Title/Author: The Host - By: Stephanie Meyer
Summary: Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, 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.
Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind 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 begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.
My Thoughts: I put off reading this book for a long time because of my strong aversion to Twilight. Okay, okay. I'll say it. I f-ing hate Twilight. This hate mostly stems from the stupid hype about the lame movies and all of those whiny preteens convinced that Edward Cullen is real. Shut your dirty little mouths and stop saying vampires are real. It's called fiction for a reason. I did read Twilight, solely for the purpose of having a solid argument as to why it sucks so much. I'm sorry, but Stephanie Meyer does not know how to create a role model. Bella is a pathetic little twit that can't survive a day without her boyfriend. Girls should not be looking up to someone like Bella. Take Katniss from The Hunger Games. Now THERE'S a role model for girls. Strong, independent, and brave in the face of certain death. I think Stephen King said it best when compairing Twilight to Harry Potter. "Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity. Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." Couldn't have said it better myself. One more petty argument about Twilight. Robert Pattinson is scrawny and ugly and KStewart has no emotions. I hate them both. Just sayin'.
Okay, I'm done with my Twilight rant now. Back to The Host. I started reading The Host at the request of friends. They convinced me to give it a shot and I was to try my best to not compare it to Twilight in any way. I ended up really enjoying The Host, surprisingly. The beginning was extremely slow and hard to get into. After the first 100 pages or so, I was hooked. The whole idea of mind control and invasion was very facinating to me. Once you get past the slow moving start, the story really comes to life. The examination of what really makes us human was interesting.
I was conflicted for most of the book as to which charcters I wanted to root for. I started off hating Wanderer (aka Wanda) and rooting for Melanie to succeed and take back her body. As the book progressed, I started to love them equally as Wanda became more and more human-like. Thus, the conflict in my head continued. When is boiled down to who should stay and who should go, I didn't decide until the book decided for me. At the end of the book, I loved both of these characters equally.
As for Jared...I'm sorry, but what an a-hole! I have nothing else to say about him. The real male lead should be Ian. How can you not love Ian? Even while looking at something not human, he was able to move past that and show his true kindness. Jared can't see past his own nose.
And Jamie. Dear, sweet, lovable Jamie. The best character in the entire book to say the least. Maybe it's just his young age that left him to be so open, forgiving, and vulnerable. Jamie was the best of them from the beginning, though. No competition.
I will grudgingly give Stephanie Meyer a point for this one. She's still losing from the million points I'd taken away for the sparkly thing that people call Twilight. The Host is worth the read.
