The Host by Stephenie Meyer
A Blog with Bite Adult Feature
Book synopsis: The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. But Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. 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. (Goodreads)
Meyer’s takes paranormal romance into alien territory and for all of you who hate sci-fi will be pleasantly surprised by this mature and thought provoking thriller. Silvery wiggly parasites have invaded planet earth; in their quest for world domination they insert themselves into human brains thus making the human brain completely dormant while they remain a host for the “soul”. The positives: the alien species have cured cancer, diseases, wars, and have made planet earth a peaceful place to be. The negatives: they have taken over a human’s ability for free will and self-thinking.
Human’s fight back- by running, fighting and hiding. The remaining earthlings (the ones who haven’t been caught yet) do not want to be infected, especially Melanie Stryder who cares for her little brother Jamie and meets Jared (her future man) within the first few chapters. Is it me or does Ms. Meyers have a thing for the older man? She’s brave and has a kick-butt exterior, and she refuses to surrender, even after she is captured and becomes a host for Wanderer.
Once Wanderer is inserted into Melanie she knows something isn’t right, the human feelings and essence is so strong that as time goes by Melanie's memories become Wanderer's and soon she becomes overwhelmed with longing for the people she loves. Melanie, who left behind Jamie and Jared, misses them terribly and soon Wanderer and Melanie begin working together to track down Melanie's loved ones, but when they find them, Wanderer is not accepted. She’s beaten, even punched in the face by Jared….(GASP) and thrown in a cave. The hidden remnant of humans hate Wanderer and don’t trust her, what they don’t realize- Melanie is alive and well hidden inside the depths of Wanda’s soul, where Wanda is the visitor in Melanie’s body.
Romantic, tender and non-stop alien action!! Actually there is no alien action; this is not your usual hard-core Sci-fi. The story is told through Wanderers perspective with Melanie battling it out inside her mind. It also centers more on relationships and the lengths we will go to save another. Much of the book deals with Melanie and Wanda's complicated love triangle with Melanie's Jared and Wanda's new love interest Ian. Meyer’s writing was beautiful; I was surprised at such a mature and more seasoned flare to her storytelling. Meyer’s strength is of course her characters and Wanda is the strength of The Host. She is constantly pulled between her duty as a Soul and the compassion she develops for Melanie and the other humans.
Swearing is minimal and the most graphic scene is a steamy kiss. Recommended for teens and adults alike.
5/5 Sci-Fi, Romance
4/4 Blog with Bite
BWB Discussion Questions
1. Have you read Twilight? How did The Host compare to Meyer's YA series? I loved the Twilight series, and just like with The Host, Meyers' characters are what I became attached to. I thought The Host was much better written than Twilight due to I felt Meyers found her style and the writing seemed more mature and much more seasoned. I still think Edward is my favorite Meyer character.
2. A lot of readers have expressed dislike for the immense amount of inner dialogue in The Host. Did you feel the novel lacked action? No way- I thought the inside dialog was very intense, I have no idea how they are going to pull this off as a movie but thats the one aspect I loved about The Host was all the inner-struggling.
3. Do you feel the ending hinted at a sequel? If so, would you read The Host #2? Yeah I think a sequel is on the horizon, I think the book would have been more dramatic had Wanda died.....but......Ms. Meyers' loves happy and I like happy too so for sure I would read it...and anything else Stephenie writes!!
1. Have you read Twilight? How did The Host compare to Meyer's YA series? I loved the Twilight series, and just like with The Host, Meyers' characters are what I became attached to. I thought The Host was much better written than Twilight due to I felt Meyers found her style and the writing seemed more mature and much more seasoned. I still think Edward is my favorite Meyer character.
2. A lot of readers have expressed dislike for the immense amount of inner dialogue in The Host. Did you feel the novel lacked action? No way- I thought the inside dialog was very intense, I have no idea how they are going to pull this off as a movie but thats the one aspect I loved about The Host was all the inner-struggling.
3. Do you feel the ending hinted at a sequel? If so, would you read The Host #2? Yeah I think a sequel is on the horizon, I think the book would have been more dramatic had Wanda died.....but......Ms. Meyers' loves happy and I like happy too so for sure I would read it...and anything else Stephenie writes!!
I really enjoyed the Twilight Series, so I waited about a year before picking up The Host. I was pleasantly surprised! It took me a while to get into it, but then I had a difficult time setting it down. I love your review. :) It was such a heart-wrenching novel for me. Lot's of ethical questions to think on, even after the book had ended.
ReplyDeleteI did not like Twilight at all. But I really have enjoyed "The Host" so far. I'm about halfway through. So I tried not to read the whole synopsis you wrote. I don't want to know ahead of where I am. :-) But I've found the writing style to be different enough in this book that I could handle it. I think it was Bella in Twilight that I didn't like. So now that Bella's gone, I'm good. :-)
ReplyDeleteI read this one, and enjoyed it too. However, I find it a little disgusting that Ian can kiss Wanda even when she's in different bodies.
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