Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So if I had read this as a teen during my twilight phase I would have been totally obsessed - and as it goes now, being 28, I still liked a good chunk of it. However, the fmcs being yet again more teenage girls in one way or another who get essentially groomed by older and very toxic men? Gross. You could tell this was written from a whack ass religious perspective and it really took away from the actually genuinely cool story beats that do actually exist in this book. Oh well. Get well soon, Steph.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not the best, dragged in bits, but overall an entertaining escapist read with good writing style.
This book was wonderful. I loved Twilight for its over the top hormone-addiction romance and thrills, but The Host was much more realistic and believable. It is about being human, and the relationships are developed much more slowly and subtly and grow on you. I highly recommend this!
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
2011 Rating: 4 Stars
2021 Rating: 3.5 Stars
Spoiler Free TLDR:
*Obligatory "Ew, Stephenie Meyer" book comment*
Ahem.
Now that that's out of the way, I've always enjoyed this book. Yes, it has your typical cliches that are associated to Stephanie Meyer (cheesy and sometimes cringey romance, as well as love triangles/squares [sans sparkly vegan vampires]). However, this book has a great plot, good writing, a really interesting world with excellent worldbuilding, and good characters. This has an alien-takeover utopia plotline, which is really interesting. Most YAs are so focused on Dystopians that it's nice to read the alternative of a Utopian-geared plotline (that isn't 'Brave New World' and the nightmares I received from that book). A really easy read and light hearted. If you don't like romance, stay away. Other than that, don't let the name 'Stephenie Meyer' scare you away from a decent YA.
Recommended for Age 16+, and for fans of light-hearted YAs and Cheetos.
---
For Christian/Conservative Readers, I include a Major-Spoiler Content summary below, as well as my thoughts and major spoilers following after...
Spoiler Content:
-MC (Melanie) attempts suicide -via jumping into elevator shaft- to avoid being captured (In first 5 pages of book)
-MC (Melanie, flashback, at age 17) has an instalove relationship with someone 9 years her senior (Yes, I understand the world has ended and blah blah blah, but the 'half-your-age-plus-7' rule still applies for this to, in any way, not be creepy). They also talk about consent for having a deeper 'intimate' relationship.
-MC (Wanderer) nearly gets choked to death. Also almost gets drowned.
-MC (Wanderer) lies about her age so she can be intimate
-5 Broken Noses
-11 Kiss scenes
-10 uses of "h**l"
-2 uses of "d*mn*"
-1 use of "j*****s"
---
Thought and Spoilers Below:
Plot: 4/5
-Aliens ("Souls") invade the human race and take over Earth, in order to preserve the beauty of the race without the violence that goes alongside it.
-Souls pride themselves on their gentle nature, as they conquer every planet and take over their habitations. The paradox within that conundrum itself is contradictory to the point of being funny. They think they're doing what is right by taking over vessels and completely erasing the vessel's own self, but it boils down to selfishly wanting to experience everything that planet has to offer for themselves. Souls, priding themselves on their virtue, are really egotistical and prideful leeches. I don't know if that is what the author was trying to go for, but that's what they really are.
-The MC, Wanderer (alien), takes over her host's body, but is surprised when the host (Melanie) fights back the takeover. They learn to coexist and actually end up forming a bond.
------
Writing: 3.5/5
It's good writing. Yes there are aspects of the love triangle and blah blah, but if you're judging purely on the writing style, it's good. Anyone who says otherwise is just hating on this book because of who the author is, or has a very high standard for how they judge book-writing. For me, yes, there are odd phrasing choices at times and it's nothing flowery, but the writing is pretty smooth, and there's some great scenes she paints. Personally, I think she handled the dual-MC POVs great as well.
------
World Building: 5/5
-Cash-less society where everyone does their fairshare. No lying, betrayal, violence. The Souls pretty much enact a form of Socialism(?), but in a way that works since all Souls are naturally good and not power-hungry
-I can't say I know the logistics when it comes to everything the author writes when it comes to living in a Volcano (farming, hot springs, etc), but she includes enough explanation that I go along with it. If I could prove she was wrong with all that she mentions, and that it was all impossible, maybe the world-building score would be lower. We are talking about a book where aliens take over though. And the author does a great job creating this section of her world with beautiful descriptions.
------
Characters' Rating: 3/5
These are decent characters, who actually have some growth to them. The author does a great job dealing with the relationships between all the characters, and all the characters feel pretty unique from each other. We have a love square, but that's the worst complaint I have. All together, the characters were done good.
Except Jared. No thanks.
------
Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5
Cringe Counter only reached 9! Over all, I enjoy this book. Don't like Jared, don't like the love square, a little bit of language, and some criingey romance, but everything else was fine.
Loved:
-Healer Ford's sass
-'Finding Twinkies during the apocalypse' cliche
-Chapter 32
-Ian and Wanderer's relationship
-Ian kissing Wanderer's forehead in front of Jared. Made me chuckle. Good for him!
-All the boys bringing Wanderer granola bars
-Chapter 40
Nitpicks:
-This is petty, but I just can't take serious the "Wanda" nickname (Thanks 'Fairly Odd Parents')
-I've noticed a lot of books like to say their characters "hiss". What does a human "hissing" even sounds like? I've never heard a human being make a sound and think, "oh yeah, they're hissing". Unless they're trying to mimic a cat. However, I don't think that's what authors mean when they use that word.
-Jared, upon meeting the first human he's seen in a long time, kisses Melanie (I'm glad she knees him)
-Sure, Melanie, kiss the guy you just met within 3 minutes who's already acted like a creep
-In Chapter 8 we learn that Jared is constantly making physical contact with Melanie, without knowing her "feelings" for him. This isn't romantic, it's extremely creepy. And even Melanie (17) offering to share the bed with Jared (26) is extremely bold, and cringe-worthy considering they haven't even (technically) had a consensual kiss yet. Plus instalove. Plus really creepy relationship between a grown man and a minor.
-Talking about "who the body belongs to" is incredibly creepy and possessive
-Chapter 29 kissing scene. Ew.
-Chapter 31. There's nothing specifically "bad" about it, but I just really didn't care about Walter
-Ian and Jared's conversation about Melanie's body was a bit icky to read
-Ian and Wanderer's kiss scene in Chapter 38 was ew.
-Wanderer lying about her age so she could be intimate with Ian
-Love Square
-Jared looking at Wanderer in her new body confused. No way. Fake news. Don't believe for a moment he would
------
Notable Quotes:
-Because he was a soul, by nature he was all things good: compassionate, patient, honest, virtuous, and full of love.
-I wait for the knife, and my heart is aching. Each beat has a name. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. What will happen to you now?
-“In so many millennia, the humans never did figure love out. How much is physical, how much in the mind? How much accident and how much fate? Why did perfect matches crumble and impossible couples thrive? I don’t know the answers any better than they did. Love simply is where it is. My host loved Curt’s host, and that love did not die when the ownership of the minds changed.”
-Who cares how it works if it doesn’t help us? I know—let’s kill her! A gratuitous image of my hands tightening around the Seeker’s neck filled my head.
That sort of thing is exactly why my kind is better left in charge of this place.
-He looks down at me and smiles, the lines around his eyes crinkling into little webs. I wonder if he is as handsome as I think he is, or if it’s just that he’s the only person left in the whole world besides Jamie and me.
-My first language, the true language of the soul that was spoken only on our planet of origin, had no word for betrayal or traitor. Or even loyalty—because without the existence of an opposite, the concept had no meaning.
-Stop acting like a criminal, Melanie advised.
I’m not acting, I replied tersely.
-I shuddered and refocused on the rough road, trying to stave off the mingled pity and horror. No other host had made me feel such guilt for what I was. Of course, none of the others had stuck around to complain about the situation.
-That’s how we realized you were here, you know, she said, thinking of the sickening news headlines again. When the evening news was nothing but inspiring human-interest stories, when pedophiles and junkies were lining up at the hospitals to turn themselves in, when everything morphed into Mayberry, that’s when you tipped your hand.
“What an awful alteration!” I said dryly, turning to the next cupboard.
-I forced her to see it from my perspective: to see the threatening shapes inside the dirty jeans and light cotton shirts, brown with dust. They might have been human—as she thought of the word—once, but at this moment they were something else. They were barbarians, monsters. They hung over us, slavering for blood.
-“I felt guilty—guilty as hell—watching her flinch away from us. Seeing the black marks on her neck.”
“You can’t let it get to you like that.” Jared was suddenly disturbed. “It’s not human. Don’t forget that.”
“Just because she isn’t human, do you think that means she doesn’t feel pain?” Ian asked as his voice faded into the distance. “That she doesn’t feel just like a girl who’s been beaten—beaten by us?”
-He grinned that huge, cheek-stretching grin, and I couldn’t help grinning back, though my smile was more rueful than delighted. He was supposed to be my enemy. He was probably insane. And he was my friend. Not that he wouldn’t kill me if things turned out that way, but he wouldn’t like doing it. With humans, what more could you ask of a friend?
-“What’s that about?” Ian muttered to Jeb, as if I were deaf.
“Beats me,” Jeb said; he lied as only a human could, smooth and guileless.
-“Aw, hell!” Kyle grumbled. My gaze flickered toward him at the sound of his voice. I could just see his bright eyes around Jared’s elbow, focused on me. “It didn’t fall!” he complained.
Jared lunged forward, away from me. With a loud smacking sound, his fist hit Kyle’s face.
Kyle’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his mouth fell slack.
The room was very quiet for a few seconds.
“Um,” Doc said in a mild voice, “medically speaking, I’m not sure that was the most helpful thing for his condition.”
“But I feel better,” Jared answered, sullen.
Doc smiled the tiniest smile. “Well, maybe a few more minutes of unconsciousness won’t kill him.”
-“Here you go, Wanda,” Jamie said, ducking out of the group. He had his hands full of the bars, and water bottles tucked under his arms.
“Thanks. Having fun?”
“Yeah! Wish you could play.”
“Next time,” I said.
“Here you go…” Ian was there, his hands full of granola bars.
“Beat ya,” Jamie told him.
“Oh,” Jared said, appearing on Jamie’s other side. He also had too many bars for one.
-“It’s just the body,” I repeated.
“That’s not true at all,” he disagreed. “It’s not the face, but the expressions on it. It’s not the voice, but what you say. It’s not how you look in that body, but the things you do with it. You are beautiful.”
-Ian hugged me with what Melanie thought was unnecessary enthusiasm. “You’re my very favorite person in the known universe.”
“Thanks,” I muttered dryly.
“Ready to be humiliated, Wanda?” Wes taunted. “You may have taken the planet, but you’re losing this game.”
-“You are the noblest, purest creature I’ve ever met. The universe will be a darker place without you,” he whispered.
These were his words over my grave, my epitaph, and I was glad that I got to hear them.
-“Is that so?” he said. “Well, maybe there’s some hope for this planet, after all.”
“It’s a strange world,” I murmured, more to myself than to the other native soul.
“The strangest,” he agreed.
2021 Rating: 3.5 Stars
Spoiler Free TLDR:
*Obligatory "Ew, Stephenie Meyer" book comment*
Ahem.
Now that that's out of the way, I've always enjoyed this book. Yes, it has your typical cliches that are associated to Stephanie Meyer (cheesy and sometimes cringey romance, as well as love triangles/squares [sans sparkly vegan vampires]). However, this book has a great plot, good writing, a really interesting world with excellent worldbuilding, and good characters. This has an alien-takeover utopia plotline, which is really interesting. Most YAs are so focused on Dystopians that it's nice to read the alternative of a Utopian-geared plotline (that isn't 'Brave New World' and the nightmares I received from that book). A really easy read and light hearted. If you don't like romance, stay away. Other than that, don't let the name 'Stephenie Meyer' scare you away from a decent YA.
Recommended for Age 16+, and for fans of light-hearted YAs and Cheetos.
---
For Christian/Conservative Readers, I include a Major-Spoiler Content summary below, as well as my thoughts and major spoilers following after...
Spoiler Content:
-MC (Melanie) attempts suicide -via jumping into elevator shaft- to avoid being captured (In first 5 pages of book)
-MC (Melanie, flashback, at age 17) has an instalove relationship with someone 9 years her senior (Yes, I understand the world has ended and blah blah blah, but the 'half-your-age-plus-7' rule still applies for this to, in any way, not be creepy). They also talk about consent for having a deeper 'intimate' relationship.
-MC (Wanderer) nearly gets choked to death. Also almost gets drowned.
-MC (Wanderer) lies about her age so she can be intimate
-5 Broken Noses
-11 Kiss scenes
-10 uses of "h**l"
-2 uses of "d*mn*"
-1 use of "j*****s"
---
Thought and Spoilers Below:
Plot: 4/5
-Aliens ("Souls") invade the human race and take over Earth, in order to preserve the beauty of the race without the violence that goes alongside it.
-Souls pride themselves on their gentle nature, as they conquer every planet and take over their habitations. The paradox within that conundrum itself is contradictory to the point of being funny. They think they're doing what is right by taking over vessels and completely erasing the vessel's own self, but it boils down to selfishly wanting to experience everything that planet has to offer for themselves. Souls, priding themselves on their virtue, are really egotistical and prideful leeches. I don't know if that is what the author was trying to go for, but that's what they really are.
-The MC, Wanderer (alien), takes over her host's body, but is surprised when the host (Melanie) fights back the takeover. They learn to coexist and actually end up forming a bond.
------
Writing: 3.5/5
It's good writing. Yes there are aspects of the love triangle and blah blah, but if you're judging purely on the writing style, it's good. Anyone who says otherwise is just hating on this book because of who the author is, or has a very high standard for how they judge book-writing. For me, yes, there are odd phrasing choices at times and it's nothing flowery, but the writing is pretty smooth, and there's some great scenes she paints. Personally, I think she handled the dual-MC POVs great as well.
------
World Building: 5/5
-Cash-less society where everyone does their fairshare. No lying, betrayal, violence. The Souls pretty much enact a form of Socialism(?), but in a way that works since all Souls are naturally good and not power-hungry
-I can't say I know the logistics when it comes to everything the author writes when it comes to living in a Volcano (farming, hot springs, etc), but she includes enough explanation that I go along with it. If I could prove she was wrong with all that she mentions, and that it was all impossible, maybe the world-building score would be lower. We are talking about a book where aliens take over though. And the author does a great job creating this section of her world with beautiful descriptions.
------
Characters' Rating: 3/5
These are decent characters, who actually have some growth to them. The author does a great job dealing with the relationships between all the characters, and all the characters feel pretty unique from each other. We have a love square, but that's the worst complaint I have. All together, the characters were done good.
Except Jared. No thanks.
------
Overall Enjoyment: 3.5/5
Cringe Counter only reached 9! Over all, I enjoy this book. Don't like Jared, don't like the love square, a little bit of language, and some criingey romance, but everything else was fine.
Loved:
-Healer Ford's sass
-'Finding Twinkies during the apocalypse' cliche
-Chapter 32
-Ian and Wanderer's relationship
-Ian kissing Wanderer's forehead in front of Jared. Made me chuckle. Good for him!
-All the boys bringing Wanderer granola bars
-Chapter 40
Nitpicks:
-This is petty, but I just can't take serious the "Wanda" nickname (Thanks 'Fairly Odd Parents')
-I've noticed a lot of books like to say their characters "hiss". What does a human "hissing" even sounds like? I've never heard a human being make a sound and think, "oh yeah, they're hissing". Unless they're trying to mimic a cat. However, I don't think that's what authors mean when they use that word.
-Jared, upon meeting the first human he's seen in a long time, kisses Melanie (I'm glad she knees him)
-Sure, Melanie, kiss the guy you just met within 3 minutes who's already acted like a creep
-In Chapter 8 we learn that Jared is constantly making physical contact with Melanie, without knowing her "feelings" for him. This isn't romantic, it's extremely creepy. And even Melanie (17) offering to share the bed with Jared (26) is extremely bold, and cringe-worthy considering they haven't even (technically) had a consensual kiss yet. Plus instalove. Plus really creepy relationship between a grown man and a minor.
-Talking about "who the body belongs to" is incredibly creepy and possessive
-Chapter 29 kissing scene. Ew.
-Chapter 31. There's nothing specifically "bad" about it, but I just really didn't care about Walter
-Ian and Jared's conversation about Melanie's body was a bit icky to read
-Ian and Wanderer's kiss scene in Chapter 38 was ew.
-Wanderer lying about her age so she could be intimate with Ian
-Love Square
-Jared looking at Wanderer in her new body confused. No way. Fake news. Don't believe for a moment he would
------
Notable Quotes:
-Because he was a soul, by nature he was all things good: compassionate, patient, honest, virtuous, and full of love.
-I wait for the knife, and my heart is aching. Each beat has a name. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. What will happen to you now?
-“In so many millennia, the humans never did figure love out. How much is physical, how much in the mind? How much accident and how much fate? Why did perfect matches crumble and impossible couples thrive? I don’t know the answers any better than they did. Love simply is where it is. My host loved Curt’s host, and that love did not die when the ownership of the minds changed.”
-Who cares how it works if it doesn’t help us? I know—let’s kill her! A gratuitous image of my hands tightening around the Seeker’s neck filled my head.
That sort of thing is exactly why my kind is better left in charge of this place.
-He looks down at me and smiles, the lines around his eyes crinkling into little webs. I wonder if he is as handsome as I think he is, or if it’s just that he’s the only person left in the whole world besides Jamie and me.
-My first language, the true language of the soul that was spoken only on our planet of origin, had no word for betrayal or traitor. Or even loyalty—because without the existence of an opposite, the concept had no meaning.
-Stop acting like a criminal, Melanie advised.
I’m not acting, I replied tersely.
-I shuddered and refocused on the rough road, trying to stave off the mingled pity and horror. No other host had made me feel such guilt for what I was. Of course, none of the others had stuck around to complain about the situation.
-That’s how we realized you were here, you know, she said, thinking of the sickening news headlines again. When the evening news was nothing but inspiring human-interest stories, when pedophiles and junkies were lining up at the hospitals to turn themselves in, when everything morphed into Mayberry, that’s when you tipped your hand.
“What an awful alteration!” I said dryly, turning to the next cupboard.
-I forced her to see it from my perspective: to see the threatening shapes inside the dirty jeans and light cotton shirts, brown with dust. They might have been human—as she thought of the word—once, but at this moment they were something else. They were barbarians, monsters. They hung over us, slavering for blood.
-“I felt guilty—guilty as hell—watching her flinch away from us. Seeing the black marks on her neck.”
“You can’t let it get to you like that.” Jared was suddenly disturbed. “It’s not human. Don’t forget that.”
“Just because she isn’t human, do you think that means she doesn’t feel pain?” Ian asked as his voice faded into the distance. “That she doesn’t feel just like a girl who’s been beaten—beaten by us?”
-He grinned that huge, cheek-stretching grin, and I couldn’t help grinning back, though my smile was more rueful than delighted. He was supposed to be my enemy. He was probably insane. And he was my friend. Not that he wouldn’t kill me if things turned out that way, but he wouldn’t like doing it. With humans, what more could you ask of a friend?
-“What’s that about?” Ian muttered to Jeb, as if I were deaf.
“Beats me,” Jeb said; he lied as only a human could, smooth and guileless.
-“Aw, hell!” Kyle grumbled. My gaze flickered toward him at the sound of his voice. I could just see his bright eyes around Jared’s elbow, focused on me. “It didn’t fall!” he complained.
Jared lunged forward, away from me. With a loud smacking sound, his fist hit Kyle’s face.
Kyle’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his mouth fell slack.
The room was very quiet for a few seconds.
“Um,” Doc said in a mild voice, “medically speaking, I’m not sure that was the most helpful thing for his condition.”
“But I feel better,” Jared answered, sullen.
Doc smiled the tiniest smile. “Well, maybe a few more minutes of unconsciousness won’t kill him.”
-“Here you go, Wanda,” Jamie said, ducking out of the group. He had his hands full of the bars, and water bottles tucked under his arms.
“Thanks. Having fun?”
“Yeah! Wish you could play.”
“Next time,” I said.
“Here you go…” Ian was there, his hands full of granola bars.
“Beat ya,” Jamie told him.
“Oh,” Jared said, appearing on Jamie’s other side. He also had too many bars for one.
-“It’s just the body,” I repeated.
“That’s not true at all,” he disagreed. “It’s not the face, but the expressions on it. It’s not the voice, but what you say. It’s not how you look in that body, but the things you do with it. You are beautiful.”
-Ian hugged me with what Melanie thought was unnecessary enthusiasm. “You’re my very favorite person in the known universe.”
“Thanks,” I muttered dryly.
“Ready to be humiliated, Wanda?” Wes taunted. “You may have taken the planet, but you’re losing this game.”
-“You are the noblest, purest creature I’ve ever met. The universe will be a darker place without you,” he whispered.
These were his words over my grave, my epitaph, and I was glad that I got to hear them.
-“Is that so?” he said. “Well, maybe there’s some hope for this planet, after all.”
“It’s a strange world,” I murmured, more to myself than to the other native soul.
“The strangest,” he agreed.
I like Wanda, but at the same time, I can't stand how "perfect" she is. I don't have time to rant over her, but I will say this: Her "perfectness" was ideal for the plot of the book, but it is sooo frustrating for real life people.
I read this hoping that Stephenie Meyer might be a good novelist, after all the sacharine and stupid things I found in the Twilight Saga. Sadly, I was mistaken. While the concept of the novel is great, she misses almost every opportunity to turn it into a spectacular show, by delving into more of the asinine cliches that ruined the Twilight Saga. The best I can do is 1/5.
Don’t not read this because of Twilight. It’s her best book and I have reread it 4 times. I say this as someone who now realizes how trash twilight is (sorry Stephanie).
Reread this book. I always thought it was better than twilight and I still agree with that assessment. There are cringey moments for sure but I would read more about the aliens.