Monday, September 26, 2011

Review: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

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The Host (The Host, #1)
Stephenie Meyer
First published January 1st, 2000

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.

Wow, just amazing!

At first, I wasn’t sure about it because the sci-fi part is hard to grasp, but don’t worry, after the first 80 pages or so you won’t be able to stop reading (it has about 600 pages). It has to be the strangest book I’ve read, but also the best. It definitely ties in with Twilight, and the only reason I don’t think it beat it is because Twilight sucked me in for a longer period of time.

Meyer is an amazing author who is able to pull you into the story and allow you to feel like you’re actually there, experiencing what they experience and feeling what they feel. She paints a striking picture of the characters and the sinister world that they now live in, in the mind of everyone who is fortunate enough to be touched by it. The story is a real page turner. It’s so freakishly amazing how their world is changed and what they have to do to survive. It’s also incredibly unique and touching. I instantly fell in love with this book and all of it’s characters.

The characters in the story were very likable and I found them a lot more realistic than the ones in Twilight. The story was more adult and had a lot more depth to it. It’s original, exciting, scary, romantic, and thought-provoking. Stephenie really proved that she has more than one story to tell. If you loved Twilight, and especially if you’re a bit older – you will absolutely love this book.

5/5 hot espressos
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Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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13 Responses to “Review: The Host by Stephenie Meyer”

  1. Jessica

    I liked the Host, too. The whole time I was reading it I couldn’t decide if the “aliens” were good or bad for the human race. Such good conflict and she is talented with making you experience a whole different world.

    BTW, I have read Twilight! 🙂 I just wanted to read the series on my kindle – I own them all in paperback.

    Jessica @ Books: A true story

  2. Tee

    Hummm…I never made it to page 100..maybe I should revisit this book. You are not the first person to give it such rave reviews!

  3. Tristyn

    I really wanted to read this and lets just say that I read the first 40 pages three times before I just pushed past the extreme sci-fi and continued the book. It was amazing though. 🙂

  4. Kristan

    I loved The Host. It seems that the consensus for this book is either you love it or hate it. I really liked the originality to the apocalyptic feel of this story. Never have I read anything with so much attention to detail in a sci-fi story line without going completey over my head. The love story is also so insanely sweet!

    Kristan @ Lost Amongst the Shelves

  5. Starr

    I actually read this book before I read the Twilight series, and I have to agree this is an awesome story. I actually want to re-read it but haven’t gotten through my tbr pile just yet. I was also looking online at some article and found out that Stephanie is planning on making this a trilogy, she is working on the second book now. WOW!

  6. Giselle

    Yes, it is going to be a trilogy and they’re also making a movie! Not sure how that’s going to work out seeing that a lot of the story is between Wanda and Melanie in their head.. but we’ll see.

  7. Christy @TheReaderBee

    This is another book I’m really curious about, but haven’t read. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for it. I do want to give it a shot though, it definitely sounds different! Thanks for sharing your review on the book!

  8. Melliane

    I didn’t like twilight (yeah I know…) So I wan’t attracted by this book, but if it’s so great, I will add it to my wishlist. Thanks for the review

  9. Silver Thistle

    I did like the Host, it just didn’t hit me with the WOW factor. Maybe because I read it right on the back of Twilight which DID hit me with all sorts of WOW!

    Liked it, but didn’t love it.

    Nice review 🙂 I should really get off my behind and think ’bout posting my thoughts too…