Book reviews by Mobilism's Book Review team
Jun 10th, 2016, 4:51 am
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TITLE: The Host
AUTHOR: Stephenie Meyer
GENRE: Science Fiction | Dystopia
PUBLISHED: May 6, 2008
RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★

PURCHASE LINKS: AmazonUSA
MOBILISM LINK: Read!

Review: I have a love and hate relationship with Stephenie Meyer's novel, The Host. While reading this novel my emotional stages were neutral, curious, nervous, angry, excited, sad, frustrated, happy, and finally content.

Often, I have been criticized for praising Stephanie Meyer's writing style. However I request all the readers out there, that they should read The Host before forming an absolute opinion about its author.

Who knows, you might enjoy it. I know I did.

The Host is based in a wonderful world. Meyer has brought a different concept of aliens known as Souls into science fiction, who seek to experience life and not destroy it.
"On every planet we took a different word. Soul. I suppose it was an apt description. The unseen force that guides the body."

The novel has a blend of dystopia also, aliens have taken over the Earth, but not by war!

How the invasion occurred, the technique used by the Souls, at first seemed mind-boggling to me, but later on I appreciated the unique twist on the apocalypse by Meyer.
"The Spiders were our best engineers - the ships they made for us danced nimbly and undetectably throughout the stars."

"About the mass of a cow, but short and lean, the Spiders had no trouble with the first insertions. They were stronger than humans, smarter than humans, and prepared, which the humans were not....."

Guess what the human rebellion calls them - parasites. Yup, and we humans aren't giving up without a fight - stubborn to the core, damn if we are outmatched completely.
"You speak as if a war were raging." "To the remains of the human race, one is."

"But one that even they must realize is long lost. They are outnumbered by what ? A million to one ? I imagine you would know."

"We estimate the odds are quite a bit higher in our favor," she admitted grudgingly."

Our protagonist - Wanderer, is inserted into the body of rebel known as Melanie Stryder. She is thrown in the midst of this mess. I love the plot - how an alien takes over a human's body, and instead of killing its host decides to coexist with her and goes on the journey to unite her human body with her human family. Wanda (the nickname the humans gave the soul) is a strong and flawed protagonist. She sees Earth through a naked eye, because she sees it for the first time, and tries to take in all the wonders of our beautiful planet. This gives way to lots of wonderful description. I started seeing everything through her perspective and it made reading the book all the more interesting to read.
"This place was truly the highest and lowest of all worlds - the most beautiful senses, the most exquisite emotions ... the most malevolent desires, the darkest deeds. Perhaps it was meant to be so. Perhaps without the lows, the highs could not be reached."

Melanie does not give up her body easily. She is a constant thorn in Wanda's side. How they called a truce and started working together - in many ways this journey showcases some fantastic themes like sisterhood, although unfortunately they were overshadowed by a couple of things.
"I... felt something when he hit you, Melanie interrupted. The words came slowly, one by one, as if she didn't want to think them.

I felt something, too. It was amazing how natural it was to use sarcasm now, after spending so much time with Melanie. He's got quite a backhand, doesn't he?"

One of the things that irritated me is the love and lust part. Wanda lusts for Melanie's boyfriend - Jared Howe. He is like a decade older than Melanie, so many readers draw a parallel between this love story and that of Twilight. Yet, unlike Bella Swan swooning over Edward Cullen, Melanie is made of stronger stuff. But this is not a dominating element of the story. No, what irritated and frustrated me until the book's closing chapters is Wanda's lust for Jared. Of course Meyer has tried to justify it, but it does not take away my annoyance of seeing Wanda going starry-eyed for Jared. Thankfully, the amazing supporting cast that comprises of Melanie's aunt, cousin and fiancé, uncle (brother to the aunt) and the rest of the human resistance, which is small but packed with interesting personalities lifts up the tone of the book, from Wanda's doormat, selfless, and martyr nature, combined with Melanie's impulsive, hot headed, sometimes childish behavior, while both of them having strong survivor instincts, being kind and honest to a fault. I especially loved Jamie - Melanie's younger brother, he brings the vitality and optimism into the book.

The non romantic dialogues are of course one of the best features...
"I remembered that his idea of fun was usual along the lines of an armed standoff."

This is due to the awesome dysfunctional human family that Meyer has created for the soul. All I will say that family is messy, but the bond's loyalty, love, and tenacity are strong and lovely to see.

The story's pacing is good; slow and steady, and then in the blink of an eye becomes intense, packed with action, and makes my heart rate go erratic. Full of unexpected twists, and revelations in every chapter, with an unpredictable climax that takes your breath away.

Personally, I believe that Meyer is using aliens and humans, to reflect upon the age old question of human and soul. Are they so different? In this book, the debate from both the sides is heard. What is humanity, is it limited only to humans? Who is more humane - soul or human? This undercurrent in the book is very intriguing, because like many things, it has no perfect answer. At the end of the day, I realize that I enjoyed reading The Host, despite its flaws. And that I will read it again in the future.
Jun 10th, 2016, 4:51 am
Jun 10th, 2016, 7:32 am
Great review thank you my dear :)
Jun 10th, 2016, 7:32 am
Jun 18th, 2016, 5:30 am
Welcome Welee :)
Glad you liked it !
Jun 18th, 2016, 5:30 am
Jun 21st, 2016, 10:24 am
Not my genre at all, but great first review a2b0c2.
Jun 21st, 2016, 10:24 am
Jun 21st, 2016, 6:49 pm
Thank you !
:)
Jun 21st, 2016, 6:49 pm
Jun 24th, 2016, 11:15 pm
Great insight, a2! Thanks!
Jun 24th, 2016, 11:15 pm

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Jun 25th, 2016, 2:21 pm
Welcome :D
Jun 25th, 2016, 2:21 pm
Aug 21st, 2016, 5:49 am
I remember reading this years ago when it first came out and Twilight was all the craze. Totally forgot about the book until I saw the review, I've always wondered if there would be a sequel to it. Thanks for the review!
Aug 21st, 2016, 5:49 am
Aug 22nd, 2016, 5:37 am
You're welcome ! Unfortunately there has not been a sequel written by Meyer yet, but maybe in the future. Fingers crossed :)
Aug 22nd, 2016, 5:37 am
Sep 18th, 2016, 11:38 am
Great review, for my part I wish there was a second book. C'mon meyer!.
Sep 18th, 2016, 11:38 am

I'm a Survivor
Dec 30th, 2016, 9:15 am
Oh no~!! I was hoping this is as good as the movie!!
Dec 30th, 2016, 9:15 am
May 28th, 2017, 8:09 pm
The Host was quite a surprise when I read it. I quite liked the story and I loved the idea of how the aliens run our world, respecting it much more than we do. I agree in some aspects with their point of view, thinking that we are something negative for the planet, at least in terms of wasting materials and in terms of equality.
May 28th, 2017, 8:09 pm
May 29th, 2017, 11:39 am
I read this quite a long time ago. I enjoyed it, seeing ourselves from a different point of view was interesting.

Lets hope we never get invaded!
May 29th, 2017, 11:39 am
Jun 15th, 2017, 9:46 am
On the contrary, its better :D
Jun 15th, 2017, 9:46 am