haenj
Written on Feb 5, 2021
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.
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.
- ISBN10 0316218502
- ISBN13 9780316218504
- Publish Date 8 January 2013 (first published 1 May 2008)
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Little, Brown & Company
- Imprint Back Bay Books
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 656
- Language English
Reviews
Jane
Written on Nov 26, 2018
nitzan_schwarz
Written on Mar 8, 2017
You might be thinking to yourself; "Again, Nitzan? You read this book again". YES I READ THIS BOOK AGAIN. And you know what? Not only am I not sorry, not only did I cry all over again, not only was I anxious when the scene called for it even though I read it like a thousand times before... not only that, but I am struggling against reading it a second time right now. Just because I don't want to say goodbye to this characters and relationships just yet. How crazy is that, huh?
December 2015 Re-Read:
Re-read number I-have-no-idea and I'm still smitten with this book.
YOU CAN ALSO FIND THIS REVIEW ON MY BLOG
The Host is by far my most favorite of Meyer's novels, and one of my favorite books in general. Every time I re-read it, which I do about once a year, I am filled with the same emotions I did the very first time I looked between those pages.*
The premise of this book is like nothing I've read before. Aliens have been used and used again, but how many times do the authors make the aliens better than the humans? Make them a race that has barely any violent tendencies, that treats everyone as equals. A race that has no such concepts as thievery or crime in it.
You must be wondering what kind of conflict could exist in such a perfect world. Well, mix in some human rebels, an alien who sympathizes with them and two people living in one body and things get a lot more interesting.
Now, before starting the real review I would like to address the first 100 pages of the book, because some will find it very hard to get past them. Like my mother. Well, get past them. They are absolutely necessary to the plot, and from the second reading on I understood the real beauty and perfection of them, but they are admittedly slow. Don't give up. Read on. You won't regret it!
Now that we've got that out of the way, my absolute favorite character in this novel is Wanda, the alien main character. Wanda is a pacifist who protects who she loves fiercely and always puts them first. Even if it might have disastrous ramifications to herself. I don't always love self-sacrifice, but here it was done perfect.
The dynamics between her and Melanie were very interesting, especially because through Melanie's memories Wanda learns to love those Mel does. So while Melanie is the complete opposite of Wanda in many ways, they can both agree that their family and loved ones come first, which makes them fit like a glove despite their differences and work together.
Now, it wouldn't be a Stephenie Meyer novel without some romance in it, right? Well, there is that in this book. And I loved how it played out. At first I was very scared I will hate it because it presents itself as a very complicated love triangle at first glance, but it's not. It never was, as you come to understand at the end of this perfect novel.
Jared, Melanie's boyfriend, is one of those love interests. To summarize him - he's a jerk. Maybe not to everyone, but certainly to Wanda. Does he have an acceptable good reason? sure. but Wanda has been nothing but a doll the entire time so I really couldn't learn to like him. Especially when the only times he was nice to Wanda, it was for Melanie and no one else.
There there is Ian.
He reigns at the top of my Book Boyfriend List. As the story goes on, this character develops into one of the most wonderful, loving and kind guys I've ever read of. The guy's freaking awesome! Honestly, he is the first of the rebels to open himself to the possibility Wanda isn't bad and from then on I was in love.
Two other noteworthy characters are Jamie, Melanie's adorable brother and Jeb, the Dumbledore of this book. Wise, mysterious and eccentric, he gives Wanda the change to earn her place among the rebels and has earned my eternal love for it.
And the ending...
Everything about that ending was beautiful. From what Wanda chose to do to the proof of how much the rebels became her family - and she theirs. It was heartbreaking and courageous and stunning and sad and I can't even with this ending.
*Re-visiting this review made me unable not to re-read the book again. So... I did.
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Old Version
To read the organized version of this review and more go to my blog; Drugs Called Books!
This is one of my favorite books, and I actually like it better than Twilight. I'm not sure what I feel about the possibility of a second and third book to make this a series, because I fear it'll get ruined. I didn't feel like it needed more. Then again, I do want to read more about Wanda and everything - maybe even have a look at other rebel camps around the world like the one they meet? Possible.
So, anyway, I decided to give this a review. Keep in mind that the last time I've read this (number 5, I think) was a few months ago, so we wont get into too many specific. The next time I give this a re-read I'll update.
So, let's start -
The first time I read the book, I had a hard time with the beginning. It was like Harry Potter's few first chapter; a bit long and not very full of action. And with a book the size of The Host, it takes 100 pages to get out of it. BUT, the second time I read the book - I didn't know why I had any problem with it; the beginning suddenly became very interesting and meaningful and I read it enthusiastically - goes to show the magic of second reading.
Now, the moment Wanda is found - that's when things get interesting. I loved how this book played out; loved Wanda's personality; so might not have been violent, but she protected those she loved fiercely, on her own expense, because she cared about them so much. I don't always love self-sacrifice, but here it just fit in so nicely.
The combination between Wanda and Melanie's minds was very interesting, as the idea behind the entire book - an alien invasion were the aliens, in a way, are better than the humans; no wars, no money, no violence. Not a very interesting life, I suppose, but one could argue better.
Then there was the love in this book. Wanda fell in love with the people Melanie loved through her memories. She felt Melanie's love to them, and in turn loved them too. There was Jamie, Melanie's little brother, who she loved as her own, and then there is Jared - Melanie's boyfriend.
Wanda finds the rebel's hideout and through out the book slowly gains their trust and love - which she returns.
I loved how the romance played out (Ian for the world!)
I also liked that there was no love triangles, per se; you see, it's true we have somewhat two love interest; but it didn't feel like a love triangle. Not like Twilight, and all those. Jared was always Melanie's, and I always felt like Wanda's feeling came from Mel's. She felt everything she did - it stands to reason her feelings for Jared came from the same place. Whereas Ian... Ian slowly opened up for her, slowly fell for her and was her 100% counterpart. He fit her, and loved her - Wanda, not the Melanie still living inside her. He was always the one for her. It played out perfectly, not overdone.
I didn't like Jared as much - he was cruel to Wanda most of the time, only softening when he realized Mel was alive. All the gentle gestured were for Melanie, none for Wanda, even though Wanda is such a good and tender person.
And the conclusion, what Wanda decided to do once she realized Earth was her planet and how much everyone became family to her... it was heart breaking and beautiful and courageous and sad. And how, in the end, all those "alien haters" people came through for her...
Beautiful.
This book, for me, is beautiful.
One of my favorite scenes, by the way, is the fight with Kyle in the baths and the aftermath of it :)
I can't wait for the movie! I don't like movie renditions, most of the time, but I also can't help watching them to say "maybe, just maybe" this will be one of those I like. I do want to see who'll be Jared, Melanie/Wanda and Ian.
To read this review and more go to my blog; Drugs Called Books!
Ian!!! 3333
ammaarah
Written on Jul 12, 2014
Wanda was an extremely enjoyable character to read about. She was good and kind and cared about other people. She was extremely likeable too, but at times, I felt that she was a little too accommodating and self-sacrificing. On the other hand, we have Melanie, a person who loves to make herself known inside Wanda's head. Melanie is the exact opposite to Wanda. She is tough and fierce and extremely strong willed. Together they make a really interesting and fun combination and I couldn't help rooting for them as their bond and sisterhood friendship developed. Aside from the Wanda, I enjoyed Jeb and his really crazy attitude towards Wanda and I loved the bond between Wanda and Melanie's brother Jamie.
One thing that I was extremely conflicted about was the romance. We have Melanie and Wanda sharing the same body. Melanie is in love with Jared and Wanda seeing memories of Jared starts to kind of love him too. But later on, Wanda begins to fall a little for Ian in Melanie's body. Wow! That's really awkward. The issue that I had with the romance was that I was only cool with one part of it. We have the Mel and Jared part; Mel and Jared's relationship felt so insta-lovey. They spend four weeks together and already Mel is talking about her love for him. The reason the romance felt as though it was so fast was because it is told in two flashbacks. Jared is also 26 while Mel is 16 at the time. On the other hand, we have Ian and Wanda. It was awesome to see their friendship grow slowly into something more and watching two people with the same peaceful nature fall for each other.
This book starts painfully slowly, but after the 100 page mark, it begins to become more interesting. I felt as though the story could have been told in a lot less pages than it was. At times, the dialogue and plot felt over dramatic and sappy.
The Host isn't really a sci fi novel, because in a sci fi novel the world building is really detailed, but it is a book about the joys and pains of humanity, the trials towards acceptance and moving forward towards a peaceful world.
Jordon
Written on Apr 4, 2014
nightingalereads
Written on May 5, 2013
lirae
Written on Mar 14, 2013
ok, that's all I have to say about how much I love this book, and how much I can't wait for the next 2 to come out.
angelarenea9
Written on Aug 25, 2012
I was not sure about this book when I picked it up but I do so hope she writes a sequel!
Kelly
Written on Jul 23, 2012
ladygrey
Written on Jun 30, 2012
And once that happened, the story wasn't atrocious and the characters were pretty decent. I have to admit, I sort of like that SMeyer hates conflict more than I do, so there never is a reason to fear any bad moments or painful turns. Because in any other book when things are going along so nicely, inevitably something is going to go horribly wrong. In an SMeyer book, when you're just waiting for that painful jolt, its a tiny bump that isn't even worth a halfhearted, "oh no!"
But I can't stand her female leads (honestly, I won't deign to call them heroines). I almost never make judgments like this (if you read my reviews at all you know I'm generally objective and do my best to separate the narrative from the writing style from the author personally). But in the early days of my book club there was a question about where do you see the author in the story which was more interesting speculation than anything that could be concrete. SMeyer shows up in the unrelenting, inane passivity of her female leads. And it drives me crazy. Yes, of course, there is nobility in sacrificing yourself for someone you love when they're in danger! Throwing yourself in front of people who are obviously stronger than you and perfectly capable, running around saying, "Please let me die for you! No? ok. Can I die for you? hmm, really? How about now? Can I please die for someone!" it's not a virtue. It's stupid and Wanda is not Bella, but letting yourself get beat up and then insisting that everything is ok when people try to kill you is being a weak-willed martyr in the same, atrocious way. Grow a spine! The courage in sacrificing yourself for someone else is only interesting when you haven't been doing that exact same thing for the entire book.
That being said, I do have to give her a little bit of credit, in that even as she writes it into the depths of Wanda's character she also has someone else pointing out that it's not healthy and not a good way to live. But that barely changes the 619 pages she's written.
Oh and the immaturity! A 26-year-old man would never say things like that. And her female leads are so ridiculous in the conclusions they draw and the obstinate assumptions about people and refusing to believe anyone could genuinely love them for 400 pages. Again, I probably got numb to the immaturity of the dialog at some point but the irrational conclusions Wanda draws for the first two thirds of the book are like being trapped in the mind of a dim-witted 13-year-old girl.
Also I don't need you preaching at me how horrible humanity is. I know that. We all know that. If you're going to do some sort of dystopian future, do something interesting with it. Don't spend so much time pointing out the obvious.
Though, as much as I wanted to hate this book and give it one star and possibly not finish it, once I was really numb to her writing style I enjoyed the soft illusion of conflict and sort of liked the characters so I couldn't properly despise it.