The Host: A Novel

OK, so it's not too often that I read any fiction written for adults, let alone something that is over 600 pages long. And I rarely read long books in one day anymore. And I usually prefer chic-lit for my leisure reading, not sci-fi. But yesterday I broke all those rules, and more! I loved this book so much that I read in bed, stayed up past my bedtime, and completely failed to get enough rest as...more

OK, so it's not too often that I read any fiction written for adults, let alone something that is over 600 pages long. And I rarely read long books in one day anymore. And I usually prefer chic-lit for my leisure reading, not sci-fi. But yesterday I broke all those rules, and more! I loved this book so much that I read in bed, stayed up past my bedtime, and completely failed to get enough rest as a pregnant person.I finished The Host by Stephenie Meyer at about 3:00 am last night. I'm not sure if I had insomnia because I was reading or if I kept reading because I had insomnia, but I couldn't go to sleep. The book forced me to keep reading almost as if one of the book's "souls" had taken over my brain!I am not going to detail the plot here, because I don't want to ruin it for you. But I will say that Wanda's challenging relationships with Jared and Ian reminded me a lot of Tally's complicated relationships with David and Zane in the Uglies trilogy. Even if you are not a regular sci-fi reader, the relational and emotional qualities of this book will hook you. It's kind of girly sci-fi in that way. So, you'll love the characters, and all the action and cliffhangers will keep you reading!   hide

De twilightsage had me zo in mijn greep dat ik besloten had om dit volgende boek van Meyer ook een kans te geven. Meyer pakt op een originele manier uit met het bodysnatcherconcept, maar lijkt toch wel te twijfelen doorheen de hoofdstukken in welke richting ze precies uit wil met het concept. Die twijfel zorgde er naar mijn mening voor dat het eerste deel van het boek langzaam om gang komt. Even...more

De twilightsage had me zo in mijn greep dat ik besloten had om dit volgende boek van Meyer ook een kans te geven. Meyer pakt op een originele manier uit met het bodysnatcherconcept, maar lijkt toch wel te twijfelen doorheen de hoofdstukken in welke richting ze precies uit wil met het concept. Die twijfel zorgde er naar mijn mening voor dat het eerste deel van het boek langzaam om gang komt. Even verwacht je dat het nog razendspannend zal worden, maar die verwachting zette ik al vlug van me af. Meyer koos duidelijk terug voor een liefdesverhaal en zoals ze in het begin oppert "liefde maakt ieder verhaal goed". Maar meer ook niet. Alhoewel ik de sschrijfstijl van Meyer zeker apprecieer en ook in dit boek terug vind, is de inhoud met maar met mate interessant. Doch zal dit boek me zeker niet weerhouden om volgende boeken van Meyer te lezen. Ik kijk zeker uit naar Midnight Summer, een boek in wording.   hide

One of my favs! Started off slow, but turned out to be a fantastically entertaining read! So far, a very interesting concept... Just got done reading "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer- loved it! She beautifully captured the essence of humanity, even through the voice of an alien. It was a rich blend of sci-fi, mystery, love story, and down-right entertainment. I love Meyer's...more

One of my favs! Started off slow, but turned out to be a fantastically entertaining read! So far, a very interesting concept... Just got done reading "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer- loved it! She beautifully captured the essence of humanity, even through the voice of an alien. It was a rich blend of sci-fi, mystery, love story, and down-right entertainment. I love Meyer's first-person narrative, which entangled my own emotions and experiences into the life of the main character. She effectionately described the struggle we all eventually face between selfishness and loving others - survival vs. sacrifice - self preservation vs. selflessness. There are distinct themes of life choices and inner battles. Also, a colorful array of human experiences are displayed: love, happiness, fear, desire, jealousy, tenderness, understanding, shyness, uncertainty, and awareness. This book is full of heart and genuity. Stephenie Meyer does not disappoint!   hide

Im not the kind of person that will gladly sit down and read a novel no matter how many great reviews it has received and no matter how many people tell me its a great read. But After months of being nagged about the twilight series of books I decided to read them and see what all the fuss was, that was when I joined the millions of people that became addicted to the series. I also decided to...more

Im not the kind of person that will gladly sit down and read a novel no matter how many great reviews it has received and no matter how many people tell me its a great read. But After months of being nagged about the twilight series of books I decided to read them and see what all the fuss was, that was when I joined the millions of people that became addicted to the series. I also decided to give a go at reading the host. I did hope that the book was totally different to the style of her twilight series, and I was glad to see that it was, still a love story with a bit of danger and action, but thats were the similarities ended. I have to admit that I thought that this was going to be the same as the body snatchers, and that I wouldn't enjoy it because of that thought. But even though these are an alien species that take over the human body I thought that her story was an original take on that style of alien invasion. I loved the characters in this novel some of them were quite easy to relate to and you would feel the love and warmth of them and you would feel sad when they were sad. Stephenie Meyer has a real way of making her characters seem so real to you that you wish that you could reach out and hold them, wipe away their tears when they cry and even rejoice with them and feel the love they feel for their partner and families. great job.   hide

Da non paragonare assolutamente alla saga di Twilight...questo romanzo supera qualsiasi aspettativa! L'occhio della copertina cattura l'attenzione; la lettura del libro trasforma il lettore in un protagonista! Melanie, umana, soppiantata da un "anima" Wanderer che si è impossessata del suo corpo; non un "anima" qualsiasi...Wanda è matura, ha già vissuto molte vite prima di questa, conosce i...more

Da non paragonare assolutamente alla saga di Twilight...questo romanzo supera qualsiasi aspettativa! L'occhio della copertina cattura l'attenzione; la lettura del libro trasforma il lettore in un protagonista! Melanie, umana, soppiantata da un "anima" Wanderer che si è impossessata del suo corpo; non un "anima" qualsiasi...Wanda è matura, ha già vissuto molte vite prima di questa, conosce i "mondi" ed imparerà presto a conoscere anche quello degli umani; grazie proprio a Melanie che dall'animo forte non si fa azzittire e annientare ma reagisce con forza estrema a quella presenza estranea dentro di lei! Wanda non conosce i sentimenti ma sarà costretta a fronteggiare la timidezza, il timore di non essere accettata, la vergogna, l'affetto, la rabbia e l'amore, che la sconvolge più di tutti. Un'amore fraterno e un'amore passionale che riesce a gestire e le permetterà di crescere ed evolversi, facendosi conoscere per quello che è veramente. Non sarà più la nemica dell'umanità, ma anche lei parte di un'umanità che lavora ed affronta le difficoltà di una vita in fuga. Solo il lettore, attento protagonista, alla fine si sentirà ospite di una comunità di uomini dal cuore grande che accolgono senza pregiudizi (sempre dopo un'attenta valutazione)il prossimo e lo trattano come fratello. Wanda ormai è una di loro! Consoliamoci...il nostro mondo esiste ancora!   hide

I usually do not read science fiction but then again I never thought I would like a story about vampires either. I read this book immediately after the Twilight saga looking to get my "fill". It took me about 70 pages to get into the story because it is nothing like Twilight at all. Once I finally got into the story it really did turn out to be a page turner. Written very well and the thought...more

I usually do not read science fiction but then again I never thought I would like a story about vampires either. I read this book immediately after the Twilight saga looking to get my "fill". It took me about 70 pages to get into the story because it is nothing like Twilight at all. Once I finally got into the story it really did turn out to be a page turner. Written very well and the thought that was put into the characters was excellent. Stephenie Meyers has this way of writing about the human spirit and emotions unlike any other author I have read. This book is nothing like Twilight but was written extremely well and once I did get involved with the characters I could not put it down all the way to the last page. Very thoughtful and intriguing and the two main characters share the same romantic quality that Bella & Edward did, only in a completely different way.   hide

The Host, Meyer's "first book for adults" Starts with an excellent premise: Planet earth has been 'conquered' by souls. Semi-etherial beings that effectively become the creature they inhabit, erasing the orignial occupant. The story is told by the one that got away, the host whose personality was too strong to allow herself to be erased by the incoming soul. Unfortunately the book flounders...more

The Host, Meyer's "first book for adults" Starts with an excellent premise: Planet earth has been 'conquered' by souls. Semi-etherial beings that effectively become the creature they inhabit, erasing the orignial occupant. The story is told by the one that got away, the host whose personality was too strong to allow herself to be erased by the incoming soul. Unfortunately the book flounders under a weak protaganist who essentially spends the first 3-4 hundred pages being saved by those around her, and shallow characters who act more like children on a camp out than the last surviving humans on earth. The message is a little sloppy and clumsily presented (is the theme that love is merely a biological process attached to the body, or that love transends all that, or simply that as long as youre in love who cares?) Also for a Scifi epic, The Host is too long for its lack of depth, there simply isn't the material to warrant 600 pages. Rant over   hide

This book is an exploration of what it means to be human, and also starts to touch on the fact that each human experience is totally different than any other, even on the most basic level. There are some very imaginative and creative details in the story. This would seem to make for a very good read, but ironically I found it very hard to get into. It was almost boring for the first 3/4 of the...more

This book is an exploration of what it means to be human, and also starts to touch on the fact that each human experience is totally different than any other, even on the most basic level. There are some very imaginative and creative details in the story. This would seem to make for a very good read, but ironically I found it very hard to get into. It was almost boring for the first 3/4 of the book. The last 1/4 was decent, and in the very very end, the last few pages, I would say it was good. It ends with a little cliffhanger that makes me think that there will be a sequel. I'll probably read it, but I won't be checking release dates and rushing to the book store for it... There were a few parallels to Twilight - a love triangle, a very self sacrificing main character - but the story is completely different, as I expected. All in all, it was a well-told story and Stephenie gets an A for effort, but it just wasn't engaging enough to me...   hide

With “The Host,” Stephanie diverges from her previous focus on blending real world teen age drama with vampires. This time we’re faced with a semi-science fiction world. Earth has been invaded by aliens. But they aren’t the kind you can fight with guns and nukes – no these aliens live inside us. A parasitic race that literally takes over the body of its host. And they’ve...more

With “The Host,” Stephanie diverges from her previous focus on blending real world teen age drama with vampires. This time we’re faced with a semi-science fiction world. Earth has been invaded by aliens. But they aren’t the kind you can fight with guns and nukes – no these aliens live inside us. A parasitic race that literally takes over the body of its host. And they’ve pretty much won – minus a few pockets of resistance, they control earth. Oddly enough, the story is told from the perspective of one of the aliens living in a human host that is still someone conscious. But the aliens are the bad guys, right? Maybe – maybe not – it’s up to you as the reader to decide. This story though is VERY worth reading – I started it on. It’s really a story of what it means to be human. More importantly, what it means to be a GOOD human. It’s chalk full of adventure, hope, heartache, and beauty. I recommend it highly.   hide