The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host
by Stephenie Meyer

Adult Science Fiction
619 pages, hardcover
Target Reader: Adult

Little, Brown and Company
978-0316068048
Release Date: May 6, 2008



From the publisher:

Earth has been invaded by aliens. The war is over and we lost.

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. 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.

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.

Download an excerpt.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I loved The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I've read her Twilight books, and aside from the fact that they're romance and Bella is an idiot, I've liked them just fine. In fact, I liked them well enough to create fragrances for some of the characters. But I'm not going to stand in line at midnight to get book #4. (Oh, wait. Actually, I am—but only because my sister and some other friends are having a Girls Night Out on the evening of the debut and we've decided to include that in our plans. But I digress.)

But this one? The Host? I'll stand in line at midnight for the sequel! (Okay, no. I probably won't because I turn into a pumpkin around 10:00 p.m. BUT I'll be at Wal-Mart around 6:00 a.m. to get my reserved copy.)

Anyway, back to the book itself. I loved it. Oh, yeh. I said that already.

This is billed as a romance, a love-triangle, but for me there was enough thrills and excitement, suspense, and action that I totally didn't mind the brief kissy-face interludes. Told from Wanderer's perspective, this is a great look at interaction between species, and what it means to be human. Sometimes the pace is a bit slow, but I liked that. For me, that was part of it's charm. It gave me some space to breathe in between the tension.

And I loved the way she ended chapter 58. I'm all, "What the HECK?!" It can't end this way. Thank goodness I turned the next two pages. (Stephenie's kind of clever that way.)

I found this story to have interest and depth. The characters were well-formed and consistent. The plot and logic worked for me. I just really liked it. It's going on my list of all-time favorites. I even have two copies of it—one of my daughter's gave it to me for Mother's Day, and then I got a signed copy when Stephenie Meyer came to town. My sister stood in line to get her's autographed and got one for me as well. (Thanks so much!)

I absolutely LOVED this book and give it a resounding 5 out of 5!

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Content Ratings

Language: I don't remember any swearing, but there might have been one or two mild words. Nothing I wouldn't let my teenagers read.

Violence: There's conflict with the aliens who take over the humans. Some fist fights, etc. But it's not bad.

Drugs/Alcohol:

Immorality:

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Age Appropriate: For adults but older teens might like it.

Writing Mechanics: Much, much better than her writing in the Twilight saga.

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