Review: The Host by Stephanie Meyer

The Host

About the Book:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

My Thoughts:

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this story. Having read the Twilight series and had mixed emotions, I was uncertain whether to try this one. But hearing more and more news about the movie intrigued me, so I picked it up from the library. I'm glad I did! Ms. Meyer certainly has a unique premise here. Two conscious minds in one body, or should I say "souls"? Wanda is definitely a very unique being and her struggle between herself and her rising love for these humans is quite fascinating. And watching Melanie and Wanda find out about each other and slowly come to understand and care for one another was well done. Watching as Jeb and Jamie and the few others come to know and care for Wanda was nice also. The relationships, and how the characters interact with one another, is really where the strength of this story lies. The world this is set in causes people to forge relationships that may not have happened before and do things they wouldn't have dreamed of doing before either. People's strengths and weaknesses are more widely known simply because they have to be to survive. There aren't any major tension-filled moments; you know things will end happily for everyone, so it's all the little moments strung together that make it enjoyable. Ms. Meyer may not be the best writer I've ever read, but she knows how to hook me in and make me want to find out what happens next. The problems I had are the same as her other books, many little details are glossed over. There are so many details left out and other information about these aliens that I wish could have been expounded on. And the love story portions are a little crazy and a little cute and a whole lot of insta-love. Which means that they work while you're reading it, as long as you don't look too deep and try to analyze anything.

It was a fun read! I'm glad I finally picked it up and it's the kind of story that I might want to re-read every once in a while. Definitely enjoyable while it lasted but not any sort of award winner. It's different from her other series, so if you haven't read it yet you should certainly try it yourself! :)

A Passage For You:

"This shouldn't have felt like a betrayal, the idea of continuing on my right and proper course. My first language, the true language of the soul that was spoken only on our planet of origin, had no word for betrayal or traitor. Or even loyalty-because without the existence of an opposite, the concept had no meaning.
And yet I felt a deep well of guilt at the very idea of the Seeker. It would be wrong to tell her what I knew. Wrong, how? I countered my own thought viciously. If I stopped here and listened to the seductive suggestions of my host, I would truly be a traitor. That was impossible. I was a soul.
And yet I knew what I wanted, more powerfully and vividly than anything I had ever wanted in all the eight lives I'd lived."

Toodle-loo kangaroos!