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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I liked this book. I feel like it could have been shorter and still have been just as good. It usually isn't hard for me to get through a book but it was with this one just because of the pace. I liked the ending. I don't know why but I think the movie is going to be better. And believe me I have never thought that before. Btw, team Ian.
This book, like her Twilight series, is entertaining, but poorly written and conceived. The core of the story is compelling: an alien species has eradicated humans and now uses human bodies as hosts. Yet Meyer is too poor of a writer to carry off this compelling story. Her writing suffers most when she attempts dialogue surrounding love (although she struggles with dialogue of all kinds); at best, her writing is a series of earnestly uttered cliches. As I did when I read the Twilight series, I found myself cringing any time two characters were professing their feelings for one another.
Meyer commits the writing sin of telling instead of showing throughout her text. One example: she repeatedly professes that one of the book's human characters, a rebel who has successfully hidden from the alien species, is "crazy." Yet this character is neither crazy nor acts crazy, and no amount of repeating that he is crazy actually makes it so.
I am really not happy to read that this book makes it onto top ten literature lists. It is entertaining literature, but by no means great or even good literature.
Meyer commits the writing sin of telling instead of showing throughout her text. One example: she repeatedly professes that one of the book's human characters, a rebel who has successfully hidden from the alien species, is "crazy." Yet this character is neither crazy nor acts crazy, and no amount of repeating that he is crazy actually makes it so.
I am really not happy to read that this book makes it onto top ten literature lists. It is entertaining literature, but by no means great or even good literature.
I haven't watched the movie just because there's too much inner dialogue for it to be good, I feel. The book is better written than Twilight, but don't expect a masterpiece.
Going in I really liked the concept of this book. I was intrigued and despite the negative feedback I wanted to give it as shot. Ultimately, painful is the best way for me to describe this book. I started listening to it on a road trip and couldn't make it very far. If you like books that describe everything for you leaving nothing to the imagination, this book is for you. For me, it took the fun out of it. I have abandoned this book and won't be going back.
I am amazed at Stephenie Meyer's ability to draw me into a story. Her characters are interesting and lovable, even when they are aliens. I couldn't put it down.
I liked this book...but it didn't thrill me. It kept me intrigued enough to incur some late fees from the library--I couldn't just stop in the middle! But it was kind of sloppy and predictable, and a little too syrupy for "adult" fiction. Sci Fi? I don't think so.
I didn't want to like this book as much as I did. It started out a little slow- but so did not end that way! The descriptions you can find on the jacket cover and on any book website only covers the first 1/4 of the book. The most interesting & complicated part of the story is what happens AFTER she finds what she's looking for. I thought it was a very imaginative and hopeful story with lots of good characters and storylines. Another thing I liked about this book, that reminded me a bit of her Twilight series, is how just when you think you know what is going to happen, she throws in twist that just complicates the storyline so much more (and makes it fun too!).
I only gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because I found the romance part of the story immature, innocent and too PG for a book that I thought was geared more toward adults. Interestingly, I thought similar things about the Twilight series as well- but those were definitely YA books so it was more expected. Stephenie Meyer writes romance almost as though she is a 16 year old girl herself with no real experience with relationships or love. Granted, most of the characters in this book range between 16-25 so it makes sense that their romantic relationships should be more innocent than older adults. The most intense sexuality in this book revolves around some sensual kisses. This is great if you want your impressionable 16 year old girl to read this book. But I'm not 16 (haha) and I prefer a little more reality and sex and in my romances; is that wrong of me to say?
I only gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because I found the romance part of the story immature, innocent and too PG for a book that I thought was geared more toward adults. Interestingly, I thought similar things about the Twilight series as well- but those were definitely YA books so it was more expected. Stephenie Meyer writes romance almost as though she is a 16 year old girl herself with no real experience with relationships or love. Granted, most of the characters in this book range between 16-25 so it makes sense that their romantic relationships should be more innocent than older adults. The most intense sexuality in this book revolves around some sensual kisses. This is great if you want your impressionable 16 year old girl to read this book. But I'm not 16 (haha) and I prefer a little more reality and sex and in my romances; is that wrong of me to say?
After a couple of nightmare slogs, it's time for some comfort food.
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2010 Review
My brother is moving to New York in a couple of weeks, and it breaks my heart more than a little. I totally love that guy, and New York will be lucky to have him. It’s really far away, though. I went to pick him up in Bend a few weeks back so that he could use my car for a weekend, and I got the audio version of this book at the library on my way there. I picked it up because I totally freaking love this book, even though none of the book makes that much sense if you think about it for, like, two seconds. I have even loved this audio experience, though it is just about the worst audio in the whole wide world, and the reader does maybe every single thing that bugs me. Anyway, there are some books I could read whenever: [b:Wuthering Heights|6185|Wuthering Heights|Emily Brontë|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348940572s/6185.jpg|1565818], [b:Our Mutual Friend|31244|Our Mutual Friend|Charles Dickens|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320488035s/31244.jpg|2888469]. I can’t defend myself about this, but I think The Host is in that group.
Meyer’s people all live in some kind of graphic novel, with their gaping, grimacing, hissing, eye bulging, and clenching of teeth. I know, no one hisses, do they? And then there is the problem about the first person narrator always being able, somehow, to see the nuances of people’s emotions through their eyes, no matter how far away the person is standing, or how little blocking sense that actually makes in a given room or tunnel or cave. And we won’t even talk about how awful the names are. I know about that, too. Whatever, haters, I don’t care. I totally freaking love this book.
The audio book is, and I’m not kidding, 23.5 hours long. I’m not even done with it. I’m actually still listening to it right now, but I know how it ends because I've read it before, so don't get up in my grill tautologically about the inherent worth in the work itself and my duties as an audience. Anyway, the reader of the audio book really savors every word. Very dramatic, you know. She totally kills me. I missed a lot of the first half because my brother listened to it over the weekend when he had the car. He came back gaping, grimacing, hissing, and generally making fun of it. His eyes really bulged and glinted with mirth, and all that. We listened to it together, driving back to Bend, and there was a lot more clenching of teeth from his side of the car.
I don’t know. We’ve all talked to death the problems with the Meyer writing and the Meyer love story and the Meyer world building. I realized, though, that in all honesty Meyer does write something that really touches me: families. I think her families are so comforting, even in their conscious mish-mashiness. True, her heroines want to kill themselves so you’ll be happy, and that’s weird. But in this book, for example, the heroine’s (heroines’?) love of her brother and her adopted family is something genuine and something that I totally dig.
I mean, obviously, this book is awesome because it has sweet, cuddly body snatchers, and that allows for a love triangle with only two bodies and then, later, a love quadrangle with only three bodies. No funny business, though. All PG here, gang. And, the love geometry stays pretty polite the whole time; no obnoxious LOST stuff going on. The other kind of cool thing about this book is that it passes the Bechtel test because there are, like, two girls stuck in one body and they chat about things. They’re not Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton hatching women’s suffrage, or anything, but I’m not too demanding.
Anyway, family. Don’t tell my brother, but I’m a little torn up about him moving away. Very excited for him, but a little torn up. It’s been nice to listen to all the descriptions of how much this girl loves her brother and her adopted family in these extreme situations, where she has to run through the desert and battle renegade cave-dwellers for them. Don't get me wrong, it's ultimately pretty tame, but it's extreme in a sentimental, hearth-and-home way. I don’t know; it’s comforting. I don’t really care that it’s ridiculous in so many ways or that it’s broken up with tedious descriptions of food and every other little thing. Sue me. I think this book is probably Meyer’s best so far, just in a technical sense. It stands alone, which is a relief, and none of the characters are supposed to be perfect. The main character is a little annoying, in a doormat kind of way, but I’m still okay with her.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you to read it. You’d probably freaking hate it. I was just getting sentimental about family, and so was Stephenie Meyer, so I thought I’d come here and tell you about it.
______________________________
2010 Review
My brother is moving to New York in a couple of weeks, and it breaks my heart more than a little. I totally love that guy, and New York will be lucky to have him. It’s really far away, though. I went to pick him up in Bend a few weeks back so that he could use my car for a weekend, and I got the audio version of this book at the library on my way there. I picked it up because I totally freaking love this book, even though none of the book makes that much sense if you think about it for, like, two seconds. I have even loved this audio experience, though it is just about the worst audio in the whole wide world, and the reader does maybe every single thing that bugs me. Anyway, there are some books I could read whenever: [b:Wuthering Heights|6185|Wuthering Heights|Emily Brontë|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348940572s/6185.jpg|1565818], [b:Our Mutual Friend|31244|Our Mutual Friend|Charles Dickens|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320488035s/31244.jpg|2888469]. I can’t defend myself about this, but I think The Host is in that group.
Meyer’s people all live in some kind of graphic novel, with their gaping, grimacing, hissing, eye bulging, and clenching of teeth. I know, no one hisses, do they? And then there is the problem about the first person narrator always being able, somehow, to see the nuances of people’s emotions through their eyes, no matter how far away the person is standing, or how little blocking sense that actually makes in a given room or tunnel or cave. And we won’t even talk about how awful the names are. I know about that, too. Whatever, haters, I don’t care. I totally freaking love this book.
The audio book is, and I’m not kidding, 23.5 hours long. I’m not even done with it. I’m actually still listening to it right now, but I know how it ends because I've read it before, so don't get up in my grill tautologically about the inherent worth in the work itself and my duties as an audience. Anyway, the reader of the audio book really savors every word. Very dramatic, you know. She totally kills me. I missed a lot of the first half because my brother listened to it over the weekend when he had the car. He came back gaping, grimacing, hissing, and generally making fun of it. His eyes really bulged and glinted with mirth, and all that. We listened to it together, driving back to Bend, and there was a lot more clenching of teeth from his side of the car.
I don’t know. We’ve all talked to death the problems with the Meyer writing and the Meyer love story and the Meyer world building. I realized, though, that in all honesty Meyer does write something that really touches me: families. I think her families are so comforting, even in their conscious mish-mashiness. True, her heroines want to kill themselves so you’ll be happy, and that’s weird. But in this book, for example, the heroine’s (heroines’?) love of her brother and her adopted family is something genuine and something that I totally dig.
I mean, obviously, this book is awesome because it has sweet, cuddly body snatchers, and that allows for a love triangle with only two bodies and then, later, a love quadrangle with only three bodies. No funny business, though. All PG here, gang. And, the love geometry stays pretty polite the whole time; no obnoxious LOST stuff going on. The other kind of cool thing about this book is that it passes the Bechtel test because there are, like, two girls stuck in one body and they chat about things. They’re not Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton hatching women’s suffrage, or anything, but I’m not too demanding.
Anyway, family. Don’t tell my brother, but I’m a little torn up about him moving away. Very excited for him, but a little torn up. It’s been nice to listen to all the descriptions of how much this girl loves her brother and her adopted family in these extreme situations, where she has to run through the desert and battle renegade cave-dwellers for them. Don't get me wrong, it's ultimately pretty tame, but it's extreme in a sentimental, hearth-and-home way. I don’t know; it’s comforting. I don’t really care that it’s ridiculous in so many ways or that it’s broken up with tedious descriptions of food and every other little thing. Sue me. I think this book is probably Meyer’s best so far, just in a technical sense. It stands alone, which is a relief, and none of the characters are supposed to be perfect. The main character is a little annoying, in a doormat kind of way, but I’m still okay with her.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you to read it. You’d probably freaking hate it. I was just getting sentimental about family, and so was Stephenie Meyer, so I thought I’d come here and tell you about it.