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The Host (The Host, #1)

Stephenie Meyer

Start date: April 1, 2013

Finish date: April 30, 2013

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What Members Thought

Jun 14, 2012 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, young-adult, rrrc, dystopia, random-book-list-challenge, hearts-tears, aliens

I was sooo wary going into this book. I didn't enjoy Meyers' Twilight series, other then the first book. So I was pleasantly surprised as I read this.

I will not lie something with the ending bugged me slightly, like it was just tossed on at the last minute. I do hope she writes the next book soon though. ...more

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May 27, 2008 Sabrina rated it it was amazing

Wow. I'm really not a fan of "aliens", but this book was really incredible. My prediction is that it's going to end up being discussed in college classrooms in a decade or two. But, most importantly, it's just fun to read. ...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Cindy rated it really liked it

Well, I actually really liked it. The premise of the novel was intriguing...an alien species takes over other species, absorbing memories and characteristics of each "host". Wanderer encounteres her host Melanie and learns what it means to be human. Now, we still have the young female, enraptured and protected by her older counterpart, but the story revolves more around the two strong females halves-Wanderer and Melanie...and their competance and strength. I wasn't thrilled that Wanderer was so ...more

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Aug 02, 2008 Yvonne rated it it was amazing

The earth has been taken over by beings from another world. These souls invade the human body, taking over their minds and leaving only their bodies intact.

Melanie Stryder is one of those humans, but she refuses to go down without a fight. As a new soul is placed into her body, Melanie continues to fight it off. She can’t let the soul win. Her entire family is at risk. She must find a way to return to her brother, Jamie, and the man she loves, Jared. Her fears mount as Melanie doesn’t know if sh The earth has been taken over by beings from another world. These souls invade the human body, taking over their minds and leaving only their bodies intact.

Melanie Stryder is one of those humans, but she refuses to go down without a fight. As a new soul is placed into her body, Melanie continues to fight it off. She can’t let the soul win. Her entire family is at risk. She must find a way to return to her brother, Jamie, and the man she loves, Jared. Her fears mount as Melanie doesn’t know if she can trust the new soul in her body. Will it help her to save her loved ones or will it use her as a way of capturing them as well?

Melanie fills her new soul, named Wanderer, with visions of the love and happiness she feels for Jamie and Jared. It doesn’t take Wanderer long to adapt those feelings and have her own feelings of love for both of them, but she faces adversity at every step. The few humans that are still alive don’t trust her and would just as soon kill her as look at her, but can she convince Jamie and Jared that she’s not all bad?

Wanderer begins to fit in with some of the humans and is given the name Wanda. She finds a human of her own to love in Ian. The conflict increases with two women live in one body and love different men. Only one woman can survive and she can only have one man.

This is an interesting and intriguing story. Although the souls are the enemy, their reasons for invading earth aren’t completely evil. They do not believe in violence and feel humans possess those violent qualities. It is hard to argue with their quest for a happy, peaceful world, but seeing the humans torn apart from their families is devastating. Not all humans are violent.

It gives the reader much to think about. Nothing is completely black or white, there are always shades of grave throughout this book. It has a little bit of everything – romance, science fiction, paranormal, and adventure. I couldn’t put this book down.

Stephenie Meyer is a talented and creative author. I intend to read more of her books and am hopeful there will be a sequel to The Host. I’d love to re-visit these characters I grew to love.
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Aug 14, 2008 Morgan rated it really liked it

Story:
The earth has fallen to the star faring race know as the souls. There was no resistance until it was to late and now the souls "control" most of earths inhabitants by taking over there bodies and carrying out the lives of their host as if nothing has changed. The true "humans" are an almost extinct race except for small pockets that realized what was happening and scattered to remote areas that the invaders either find to difficult to get to or don't feel like wasting resources on. Melani Story:
The earth has fallen to the star faring race know as the souls. There was no resistance until it was to late and now the souls "control" most of earths inhabitants by taking over there bodies and carrying out the lives of their host as if nothing has changed. The true "humans" are an almost extinct race except for small pockets that realized what was happening and scattered to remote areas that the invaders either find to difficult to get to or don't feel like wasting resources on. Melanie Stryder is part of one such group. Melaine is captured when she goes into an occupied city to try and find some of her family she hopes is still human, unfortunately she is found out and tries to kill herself before she can be turned which also fails. Her body is healed and she has her new "soul" implanted. Now her name is Wanderer... or is it? The orignal Melanie is one of the few human hosts that can retain their mind after implantation and Melanie will not fade away quietly. Pretty soon Wanderer is fighting a losing battle with Melanie who wants to be reunited with her younger brother Jamie and her lover Jared. Soon her odd behavior brings the attention of a seeker, more or less an alien police detective, who wants to know why Wanderer is acting strange and why she cannot seem to access the information on the rebels that the seeker wants. Wander/Melanie desperatley want to find their family but do not want to bring the seekers down on them. Pretty soon their every move is being watched, until they get a lucky break while driving to another state to get some "help" for Wanderer's problem. Melanie recognizes a landmark in the desert and belives her family may hiding there. This begins Wanderer's journey to understand what is to belong to the body that she is inhabiting and perhaps to help the surviors understand their themselves and their unwelcome guests a little better.
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There is proably not much I can say that hasn't already been said about this book considering it already has a ton of reviews. It is differnt from the run of the mill alien invasion books. It did keep my attention especially later in the book once certain characters stop acting like idiots and actually try to work with the situation they are in. I did like how most of the story was written and it does show how a non violent method way of invasion can work (really just a modified version of a conquering nation winning by owning everything, in this case bodies rather than businesses or real estate). I would recommend this book to any one who likes alien scifi, complicated romantic triangles, and those who like the action to come through dialouge and situations rather than everything getting blown up. If you like this you also might like Belarus, Learning the World, Voyage from Yesteryear and Quozl.
m.a.c ...more

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Jan 26, 2009 Jenni Wilson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Awesome story. I loved it. This is sci-fi with lots of action, suspense, and romance. It's a very fun read. ...more

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May 03, 2008 Jordan rated it it was amazing

I occasionally read teen fiction because I work part time in a bookstore and have to be able to make suggestions...and so awhile back I read "Twilight" the first of Meyer's bestselling vampire love trilogy. I liked it enough to be curious about this new novel, which is billed as an adult novel...and though I still feel she's keeping her teen audience in mind, I was surprised at how much I liked this book. How well she handled philosophically complex questions about what is good and right, while ...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Leah Lindeman rated it liked it

The concept was interesting and engaging. However, the middle of the book was bogged down by too much description and internal conversation. The pacing could have been much better. Overall, once I got past the middle, I really enjoyed the book.

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