The Host by Stephenie Meyer

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.

The Host written by Stephanie Meyer introduces us to a new form of an apocalypse, an alien invasion where aliens are inserted into the human body, erasing the human mind. Wanderer, an alien, is inserted into the body of Melanie, one of the last humans left. Unlike most host bodies, Melanie does not fade into the background, instead fighting Wanderer, giving her memories, leading her to fall in love with her partner, Jared, and her brother, Jamie. The book follows Wanderer as Melanie leads her to her loved ones and the danger that the journey holds for both Wanderer and Melanie.

This reader broke one of the cardinal rules of book lovers by accidentally watching the movie first. Having read - or tried too, as the case may be in terms of Breaking Dawn - Miss. Meyer's teenage series, Twilight, I was highly skeptical when seeing this book. I had no inclination to read the book, and only after seeing the movie, and slightly falling in love with the premise, I decided to read the actual book.

I flew through the Host, reading it in a number of hours, eagerly turning the pages, waiting to get to the parts of the movie that I loved, and waiting to see it described, and was very disappointed with the lack of justice that the movie did to the book, as frequently happens. Many poignant scenes and events were omitted from the movie, but added another element to the book. I greatly enjoyed the Host,  and almost immediately after finishing it, I picked it up and re-read it a second time, to quickly follow with a third. 

However, as with Miss. Meyer's other books, my only concern while reading the Host was that while the plot was highly enjoyable, the writing was not on par with the events, and at times, seemed rather juvenile. Certain expressions that Wanderer used seemed more suited to a poorly-written dialogue of an American teenaged girl, rather than a highly evolved alien who has been alive for thousands of years. Similarly, such as with the fight between Edward and Jacob for Bella in the Twilight series, a love triangle is inserted here which leads to a highly evolved alien behaving in ways one would not expect. Again, while the plot was highly enjoyed, the writing style and choice did not quite seem to match, leaving this reader somewhat disappointed with the lack of detail in certain cases. Overall, I highly enjoyed this book, even with it's flaws, and I would highly recommend it.

Rating: 4/5

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