Review: United by Melissa Landers

United

Melissa Landers

(Aliented #3)

Publication Date: August 2, 2016

Hardcover, 317 pages, EverAfter

Genres: YA, Sci-Fi

Goodreads

After thwarting a deadly coup and saving the alliance between their worlds, Cara and Aelyx have finally earned a break. Their tiny island colony is everything they dreamed it would be―days spent gathering shells on the beach and nights in each other’s arms.

But the vacation is short-lived.

The treaty between Earth and L’eihr has awakened an ancient force that threatens to destroy them all. The Aribol, mysterious guardians charged with maintaining interstellar peace, deem the alliance a threat to the galaxy. They order a separation of the races, decreeing humans and L’eihrs must return to their own planets within the month or face extinction. In fact, they already have agents in place on Earth, ready to begin.

With the clock ticking, Aelyx and Cara assemble a team of colonists and race back to Earth, where they unite with old friends to solve the mystery of who the Aribol are, what they want, and the real reason the alliance has provoked them. As tensions build to a full-scale war, Aelyx and Cara must fight harder than ever―not just for their future, but for the survival of both their worlds.

My Review

I did it. I finally finished this trilogy after having United on my shelf for over four years! And overall, it was a good conclusion to the young adult sci-fi series.

United starts with Aelyx and Cara on their new colony planet. They're trying to lead calm lives on this new colony when, of course, disaster strikes. Unfortunately, I didn't remember much from books one and two besides Aelyx, Cara, and Cara's family, so I didn't recall all of the side characters like Elle and Aisly very easily. Though, it was pretty easy to pick up the plot without remembering who those characters were.

The series is told in Aelyx and Cara's point of views, but despite their voices not being overly different, I never got the two mixed up while reading. However, I do think it's odd that Aelyx doesn't have more original thought processes considering he's an "alien." Cara really stepped up in this installment. She took on quite a bit of responsibility, and I very much enjoyed seeing it. Though it did seem like Aelyx didn't get as much time to shine or do anything major related to the plot with this addition.

As for the actual plot, it was a satisfying conclusion. Lots of aliens and political drama. I actually wanted to bump up the star rating at one point, just because the ending of the book was so good, and I was enjoying myself so much. Sadly, I couldn't make myself go up another star, as the beginning and middle were a bit too large in scope and too choppy. It's kind of hard to explain. You'll just have to trust me that though this book starts out all over the place, things slow down and the action starts coming together in those final chapters.

All in all, the Alienated trilogy is a quick, fun series. It's very reminiscent of Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series as well as the CW television show, Starcrossed. So if you're a fan of those or even Roswell or Roswell: New Mexico, you might enjoy Melissa Landers's trilogy.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.