The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

A friend of mine recommended this book to me, so I went out and bought it because I wanted to just snuggle down and read this holiday weekend.

Oh, I shouldn't have. I'm completely immersed in this book!:eek:

The world has been taken over by an alien species who call themselves Souls. These creatures are inserted into human hosts through an opening in the back of the neck. Once there, they control the body of the host while the host's consciousness fades away into nothing.

But the main character is fighting! Her name is Melanie, and she refuses to give up her body to her implant (named Wanderer). Instead, Melanie fills her invading alien with all sorts of images...some of them experienced for the first time by Wanderer (if I remember right, Wanderer has had the experience of living dozens of lives on as many at 9 worlds now). The Souls invade, and live out the lives inside of their hosts. Once the body dies, the Souls then move onto another body or another world.

Melanie gives her alien a taste of what it means to be human. She's a strong fighter, and it wasn't until after the invasion that she met the man that she loves, Jared. Melanie is also looking out for her little brother when she is finally caught.

The memories of love for Jared and her little brother deeply moves Wanderer, to the point where Wanderer begins to consider skipping on to another host (which she has never done) or abandoning this world to move on to another.

The coflict is great! It's all internal, with Wanderer and Melanie eventually communicating with each other. Wanderer experiences anger and love for the first time. And for the first time, she can see that invading a world and taking over the hosts could be a wrong thing.

This is a girl's book, I'll admit. It's fluffy and soft with oozy, mushy feelings. But I'm a guy and I still enjoyed reading it. It's refreshing to have a brand new voice out there who isn't a carbon copy of early Stephen King or Dean Koontz...but a voice all of her own.

I think I have a new favorite author.:eek:

Anyways, wanted to let you guys know that this book is okie dokes.;)
 
Honestly? I wasn't ready to give her a shot, not really.

I picked up one of her books, the one with the flower on the cover, and thought that it was ridiculous. Hmph! These days the author's name, I thought, takes up half of the front cover. The title of the book is sometimes so small you can miss it easily. The back of the book is nothing but a full color photo of the author taken at glamourshots. And the inside dust jacket just gives you positive reviews from past works.

How am I supposed to know what it's about? I'm not going to gamble in these days when gas costs so much!:mad:

My friend, a gal I know from work, told me to give this one a chance. It's different. So I did.

WOW! I'm going to have to read some of her past works. Very rarely am I impressed with the originality of an author's prose.

Why didn't you tell me, Near!;):D
 
Did someone just say 'fluffy'?
There is another thread about this book, Whirlwind. I forget where its at.
 
Lol, yeah. When I first picked up her book, I was like "Ok, this is going to be so corny...". After we left Borders, I sat down on the couch and read the book. Can you believe I loved it? :D I was pretty surprised myself! She was so original...it wasn't just one of those cheesy, cookie-cutter fantasy books for young-adults that I see on the shelves these days. I have found other books, my other favorite is Lynne Ewing (but they're feminine books, but still awesome! :p) because she did something other than some corny "Lord of the Rings wannabe".
Lol, I wish I did tell you, Whirly. Maybe it was best you learned yourself!! :D
Hugs

Honestly? I wasn't ready to give her a shot, not really.

I picked up one of her books, the one with the flower on the cover, and thought that it was ridiculous. Hmph! These days the author's name, I thought, takes up half of the front cover. The title of the book is sometimes so small you can miss it easily. The back of the book is nothing but a full color photo of the author taken at glamourshots. And the inside dust jacket just gives you positive reviews from past works.

How am I supposed to know what it's about? I'm not going to gamble in these days when gas costs so much!:mad:

My friend, a gal I know from work, told me to give this one a chance. It's different. So I did.

WOW! I'm going to have to read some of her past works. Very rarely am I impressed with the originality of an author's prose.

Why didn't you tell me, Near!;):D
 
oh oh!! i loved this book! not as much as i like her vampire series, but still. the style of writing and the tone she takes on when dealing with the characters are the same, but the story is what gripped me!
 
oh oh!! i loved this book! not as much as i like her vampire series, but still. the style of writing and the tone she takes on when dealing with the characters are the same, but the story is what gripped me!

I actually have the three current editions of Meyer's Twilight series. I liked Twilight and New Moon, but I was slightly disappointed with Eclipse, but it was still good, overall. I am going to wait out Breaking Dawn until everyone has their fill, and then I can quietly go into the bookstore and take my copy without fighting everyone to have one. :D

I liked Meyer's young adult series because it wasn't cookie-cutter. It was utterly refreshing. It was romantic yet not gushy-pushy like some romance themes in books I have read. There was enough suspense in Twilight to get my heart racing [which I like - it means the author is a good one!] without it being too suspenseful to the point of OVERLOAD!

I am just a little disheartened by them making a motion picture production out of Twilight. Why do they always ruin good books like that?! The characters - oh, they look so UNlike the ones in the book!
 
Cheer up, Near. Hee hee. Maybe Tom Cruise will play the lead character.:rolleyes:

One thing I like about the book: she doesn't have to curse or dive face-first into suggestive scenes to get the story across. Her character, Melanie, has a heart. And after a while, there's not only Wanderer and Melanie in the body...but you, too!:eek:

I can tell this is going to be one of those books that's going to be copied. You know, like Davinci Code? When I was at Barnes looking for a good book to read over the weekend, I was shocked!

There were treasure-hunting, history-based, religious themed books all over! Marked half-off, most of them.:( It's been done now, that story has.

Can you guys believe that I was on my recumbent bike, reading this book? It was that good...I knew I had to exercise, but I didn't want to put the book down! LOL so I took it on the bike with me!:cool:
 
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