Shelf Addiction

Throwback Thursday | Review Edition: The Host, by Stephanie Meyer

3/28/2013

Today I'm introducing my new weekly feature, Throwback Thursday | Review Edition! It all began last week when I basically posted a semi-rant about not being able to post a ton of weekly reviews. Alexis mention that when she started out blogging she posting reviews on books she'd already read. That got me to thinking, I have a ton of reviews that I actually wrote before I start my blog. So then I thought a Throwback Thursday post would fit the bill. Every Thursday I will post a review that I've written prior to my blogs existence. I'll be sharing both books that I think you'd enjoy and the ones that I should warn you against wasting your time on. ;-) I'll still be reviewing current and upcoming releases, but I thought this would be a fun once a week feature.

In honor of the release of The Host tomorrow, I'll kick off this new feature with my review of The Host! I reviewed this book in March 2011, almost exactly 2 years ago! I recently found out that Ms.Meyer's is continuing this story and making it into a trilogy! I'm looking forward to reading more about these characters. If you haven't read the host yet, you should! It's a complete 180 from the YA Twilight series that she's so well known for. Not only is there not a single vampire or werewolf in it, it's also geared toward adults, which is awesome! Looking for something different? Check this out!

I hope the movie is equally as good! We all know the 99% of the time, the books are always better, but I'll cross my fingers anyways. :-) Check out the trailer below! Are you seeing The Host this weekend?

Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Release Date: May 6, 2008
Format: eBook
Pages: 619 (Hardcover)
Source: Kindle Purchase
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Original Review Date: March 10, 2011
Rating: 5 bookmarks

Synopsis: Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

After reading the Twilight series (which I loved), I was looking forward to reading more from Stephanie Meyer, yet, I wasn’t so sure that she could write about Aliens as well as she wrote about Vampires, so I was a little leery about starting this book. But I finally got around to it. I was pleasantly surprised by this very unique story. It’s definitely not the story that one would expect when you think about Aliens taking over the world. Instead of huge mother ships killing all the humans and blowing up everything, this Alien invasion results in us seeing both an Alien and the host it occupies from a personal perspective. Seeing how refugee humans react to Wanderer (an Alien) who becomes a part of their underground society is very intriguing. Eventually, most of the group stops seeing “it” as the enemy and actually start seeing Wanda (Wanderer) as a part of their small family. Partially I wonder if its only because Melanie (her host) is still present within her or if it’s because they really start to understand the intentions or reasoning of the Aliens and are no longer scared. As on cue, there are several resistant humans who make it their goal to kill “it”. Even with most of the group embracing Wanda, they don’t give up on finding out how to take control back over their bodies.

The story really starts to pick up pace and get more exciting once Wanda is taken out of their hiding location on her first mission to retrieve Alien Medicine. From there the story takes off like a runaway train. At that point I was reading through it even faster than before because I just wanted to rush to the end to see what happens. During all of the craziness, there is even a some romantic love for Wanda which makes the end seem terribly unfortunate until something happens…something you kind of hope for but don’t expect. This ending will leave you content!

Happy Reading,
~Tamara

3 Comments

Lectus link

3/28/2013 04:07:18 am

When I read the host it didn't say it was a trilogy. I guess that because of it success she is making it a series.
Although I loooved the book I can't seem to like the movie. I mean, I've seen the trailers and it just doesn't call to me :-(

Alexis @ Reflections of a Bookaholic link

3/29/2013 05:55:06 pm

I'm so glad you reviewed this book. This brings me to another thing that I wish I saw more of. Reviews of older books. I used to do it and I got away from it and I need to get back to it. While reviews of new releases are exciting, reading them are often more difficult. They are usually more costly because they are in hardback and libraries might not have had the opportunity (or the budget) to buy them. Books that have been released for some time are still valuable because a good story is a good story, libraries are more likely to have them, they are cheaper, and you might even find them used. There really is no expiration of a good book.

People have been telling me that I needed to read this book but I never knew what it was about and I never looked into it. I actually like the sound of it and I'm going to see if I can get my hands on it in time for the readathon. Are you participating this go around?