Review: Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky (Blog Tour)

Title: Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences
Author: Brian Yansky
Available: Now
Reading Level: Young Adult




4.5 out of 5 Stars










Description from Goodreads:


A polite race of telepathic killer aliens, a ten-second world conquest, and one teenage boy collide in this wry, gutsy adventure.

Jesse is in history class when a formidable, efficient race of aliens quietly takes over the earth in less time than it takes him to brush his teeth. Most humans simply fall asleep and never wake up. In moments, everyone Jesse knows and loves is gone, and he finds that he is now a slave to an inept alien leader. On the bright side, Jesse discovers he’s developing telepathic powers, and he’s not the only one. Soon he’s forging new friendships and feeling unexpectedly hopeful. When a mysterious girl appears in his dreams, talking about escaping, Jesse begins to think the aliens may not be invincible after all. But if Jesse and his friends succeed, is there anywhere left to go? Brian Yansky offers a funny, grim novel packed with everything boys and sci-fi fans love: aliens, humor, action, and a healthy dose of triumph.


My thoughts:


Jesse finds himself among the small group of survivors left after Earth is invaded by aliens. His classification as superior product lands him an assignment living at the alien leaders’s home. While there he meets other survivors (also superior product), and friendships are formed. They hope for escape and survival, but know breaking through the alien security measures would be impossible. When Jesse begins to visit a girl in his dreams, who just happens to have inside info about the aliens, his dream of escape starts to feel possible.


Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences is a fast paced, and engaging read. At just 240 pages I was relieved it didn’t have the issues with plot pacing, and lack of character development that I’ve run into with other books of similar length. It wasn’t rushed, and the characters felt like friends by the time I reached the end. The ending left me to hope we might see more of Jesse and his friends in future books.


Jesse is a great main character. I enjoyed reading from his point of view, and found his alternate swear words hilarious. Some of the situations were a little darker than I’d anticipated, but there was enough fun to balance it out nicely. Reading the correspondence between head alien, and the important people back on the home planet, Sanginia, was a great addition. It was nice to know what was going on with both sides of the battle. 


Even if you don’t think aliens are your thing, I’d recommend giving this one a try. It’s a fantastic story of survival, and has a great message when it comes to how we treat our planet. Maybe the fear of alien takeover is just the motivation we need to be more environmentally conscious.

Brian Yansky on the web:

Website

Other stops on the Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences blog tour can be found here. Author Brian Yansky will be here tomorrow to offer advice on how to prepare for an alien invasion. You don’t want to miss it!

Source:  The Teen Book Scene