Review: The Host

Title: The Host
Author: Stephenie Meyer

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | TBD

Synopsis: Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of 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.

Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, The Host is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.

Review:

"After all the planets and all the hosts you've left behind, you've finally found the place and body you'd die for. I think you found your home, Wanderer."

I actually saw this book years ago but decided not to read it. Reason: I was biased on the author. But after I saw the movie trailer, I found it really cool that I decided that not reading it and watching the movie is a crime. It didn't go well at first. I found the first part dragging and I was thinking whether I made a mistake in picking this up. Luckily, I decided to go on.

The Host was definitely written by Meyer. Based on what I've read in the past, I think this author really good in terms of descriptive writing and it was obvious with this book. Unfortunately, there were some parts that had too much description and started to feel bland. Sometimes, there were too much of it that it consumed almost the whole page. But aside from those carried-away-moments, as what I've called them, this was actually good.

The body-snatching aliens weren't that foreign to me. I really think aliens do that since I was a kid. But the way the story went was really good. There were parts that successfully made me shed a tear, especially with Walter and Jamie.

Nyay: the lack of action. I was expecting action because it was a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic novel. There are aliens who invaded the Earth, of course there's struggle. But a lot of things happened inside the cave and gave us little about the body-snatchers. To think that the climax was the part where Wanda made her decision (in my opinion, anyway), made it flop considering its genre.

Having a really good doer protagonist was new to me. I usually read badass ones who aren't afraid and would seriously kick some arse. Good thing Wanda was very likable. Although her softness annoys me sometimes, she manages to defend and stand for her beliefs. There were times when I would back her up but sometimes, I find it annoying when she doesn't listen to Melanie.

With the boys.. Am I the only one who likes Ian more than Jared? Maybe it's because the Jared in the cave didn't actually mirror the Jared from Melanie's memories. And that he was rarely there and most of the time, he was mentioned when he's angry or Wanda looks at him longingly. I understand where he's coming though. Losing Melanie was really tough and the 'soul' who took her was standing in front of him. Well, anyone would definitely lose it. There was more interaction with Ian though. It's like we knew, though not literally, him because of the times he spent with Wanda compared to Jared. I can't even put the Ian who was willing to kill Wanda and the Ian after that, together in my head. It was like two different persons.

I started reading this thinking that this body-sharing will end badly based on what I've read with the same situation. Badly as in, it won't end the way I want it. And I was really worried about it. While reading, I started to form situations where Melanie could come back so she could be with Jared, without actually losing or killing Wanda. I thought it would be about Jared and bringing back his feelings and maybe some of it will divert to Wanda. Well, good thing it wasn't. I don't even think it focused more on their relationship. It actually focused more on Melanie and Wanda's—from being sort of enemies to sisters.

As what I've read all over the internet, Meyer planned this to be a trilogy but doesn't want more character death (which is inevitable in my opinion). For me, it would be nice for her to continue it and add more action, but I also liked how it ended.

I hope the film would show what the 'soul' looks like when it's out from the host's body.