I thoroughly enjoyed this one! Stephenie Meyer really is an underrated talent. With all of the angst and criticism thrown her way because of the Twilight Series, I thought that The Host would be more of the same. In a way, there were similarities, but whereas the Twilight series left me wanting for more of the Cullens, The Host gives ample background into the mysterious way of the Souls.My only disappointment with the story is that Meyer failed to address some of the real philosophical questions about the soul, the body, and the afterlife. She had ample opportunity to do so, but I think perhaps she felt the story would take on a too-serious tone. ( )

I loved this book. Loved it unapologetically, even though I gagged on Twilight and gave it an awful review. It is beautifully written, and the characters are truly believable and very endearing. It was the kind of book that, as soon as I had finished it, I had to flip back 50 pages or so just to re-read the ending because I loved it so much. No joke, I cried AND finished it in two nights of reading...both of which are pretty rare for me these days. ( )

This is a really great science-fiction book, which probably doesn't say much since it was my first. But The Host is more real than the twilight saga. The emotions are more vivid and the actions done were more something-human-would-do which I could relate with. I'd say everyone should read this, so good that I found it hard to put it down! The book almost made me cry too! Good book! ( )

Al principio no me causo mucho interes, no fue hasta el capitulo 9 que la historia ya tiene mas sentido, luego de ahi me facino fue muy facil de interpretar y claro una Historia asi solo pudo haber sido escrita poruna persona con sufieciente imaginación.
De Vampiros a Aliens, que puedo decir,.. Steph me sigue sorprendiendo =D ( )

I've never been big on sci-fi books but I've occasionally gotten into a few sci-fi movies/shows... I love me some Stargate SG-1 (Daniel Jackson= hot archaeologist... GREAT combo)! A friend was determined that I give this book a chance, so I decided to have a go. This one had two things working against it- (1) I don't do aliens and (2) If you've read my Twilight series reviews, you know how I feel about Stephanie Meyer's writing skill... However I was willing to hope that perhaps she was just bad at writing the Twilight series.

This book, for those who don't know, is essentially about an alien invasion. These aliens, called "souls", come to Earth and fuse themselves to the spines of humans. They then inhabit the human, obtaining all of its memories and essentially taking over the host's life. The human consciousness is suppressed until it essentially disappears. The souls then live out the lifespan of their host and then transfer to another. They do this on a number of planets, not just Earth. The book focuses on a soul named "Wanderer" who is put into the body of a young woman. Typically the transition is easy and the human is immediately suppressed. Instead, this one remains as a very annoying voice in the head of Wanderer and makes life very hard. Along with acquiring memories, a soul also acquires the human's feelings, so it wasn't long before Wanderer wanted to see "her" family as badly as her human host. From there it's just a long line of mishaps and troubles with people wanting to kill her.

There were a few things I enjoyed about the book. It was certainly a different story than my norm, and I'm always happy to try something new. The relationships were more tolerable than those written by Meyer in the Twilight Series. They were more "normal" if you will, in terms of not being over-the-top, mental case levels of attachment. I will admit, by the end of the book, I felt bad for the dilemma the Wanderer suffered from, wanting to remain on Earth with people she had become attached to, but knowing she was an unwelcome guest in a body that wasn't her own. It's one of the only Stephanie Meyer characters I've ever felt for, aside from Jacob Black. There were a few turns of events in the book which kept it interesting, and added some unique perspective (typically with the body-snatcher scenarios you only ever get the crazed aliens who only want to dominate the planet where-as with Wanderer you experience other emotions regarding the whole scenario).

Like the Twilight series, Stephanie Meyers has an unnatural talent for being long-winded. She takes four pages to say what I could write in a paragraph. She becomes overwhelmingly focused on details to the point where you're mentally begging her to move along! She is also painfully repetitive, reiterating facts every three or four chapters that really don't need to be repeated. For example, the "soul" abhors violence. Rather than say it once and hope the reader has the mental capacity to remember, she feels the need to remind us at every unfortunate turn of events that the soul refuses to defend herself because it would be violent. And then you're stuck reading multiple pages of her arguing with the voice in her head about it as though the argument will actually result in any change in personality.

The story lacks originality in my opinion... parasitic aliens who take over the human race. From Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Animorphs, the story line has been played out. I've heard some people say they couldn't put it down, but I'd have to say there was no easier task for me to perform. I was hoping to read the book quickly and return it to the loaner, but it ended up taking me about four weeks to push myself through. As I reached the third week and had only finished half the book, I had to force myself to sit down and read the rest before I saw the friend again.

The book had a very slow start, and the story took too many chapters to develop. Once the story was finally on a roll, it didn't stop. I mean, it would NEVER END. You sit there thinking, "I'm only 2/3 of the way through the book... how much more can she possibly drag this out?!" No one can beat a dead horse like Meyer can!

In the end, I'd have to say the read wasn't worth my time. Stephanie Meyer lacks writing skill above that of many high school kids, and I find it very difficult to enjoy her books. Something about her writing style reminds me of when students have to write term papers and they add in random adjectives and repeat themselves a dozen times in an effort to make their papers longer. ( )

Even better than Twilight. Great take on what could happen and interesting perspective. Invasion of the body snatchers. ( )

The Host is up there with the Twilight Saga as strangest romances. This time the love is for an alien that has taken over another girl's brain. It is still intriguing, but doesn' read as well as the Twilight Saga. I wonder how the movie will translate.

I loved the Twlight books, and the Host did not let me down. The story of the love between Mel and Jared which becomes love shared with a parasitic alien named Wanderer (Wanda) is awesome.

Wanderer has just been implanted into her human host, Melanie, but Melanie's spirit just won't go away. Eventually Wanderer gives into Melanie's great love for fellow rebel Jared and together they find their way to the rebel hideout where the last remaining pure humans fight to survive against the gentle, unusual "Souls" who have taken over the planet.

The action is gentle, it really reminds me of Twilight, and the story moves at a nice pace. You get to know the characters well through the author's thorough descriptions and come to love them. There could be a sequel, the ending certainly left that option open.

A recommended read for ages 15 and up. ( )

So at first it was a little slow and the two characters, Melanie and Jared, were falling into the Edward and Bella romance cycle, but...things definitely picked up and it became a very interesting and well written science fiction tale about another species (souls) using humans as hosts. I look forward to future sequels of this story because there are a lot of directions these characters can take.

Great book. It's as closely tied to Breaking Dawn as Stephen King's Desperation was to The Regulators, though. She wrote them at about the same time, and was obviously working out a theme there. Attraction to someone not your spouse, maybe? But this book is like Stranger in a Strange Land spliced with Anne Rice - not that there are monsters, more for the emotional elements in Rice's work - Claudia, the Taltos. On the other hand, just because you can see literary influences doesn't mean Meyer is a copycat. I think that after five books she's finally hit her stride. Twilight, while a page-turner, seemed derivative, or at least that it took the cheap route to immediate gratification. This does not. It's thought-provoking and interesting, while still as compulsively readable as the vampire books. I think this book finally sets Stephenie Meyer up as a writer that will stick around. ( )

This is a very good book but it takes forever to get into. If you start reading this because you're a Twilight fan, I'm warning you it's nothing like Twilight. There are a lot of slow spots which isn't a good thing when the book is this long, it makes it a lot more difficult to read. But don't let all this discourage you from reading it.. it's a great story. ( )

I LOVED this book. Th ethought of aliens comeing to earth, for what you ask?, to take over our bodies and make us more 'cizilizied'. The Host is a great book with an intresting plot line, main character, and setting. It has a love twist, betrayl, and the lesson of not always getting what you want, but what you need. This is not like the Twilight saga, this is WAY better! ( )

This was a good book. It started off a little slow but picked up quickly and peaked about 3/4 of the way through. The story held my attention. I found myself thinking ahead and wondering which way stephenie was going to take the story. I found the ending a little predictable, but it falls in line with her writing style of happy endings. It's worth the time and it was enjoyable. ( )

A pretty entertaining book. ( )

Now many I know did not have rave reviews for Meyer's Twilight series, and I generally gave it 3/5 overall. So why am I reading another one of her books?? To be honest, the description of the plot snagged me. I walked away a few times, but then broke down and picked it up.

It is a story of an alien species that call themselvs Souls, in our tongue. The souls require a host to live in to survive and have recently colonized the planet Earth and taken up residence in the humans. Wanderer's human host seems to be something special. Melanie's consciousness won't go away like most human's do once a soul as set up residence. In fact, her will is so strong that she holds complete conversations with Wanderer and talks her into trying to find her family.

I absolutely loved the relationship dynamics between Wanderer and Melanie. They way they interact was fascinating to me. The reactions of otheers to her unique circumstances seemed very fittingly varied and realistic. The plot moves nicely along most of the time. There are a few sections that I had to take a break from because they were slightly drawn out, but to be honest, I'm not sure how you could shorten them up and still make the point needed.

Stephanie Meyer's writing in this book seemed much more fluid and easy to read than her Twilight series and because of this I enjoyed the book much more.

4/5 ( )

This was a really really good book! At the beginning i was a little confused but i kept reading, determined to figure it out, and i figured it out about 5 chapters into it. So my advice to any potential readers is that you don't give up just because you get confused! ( )

The Host is an amazing book. It's science fiction, but it's focused mostly on the love story. The characters are wonderfully developed, and the concept is interesting and original. The story is suspenseful and gripping. The book itself seemed a little too long, but a sequel to this would be amazing. One of my favorite books. ( )

I can't get over how much I enjoyed this book! It seems a shame that it will probably be overlooked by many people because of it's connection with the Twilight series - which it is very different to.

Although not an avid science fiction reader, I have read my fair share (Asimov, Heinlein, Harrison, Clarke....and others) - so I was looking forward to this book, hoping it would be as well written as the Twilight series, but also hoping it would be very different.

I wasn't disappointed. It did take me a while to get into the story, and it is perhaps a bit over long - but it's an excellent story, well set up, well written, which can't fail to drag you in.

Melanie is one of the last humans on Earth, the majority of humanity has been taken over by the 'souls', aliens you use other lifeforms as 'hosts'. When she's captured and a 'soul' is given her body, the hope is that she will lead the aliens to other remaining humans - but it doesn't quite work out like that.

Melanie is strong, she refuses to give in to the invasion of her body, still yearning for the man she loves, Jared, who is still in hiding. Wanderer begins to realise that she too loves the human - and so their journey together begins.

I've seen fan made film trailers for this book on Youtube that make it seem like a horror, but to me it's a love story - both Melanie and Wanderer are fighting to find the man they love. It's a story about the resilience of human spirit, and the need for friendship and companionship.

It's a great book, even if you weren't interested in the Twilight novels, or you don't like science fiction, I'd still recommend that you try this book - it's worth the effort.

Bought on Green Metropolis.
30th September - 21st October 2009 ( )

Innuendo: this is a very romantic book but it's not inappropriate... it's hard to describe. There is some kissing. Birth control is briefly mentioned in the beginning of the book but nothing happens.

Violence: it's a disturbing story but it isn't too graphic and handles everything very well. There are surgeries and some punching.

Swearing: I think there are only about 3 mild swear words in the entire book.

Drinking, Drugs, or Smoking: They use alcohol as a painkiller for a sick patient because nothing else is available. One other man gets drunk.

Age appropriate: I really really really liked this book. I'd have to say 16 and up because of the storyline and also because it's adult fiction... younger teens really shouldn't read it. ( )

I am one of only a few people on the planet who can't stand Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT series. So I was a little leery of picking up THE HOST, afraid that I would dislike it as much as I did the first book in her other series. Thankfully, I gave it a chance, and now I'm very glad I did.

THE HOST is science fiction, but it's so much more than that. And it's also a love story, but, again, it goes far beyond the normal romance of many books out there today. I don't want to give away the entire story (to read what it's about, just check out the blurb), but I will say that THE HOST covers just about everything, from the invasion of Earth by a different species of being, to the ethics of mind control and morality of killing, to how far one person will go to be with the one they love.

My only complaint about the book, and the one that kept it from being a 5 Star read, is that the story drags on FOREVER. THE HOST could have been told, just as wonderfully, in about 150 less pages.

Overall, though, this was definitely worth my time, and I'll be happy now to at least give a chance to anything else the author publishes. ( )

This is definitely one of those books where the reader spends a lot of time with the main character, so you better like her if you want to read the book. Fortunately, I liked Wanderer quite a bit, and found her to be sympathetic, especially since she really could have been the bad guy in this situation.

I think non-science fiction readers might enjoy this one in particular would enjoy The Host, as it doesn't feel like sci-fi, even though it definitely is.

http://archthinking.blogspot.com/2009... ( )

Reviewed by Abby - The Class for TeensReadToo.com

The book THE HOST is a lot like Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT saga in the fact that the whole point of the story is that love is the most important thing. What's different though is (obviously) the storyline. Yes, that is right - this story has nothing to do with vampires; instead, aliens have taken over our planet.

The time is somewhere in the future and our world is not as we know it. Instead of mass murders making headline news, there are articles on the best type of flowers to plant. The most disturbing article is that the bridge near Maple Avenue is due for a repainting. The world is full of peace and love. No one argues, no one fights, and there is not even a hint of violence in this bizarre world.

Obviously, these are not humans we are talking about.

The aliens that came to Earth would capture a human to use its body as a host. (Hence the title.) They stretch their tentacles around the nerves and "control panels" located in our heads; thus gaining complete control of the body. Unfortunately for the human, this process eliminates them. The aliens were able to gain control of almost every person this way. By continuing their host's former habits they were able to go virtually unnoticed. Luckily for humankind, there are always a few observant people that actually see things the way that they truly are

Our story is focused on Melanie and Wanda. Melanie is (or was) one of those few humans that was able to escape. Unfortunately, she was caught and because she might have information on other fugitives stuffed in her head, Wanda is put inside her. When a soul is put in a human, it has access to every memory their host might have had. Well, at least that is what is supposed to happen. Instead, Wanda reaches some "walls" within her mind. She later finds out that Melanie is still in there and kicking. She is even able to communicate with Wanda, using her (or their) thoughts.

This starts a whole new thread of events. The most important being Melanie convinces Wanda to go and look for Jared, her true love, and Jamie, her little brother. They are both labeled as "wild humans." After getting lost in the desert and nearly dying, Wanda is found by the humans and is taken to their hideout, a large cave, as a captive. She is surprised to see so many other humans still without a soul within them and even more surprised to see Jamie and Jared have made it here.

Unfortunately many, including Jared, hate Wanda for what she is and what her kind has done to their world.

At first I thought the story itself was rather lame. I mean aliens...? Come on, can't she do anything better than that? Not to mention it had an extremely slow beginning. Once they reached the caves, though, things really heated up and Ms. Myer's amazing writing skills started to really shine through. Personally, I think that if anybody else tried writing a book with this specific topic it would go down in flames, but Stephenie Meyer was able to finish it with grace and in a way that made me want her to write a sequel. ( )

I beg you to see past all the Twilight hype and take a look at this book (or if you are part of the Twilight hype take a look at it as well, but don't expect any vampires or whining or unfufilled love.) It is of an entirely different sci-fish bent. Kind of an Invasion of the body snatchers story told from the point of view of a snatcher. Contemplates ideas of what it is to be human, real, important, and considered in this world as well as how we might live with others. I really liked it, i must admit. ( )

This book was FABULOUS. Yes, I was a fan of the Twilight series before I read it - I'm not ashamed to admit it. ;) But this book was even better, easily. The first chapter or two were a bit slow but once the book gets going it was nonstop. I actually physically sobbed in a few parts.

That being said, my husband really enjoyed it as well! It is a beautiful blend of an apocalyptic type story, a love story, and a story about the beauty and the tragedy of human nature. The story and especially the characters are extremely compelling. I have recommended it to everyone I know and will continue to do so until everyone I know has read it!! ( )

I found this book difficult to get into at first. I wasn't sure what I was expecting but by the middle I was caught up in the story and wanting more. The end was, as Meyer has a tendency of doing, rushed. I liked this story as a whole much better than the Twilight series, I thought it was interesting. A little moralistic... there was a very intense underlying lesson to be learned from it and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Worth a read though. ( )