained for when she agrees to participate in earth's first intergalactic high school exchange program". She basically gets a very hot alien from L'eihr by the name of Aelyx. As welcoming as Cara's family is, though, there are a large number of people who don't want the aliens here and will do whatever it takes to drive them away.

I loved Cara and Aelyx! They were like oil and water when they first met, but the more time they spent together, the more they grew on each other. The secondary characters were well developed and the story itself was very engaging.

I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading the second book in the series to find out what happens next!

5/5 stars. ( )

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3.5 stars

I love that this book got its start during National Novel Writing Month. I’m a sucker for a good writing success story, so her acknowledgements of the people who helped her mold her 30-day creation into the final product warmed my heart.

I read this because a wonderful teen library patron recommended it, and I’m glad I picked it up. It was a quick, good read. I really liked the twist on foreign exchange programs, and the romance was rather sweet. It had that secret-that-could-ruin-everything motif that drives me crazy in books, but I liked enough of the rest of the story that it didn’t wreck it for me. And I liked the idea of being able to telepathically convey emotion. It was pretty swoonworthy when Aelix did that for Cara the first time, although it was tainted by his chickening out on coming clean with her about his sabotage.

The hate group’s hostility toward Aelix felt all too real but was still a surprise, as I thought I was going to be reading more of a romantic comedy, fish-out-of-water thing. I’m interested to see how everything works out, but I think I’ll need a break before reading about Cara experiencing similar hostility during her exchange in book two.

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