Title: The Host

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Series: The Host #1

Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction Romance

Pages: 656 Pages (Paperback)

Original Publication Date: May 6, 2008

Overall Rating:
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Summary from Goodreads

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining “wild” humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, 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.

Wanderer probes Melanie’s thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer’s mind 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 begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

My Thoughts

Stephenie Meyer has outdone herself again. She’s a fantastic story teller and very good at character development. You can’t help loving the characters and the story. I enjoyed the story very much. :D

Earth has been taken over by souls that are symbiotic in nature and require a host body to live. They take over civilizations to make them better by creating a Utopian society.

Once a soul’s inserted into a host body, the host fades away. Earth is the first society in which opposition to an inserted soul has occurred and Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away when Wanderer’s inserted into her body.

As Melanie and Wanderer learn to live with one another, Wanderer finds herself wondering where she belongs. She’s a soul, but she starts to show compassion for the humans because of Melanie’s memories and refusal to be erased. The story explores many aspects of love and acceptance as Wanderer finds her true place in the world.