The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Release Date: 2008
Publishers: Hachette Book Group Ltd.
Format: Ebook (Kindle)
My Rating: 5/5
"It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the things you do with it. You are beautiful."
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.
Wanderer, the invading 'soul' who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, 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.
Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts 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 yearns for a man she's never met.
As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.
***********************
Well this was a fantastic read and in my opinion way better than the Twilight saga. If anything I completely forgot, whilst reading this, that Stephenie Meyer had written that series. I think each character had a brilliant personality and when reading this I felt I understood everyone's actions and decisions.
The Host is written from the perspective of Wanda (or Wanderer) a soul who has come to Earth to experience another planet in the Universe. One of my favourite things about this novel was that the 'souls' were not stereotypical aliens that us humans have imagined. I loved reading the stories Wanda tells the community within the caves; they're so fascinating to learn about and it really opens up a bigger picture by making you wonder about what else is out there in the Universe. I mean we can't be the only life source, can we?
Another thing I loved about Wanda's character and the story itself was that you see a real struggle between Wanda and Melanie; Melanie is resistant to fade away meaning that she is constantly with Wanda, in any situation that occurs, showing the strength of the resistant and how defenceless these souls can also be. After all they did come to Earth to make peace in this world. However juxtaposing that idea entirely, one of the most heart felt scenes of the book would have to be when Wanda enters the hospital room in the caves and sees all of the mutilated souls that Doc was unable to bring out correctly. It really shows us as the readers how Wanda's society really isn't that different to the humans; if we saw that in our eyes it would be a massacre of dead bodies, so it was really moving how Stephenie Meyer had written that scene in. It also makes you wonder about our own species as in that scene the humans just stand there totally dumbfounded as to why Wanda is freaking out so much. It did made me laugh!
Melanie's character was a vital part of the story and also very interesting to learn about. Melanie is 17 years of age when she attempts to take her own life so she doesn't become a body for a 'soul' to enter. However with the medicines the souls have Melanie is healed and revived. We see Melanie struggle with Wanda's control over Melanie's own body through the internal dialogue which is interesting as it shows her having not much control over her own body unless it is something Melanie is deeply passionate about e.g. Wanda kissing Jared in which Melanie acts through Wanda and punches him.
The thing I was most shocked about Jared's character was the fact that he was 26! A bit of an age difference between Jared and Melanie but as the novel progresses I kind of got past that and accepted the love that Mel had for Jared and vica versa and you begin to forget about their ages. Although I must say I was incredibly shocked when Wanda is taken to the caves and upon seeing Jared he slaps her. If I were Jared and I saw the love of my life, even with a soul possessing it, I would not immediately slap her. Anyone else agree? Maybe this is why I'm team Ian. Ian is such a compassionate and understanding character throughout the novel. Although he attempts to strangle Wanda at the beginning of her capture he soon sees that she is harmless and peaceful to the humans hiding from the world. He soon becomes such a loveable character, always by Wanda's side despite Melanie's thoughts on him,
Jamie is described as being quite a smart, strong kid in the novel unlike in the movie adaptation where he is seen as a child. In the novel he's seen going to school, helping out around the community and staying by Wanda's side. Unlike the movie Jamie is actually given a responsible role of going out on a raid, but unluckily he falls on his knife and his leg becomes infected. Jamie's character is cute and adorable and we see him as the little brother to not only Melanie but to most of the humans in the caves.
The insane genius Jeb is the master behind the idea of living in the caves which you have to admit is a pretty good idea as no one would really look in caves for civilisation. Jeb is one of the first humans to realise that humans can still live on with a soul possessing their body and begins to note that Melanie is still inside the body Wanda has occupied. Jeb being the master of the place gives the orders and you really get to see this come to life when Kyle, Ian's brother, is up for a tribunal. Kyle hates souls, he totally disagrees with them and as soon as Wanda appears on the scene he is bent on killing her, even if Melanie happens to be inside still. A stand out scene to the novel would be when Wanda is in the bathroom area and Kyle comes in intending to kill her; he attempts to throw her into the river which less to someplace unknown to the humans. However in the process as Wanda is defending herself Kyle ends up falling into the river and clinging on for dear life and we see Wanda trying to save him. What really makes me wonder about this scene is that he put his idea of murdering Wanda aside to save his own life and towards the end of the novel Kyle's girlfriend is possessed by a soul which he doesn't care about, he even begins to love the soul.
I thought Doc's character brings a sense of reality to the novel, showing that the Doc has a conscience unlike some on the humans living amongst the community. We see Doc grieving for the lives he couldn't save and we see him confide in alcohol to numb his feelings and take away his pain. Doc shows a great struggle between trying to save the possessed humans and knowing it's not going to work. Along with his struggles we especially see him struggle to keep his promise to Wanda when she asks one last favour from him
Walter! Oh Walter - he has to be one of my favourite characters in this novel. He also brings reality to the novel, he allows himself to see both sides of the situation and brings a sense of reality through his illness. It's a shame they couldn't save him, but you see a brilliant bond grown between Walter and Wanda even though Walter doesn't realise what's going on. Walter is dying from cancer and in the late stages of his illness he begins to hallucinate under the pressure of drugs to ease his pain - through his hallucinations he sees Wanda as his late wife Gladdie. It's such a heart felt moment in the novel as not only do we appreciate Walter and love him but he also makes the other humans begin to see that Wanda is peaceful and not the enemy.
The Host is written from the perspective of Wanda (or Wanderer) a soul who has come to Earth to experience another planet in the Universe. One of my favourite things about this novel was that the 'souls' were not stereotypical aliens that us humans have imagined. I loved reading the stories Wanda tells the community within the caves; they're so fascinating to learn about and it really opens up a bigger picture by making you wonder about what else is out there in the Universe. I mean we can't be the only life source, can we?
Another thing I loved about Wanda's character and the story itself was that you see a real struggle between Wanda and Melanie; Melanie is resistant to fade away meaning that she is constantly with Wanda, in any situation that occurs, showing the strength of the resistant and how defenceless these souls can also be. After all they did come to Earth to make peace in this world. However juxtaposing that idea entirely, one of the most heart felt scenes of the book would have to be when Wanda enters the hospital room in the caves and sees all of the mutilated souls that Doc was unable to bring out correctly. It really shows us as the readers how Wanda's society really isn't that different to the humans; if we saw that in our eyes it would be a massacre of dead bodies, so it was really moving how Stephenie Meyer had written that scene in. It also makes you wonder about our own species as in that scene the humans just stand there totally dumbfounded as to why Wanda is freaking out so much. It did made me laugh!
Melanie's character was a vital part of the story and also very interesting to learn about. Melanie is 17 years of age when she attempts to take her own life so she doesn't become a body for a 'soul' to enter. However with the medicines the souls have Melanie is healed and revived. We see Melanie struggle with Wanda's control over Melanie's own body through the internal dialogue which is interesting as it shows her having not much control over her own body unless it is something Melanie is deeply passionate about e.g. Wanda kissing Jared in which Melanie acts through Wanda and punches him.
The thing I was most shocked about Jared's character was the fact that he was 26! A bit of an age difference between Jared and Melanie but as the novel progresses I kind of got past that and accepted the love that Mel had for Jared and vica versa and you begin to forget about their ages. Although I must say I was incredibly shocked when Wanda is taken to the caves and upon seeing Jared he slaps her. If I were Jared and I saw the love of my life, even with a soul possessing it, I would not immediately slap her. Anyone else agree? Maybe this is why I'm team Ian. Ian is such a compassionate and understanding character throughout the novel. Although he attempts to strangle Wanda at the beginning of her capture he soon sees that she is harmless and peaceful to the humans hiding from the world. He soon becomes such a loveable character, always by Wanda's side despite Melanie's thoughts on him,
Jamie is described as being quite a smart, strong kid in the novel unlike in the movie adaptation where he is seen as a child. In the novel he's seen going to school, helping out around the community and staying by Wanda's side. Unlike the movie Jamie is actually given a responsible role of going out on a raid, but unluckily he falls on his knife and his leg becomes infected. Jamie's character is cute and adorable and we see him as the little brother to not only Melanie but to most of the humans in the caves.
The insane genius Jeb is the master behind the idea of living in the caves which you have to admit is a pretty good idea as no one would really look in caves for civilisation. Jeb is one of the first humans to realise that humans can still live on with a soul possessing their body and begins to note that Melanie is still inside the body Wanda has occupied. Jeb being the master of the place gives the orders and you really get to see this come to life when Kyle, Ian's brother, is up for a tribunal. Kyle hates souls, he totally disagrees with them and as soon as Wanda appears on the scene he is bent on killing her, even if Melanie happens to be inside still. A stand out scene to the novel would be when Wanda is in the bathroom area and Kyle comes in intending to kill her; he attempts to throw her into the river which less to someplace unknown to the humans. However in the process as Wanda is defending herself Kyle ends up falling into the river and clinging on for dear life and we see Wanda trying to save him. What really makes me wonder about this scene is that he put his idea of murdering Wanda aside to save his own life and towards the end of the novel Kyle's girlfriend is possessed by a soul which he doesn't care about, he even begins to love the soul.
I thought Doc's character brings a sense of reality to the novel, showing that the Doc has a conscience unlike some on the humans living amongst the community. We see Doc grieving for the lives he couldn't save and we see him confide in alcohol to numb his feelings and take away his pain. Doc shows a great struggle between trying to save the possessed humans and knowing it's not going to work. Along with his struggles we especially see him struggle to keep his promise to Wanda when she asks one last favour from him
Walter! Oh Walter - he has to be one of my favourite characters in this novel. He also brings reality to the novel, he allows himself to see both sides of the situation and brings a sense of reality through his illness. It's a shame they couldn't save him, but you see a brilliant bond grown between Walter and Wanda even though Walter doesn't realise what's going on. Walter is dying from cancer and in the late stages of his illness he begins to hallucinate under the pressure of drugs to ease his pain - through his hallucinations he sees Wanda as his late wife Gladdie. It's such a heart felt moment in the novel as not only do we appreciate Walter and love him but he also makes the other humans begin to see that Wanda is peaceful and not the enemy.
Overall bit of a lengthy review about the characters and how they each pay a contributing role within the novel. It's a brilliant novel, way better than Twilight and if you're intrigued by a different perspective about what could be out there in the universe apart from us then this is a read for you!!
Enjoy x
Author's Website: Stephanie Meyer
GoodReads: The Host
Available in most book stores and online now.
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