Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

23 reviews

autumnwitch14's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wanted to read this book as I am wanting to read more books from authors I’ve enjoyed over the years. Twilight got me into reading so many moons ago and my copy of Twilight is so battered because it is such a comfort read for me. This wasn’t it for me and I can see why it didn’t become a series.  

This book is based on Melanie Stryder, and she is refusing to fade away. Her world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that has taken over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. But Wanderer, the invading soul who has occupied Melanie’s body, finds its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. As Melanie fills Wanderer’s thoughts with visions of Jared, her boyfriend who lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a name she’s never met. Soon Wander and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.  

I liked Melanie and Wanda in this book, I thought it was interesting about two sides being in the same body and how both boys could tell when they were fighting in her brain. Also, Jamie was just adorable and when I thought Stephenie was going to kill him off, I was getting ready to quit this book. I’m so glad he was alive and well and the only reason I would want this to be a series is for Jamie to have his own love story because he deserves the world. I love Jeb as well; I wanted him as an uncle he was so adorable and the way he is like it’s my house my rules and that’s final. I know a lot of people complain about the size of this book, I don’t know if there is an updated edition because this book was 318 pages and it felt like it was wrapped up in a nice neat bow by the end.  

As much as I liked Melanie and Wanda in this book, the whole love triangle/square thing was weird. Melanie disappeared so Wanda got Jared to make out with her even though she liked Ian but couldn’t like Ian because Melanie liked Jared. It just gave me a headache sometimes throughout the book. Even though I didn’t get the bigger version of the book, there was times where it felt like information was repeated like we knew Kyle didn’t like Wanda and Wanda didn’t know how to feel and Melanie was in love with Jared, but it was just repeated, and it wasn’t needed. I don’t really do aliens books as well, those books and space theme books just hurt my head.  

Overall, it was a wildly different experience than Twilight and if this was to be a series, I would prefer more of Jamie’s POV.  

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skillyillian's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

i reread this for the first time since i was 16-17 and it did not hold up as well as i had hoped. there's parts that are still good but some stuff just gave me the ick. The characters are really well built, with their own personalities and flaws, and the worldbuilding post-alien-takeover is intriguing. i liked hearing about the other alien races. the plot takes ages and ages to get going, and even then, the action parts are very minimal. it's 600 pages of wanda getting to know people and being scared of all of them.

my biggest complaint is the romance plot. Jared and ian are toxic as fuck in their own ways. they each have a girlfriend living inside the same body and don't respect the other woman they're sharing with. Ian wants Wanda but tends to ignore it when Wanda says Melanie doesn't like him touching them. Jared touches them but acts like Wanda isn't also feeling it. He ignores that she's in love with him and whenever Ian brings up Wanda's feelings about something, Jared is completely shocked that she would have an opinion or feelings in the first place. He's cruel to her for almost the entire time.

the other issue is that stephenie meyer continues to be someone who cannot let an FMC age above 20 years old. like at all. melanie and jared met when she was SEVENTEEN and he was TWENTY-SIX. i don't give a shit if you're the last humans on earth, knock that the hell off. if anything it worsens the power imbalance. and at the end, they go to find a new body for wanda and collectively choose an actual child. wanda lies about her body's age because ian is a "respectable man" so if he knows her age he won't want to be with her. but the entire time, from the second wanda becomes aware she's in another human body until the very end, it's made obnoxiously clear that she's teeny tiny itty bitty in every way. between those two things, there's not a chance they didn't realize she was a minor. turning 18 doesn't magically age you out of looking like, or being, a teenager. HAVE YA LOST YA MIND BOY, CUZ I'LL HELP YA FIND IT.

that's two different relationships, both of them main character end game romances, where there's a girl who is unquestionably and visibly a minor, who is with a much older man. melanie isn't a minor by the end of the book but it's still made clear that she and jared slept together before she was captured by the souls. this is the kind of shit that influences teenagers to think there's nothing wrong with a grown ass man flirting with them. at the very least, either age the girls up or make the men younger.

anyway, point being, the characters and world are thoroughly written, the plot is slow going, and stephenie meyer is yet another author who says her book is for adults but is writing FMCs that end up being just another tiny, translucently pale child bride. if she would change their ages so they're not children having sex with adults, and write people who respect the consent of everyone involved in a relationship, book would've been scored way higher.

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kaybeehome's review against another edition

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Dragged on for too long. Thought it’d be more adventurous than this. Also, the fact that
nearly everyone believed that Melanie was still alive inside her body was anticlimactic. I thought they would stay hostile towards Wanderer the whole time.

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potion96's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5


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thelilgriffin's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Medium pace for me. Sometimes slow moving, but enjoyable. Predictable but still a good read. Reads like a fanfiction.

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refrejarator's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

One of my favourite romances at the moment - tense and mysterious in all the right places, and a tear-jerking, emotional whirlwind. Plus the love triangles are so fun, and have an interesting dynamic. 

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fjordpingvin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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crykea's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


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