Review - It's Not Unusual To Be Loved by an Alien by Chloe Archer

River is a huge science fiction nerd. He also believes that aliens live amongst humans on Earth, and he's now convinced his new neighbor is one of them. When the neighbor drives off in the middle of the night, River and his uncle follow him out to the Nevada desert. What they find there will change River forever.

This book is a hilarious romp about extraterrestrials living and working alongside humans on Earth. The story is clearly inspired in large part by the movie “Men in Black,” which is definitely acknowledged. You will certainly need to be up to speed on all the popular science fiction movies and television shows to get all the references River makes.

It's impossible not to like River. He seems to have a boundless supply of snark. And questions. He always has lots of questions. Sometimes, they are even pertinent to the task he is tackling. Half of the story is from River's point of view. It's clear early in the story that there's more to River than even he knows about. You'll probably have a good idea of the gist of what makes River different long before it's revealed near the end of the book.

Kai is the straight man (figuratively speaking) to River's hilarity. Half of the book is told from his point of view, so we get to know him quite well. Kai is just the right counterpoint to River's unbridled enthusiasm. He also has a family that provides a lot of additional color as well as foils for River.

This is the start of an ongoing series that is clearly meant to be read in order. While this first book introduces the main characters, it doesn't resolve all the plot lines that emerge. I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series soon.

“It's Not Unusual To Be Loved by an Alien” is available from Amazon (commissionable link).