The Alien Mind by Virginia Lori Jennings Review ~Kami

The Alien Mind by Virginia Lori Jennings Review

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16092168-the-alien-mind

http://www.amazon.com/Alien-Mind-Virginia-Lori-Jennings/dp/1480111562/ref=la_B002BMB7BQ_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1356075885&sr=1-2

This book was gifted to me by the author. Thank You!

“A group of aliens, calling themselves the Aruk, defied their home planet's government and

launched an attack on earth. In the dark of night they appeared into various houses in various towns all over the Earth. The Aruk attacked the Earth families in their homes and then kidnapped 150 children.”

The children are taught by the aliens how to use more of their brain capacity and to manifest psychic powers like telekinesis. The good aliens are from Aun, the Aunantet. Rivi can link her brain to a computer. Sarah Ernestine aka Rivinaig goes back to Earth and goes to middle school.

“You expect me to believe that you were kidnapped by aliens at the age of four. Were raised by them. Were taught how to do things using a separate part of your mind. That you've been living with aliens on an alien planet, and have only just arrived here two days ago?"

Rivi befriends a boy who is being bullied and tries to teach him to be more assertive.

This is a quick, entertaining read and I liked it a lot. Rivi's superpowers are really cool and I liked how she taught Dan to be confident.

This book is set in the near future and I thought it was a bit weird that no one seemed too upset knowing there were aliens out there and that Rivi has superpowers. She goes to meet with the U.S. President and she is treated very nicely. Typically in movies now a days, aliens are taken to Roswell and autopsied. And people who have psychic abilities are imprisoned somewhere, treated unkindly and experimented on. No one seems too terribly afraid or threatened by Rivi.

The bad aliens, the Aruk capture Rivi and Dan and torture them.

I thought it was strange that the aliens called Rivi and Dan by their Personal Pin Numbers from school. The book ends with the Aruk planning nefarious things and Rivi and Dan deciding to stop them by recruiting other children. Apparently only children have the ability to open up the unused portions of their brains.

I thought this story was really interesting and it had a lot of potential. I felt at times that the plot was scattering in several directions and I was getting a bit lost. I thought the writing was really good and uncomplicated enough to be enjoyed by 4 – 8 grade readers. I thought at times the story could have been polished a bit more to be stronger. I didn't become as connected to the characters as I would like. There was some scary parts that was drawing me in which I thought could have been expanded upon. All in all I did enjoy it and felt that it was quick light read. 3.5 stars.