The Host by Stephenie Meyer (2008, Hardcover)

THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS
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Stephenie Meyer is the most popular writer of fiction for young adults in the world. In just 3 short years, her books are the most anticipated events of the publishing season. The Host is her first book written specifically for adults. Her eagerly anticipated adult debut will be one of the best selling books of 2008, and may very well be the best new science fiction thriller written this year. It is more than deserving of my highest rating.

Sometime in the future, our world has been invaded by an unseen parasitic enemy. Humans become hosts for the invaders; their mind is taken over while their bodies remain intact, and they continue their lives unchanged. Most of mankind has been taken over. Only a few humans remain, untouched by the hosts. One of those untouched humans is a young woman, Melanie Stryder, who fell down an elevator shaft trying to avoid the Seekers, a group of invaders who relentlessly pursue their prey. Melanie's body may be broken but her spirit is not. Her memories refuse to fade away. When Wanderer, an invading soul is installed in Melanie's body, she finds her memories, emotions, and senses are intact and powerful. So powerful, that many of Melanie’s feelings and life experiences become the Wanderer’s own. Wanderer encounters one other insurmountable problem, Melanie refuses to give up her mind.

In probing Melanie’s thoughts to locate other possible uninfected humans, the Wanderer finds her mind is filled with thought of the man Melanie loves, Jared, a human who with her brother Jamie is still in hiding. Wanderer is unable to separate herself from Melanie’s feelings for him, and she (Wanderer is also female) also longs for Jared. The powers to be tell Wanderer that because she is unable to subdue Melanie, that the want to remove her from Melanie’s body and send her somewhere else in space. Both Melanie and Wanderer, want desperately to see Jared, that they trick the Seeker assigned to the Wanderer, and set off to find Jared, who happens to be somewhere in the Arizona desert living with Melanie’s Uncle Jeb.

After a life threatening trek across the desert, they find Uncle Jeb has established an underground colony, and they locate a hostile and unforgiving Jared and Jamie. At first little Wanderer does not fit into the group, but Uncle Jeb takes her under his wing and she (they call her Wanda) and Melanie become an accepted part of the community. A pattern in all of Stephanie Meyer’s books then becomes complete; there is some underground society in all of her books that threatens human beings (like vampires) and an impossible love triangle arises. As Wanderer/Melanie become more accepted and needed by the group, Melanie is jealous of Wanderer’s attraction to Jared, and Wanderer attracts a man of her own Ian. The love triangle adds just the right touch of tension and hopelessness that mark all of Stephenie’s Books. To complicate matters, the Seeker assigned to Wanderer finds her, threatening the safety of the entire underground community. Meyer resolves all issues in a surprising, but satisfactory manner. As with her first 3 books, this is the first of a trilogy for this group of

Since the Twilight books were focused on the younger generation I was a little skeptical about trying this book. I was told that it was focused on a little older audience than the others so decided to take the plunge.

This book is amazing! I was so wrapped into the characters and wanting to know what was happening next I could not put it down. This book has such intricate and emotional characters. Stephenie does a wonderful job of portraying not only the feelings of the characters but the mood and the surroundings so that is like you are right there observing what is going on first hand.

This book will seriously bring to your mind thoughts about where humanity is headed and where your life is as a "human"

BRAVO Stephenie you have written brilliantly and I am looking forward to a sequel. I do hope that whomever decides to make this one into a movie is talented enough to grasp so much of the emotion and the sensuality of the human/human and human/alien relationships in this book. That will be a difficult task.

You really feel for the main characters in this book and their struggle of trying to be individuals inside of one body. I cried over some struggles and some revelations. Why can't we all find our Ian ??

A great read definitely worth purchasing

I thought that this book would be a typical sciences fiction, which I hate, but because I love the Twilight Collection of books, more of the style of writing then the story line itself, I wanted to see with S. Meyer was capable of writing to adult audience as well. I was pleasantly surprised however, I would still stay it is borderline of Young Adult/Adult.

S. Meyer has ability to pull the reader into the story and allow them to feel like they are actually there with the characters, experiencing what they experience and feeling what they feel. She paints a vivid picture of the characters and their lives.

Besides the blend of science fiction, romantic intrigue and love triangle, there are very interesting questions asked - what defines humanity, are we living worthy enough for our planet, where is the human race headed, what it means to be human here and now?

First off, if you are wondering how good this book is in comparison with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga,this might help answer your question....After much consideration on this subject, I've decided that the only thing comparable is that they are both VERY well-written supernatural fiction stories. The Host is an excellent book with completely original characters and Stephenie Meyer's fresh and exciting way of creating powerful characters you can easily bond with along with their mesmerizing magical worlds that are truly one of a kind. I think anyone that loves reading any sort of sci-fi/fantasy book will find exactly what they love to find when beginning a new book(especially when the last book you read left you thinking....How will I find a book that will satisfy my imagination after reading THIS?!?!) Well....I personally LOVED this book, I couldn't put it down til I was finished reading it, it was worth every retail penny I paid for it,and if you can buy it off eBay for a GREAT price.....BUY IT, READ IT, YOU'LL THOROUGHLY ENJOY IT!!!(WHILE SAVING A BUCK OR TWO)

I completely enjoyed The Host by Stephenie Meyer. It is completely different from the Twilight series but still showcases her easy to read style that I appreciate so much. The Host shows the interactions betweeen humans and an alien species that takes over the human body as their hosts. The real drama of the story is when the human host still prevails in the mind. It shows how the human spirit prevails and so does love. Not all interaction between the aliens and humans are bad. The conflicts that arise come from fear and misunderatnding. I felt the book was a delight to read the highs and lows of the drama were pleasantly resolved ant the end.