The Host

Okay, I like the concept. Point for that, Stephenie. I mean, seriously. Weird silver alien things that possess human beings and stuff? YES, I like it.

But the sappy love stuff? No. Just. No. It was more of that same old, same old, you know, in those horrible books where the girl doesn't do anything except obsess over the guy, who, let's face it, might be handsome but has a total lack of emotion. It was a little more interesting with the whole alien thing though... Anyway. I'll explain more later in this review.

So. Flash forward a bit into the future... And we meet these alien things called souls, who can't do anything themselves, but they can possess other bodies and take over their thoughts and stuff. We meet our main character, who doesn't really have a fixed name, but they call her Wanderer on Earth, because she's been through nine lives without settling down. Right now she's occupying a body of a human girl called Melanie.

What Wanderer doesn't expect is to encounter resistance, to hear Melanie's voice inside her. Melanie just doesn't want to back down. And through her, Wanderer learns of a human resistance, somewhere in the desert. She also learns of Jared, the guy who Melanie obsesses over, and Jamie, her little brother.

So flash forward maybe a hundred pages (I'm not kidding people, this book is six hundred pages long. Not one for the light-hearted.) and Wanderer has discovered the human resistance. Then she gets captured and kept under lock and key with lots of hostility.

And then of course, there's this whole dilemma about Melanie and Wanderer both loving the same person, who hates Wanderer, and another guy loving Wanderer, and lots of people trying to kill her rather than accept her, and so on.

Now I will explain more about this whole love-triangle. It was quite interesting, with Wanderer loving the same person as Melanie, but they shared the same body, and so that made it a bit difficult. But really? There was this whole thing that you get with a lot of sappy books like "Oh, I love you so much" and "I would die to protect you" and "Oh no, you can't handle this by yourself, I need to come along and protect you because you are much too soft and unprotected. You certainly are uncapable of keeping yourself safe." And then the whole "No! don't go Jared! (the guy) i love you too much even though I don't know why the hell why I do, I just do, probably because you are so cute, even though you have ABSOLUTELY NO PERSONALITY AT ALL!!!" (fine, she didn't say that).

I liked the concept though, as I said before. It was really interesting, especially being inside Wanderer's head and knowing how she felt, what she thought, the whole way through.

I must say, at the start I was worried that this was going to be just six hundred pages of nothing-ness, but I have never finished a book, so I kept pushing on.

So, to sum it up, this was a great book, just please, Stephenie. No more of the lovey-sappiness.

Reader reviewed by Marina

When i first started reading this book, i was very confused. But then, as i took it slower to let my mind process it, i started to enjoy it, and couldn't put it down. This book to me was a spine chilling thriller. In some parts i laughed, cried, and was literally hanging of my seat from being nervous. Stephenie Meyer has suck good writing in her books. If you haven't rad this book-do so now.

Reader reviewed by whatofwonderland

A wonderful book that tells a tale of our world, through the eyes of another. Another creature, that is. I loved this book for it's story line and thought it to be creative. It helped expand my imagination! If you enjoy happy endings then this will be a great read for you. The beginning starts off VERY slowly, so patience will be required to read this book. Also, it can be confusing at parts, so be sure you're reading dilligently, and not just skimming through!

Reader reviewed by Pally

Hooked on Stephenie Meyer, but can't wait until August for Breaking Dawn, the next and final installment in the Twilight series? Look no further than Meyer's May release, The Host. The Twilight saga has often been described as vampire fiction for people who dont like vampires. It is fair to say that with The Host, her latest novel, Meyer has once again managed to break the usual genre conventions - this time writing a science fiction novel for people who dont like sci-fi.
    The Host introduces us to an Earth where the humans have been subject to some unwelcome visitors, planet-hopping parasites who are in the habit of subtly taking over worlds by inserting themselves into more and more host bodies. Sound slightly familiarinvasion of the Body Snatchers, perhaps? When Melanie Stryder, an outcast-rebel, formerly part of a resistance group, is injected with an 'soul' by the name of Wanderer, her spirit refuses to fade away. On the other hand, Wanderer is an ancient soul has been around the galaxy a while, and is regarded by her species as a bit of a legend. However, Melanie is. A combination of the two, then, is clearly going to be a battle of wills. What surprises Wanderer is that Melanie refuses to be subsumed by her presence, managing instead to co-exist in the same body. Wanderer is enthralled by the passion and the emotion of Melanies personality, and so agrees to this co-existence, actually using Melanies feelings and memories to gain a greater experience of human life. This involves Jared, an old lover who still lives free, but in hiding. Melanie/Wanderer (soon to be Wanda) go in search of Jared and Melanies younger brother Jamie. In the thick of the Arizona desert they are captured, and&well, to tell the rest would spoil things.
    Unlike the most popular alien invasion movies and science fiction TV shows, The Host doesnt have Will Smith or Richard Dean Anderson to save the planet against a background of gun fire, secret weapons and loud explosions. Instead The Host envisions a time when humanity is lost, vastly outnumbered and stealthily overwhelmed by superior technology. There are tiny pockets of resistance left, just a handful of humans who havent yet been captured, but they dont spend their days plotting to retake the planet from the aliensjust surviving consumes all their time.
    All in all, the novel is a celebration of love, human experience as seen through the filter of an outsider and a plea for the acceptance and tolerance of outsiders. Although the narrative is straightforward and the plot perhaps a little predictable, Meyer brings new meaning to the term 'of two minds' and explores a more emotional level of science fiction.  Possibly the largest similarity between The Host and the authors Twilight series is the character of Wanderer. She has something Bellaesque going onit is the way that they are both enormously self sacrificing. In fact, Wanderers alien nature makes her even more self sacrificing than Bella which means that she needs others to look out for her and take care of her since she has little instinct for self preservation. If I was pushed to use a stereotype, I suspect that those who have read the Twilight series and are now looking for something longer, a little deeper and a little more complex (but not too deep nor too complex) and not too sci-fi, would enjoy this one. This is not Twilight, but the growth of a writer.
    The Host will definitely not disappoint Stephenie Meyer fans, although it may not receive as much acclaim as Twilight. Billed as her first novel for adults, the novel nevertheless retains Meyer's sense of decorum when it comes to relationships - while the tension between romantic interests is strong and helps push the plot along, there is no graphic sexuality. But it's the threat of danger from both the parasite world and the human world that kept me turning pages, and makes The Host another quick Stephenie Meyer read - not because it's short (clocking in at around 630 pages), but because it's difficult to put down

Reader reviewed by Dede

The Host is a novel about alien invasion very different from Hollywood versions. Small "souls" are imbedded in humans and take over the body and mind. It happens fast, and most of the earth is "taken" and implanted before they realize what is going on. You can tell from surgical marks on the back of the neck and a reflection in the eyes. There are a few survivors that must live in hiding. Melanie is one of these until she gets caught by seekers and is implanted with the soul Wanderer. But Melanie doesn't give up and fights for control of her body and mind. Wanderer has never had to deal with this and is confused, scared and embarrassed. Wanderer can see all of Melanies' thoughts, memories, etc. and starts to fall for Jared, the man Melanie loves. They set off "together" to try to find him and Melanie's younger brother. They find them with Melanie's uncle in a hidden maze of caves. At first, they don't trust her, they believe she is an alien spy because she is obviously infected. As Wanderer tries to deal with her emotions - curiousity, anger, fear, understanding, compassion, the humans begin to accept her and believe that Melanie is still fighting. Melanie and Wanderer bond and try to live with eachother and the different emotions they must share. The talk about the Wanderer being so innocent, sincere, perfect, etc gets old at times and some things she thinks/does don't make sense but it is a really good story with a really good ending.

Reader reviewed by Booked Books

Humans' worst fear have come true: aliens have won the invasion against Earth. These aren't just aliens; they are parasitical aliens also known as "souls". These souls need to invade humans and take over their minds in order to survive. When Melanie's mind is taken over by a soul named Wanderer, Melanie refuses to vanish. Instead, she still lives within her mind, while Wanderer is occupying it at the same time. Through browsing Melanie's memories, Wanderer learns of two humans who have yet to succumb to the souls; in other words, these two humans have yet to be invaded. One of these humans is Jared, the love of Melanie's life. Because Wanderer is in Melanie's mind, she falls in love with Jared as well. Melanie and Wanderer then set out to find Jared as well as Melanie's brother, Jamie.


When I first read the summary for this book, the first thing I thought about was Animorphs. Growing up, I love to read Animorphs, a series about a group of kids fighting mind-invading aliens called Yeerks. The idea of aliens taking over human minds is not a unique one. It has been done many times before in various science fiction stories. What I like about The Host is how Stephenie Meyer presented it from the alien's point of view rather than the human's.


One thing I noticed about The Host is its similarity to Twilight some of the characters' personalities are so alike, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same. Wanderer, without a doubt, reminded me of Bella. They're passive, altruistic, and don't fit in with their own kind - to sum it up, just dull weak characters. On encountering Jamie, the first Twilight character I thought of was Jacob Black nice and easygoing. Jared definitely reminded me of Edward with his fierceness, strength, and handsomeness. Doc's Twilight twin would be Carlisle, of course. As if the parallel characters weren't enough, even the storyline was almost alike two guys fighting over one girl with a slight twist.


The souls are not inherently wicked creatures. In fact, they are making the Earth a better place to inhabit. They were able invade because the invasion was gradual, and the souls outnumbered the humans. Wanderer's character really irritated me; I preferred Melanie over Wanderer. Wanderer's character is really too predictable she always, always does what's right for others. She has no sense of survival instinct, even when others are trying to kill and hurt her; all she does is whimper and cry. I had trouble grasping the fact that a member of an Earth-invading species has trouble defending herself.


A lot of reviews I read about this novel complained about how dull the middle is. I didn't mind that so much, though I thought some parts were really unnecessary. Melanie's initial reaction to Wanderer's and Jared's kiss was really melodramatic for me. I do think the last chapter and the epilogue should have been taken out entirely. The happy ending was too overdone corny, to be blunt.


I'm not sure why this is considered an adult novel, since it's tamer than Breaking Dawn (from what I've read so far). I actually like The Host better than the Twilight series though. When I looked past its flaws, it really was an excellent story to pass the time. It was interesting enough to keep my attention even through the melodramatic and slightly boring parts. I especially love how the aliens seem more humane than the actual humans.



Reposted from: booked-books.blogspot.com

Reader reviewed by book_reader_anonymous

I personally love stephanie meyer.
Her twilight books are AMAZING
especially cuz i never read before i got her books

and i was so in love with her writing, i decided to get The Host

And i was very confused at first with having 2 characters talking in the chapter
but after a while u get the hang of it

I would say its a little slow at first, but once you get how everything is then it's pretty interresting
her chapters go by making the beginning interresting, rest of the chapter is to inform you and then the end of the chapter she leaves you hanging for more so you just keep reading

and i sat down reading and thinking im only going to read 2 chapters and ended up reading about 8 chapters in the end

i was, in the end, hooked on this book