Book Review: The Host by Stephenie Meyer
October 20th, 2008
October’s book club selection is The Host by Stephenie Meyer. We have once again made an ambitious selection as The Host is over 600 pages. I have been looking forward to giving this one a try. I have enjoyed her Twilight series (currently reading the Breaking Dawn, the 4th book in the series). The Host is Stephenie Meyer’s first adult novel. Honestly, I’m not sure that I can discern much of a difference in reading levels or maturity of subject matter from the Twilight series. Despite the length, I felt like the book was a fairly quick read. I found myself eager to find out what was going to happen to the characters.
WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW
Earth has been invaded by an alien race that lives by attaching themselves to host bodies. In most cases, the body is completely controlled by the “parasite.” Melanie Stryder is a rare case. Melanie did not fade away like most hosts, and she makes her presence and opinions known. The book is written from the viewpoint of Wanderer, the alien soul who invaded Melanie’s body. Wanderer’s mission is to report any information that she can gather about the human resistance. Instead Wanderer herself becomes a rebel and gains insight into human interactions…the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Wanderer and Melanie share one body, though their minds are not entirely separate. They share the same memories and feelings, though they have the ability to keep secrets from each other at first. Their initial hatred with their “bodymate” evolves into a necessary friendship and ultimately love. Wanderer can’t help but fall in love with Jared and Jamie, Melanie’s soulmate and Melanie’s brother. Melanie experiences jealousy for this as well as frustration when Wanda develops her own love interest. The internal conflicts and dialogue were well done.
I was interested in what was going to happen to the characters, and this kept me turning the pages. At the same time, it felt like not much was happening. This didn’t bother me since action is not exactly the focus of the novel. The focus is more on the relationships and the nature of humanity (as well as the nature of the souls or alien race). I think that this may lead to some interesting discussions with book club.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and recommend it. I don’t read too much science fiction, but this was fairly light science fiction. I think that those who don’t normally enjoy the genre may enjoy this book.
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