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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I think what I love most about this book is that it's so unique and different in terms of the concept and idea. I actually watched the movie before I read the book - the movie was okay, but I really likes it for the idea and storyline. When I read the book, I could not put it down! Even though I had a vague sense of what was going to happen (from watching the movie), I had to finish it. I was constantly torn between wanting to finish the book and savoring every word of the book (which only happens to me when the book is amazing). Wanda, Melanie, Jared, Jamie, and Ian's story is definitely one that I will reread and remember for a long time.
Wow. This was bad. I'll get the good stuff out of the way first. Stephenie Meyer knows how to write one thing: a crush. Anyone who's just been madly in love with someone for no reason, especially if it's unrequited, will be able to identify with these characters. Everyone else will be annoyed. Hell, even those people will probably be annoyed. There's enough, just barely enough, intrigue to make me finish the book.
Now the bad. Oh the bad. Stephenie Meyer can write, yes, but she sees nothing of what she does with her writing. These characters are bland. If you thought Bella was a blank slate, oh man, this Wanderer/Wanda is even less interesting. Her only personality is that she practically has no sense of self and she's just so damn helpful. What's more, the way that she describes the relationships makes them seem just toxic. I can't tell you how many times one of the men in the story referred to Wanda/Melanie/their body as belonging to him. She even did it herself. There's no reason for her to fall for Jared as a human, let alone after becoming a host. It even went into the realm of ridiculous when she was at one point LITERALLY passed back and forth as a load to be carried by these men because she spent half the book literally unable to support herself. Even the one time in the story that she shows physical heroism she has to have a man come to her aid. Yes that was realistic, but come ON!
Oh, and don't forget how often they beat her. The men who love her are the ones who keep hitting her over and over. Not to mention the emotional pain they put her through with their wishy-washy feelings and suddenly liking her but then not but then liking her and all of that crap.
She tried VERY hard to seem creative, but wasn't. She never named any of the other species or planets, just "translated" them. She always got away with describing them in human terms, which somewhat makes sense. The Spiders description was decent, but there were always little things that were explained away by simply saying they couldn't be explained.
The worst part was the CONSTANT monologue from Wanda about how she just couldn't talk to the humans. Especially when she first showed up in the caves, the whole "If I tell the truth they'll KNOW I'm lying and just kill me!" thing was stupid and a waste of time. NOTHING IN THIS BOOK WAS DIRECT and that's something that infuriates me in any form of media - books, movies, anything. The book would have easily been half the length if she'd just been up front and said what was going on. Was it easy to believe? No. Was it better than spending 8 chapters with her cramped into a cave (including the chapter that SHE ACTUALLY TITLED "BORED")? Yes. Even when that finally came to an end, it was like Meyer had backed herself into a corner. No decisions were made that changed things. Jared disappeared for awhile, Jeb got fed up, and no one had any other options.
I remember one part where Wanda kept torturing herself because she didn't realize that everyone expected her to be deceiving them and were surprised that she didn't seem to be, yet the whole reason she wouldn't talk to anyone was because she KNEW they'd expect her to be deceiving them. Plus she just refuses to use logic and try to solve problems.
Oh god, and there's the part where everyone's life is saved because she gets to make out with all of the boys who love her. But we need to assume everyone in the book is a virgin (even though this book is intended for "adults" according to the jacket), need to preserve that virtue! Yet then we come back to the end with her lying about her age to get the love interest into bed. Just. Ugh.
I admit, Twilight was a guilty pleasure of mine. I had fun with that series, even recognizing that it was essentially literary garbage. However, I was always bothered by New Moon because of how STUPID the characters were. Not to get too far into it, but the fact that Bella couldn't see what Edward was doing was to "save" her in his mind was ridiculous. The Host recreates that idea and yet manages to make it worse. Oh, and of course happy endings for everyone! Someone's love interest can't be saved? Don't worry! Their "soul" is just in love with you as they would have been! You're in love with someone you can't have? That's OK too, it was really all meant to be and will work out in the end!
There's literally only two tragedies in the book. One about a character that you barely have enough time to care for and the other about a character that you knew from his introduction was going to have that outcome. Yet, because of Wanda's refusal to try and interact with people and put herself out there, the situation turned out negatively.
Oh and let's not forget how ridiculously predictable the ending is because NO ONE WE LIKE CAN GET AN UNHAPPY ENDING IN STEPHENIE MEYER'S WORLD.
There's just nothing I can find to like about this "hero." She doesn't truly stand up for anything. The only times she does is a situation that doesn't make sense and that gets resolved eventually in spite of her. If you HAVE to see what this book is like for yourself, fine. Go for it. But if you're having even remote hesitations, RUN.
Now the bad. Oh the bad. Stephenie Meyer can write, yes, but she sees nothing of what she does with her writing. These characters are bland. If you thought Bella was a blank slate, oh man, this Wanderer/Wanda is even less interesting. Her only personality is that she practically has no sense of self and she's just so damn helpful. What's more, the way that she describes the relationships makes them seem just toxic. I can't tell you how many times one of the men in the story referred to Wanda/Melanie/their body as belonging to him. She even did it herself. There's no reason for her to fall for Jared as a human, let alone after becoming a host. It even went into the realm of ridiculous when she was at one point LITERALLY passed back and forth as a load to be carried by these men because she spent half the book literally unable to support herself. Even the one time in the story that she shows physical heroism she has to have a man come to her aid. Yes that was realistic, but come ON!
Oh, and don't forget how often they beat her. The men who love her are the ones who keep hitting her over and over. Not to mention the emotional pain they put her through with their wishy-washy feelings and suddenly liking her but then not but then liking her and all of that crap.
She tried VERY hard to seem creative, but wasn't. She never named any of the other species or planets, just "translated" them. She always got away with describing them in human terms, which somewhat makes sense. The Spiders description was decent, but there were always little things that were explained away by simply saying they couldn't be explained.
The worst part was the CONSTANT monologue from Wanda about how she just couldn't talk to the humans. Especially when she first showed up in the caves, the whole "If I tell the truth they'll KNOW I'm lying and just kill me!" thing was stupid and a waste of time. NOTHING IN THIS BOOK WAS DIRECT and that's something that infuriates me in any form of media - books, movies, anything. The book would have easily been half the length if she'd just been up front and said what was going on. Was it easy to believe? No. Was it better than spending 8 chapters with her cramped into a cave (including the chapter that SHE ACTUALLY TITLED "BORED")? Yes. Even when that finally came to an end, it was like Meyer had backed herself into a corner. No decisions were made that changed things. Jared disappeared for awhile, Jeb got fed up, and no one had any other options.
I remember one part where Wanda kept torturing herself because she didn't realize that everyone expected her to be deceiving them and were surprised that she didn't seem to be, yet the whole reason she wouldn't talk to anyone was because she KNEW they'd expect her to be deceiving them. Plus she just refuses to use logic and try to solve problems.
Oh god, and there's the part where everyone's life is saved because she gets to make out with all of the boys who love her. But we need to assume everyone in the book is a virgin (even though this book is intended for "adults" according to the jacket), need to preserve that virtue! Yet then we come back to the end with her lying about her age to get the love interest into bed. Just. Ugh.
I admit, Twilight was a guilty pleasure of mine. I had fun with that series, even recognizing that it was essentially literary garbage. However, I was always bothered by New Moon because of how STUPID the characters were. Not to get too far into it, but the fact that Bella couldn't see what Edward was doing was to "save" her in his mind was ridiculous. The Host recreates that idea and yet manages to make it worse. Oh, and of course happy endings for everyone! Someone's love interest can't be saved? Don't worry! Their "soul" is just in love with you as they would have been! You're in love with someone you can't have? That's OK too, it was really all meant to be and will work out in the end!
There's literally only two tragedies in the book. One about a character that you barely have enough time to care for and the other about a character that you knew from his introduction was going to have that outcome. Yet, because of Wanda's refusal to try and interact with people and put herself out there, the situation turned out negatively.
Oh and let's not forget how ridiculously predictable the ending is because NO ONE WE LIKE CAN GET AN UNHAPPY ENDING IN STEPHENIE MEYER'S WORLD.
There's just nothing I can find to like about this "hero." She doesn't truly stand up for anything. The only times she does is a situation that doesn't make sense and that gets resolved eventually in spite of her. If you HAVE to see what this book is like for yourself, fine. Go for it. But if you're having even remote hesitations, RUN.
thank God it’s over.
that felt like a wattpad story i could have wrote at 11.
that felt like a wattpad story i could have wrote at 11.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma
To be honest, I really enjoyed this book growing up. I probably have read it five times in total. The best book by this author, in my opinion. Well written, not super cliche, and I found the premise fascinating. The plot and dialogue isn’t predictable. I have not read this as an adult only as a teenage growing up.
this was a fun read - still had some of the same themes as twilight, which kind of bugged me. i mean, seriously, why do all the girls have to be young things dating these older guys? and why do they have to be all bend over backward just to be able to see the guy they love? it's kind of gross. but nevertheless, entertaining.
This book made me cry. It made me look at the world around us and the core principles of what it is to be human. And how much that one emotion, one bond can transcend all. Love is very powerful. Read this!!
I had several friends tell me I should read this book and then swear to me that it was nothing like Twilight...they were lying.
This wasn't a terrible book. The overall idea for it was good enough to keep me interested in all 617 pages. My problem was with Wanda. She was annoying a lot of the time. She was just so helpless a lot of the time, and honestly I can't believe that out of all the situations she felt awkward in, being carried around by strong attractive men every ten minutes wasn't one of them. Like why let them carry you when your concious? If my leg was really so injured that I needed to be carried from room to room I would much rather just have a piggy back ride and it seems crazy to me that she was the first person with a leg injury? Your seriously trying to tell me over the years that no one had stolen a pair of crutches, or at least widdled a makeshift pair out of wood? Also every single chapter ended with her going to sleep or falling unconscious and she always was refusing food and she always felt tired and weak and thirsty but needed someone to force her to take care of herself. Like seriously Wanda, get your shit together!
Honestly I think that Wanda was very similar to Bella, and I get that a lot of the things about her were supposed to be a part of her culture, but it was all very extreme. It seemed to me that at the beginning of the book, before Wanda was getting along with Ian and Jared she was a different person. She was strong enough to walk through the fricking desert and smart enough to keep her mouth shut about Melanie and she had some sense of self-preservation and she took care of herself. And then suddenly in the middle she turned into this whiny character who needed everyone else to reassure her that she wasn't a burden and to make sure she took care of herself and all that other stuff I ranted about earlier. Anyways, she reminded me of Bella and Ian and Jared at times reminded me of Edward/Jacob, although not all of the time. I don't think that they were always realistic though. The way they reacted to certain situations seemed more like the way a girl would daydream about a guy reacting then the way that a guy would actually react, that is just my personal opinion though.
This wasn't a terrible book. The overall idea for it was good enough to keep me interested in all 617 pages. My problem was with Wanda. She was annoying a lot of the time. She was just so helpless a lot of the time, and honestly I can't believe that out of all the situations she felt awkward in, being carried around by strong attractive men every ten minutes wasn't one of them. Like why let them carry you when your concious? If my leg was really so injured that I needed to be carried from room to room I would much rather just have a piggy back ride and it seems crazy to me that she was the first person with a leg injury? Your seriously trying to tell me over the years that no one had stolen a pair of crutches, or at least widdled a makeshift pair out of wood? Also every single chapter ended with her going to sleep or falling unconscious and she always was refusing food and she always felt tired and weak and thirsty but needed someone to force her to take care of herself. Like seriously Wanda, get your shit together!
Honestly I think that Wanda was very similar to Bella, and I get that a lot of the things about her were supposed to be a part of her culture, but it was all very extreme. It seemed to me that at the beginning of the book, before Wanda was getting along with Ian and Jared she was a different person. She was strong enough to walk through the fricking desert and smart enough to keep her mouth shut about Melanie and she had some sense of self-preservation and she took care of herself. And then suddenly in the middle she turned into this whiny character who needed everyone else to reassure her that she wasn't a burden and to make sure she took care of herself and all that other stuff I ranted about earlier. Anyways, she reminded me of Bella and Ian and Jared at times reminded me of Edward/Jacob, although not all of the time. I don't think that they were always realistic though. The way they reacted to certain situations seemed more like the way a girl would daydream about a guy reacting then the way that a guy would actually react, that is just my personal opinion though.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is truly a crime that Stephanie Meyer never expanded on this universe. I’ve reread this book a few times now, and it continues to hold up for me. It was truly such a unique dystopian story at the time and continues to be such a unique story.
I absolutely looove a drama queen and there are several to be found here
If you've ever felt like you have conflicting voices in your head, this book will give you something to think about...I quite liked the imaginative premise and how the relationship between the two personalities was handled. However, I felt the other characters were a bit stereotypical and one-dimensional, and the romance was a bit heavy handed. But if the novel is written for younger adults, then that can be forgiven.