The Host: A Novel

I was introduced to Stephenie Meyer through her other series, Twilight, which I absolutely love. When I heard she was writing another book I excited to read it and I wasn't dissapointed.

The Host is dynamic and intriguing, many times I didn't want to put it down because I had to find out what would happen next. It does take a few chapters to get into the book but it's well worth it to keep reading.

The characters become real and you find yourself loving Jeb and Ian and Jamie and Wanda and Jared and everyone else as you continue reading. I don't want to give too much away but the characters act human and they do change; it's such a journey they all go on.

If you are a fan of Twilight you might have a harder time seperating the stories, the only advice I can give you is don't read this and Twilight at the same time, that's the mistake I made.

This is one book that I will read again and again.

Oh my gosh. I love this book. It's strange really, for some reason, I never really had any particular interest in The Host. Like many, I've become addicted to the Twilight Series, but the book description of The Host never really perked my interest. Based on the fact that I knew Stephenie Meyer was an excellent writer, I decided to give it a try. Even up to about the first 30 pages or so, I still wasn't totally into reading the novel. Then... something changed. I don't know when, where or why, but all of a sudden I was frozen, with the book in my hands, unable to do anything else. It's 3:10am. I just finished. Being as there are about 700 summaries already of the book, I won't bore you with all of that. All I can say is that I think I like this book better than Twilight. Gasp! I know. It's true. Man, I love Ian.

The Host is bestselling author Stephanie Meyer's (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse) first foray into the world of adult fiction, and distictly different from her renowned Twilight series. This sci-fi flavored novel takes place in a not-too-distant future, where a species of parasitic aliens has seized control of almost every human body on earth, erasing their hosts' memories in the process. Not surprisingly, a small contingent of humans resists this invasion, fights back, and conceals their existence from this new order.

Interestingly, instead of these "rebel" humans, Meyer chooses to write from the viewpoint of "Wanderer", one of the aliens (called "Souls") who is implanted into the body of Melanie Stryder, a captured rebel. Her assignment is to probe Melanie's memories for clues as to her friends' whereabouts, but she soon learns that Melanie's consciousness is still present, and her memories are far too strong for her to betray those whom her host body loved. Eventually, instead of hunting for them, she ends up joining them, and her search for acceptance among Melanie's friends (as both a Soul and a human, sharing the same body) makes up the bulk of the novel.

There's a reason I called this novel "sci-fi flavored". Unlike many works of speculative fiction, Meyer chooses to focus on the emotional and psychological lives of her characters, as opposed to the futuristic setting and its backstory - just as she did in Twilight. If you were a fan of that book's intense romantic elements, have no fear - there's plenty of pining and yearning here too, though I think her depiction of love has become much more nuanced - I rarely found myself rolling my eyes this time around. Ultimately, though, this book is about what makes humanity beautiful, in spite of our flaws.

The main characters themselves are a bit on the simplistic side, but eminently likable. Most interesting are the thoughts of Wanderer herself, who, as an alien, views the human race with the eyes of an outsider, with alternating awe, sympathy, and disgust, even as she begins to develop a love all her own for her new "family". Perhaps the book's biggest problem is its length - more than 624 pages, some of which I felt were little else but filler to make the story feel more "epic". Still, Meyer knows how to punctuate her tale with genuine suspense in the right spots, and the delightfully ambiguous ending leaves room for a sequel, which I think I would very much enjoy.

In short, The Host is a nice change of pace in Science Fiction that made for some entertaining subway reading.

I went in skeptical and loved the book. The only low point was when Wanderer went completely out of character in her "best story". Other then that the book was one of my favorets. I'm a very particular reader and have a hard time finding books I like. I would recommend this one as a must read.

Stephenie Meyer does it again. A very enjoyable and engaging read, only thing it was over too quick. Maybe she will gift us with a sequel? Glad she is a young author hopefully prolific look forward to future books.