Review: The Host

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult (?), Fiction
Maturity Level: 4
View on Goodreads
Rating: ⋆⋆⋆

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Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, didn’t expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer’s thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she’s never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

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This was a really interesting concept. What can I say, I am a sucker for they-walk-among-us books, movies, TV, whatever. And while this idea brought to mind too strongly the Animorphs books I read as a kid (seriously, did Stephanie Meyer just completely rip off the Yeerks, or what?), I loved the idea of reading about what it would be like from the invading aliens point of view. But then Stephanie Meyer killed this book in her typical three ways.

1. Overly Sappy Love Square – Because love triangles just aren’t good enough anymore! This book was reading like an adult sci-fi novel, the way it was intended, until all the sappy love crap started sinking in. Then it became purely about the sappy love square and the quintessential YA “Paranormal Romance”. Honestly, I didn’t care about any of that. Also, I notice Meyer has a tendency to TELL you that something is heartbreaking, passionate, or whatever, rather than actually conveying it through writing.
2. Obnoxiously Self-Sacrificing Damsel in Distress Main Character – Wanderer was literally Bella Swan. And I hated Bella Swan. Can we read about someone else in this book please?
3. Completely Ignoring the Interesting Stuff – As I said, I was super curious about the idea of an alien’s point of view of the invasion. But whenever that part came up, Wanderer would just sort of say, “And I told them about how we invaded.” That’s all well and great, but I WANT TO KNOW TOO! That’s literally why I read this book! So instead of focusing on the interesting bits, I had to read on and on and on about how everyone hated Wanderer and how scared she was and blah blah blah.

That being said, this book interested me enough to read it more than once, so I guess it wasn’t a complete failure. Still, I wish somebody more capable had gotten their hands on this concept and taken over. Sorry Stephanie Meyer, but not sorry.