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bukslav's review against another edition
2.0
I generally enjoy Robin Cook's books, but this time I found that in this book, Host, the character Michael seemed made up, not real, not believable. I found his language to be extremely distracting and off putting and did not add a thing to the story. As a black person myself, I don't know a single person who speaks like that. Oh, I'm sure they're some out there, but it was just too much for me...and from the comments above, for some other readers too. But besides all of that, the rest of the book was ok.
aaadkins27's review against another edition
4.0
This was definitely a page turner, even more so than the last book I read by him, Cell. The only complaint I would have would be the author's constant mention of a main character's race. You can tell the author attempted to paint the character in a positive light, but the stereotypical descriptions outweighed this attempt. Every time the character was mentioned, so was his race, which was unnecessary, didn't add to the storyline at all and was actually pretty offensive. Any time the character defied a stereotype in a good way, the author made it seem as though it was a shocking surprise that "his type" could actually be smart and literate. Other than that, decent read.
janetk242's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
lexidubbs's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Really great plot. So fun to read, especially being in the medical field myself. Some of the dialogue choices by Robin Cook were interesting…. And threw me off which is why this book didn’t get higher.
royalbri's review against another edition
2.0
Sadly, I liked this book better when it was called Coma ;)
ralibbey13's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Great medical thriller!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death
willywonka3435's review against another edition
2.0
This review might be a bit tainted by the fact that I’ve been reading a lot of Jonathan Kellerman lately, and arguably I’m comparing apples and oranges here, but I feel like this should be pointed out.
Here we have two white men who’ve been writing medical thrillers and psychological thrillers, respectively, since 1977 (Cook) and 1985 (Kellerman).
This book, as many other reviewers have noted, reminds the reader that Michael is black and Lynn is female approximately every other page, and loads Michael down with as many stereotypes as it can. This book was published in 2015.
Kellerman — on the other hand — was publishing books in the *1980s* featuring an openly gay male detective as one of the main characters. I mean, that’s a fucking accomplishment in 2020, let alone in the 80s.
Anyhow, not a lot of a point to this review; I just wanted to point out that I’ve so far found Cook’s books a bit of a slog to get through partially for this reason. The plot to Coma, for instance, was great, but I almost gave up a few times because of the blatant sexism. Cook, do better, man. Kellerman was doing better 30 years ago.
Here we have two white men who’ve been writing medical thrillers and psychological thrillers, respectively, since 1977 (Cook) and 1985 (Kellerman).
This book, as many other reviewers have noted, reminds the reader that Michael is black and Lynn is female approximately every other page, and loads Michael down with as many stereotypes as it can. This book was published in 2015.
Kellerman — on the other hand — was publishing books in the *1980s* featuring an openly gay male detective as one of the main characters. I mean, that’s a fucking accomplishment in 2020, let alone in the 80s.
Anyhow, not a lot of a point to this review; I just wanted to point out that I’ve so far found Cook’s books a bit of a slog to get through partially for this reason. The plot to Coma, for instance, was great, but I almost gave up a few times because of the blatant sexism. Cook, do better, man. Kellerman was doing better 30 years ago.
krystlekouture's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this one, but there were SO many typos.
benyihs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
atlasgem's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5