The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer
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Book Reviews of The Host: A Novel
Book Review: Intriguing novel, excellent story
Summary: 5 Stars
The Host by Stephanie Meyer was an intriguing novel with themes to capture almost any reader. While the primary genre is science fiction, the book features an incredible story about love, acceptance, and unity. In the novel, aliens called souls invade Earth. These aliens take human hosts in which they live. Souls continue to live and act in accordance to human practices and habits, but without violence. They keep the memories of their human hosts, but the hosts' personalities and consciousness are completely suppressed. The souls each have assigned duties, for example, Seekers are souls charged with hunting "wild humans."
The story begins after the souls have infiltrated Earth, but some humans still hide and remain uninfluenced by them. Twenty year old Melanie Stryder leaves Jamie, her younger brother, and Jared, the man she loves, to go find her cousin, whom she believes is still human. While away, she is discovered by Seekers so she jumps down an empty elevator shaft in an attempt to commit suicide and protect Jamie and Jared because she knows that they will be found if the Seekers retrieve her memory. Healers, which are like doctors, mend her injuries and she is inserted with a soul named Wanderer.
Shortly after insertion, Wanderer realizes that Melanie is still there in her mind. She can hear Melanie's thoughts and they are able to communicate with one another...two consciousnesses in one body. Naturally, Melanie is not pleased with the situation and tries desperately to regain control of her body, but fails. Wanderer, realizing that this is abnormal, seeks help to remove Melanie's consciousness so that she can live a normal life on Earth. Much to her dismay, a Seeker takes advantage of every moment to hassle her and further solidify Wanderer's own beliefs that she is not normal.
Wanderer accesses many of Melanie's memories. She sees Jamie and Jared. She relives the first time Melanie met Jamie. Her human body overwhelms her with emotions which are so new to her. Wanderer knows she should turn the information from the memories over to the Seekers so they can find Jared and Jamie, but she can't. She is affected by Melanie's memories and soon they are united by common emotions...their love for Jared and Jamie and their hatred of the Seeker who is convinced Wander is hiding something.
Wanderer goes to the desert to seek out a rebel colony using clues which Melanie's Uncle Jeb left. Unfortunately, by cooperating they are alienated from both their peoples. They cannot stay with the souls and are feared and hated by the humans, including Jared. Wanderer must fight for acceptance by the humans, both for herself as a soul and for Melanie's body. She must also deal with the confusion of Melanie's body being drawn toward Jared, while she, the soul, begins to fall in love with Ian, one of the other human rebels.
An interesting aspect of this book is that much if it is told from the perspective of the alien soul, Wanderer, while she is inside Melanie's body. Meyer uses this to present an interesting way in which others, perhaps even aliens, would view the human race. Her use of Wanderer as a narrator helps draw attention to many of the human phenomena which are rarely acknowledged but so important in creating who we are.
I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. Science fiction is usually not my genre of choice, but The Host was wonderful in that it presented a story line based on science fiction, but didn't place it as the focus of the novel. More emphasis was placed on the characters and emotions rather than the alien technology. Meyer tells an amazing story and does a great job of developing each of the characters in a way that grasps the audience's attention and helps each reader to connect with the characters. The novel was very enjoyable and not difficult to read. I was also pleased that the content and language was clean and quite appropriate for both teens and adults.
Book Review: One Fantastic Book for your Heart AND Soul
Summary: 5 Stars
In a time when Earth has been almost completely taken over by aliens, there were a few rebel Humans left in existence. The aliens, or Souls, have done a systematic take-over of this planet. They are a parasitic creature that can not live without a Host body. When they are inserted in a human body, their "soul" takes over. You can tell by the silver that shines in their eyes.
Wanderer is unlike most souls. She has lived on 8 other planets in 8 other host bodies. And yet, she has never found a place that she could truly envision herself at home. Hence, the name Wanderer.
Melanie was a rebel human. Along with her little brother Jamie, and her true-love Jared, she was carving out a small existence for herself. But when she saw on the news a person that looked like her cousin Sharon, she knew she had to find her and see if she was still human. That's why she went to Chicago in the first place. But when she was caught by the Seekers, the souls that were scouring the planet for the last of the humans, she knew she would rather die than become one of THEM. Unfortunately for her, the attempt of suicide failed. Her body was healed, and Wanderer was inserted into her body.
But unlike all the other Hosts that Wanderer had taken over, she couldn't lose Melanie. Melanie was such a strong human, she refused to let Wanderer completely take over. Mel was still there with her, talking to her and making her miserable. Wanderer knew all of Mel's memories and feelings. As much as Mel tried to block her thoughts, Wanderer would dream of Jared and Jamie. Soon, Wanderer finds herself longing to find the Humans that meant so much to Mel. On a trip to Tuscon, Mel remembers a map that her Uncle Jeb had drawn for her, and the two of them set off to find out if Jared and Jamie have survived.
But when Wanderer is found by the group of rebel Humans that include her family and friends, it isn't pretty. No one is sure what to do. They want to hate the alien that has taken over Mel. But things are not always as it seems. And Wanderer isn't the typical soul.
Can I tell you now how much I LOVED this book?? Although sci-fi in nature, it is so much more than that. It's a story of love and understanding, acceptance and humanity. This book is so deep and so beautiful that I'm having a hard time putting down in words my feelings for it. Melanie is such a strong human, but there were times that I just wanted to throttle her. She had become jaded and pessimistic during the occupation....and rightfully so. But she didn't think things through very well. Wanderer was such a beautiful and kind soul. Altruistic was a word that was used frequently, and for good reason. She would rather die than cause pain to other person or soul.
The cast of characters in this book is large, but my favorite would have to be Ian. He was one of the rebels that initially wanted to kill Wanderer. But spending time with the soul, he realized that to be human didn't always mean being a body without an alien presence. Stephenie Meyer has put together a brilliant novel. Her focus is more on relationships than on the alien presence, and is amazing to read. And the relationships are complex. There is a really weird triangle with Melanie/Wanda/Jared. Then you thrown Ian into the mix and it gets weirder yet. There are some seriously hard scenes to read. And as the end nears, as a reader you can see how difficult it is going to be to end this story well. You come to love the soul as much as the human. In fact, they come to love each as much as they do themselves.
If you are a fan of the Twilight series, I beg you to give this book a chance. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in this story. I can't remember the last time a book completely left me so emotionally drained. I laughed, I cried, I cringed at times. But I wouldn't take back a second of it! This book was Freakin' Fantastic....and I'm telling you: GO READ THE HOST!!
Book Review: So many plot twists I got dizzy!
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow. And I thought I was imaginative. "The Host" has to be the strangest book I've read in quite some time, but also the best. Meyer weaves her tale in the midst of a terrifying backdrop, where the human race has been taken over by an alien species, "Souls," which, once implanted in to the cervical spine of their "host," take control of that person's brain, memory, and body. The invasion took place over a period of years, the implanted aliens using the stolen memories of their host's life and personality to assimilate themselves into our society until, at last, our society no longer existed.
Well, almost. A few humans were canny enough to put two and two together and retreated into the wilderness to avoid falling victim to the high-tech bodysnatchers. One such survivor is twenty-year-old Melanie, who, along with her younger brother Jamie and boyfriend Jared, has been ekeing out a fairly good existence, staying on the fringes of populated areas and out of the hands of the "Seekers," the alien equivalent of police.
All that changes when Melanie's attempt to contact a cousin she believes may still be human leads her into the hands of the Seekers. Now, Melanie becomes the host for Wanderer, a well-travelled soul who has inhabited many other lower life-forms on other planets, and looks forward to the complexities of life in this body. But Melanie refuses to cede her mind and body so easily, and an intense battle for control between Wanderer and Melanie continues for over a year.
Finally, overcome with Melanie's emotions and memories, Wanderer heads into the desert, where Melanie believes Jared and Jamie may be hiding. After nearly dying in the desert, Wanderer and Melanie are found and rescued by a group of rebels--including Jamie and Melanie's beloved Jared. Jared, however, is unable to hide his loathing for the creature who inhabits and controls his lover's body, and Wanderer, who has been deeply affected by Mel's intense love for him, feels rejected.
Gradually, though, Wanderer, now affectionately nicknamed Wanda, is accepted into the fold, and develops feelings of her own for another human rebel, Ian.
As the love quadrangle between two men, one woman, and one alien (shared out between only three bodies) intensifies, and the rebels' tenuous hold on survival weakens, Wanda is faced with a devastating choice; allow her new, beloved human family to fall victim to their greatest fear, or betray her own people by revealing the secret that could save humankind.
I cannot even begin to express how awed and impressed I was by "The Host." Meyer's talent for "humanizing" monsters, as previously demonstrated in her immensely popular "Twilight" series, is so adroit that readers may find themselves wondering whether humans wouldn't be better off in the hands of these peaceful yet egotistical interlopers. And her ability to create inner conflict and suspense is nearly matchless; I had to leave my half-finished book in my car overnight so I wouldn't be tempted to stay up all night reading. I anxiously await "Breaking Dawn," and any other novels this talented author cares to share with us.--Jacquelyn Sylvan, Author, Surviving Serendipity
Book Review: A Romantic Twist on Alien Body-Snatchers
Summary: 5 Stars
Earth has been invaded by alien life-forms. These parasitic aliens are called Souls and live in what they consider to be a peace-loving unity, similar to the way bees live in a hive together. They require Hosts in order to survive. The centipede-like body is inserted into the Hosts brain by the Healers, then the alien takes control of all functions of that body as its own and the original occupant disappears. The Souls chose to take over Earth when they noticed the violent and barbaric tendencies of the human race. They wanted to eradicate the evil and destructive ways that the humans were destroying their own planet. They wanted to bring peace back to Earth, but the Souls could not foresee one human entity, Melanie, fighting back to gain control over her body that the alien, Wanderer (Wanda), had stole.
When Wanderer (Wanda) came to Earth and was implanted into her human Host, she had no clue as what this planet would be like. She had never had a Host that had such strong emotions and desires before. She never questioned what happened to any of the Host's original occupants that was their before her, until now. When Wanda started to receive strong, emotional images from her Host's (Melanie) memories, she tried to resist and force her into disappearing, like all the rest of her Host's she had lived in before on different planets. Melanie was extremely strong-willed, determined and frantic to get her messages across and refused to disappear. Wanda had only one choice left and it was to discard this Hosts body as faulty and acquire another one. Out of desperation, Melanie released the images she was protecting from this alien, of her younger brother, Jamie and her lover, Jared. Wanda felt the desire and love Melanie had for them, as her own, and yearned to find and protect them. Melanie remembered a secret hideout in the desert that her crazy Uncle Jeb had claimed, just incase the end of the world came. She persuaded Wanda to search for the location. After almost dying of exhaustion, hunger and thirst, a group of human rebels found her and took her prisoner back to their underground cave.
Wanda is reunited with Jamie and Jared, but even though Jamie accepts Wanda for who and what she is, Jared is enraged with hate for the alien that stole his lover's body. Wanda has to prove to them that she does not want to cause any humans harm and that Melanie is still alive inside her. With few human friends at her side that trust her, she has to find out a way to control Melanie's desire for Jared, her personal feelings for Ian (her human companion and bodyguard), give hope back to the world for the human race to survive and deal with the alien Seeker that has been tracking her from the beginning.
THE HOST is the best novel by far that I have read and will bind the reader emotionally to the pages until the end. Stephenie Meyer is a wonderful, vivid and intriguing writer. THE HOST is a beautiful and romantic love story that will take the reader above the stars and into a different universe.
Stephenie Meyer is the author of the bestselling Twilight series. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three young sons. To recieve more information about her, visit her website [...]
Book Review: Blown Away
Summary: 5 Stars
Stephenie Meyer is an author with a clear voice, a great grasp of storytelling, and the ability to put a *love* into her writing that transcends anything I have ever seen before. Her maiden voyage series, the Twilight saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and soon-to-be-published Breaking Dawn) has been one of my favorite young adult series ever, and I have never been ashamed to be seen reading them, though I am 22 and have graduated from college with a degree in English: Professional and Technical Writing. I'm an *English Major*. I love to read, and I love to read good books. Until last night, I would have sworn that Stephenie, as wonderful a writer as she was in my mind, could not have done anything to top my love for the Twilight series.
The Host utterly, completely, and indisputably blows the three published Twilight books out of the water.
I love the Twilight series, I always will. But The Host is... something else entirely. Something so much deeper and broader that it is... incredible to see the development of Stephenie as a writer. If she has come *this far*, from the sweet and lovely Twilight to the stunning level of The Host, in just a few years... I truly cannot wait to see how her talents as an author will grow and continue. I have no doubt that the journey I will travel with her, as a devoted fan of her work, will be exquisite and breathtaking, heartbreaking, wrenching and beautiful and tragic - just as it has already been. She is incredible, and she will only continue to improve with time and practice.
The Host is a science fiction story, yes. But it is science fiction in the way that dissembles past all the blasters, X-wings, and space battles to return to the heart of what science fiction is: the answer to the question "What if?", using the conventions of science fiction to explore humanity in a way that would not be possible without looking at ourselves from the eyes of a sentient being who was not human.
WHAT IF a race of benevolent, altruistic, beautiful parasites invaded Earth, taking over human bodies and experiencing all the joys and pleasures and beauties of humanity while removing all sickness, all evil acts, all war and tragedy, violence and hate?
WHAT IF some human hosts were stronger than the aliens expected, stronger than the "souls" had ever encountered before? The souls were not used to our overload of senses, our physiological makeup, the power of our emotions; what if some humans, as humans must... resisted?
I cannot tell you more, because this is a story that should be savored piece by beautiful piece. Any way I tried to condense it, to *explain* it, would invariably ruin this book; I will not do that to anyone. Stephenie Meyer needed over six hundred pages to tell this story, and not a word is wasted - I cannot tell it in a paragraph, or even a page.
I am trying not to praise The Host too deeply, because I would not want anyone to read it with too high of expectations and come crashing down because it wasn't as good as the impossible, perfect novel they had thought it would be.
But I find it difficult to restrain myself, since I consider The Host pretty close to perfect.