Book Review ~ The Host

I know she just started writing a few years ago... but Stephenie Meyer is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine. I can honestly say that after this book, I will buy anything she writes (esp if I don't know about it before it is a $8 paperback, ;) ).

The Host was amazing! Such a new idea, such an interesting story, and the depth and time she puts into the personal relationships in her books really blows me away. She does that part SO very well.

The story is about an alien lifeform that lives in a human host. In most lifeforms, the host consciousness just disappears and the alien takes over and continues on the same life path as the host would in an effort to experience the world they are living in. But in the case of humans (because, we are unique in this universe), some of the host consciousness resist inside their minds... sometimes creating discord, sometimes causing the host body to go mad, and (uniquely in this case), become friends with their dependant alien lifeform.

Melanie is a twenty something rebel human that has been on the run since the aliens started taking over the human world. The invasion was subtle, people going to the dr as humans, and leaving as something else. But as more and more humans caught on to the overwhelming invasion, the fight for their lives got stronger. When the Seekers (the alien police) finally catch up with her, Melanie decides that instead of turning herself in, she would rather die. Her unsuccessful suicide attempt prompts the professionals of the alien world to put a particularly strong alien into her body. As Wanderer (the chosen alien) comes to awareness in her new found human body, she begins to realise that Melanie is going nowhere and her consciousness is still very much alive... and very determined to stay right where she is.

The book is fascinating. It captured my attention and I read the entire 620 page book in 3 days. Especially now, as my all time favorite author (Robert Jordan) has passed away, I am excited to have another author that I love so deeply. I look forward to any and all books that Mrs. Meyer writes and would gladly recommend this book to just about anyone. (And personally, I am thrilled that she has a new idea beyond the Twilight series... where although they were wonderfully written, they have created an unhealthy following of strangely obsessed people since the movies came out which I am thrilled to say I am not part of. I loved the books, but the movies, well...)