Friday, October 31, 2014

Book review: The Host

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Description from Goodreads (below) can be found here along with other reviews. Add me on Goodreads!

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature,The Host is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.


I am not afraid to admit that I read the entire Twilight series. It and its author, Stephanie Meyer, have gotten a bad rap. (Not saying it’s deserved or undeserved.) But I heard great things about Meyer’s other book, The Host, from many people, including my little sister, so I had to give it a shot.

I LOVED it.

The Host is set in the future, several years after an alien society has taken over earth. The aliens use human bodies as Hosts -- they do not live on their own on earth outside of the human bodies they take. When they take a body, the person inside essentially just goes away…

For most people.
The Host is the story of Wanderer, an alien, and Melanie, the person whose body Wanderer takes -- a person who doesn’t disappear.

It’s hard to say much without giving anything away. The interactions between Melanie and Wanderer are awesome -- Laugh out loud funny occasionally and heartbreaking at other moments. There’s tension and romance and life-or-death suspense. I found myself crying in public as I finished this book on the bus.

It is maybe a liiiiittle long… in the same way as when you leave a movie and think, well that lasted longer than it needed to but still love it. I gave it five stars.

Have any of you read The Host? What did you think?


6 comments:

Amy said...

ok so i'm almost done with this book - i'm listening ot it on CD.
i agree with you, it is a little long but it is SO GOOD!

Tamara said...

The Host is where it's at. I read the Twilight Saga and loved it so naturally I wanted to read The Host, and it beats Twilight every time. Exactly what you said about the interaction between Mel & Wanderer - is just awesome.
They also made a movie I think a couple years ago, or maybe last year? But it stayed pretty true to the book and wasn't bad at all. I would totally recommend it.

Genna said...

Ahhh I love your reviews. They always give me great new reads :)

Danavee said...

Agree that is was too long, drawn-out........had some really slow moments. BUT in the end, I loved it.

Anonymous said...

I don't normally watch the movie first, but I saw it on Netflix and caved. I liked the premise a lot so I'm really interested in getting to the book.

Genna said...

Honestly I wouldn't have even known it was the same author. I'm only about halfway through but I'm loving the book!

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