When the alien soul Wanderer is implanted into Melanie Stryker’s brain, Melanie refuses to fade away. Earth has been taken over by these small souls who are seemingly peaceful and desire to placate the human race like they have with so many other races. Some humans, though, fight back, and using her memories, Melanie persuades Wanderer to seek out her lover and her brother, leaving behind this so-called peaceful society and entering the world of renegade humans.
Just a few general comments since this has been reviewed over and over:
I was a little impressed with the relationships in this book in comparison to Twilight. I didn’t like Jared in the book, but I did like the Jared in Melanie’s memories. I found Wanderer’s love story to be very believable, though, and I was surprised by that considering how I felt about Edward and Bella. I thought Wanderer a little too submissive, unfortunately, but Meyer creates a society in which her submissive characters belong. Even Melanie goes quiet after a while despite her determined personality; it seems none of her females have much of a backbone. Mostly, I just appreciated the better relationships, most particularly the one between Melanie and Wanderer.
That said, I liked the story. It dragged in the middle when everyone was getting used to Wanderer’s presence, but otherwise I thought it was a quite interesting take on the “bodysnatchers” idea. For science fiction, it didn’t put me off, and I managed to read the entire book over 2 days. I worried about the characters on their raids, I wanted them to succeed, and overall I thought the book asked a few interesting questions about the ideals of humanity. Honestly, I liked it, and I would recommend it.
The one thing I don’t really understand is how this is more of an adult book than Twilight. Sure, the characters aren’t teenagers, but not much else changed with regards to prose style, language, or offensive content. Thoughts?
I enjoyed this book too, and I generally don’t read sci-fi. Wanderer is passive, but her whole race is in order to avoid conflict. I haven’t read any of the Twilight books so I can’t compare it to them.
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After Breaking Dawn, I just couldn’t take any more of Meyer for a while. According to PBS, I’ll be up for a copy of The Host in about 8 weeks, so maybe I’ll be up for it by then. Your review does make it sound more realistic, or at least more believable, than Twilight. But still, there’s a sense that she doesn’t write anything of her own. IDK…
You know I’ll read it, and I’ll probably enjoy it… but it doesn’t seem she’ll stand the test of time.
The Kool-Aid Mom’s last blog post..The Sunday Salon ~ Peanut Butter on Strawberry Pop Tarts
This book was a DNF for me; it dragged way too much in the beginning. Also, I thought Melanie was insaaaaaanely annoying. So I stopped around page 200. =/
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Great review Meghan. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to read it. The premise looks intriguing and your review helps me make up my mind.
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Ha, I really loved this one, and though I thought Wanderer was submissive, considering her species I suppose really she was quite daring. I loved the themes of the book as well.
The characters are adults and a requirement for YA is that the characters are teens I think.
Amy @ My Friend Amy’s last blog post..Review: In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White
Thanks for your review, Meghan. As Marie said, I’m still not sure I want to read this one. I enjoyed the Twilight books for what they were, but wasn’t impressed with the writing. I think that’s mostly what keeps me away from this one.
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This one is on my list, but I just have not gotten to it yet…
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I thought all the Twilight books dragged in the middle. I’m not big on scifi and I’ll likely pass this one by.
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I mostly enjoyed the Host. For me it was waaaay more interesting than Twilight, and I really enjoyed the SciFi aspects, though it definitely dragged in the middle (and I was particularly pleased with the ending either). It’s not something I’d reread ever, not much depth to it.
I have been curious to find out how this book compares to the Twilight series, and think that it actually sound a bit more interesting and well written. I am not sure if I would read it, but it does interest me a bit, so I think I will do a bit more research on this. Glad you reviewed this one.
I liked this book as well, thought it was much better than Twilight!
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I liked The Host and am reading it for a second time now. It did have similar aspect as Twilight but I liked the relationship between Wanderer and Ian, but I must say I dont like Melanie and Jared. But all in all I liked it it didnt drag on for me as I read it in two days.
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