Review of The Host

Review of The Host

By: Stephanie Meyer

            This is not your typical alien invasion storyline, but a story about what makes you human.  Wanderer is an alien that is put into Melanie Stryder’s body to get information, but unlike most of the humans, Melanie is a fighter and will not fade from her body.  Wanderer tries to get past Melanie’s defenses and recover her memories, but in doing so Wanderer begins to become attached to Mel’s remaining family: her brother Jamie, and the man Mel loves Jared.  This leaves Wanderer conflicted.  The pair also hav to deal with an obstinate Seeker, the law enforcement of Wanderer’s kind, and they start to distrust her.  Wanderer agrees to go along with Mel’s plan to follow her Uncle Jeb’s bizarre instructions that might lead to where Jared and Jamie might be.  After trekking through the desert and almost dying Jeb finds Wanderer and Melanie.  He is uncertain and conflicted about Wanderer, but Mel’s Aunt Maggie, and the other humans don’t trust her and she is kept prisoner.   Luckily for Wanderer, Jeb begins to suspect there is more to her and tries to help her acclimate.  Jamie knows Melanie is still alive, so he treats Wanderer like his sister, and another human Ian, starts to like Wanderer, but Jared is still unsure about her.

            When readers see The Host in the stores and libraries I imagine the readers might think, with sarcasm, “great this is the same author who wrote twilight.  I don’t know if I want to read it”, but this book is such an improvement from The Twilight series.  The book deals with the theme of what makes someone human, and her writing has improved since Twilight.  It still has a little of the mentality of the males telling the female what to do, though not as bad as Twilight.  The book is over 500 pages, but the chapters are not very long making it a quick read, despite the length.  Although, Wanderer is not as tough and aggressive as Melanie she is strong in her own way.  She will not let people tell her what to do or what to believe.  She stands up for herself, and also has a good, moral heart.  Melanie is a feisty, sarcastic person that is fun to read about.  Wanderer’s compassion and kindness along with Melanie’s bravery and feistiness are a good combination and create a compelling relationship to read about it.   The science fiction aspect is written in a way that anyone can understand.  The aliens are also unique as there are not many alien stories where the aliens are almost humane.  The alien’s intentions are good, and they believe they are helping the humans.  There physical appearance is unique and beautiful.  I give this novel an A- rating.