The Host

The Host
By Stephenie Meyer
Fiction/Sc-Fi
Released May 2008
$16.99 or $8.99 Kindle www.amazon.com

I will confess. I am a "Twi-hard". I am not ashamed to admit I love the "Twilight"series. I ocassionally enjoy reverting back to the days of being a love sick 12 year old girl. Being such a huge fan of these books it only seemed right to read "The Host". I just wish I hadn't shelled out the bucks for the hardcover copy! I really disliked this book. I know. I know. I shouldn't have continued to read it, right? I will plead a moment of insanity. That's all I got.
The premise of the novel goes as follows; Earth has been invaded by a species that has taken over human minds. The alien is injected into the human host, taking over the mind but leaving the body intact. Melanie Stryder, the lead character, is one of the last humans left. After an unfortunate incident, she becomes an unwilling host. Against all odds, she fights the alien invader for control of her mind and body. Running from aliens who want to terminate an "unsucessful host" , she finds humans who are hiding in a gigantic cavern in the ground. She is taken prisoner by the humans but eventually a little romance weaves itself into the story. From this comes the weirdest love triangle ever.
I hated this story so much I can't believe I was even able to write this much without falling into painful boredom. The story is slow and long. Meyer's writing in this felt so different than the writing in her previous books. Stephen King wrote a great story touching on the alien theme (Tommyknockers) but he also is a wizard of words. Meyer isn't quite there yet and it is very evident in this book. I think the novel could have easily been written by one of the aliens.
Bottom line-it's a story that you can find in any aliens vs. humans movie.

Read it: No.
But: If you are a Sci-Fi fan you might enjoy the story but still find it hard to get past the writing.
Bonus: The Kindle version has an added new chapter and a playlist linking to text. Meyer's is known for creating playlists that influence each chapter or major event that she writes.