The Host: A Novel

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It's a hit!

Amazing, simply amazing! Stephenie Meyer has done it again! It's tied with "Twilight" for my favourite book, I found that "The Host" was a much mor... (show more)

Amazing, simply amazing! Stephenie Meyer has done it again! It's tied with "Twilight" for my favourite book, I found that "The Host" was a much more rounded book than SM Twilight Series, the characters seemed more likable and more realistic. It dragged on for the first 80 pages or so but the other 500+ pages were golden!

The ending was marvellous, and safe to say, the best ending of any book I’ve ever read. The Host is definitely a must read! You’ll stay up till the wee hours of the night reading it, I know I did. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook-gebruiker

No, it's a flop!

Wow! I do not like leaving books unfinished but I found this book impossible to get through.I reached page 174 and I just cannot continue. Did I me... (show more)

Wow! I do not like leaving books unfinished but I found this book impossible to get through.I reached page 174 and I just cannot continue. Did I mention that this book is 619 pages long? Don't get me wrong, a long book is not a deterrent to me. I love getting lost in a long book as long as the storytelling is rich and compelling(see East of Eden or Middlesex).
I decided to pick this up at my local library after hearing that this was Stephanie Myers' first novel geared towards adults. I have not read any of the Twilight saga so I cannot compare this to it. The story moves extremely slowly and the protagonist(s) is completely inaccessible. The central conflict (humankind being reduced to hosts for a higher life-form)is very compelling but is lost in Ms Myers' heavy handed narrative. This may be a dynamite story but I simply stopped caring about the characters...though I doubt I ever started. (show less)

 

 

by Jennifer Haviland

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  The Host is similar in many respects to the Twilight series, so those who liked that will probably like this. Stephenie Meyer definitely has a talent for entertaining if ridiculous books. I liked this better than Twilight, mostly because I wasn't subjected to full chapters about how perfect Edward Cullen is. The plot in this one is much faster and better paced than Twilight.

  My main complaint is the same that I have about all of Stephenie Meyer's "heroines". These women are so ri... (show more)

  The Host is similar in many respects to the Twilight series, so those who liked that will probably like this. Stephenie Meyer definitely has a talent for entertaining if ridiculous books. I liked this better than Twilight, mostly because I wasn't subjected to full chapters about how perfect Edward Cullen is. The plot in this one is much faster and better paced than Twilight.

  My main complaint is the same that I have about all of Stephenie Meyer's "heroines". These women are so ridiculously selfless it's irrational and irritating. Both Wanderer and Melanie would throw themselves in front of a train for their men and not even think twice. It's the kind of selflessness that is soul destroying, and leaves us without a strong personality to root for. On the flip side, the strong women in this book are rigid and unfeeling, and their portrayal is entirely unsympathetic. I understand love and sacrifice but this borders on self-hatred.

  All in all Stephenie Meyer has delivered another immensely entertaining but ultimately shallow book. (show less)

   

  by Facebook-gebruiker on Feb 06, 2009 at 09:58PM

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  From vampires to...alien.

  Let me start this review by saying that I am not a huge fan of sci-fi. I don't really like anything that takes place in space or has anything to do with the future, so when I heard that Miss Meyer's new book talked about little aliens and ufo's... I didn't know if I wanted to read it.

  But I did pick it up and I'm glad I did. Once again, this book is written from a first person narrative. If you didn't like the story telling in the "Twilight" novels, chanc... (show more)

  From vampires to...alien.

  Let me start this review by saying that I am not a huge fan of sci-fi. I don't really like anything that takes place in space or has anything to do with the future, so when I heard that Miss Meyer's new book talked about little aliens and ufo's... I didn't know if I wanted to read it.

  But I did pick it up and I'm glad I did. Once again, this book is written from a first person narrative. If you didn't like the story telling in the "Twilight" novels, chances are, you won't like it is this book either.

  Story overview:

  In a not-so-distant future, the human race has been taken over by a species of aliens called "souls". They aliens are parasitic, they need a host to survive. Animal, plant....as long as the "soul" can attach itself to a host, it can become virtually immortal. In the case of humans, once the soul attaches itself to the human brain, it completely takes over, destroying the old personality of the human. However, some personalities are strong, and they don't go down without a fight. Melanie Stryder has become a host. Her soul is named Wanderer. Wanderer has lived many lives many planets but she has never found a "home". Will she finally find a family in the form of her host and her past life....

  Appreciation:

  I was surprised by this book. For one thing, I thought the story telling was going to be Melanie's point of view, turns out I was wrong. Miss Meyer decided to tell the story from Wanderer (aka Wanda)'s point of view. Melanie has not been completely suppressed and Wanda still has her old memories and emotions, emotions and feelings she does not understand. I won't go into the details too much, but I found the idea of the humans being taken over internally really cleaver rather than being overthrown by aliens shooting lazer guns. Once again, the book is slow... I won't deny that I was a little dissapointed with the first chapters and that I didn't know if I was going to finish it or not.. I guess this must be a characteristic of Meyer's writting, she slowly builds up the pace and the storyline. The story in "The Host" gets really interesting around chapter 8, before that, it's just Wanda's adaptation to Melanie's body and descriptions of her (rather boring) everyday life. The main character Wanda has a somewhat pacifist personality, which I found highly annoying sometimes. Good thing Melanie's hardassness was there to back her up.

  Oh, the ending tugged at my heartstrings a lot... it will probably do the same for you.

  So there you have it. Stephenie Meyer is still a young writer, she doesn't have a lot of novels under her belt yet. Still, I did like all her novels and I can honestly say that she is one of my favorite writers.

  (Now, if she could just publish "Midnight Sun") (show less)

   

   

  by Valerie Gravel on Mar 27, 2009 at 01:55AM

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