The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Host: A Novel
Book Review: A book that could lead to good discussions
Summary: 5 Stars
Stephanie Meyer is good at creating a new world that readers are curious to understand and explore. The Host is not one of those stories that leads up to a big, final battle in which the "good guys" defeat/conquer/overcome the "bad guys". This is a relationship driven story. It's about an alien that comes to understand love more deeply - from motherly love, to friendship/family love, to romantic love. The story is appealing because most of us can relate to feelings of being a misfit, and the deep desire to belong, be accepted, and to be loved.
Ways The Host is similar to the Twilight series:
- Both stories have a group of outcasts in hiding trying to survive
- The main character's internal struggle over who to be loyal to
- The main character's struggle with gaining the trust of the outcast group
- Symbolism of the eyes. In Twilight the eyes tell about a vampire's diet; in The Host, the eyes indicate whether a person is human or alien
- The non-human characters' physical dependency on human bodies. In Twilight the vampires need mammal blood. In The Host, the aliens need sentient host bodies.
- The non-human characters' (vampires & aliens) potential for "immortality"
- The non-human characters' (vampires & aliens) don't get the same opportunities as human in experiencing a parent-child relationship
Potential discussion questions:
- How much of "who we are" is our Body and how much is our Mind?
- The story explores how an alien soul controls the host body. The story shows how humans have some kind of intelligence/mind/spirit that is a separate entity from their body. We learn through the story where the aliens' souls come from, but the story doesn't talk about where human spirits comes from. The author has religious beliefs, but she doesn't bring any of that into her writing. However, this story does present the opportunity to discuss the origin and potential for human spirits.
- Even though we don't have aliens taking over our bodies, what other entities are trying to influence our thoughts and behaviors? Some examples would be the news media, advertising, political campaigns, parenting methods, educational slants, etc. What about something like the devil as portrayed in C.S. Lewis's novel "The Screwtape Letters"?
- Many of the characters in this story have a hard time separating Melanie from Wanda. The characters looked at Melanie's body and had a difficult time recognizing the two different entities inside. Compare and contrast this to how we often look at outside appearances. How do prejudices about beauty, age, race, gender, health, etc., affect the way we view the person on the inside?
- What does it mean to "be human"?
- Who "owns" a body? What ways did the story explore different definitions and types of ownership over a body?
- What some examples about how the characters where affected by their ability (or inability) to see things from other people's perspectives.
- Are there some ways in which Earth is a better place because of the Souls?
Book Review: A book that made me sob, but didn't leave me depressed
Summary: 5 Stars
I went into THE HOST thinking I was not going to enjoy it. As a 34 year old female computer scientist, I like science fiction television shows/movies, but I thought the book wouldn't be that good. I had a tough time getting through the first few chapters in the book. I thought the story was a bit too out-there for me, and a bit boring...
However, once the book settled in about 100 pages, I became engrossed by the story of this apocalyptic society of 20+ people living together. Stephenie Meyer's descriptive writing had me picturing every scene with vivid imagery. Her characters seemed more realistic because of their flaws - she didn't write people to be perfect like so many authors. I could feel the characters. I could picture the caves and smell the sulfur. The way Meyer was able to describe something as simple as a character's level of thirst, or sitting in solitude in the dark for hours without speaking or eating... It was gripping.
I could put myself into their situation and asked myself constantly what I would do if it were me. It wasn't so much a book about aliens and science fiction as it was an examination of humans and relationships. I rooted for characters to learn from their mistakes. I saw hope in humanity reading this book.
I've read some reviews where people were frustrated with the author making characters to be misogynistic. I believe that is over-simplifying the complex situation that these characters were put into.
The book brought forth a lot of emotion from me. I sobbed during sections of the book because it was so moving and emotional - yet, I didn't feel depressed reading it. It was almost cleansing. I highly recommend this book (though there will always be people that don't like it). To me, it was very much worth reading. Just believe me that it will get better if you find the first few chapters a struggle to read.
Book Review: A captivating book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't help but love all of Stephanie Meyer's books but this one especially. The dialogue and story flows so naturally that I was able to sit and read the book for hours without noticing any time passing. I would recommend this book for anyone with a desire to get lost in a great story and feel the power of human emotions. This is a wonderfully easy and comfortable read.Book Review: A different pace
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this to be a very good, entertaining read, though different from the Stephenie Meyer I have read in the past. Perhaps it seemed like there was less action, passion and the traditional works. But the change comes with a pleasant reward. The depth of the character insight helped me to get deep into thoughts and feeling of the host. Melanie keeps all but steadfast against her alien invader. I was drawn in by this character's personality and perseverance. This is, obviously, not A-typical Stephenie Meyer. This IS an exceptional change that I invite into my library with high recommendation.Book Review: A different sort of read, but riveting nonetheless
Summary: 4 Stars
I was almost reluctant to pick up The Host. A body with two minds? A love triangle with just two people? It all sounded too weird. But even though I don't see myself re-reading it, at least not in the near future, it was still an interesting and worthwhile read. It wasn't quite what I expected- I don't really know what I was expecting, though...
It's not even comparable to the Twilight series. The only thing that is similar is Ms. Meyer's awesome talent for expressing and conveying such depth of emotions and the strong connections that can develop between unlikely people. Plus the characters are still so well depicted that they feel real.
Luckily, there wasn't much focus on the science fiction aspect to turn me off completely. Though, the aliens/body snatchers are central to the story, they are not that threatening or overwhelming an addition to the story to make it feel different than a normal fictional story with normal characters. The only time there was too much fantasy going on was when Wanderer was telling stories of the other planets she lived on. At first this was very interesting but then it got to be too much- too random, too weird. Even with that chunk, the story makes for a fascinating read. Wanderer (aka Wanda) is definitely a very unique narrator and heroine. At first it is easy to side with Melanie, and hate Wanderer for the invader/body snatcher that she is. But just as Melanie comes to know and appreciate the more human and likeable aspects of Wanderer's personality, the readers are also better able to like and even relate to some of what she's going through.
Wanderer is an alien soul, an outsider. Her emotional journey is riveting. She is able to come to love and understand Melanie, who other souls had deemed a resistant/aggressive host. She is able to live among humans and come to understand and sympathesize with their struggle to survive against her species. She is in many ways a diplomat between the souls and the humans. Her story is bittersweet, touching and compelling. Despite the fact that the book could've been cut down quite a bit, it is still a whirlwind of a read. This book will definitely make you think; and it will stick with you long after you finish. It's a different sort of read, but enjoyable nonetheless. Fans of Twilight may be a little disappointed because The Host is not as powerful or as wildly addicting. It takes longer for you to get into it but the characters are just as strong as the Twilight gang, enough for you to root for them and want to see how it wraps up. Though, this book is aimed for adults, other than some passionate kissing this is definitely young adult friendly.