| Stephenie Meyer's The Host |
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| Reviews - Books | |
| Written by Anna Larson | |
| Thursday, 03 July 2008 | |
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Meyer's latest, The Host, is marketed more to young adult readers, and while her style is still consistent to Twilight, the older ages of the characters and the lack of a school setting do make it a bit more mature. In both, though, the stories are relevant for a wide range of ages, much like J.K. Rowling's books. For teen readers (and probably adults, too!), content is much more substantial than many mainstream books. The plot of The Host follows Wanderer (also called Wanda later on), a soul that has been placed in the body of Melanie Stryder. This race of souls has taken over planets, using the bodies of the planets' inhabitants to live. For this, the humans often call them parasites, while the bodies they live in are known as hosts. In essence, the souls are pure and good, which creates confict of interest in readers - we understand that being taken over and controlled is wrong, but the souls had their reasons, and they are far from the typical evil antagonist - quite the opposite for the most part. As the story progresses, it becomes even more difficult to attempt siding with one or the other. To begin, Wanderer has a lot of trouble with her host Melanie. Melanie would not allow herself to be subdued (as is the challenge with older hosts), and manifests herself in dreams, memories, and even bursts of talking to Wanderer, who is irritated, incredibly scared, and utterly unaccustomed to resistence, from any of her previous eight lives (which is quite a high amount for a soul - earning herself her name). Soon enough, Wanderer also finds herself loving the humans Melanie loves, instead of wanting to expose them to the souls so they can also become hosts, as she is supposed to do. When Wanderer and Melanie begin getting along, the book really takes off. From that point, they face death together, many times in many ways, and deeper internal conflicts arise - loyalties, self sacrifice, dual love for certain humans, and even the strongly growing sisterly love for one another, ultimately. The Host addresses the nature of true humanity straight on; compassion and cruelty, violent passions and peace, the combining of physical and spiritual, etc., reminding readers of who we are, who we should be, and who we can become. Theh complexity of the story is supported by the multiple conflicts it contains - primarily, man versus man, man versus self, and man versus society. Everything about the writing is cohesive, from the way the words flow into each other to the way the plot flows seamlessly from each chapter throughout the book. It would be quite easy to sit down for a short spell of reading and end up finishing the entire book, if you can handle the intense emotions it is sure to provoke, that is. For all ages and walks of life, The Host passes as an exceptional novel. Talented writing, intriguing plot design, complex characters, and depth of meaning make this one of the most important novels of today - up with the ranks of Paolo Coelho's The Alchemist and other books of similar acclaim. Read it, and I bet you'll agree.
This Reviewer's Rating:           |
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Stephenie Meyer, author of the bestselling Twilight series, is nearly a household name now. TIME Magazine even compares her to J.K. Rowling, acknowledging their differences, but also their similar affects on the audience - the way the books cause readers to "want to climb inside them and live there."
4.5 / 5
when i finished reading the novel because it was so interesting that i couldn't stop readying once i started. 
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