The Host. A Novel :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review
The author of the Twilight series of # 1 bestsellers delivers her brilliant first novel for adults: a gripping story of love and betrayal in a future with the fate of humanity at stake.

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.

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Customer Reviews

Great Book

2008-07-23
I have never read the Twilight books, but since reading this one I ordered them. Science fiction is not one of my favorite reads, but I could not put this one down and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys a great story.

ZZZZ!

2008-07-23
While I like the Twilight Saga this one emphasizes just how little depth Meyer's story have. Host was horrendously boring, made absolutely no sense, and constantly contradicted itself. I didn't finish it, it was just that unbearable.

Solid Read - but a little slow

2008-07-23
Being a huge fan of The Twilight series, like almost everyone else that posted a review, I decided to give The Host a read. It is a slow and somewhat uneventful plot, but Stephanie Meyer's true talent is in her character development. Once you get to know The Wanderer, Melanie, Jared and the rest, you need to know what happens to them all. This need to know what happens to the characters motivated me to read the whole book and finish it, even though there was no true climax, no true suspense, etc. It is a good read, not excellent, but good.

Great new book

2008-07-23
The Host is very different kind of book for this author and as sach may cause some wondering from her devoted readers. It has sci-fi elements in the story but is not hardcore. It follows the life of a human host who fights the invasion of her body by a soul parasite that wants to take over. How both struggle to keep alive and become two in one body is a very interesting tale. Two entities co-existing on one body with independent thought and feeling has to make for a great reading. Once again Stephenie had created a great book and proven that she is not just a vampire writer.
Anna del C.
Author of "The Elf and the Princess"
The Elf and The Princess: The Silent Warrior Trilogy - Book One (The Silent Warrior Trilogy)

Definitely a page turner

2008-07-22
Absolutely awesome book. I am not big on the whole science fiction aspect of anything, but The Host is definitely a must-read, and a highly-likely to read again! Wow, Stephenie Meyer is an incredible writer. No wonder my daughter and all her friends love her series... I'll be reading those next!

SO TERRIBLE!

2008-07-25
OMG! this has got to be the WORST book i have Ever read! i only finished because i was on a 15 hour drive and i can't slam it fully unless i really read the whole thing. Every thing about the story was stupid the "Souls" were so stupid i can't even think of words to tell you how lame their views and take on life is. And the people in the book were stupid in the extreme as well if the world really was being taken over by aliens i don't think the survivors would be all 'Oh thats ok we forgive just you guys because you feel a little bad about it but not bad enough to give us our lives all back' like WTF?! thats all i have to say htis is a waste of time in its self that this book hasn't even truly earned.

Love her style

2008-07-24
Mrs. Meyer can really write in a way that feels comfortable to me. She doesn't go out of her way to use words that don't fit the characters or situations. This book was entertaining, and a pleasure to read. I think it only took me about 6 or 7 hours to read, and I immediately wished I'd had more from her to read.

Truly Amazing

2008-07-24
I first loved SM for her Twilight Saga, but I enjoyed The Host just as if not more. While it took me a while to get started, once I was into the book, there was no putting it down. The characters were engaging, the plot was interesting, and the message was profound.

After seeing SM's comment about sections of the book store I have to agree. This was marketed as her first "adult" novel, but then Amazon puts it in the list of the best "teen" paranormal novels. As SM said, a good book's a good book. Read it.

Not truly adult fiction

2008-07-24
This book was hyped as Ms. Meyer's first "adult" fiction. Assuming you mean adult as those between the ages of 13 and 20, ok. If you mean adult as someone that is capable of following complex plot, complex character development and reading a book that isn't totally predictable, then not ok. Cute little story that could have been told in about 250 pages instead of the almost 600 it is. Interestingly, she develops the character of Uncle Jeb much more deeply than the main characters, Melanie and Wanderer! We know almost nothing about Melanie, except that she tried to kill herself to avoid implantation...and for someone that traveled all over the universe, we learn almost less than nothing about the Soul in her. Also, the struggle for "control" of the body/mind complex is pretty superficial until after they become "buddies".
Story cute, predictable and really fits more with her younger readers than truly adult science fiction.

The Host is not the same type of book as the Twilight Saga...

2008-07-23
... However it is exceedingly well written; not in the fashion of Twilight, where an exciting story is just presented straight up, but more in the fashion that it's thought provoking and presents us with truly unique material and situations.

The Host is a science fiction novel in the truest sense, and takes the reader on a journey through a 'cornered rat' mentality of humanity being oppressed by altruism rather than by dominance or violence. The only violence is on the part of the humans, yet they are still the ones being eliminated in a depressing fashion. As long as you don't try to read into this in a political sense, it's a very, very enjoyable read.

Again, please do not read this expecting Twilight; you will need to proceed slowly at the start of the novel so that you truly understood the world view, and the world, that Meyes is presenting you with in this great novel, rather than just diving into a story. I promise you that the back story to understand exactly what it is you'll be told in the remainder of the book is well worth the time to read (Not to mention, it's of course pleasurable in and of itself). That really seems to be the main complaint of most folks, but in the world of science fiction (generally) one of the first things you have to do is establish the world and boundaries a story will be operating under, and this is no exception.