Pages (Paperback): 619 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Released: May 6, 2008
Quick Thoughts: I've owned this book for awhile now, but didn't read it. I'm not sure why, perhaps it was the page count that always made me look at another book. Then I read Twilight, soon after I read the rest of the books in the series. After I finished them, I decided that I need to read The Host.
Review: Meet the Wanderer, an alien being that travels the planets, never settling for one place or another. Her race, called Souls, have survived by becoming parasite like creatures that take over their host's body. Now on earth, the Wanderer is placed inside a human named Melanie.
Normally, the souls completely take over, but when the Wanderer hears Melanie's thoughts, she knows something isn't right. The two can't stand each other and rightfully so. Melanie wants her mind and body back and the Wanderer wants her body to be free of it's former host.
That all changes when the Wanderer sees Melanie's life and realizes she can't inform her companions of Melanie's family. Despite herself, she's loves Melanie's brother, Jamie, and Melanie's love interest, Jared. So the two hatch a plan to leave the compound and seek them out.
Their arrival to the humans isn't a smooth one and it isn't easy for both of them to witness the brutality of their 'family.' But the more the Wanderer, now dubbed Wanda by the humans, stays with her new friends, the more she can't help but want to be a part of them. But will the two species be able to cohabitate together? Or will the war between them continue?
Final Thoughts: When I first started to read The Host, it reminded me of the manga, Parasyte by Iwaaki Hitoshi. Both have very simple ideas, but take it to a whole other level. Both stories deal with parasite like creatures invading their hosts, but messing up, causing the the human and alien to join forces. Parasyte is more about the psychological aspect of this, while The Host is more about the journey one alien takes to find themselves.
Wanderer is a fantastic character, completely different from Bella, Wanda is sympathetic, caring, and yet completely aware of herself. She knows she won't be accepted very easily and despite this, she continues trucking along so that others can acknowledge that she means no harm.
The love triangle, or should I say square? Was actually quite interesting to read. I personally dislike the use of love triangles in a story, because more often than not, the girl will string along both guys and be stupid about it. Plus, there is always cheating involved and I find it hard to respect a character like that. However with The Host, it made sense. Melanie is in love with Jared. Wanda loves Jared, due to Melanie's thoughts, but finds herself falling for Ian. It's not really a love triangle/square in the tradition sense, but it ends up being that way due to Wanda and Melanie sharing the same body.
The writing style was what blew me away though. It's the same, but completely different from how Meyer's wrote the Twilight series. I've read that she was targeting adults with this book and I guess that somehow made her novel jump out more. Her writing suits this kind of story and themes than it did with vampires. It's a shame though, because I want to read more of Meyer's adult novels now.
This is a real treat and I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this. I need more Stephenie Meyer! :p
Grade: 10 out of 10
ps. Pick up Parasyte by Iwaaki Hitoshi, tis a fantastic manga and one that will make you think.
Was this a little too much, if so check out the smaller review at 5 Line Reviews
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