The Host
By: Stephanie Meyer
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.
So I have a movie review for The Host, but I've realized that I've never formally reviewed the book. It's been a long while since I read this one, but I remember a good deal of it and of its major themes.
Sure, there is a lot of romance in this book (read: make-out scenes). BUT, that aside it had some really big themes. It was a discussion on what it really means to be human and what the pros and cons are of humanity. It asks interesting ethical questions about loyalty and love (friendship love as well as romantic love).
I think the whole idea of this kind of quiet alien is really, really, REALLY interesting. I mean, I don't know if I've read or seen any other type of alien movie or book that has this sort of silent, not hostile takeovers. It asks whether the aliens did the right thing by alleviating the Earth of mankind's violence. And if mankind is "better" that way.
The other really interesting aspect of this book is its lack of a straightforward villain. The hosts were never technically evil. They thought they were being the height of ethical and you see that they are actually near "perfect humans." They're polite. They don't steal. They don't lie. They are generous and selfless. So did they fix mankind or destroy it?
The first 100 pages of this book drag quite a bit, but when you get past that it really starts to take off. I highly recommend this book and I recommend that you forget it was written by the same person who wrote Twilight until after you read it. This book is so different and so excellent.
Quotes:
“It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the thing you do with it. You are beautiful.”
“What was it that made this human love so much more desirable to me than the love of my own kind? Was it because it was exclusive and capricious? The souls offered love and acceptance to all. Did I crave a greater challenge?...Or was it simply better somehow? Because these humans hate with so much fury, was the other end of the spectrum that they could love with more heart and zeal and fire?”
“Happy and sad, elated and miserable, secure and afraid, loved and denied, patient and angry, peaceful and wild, complete and empty...all of it. I would feel everything. It would all be mine.”
Quotes:
“It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the thing you do with it. You are beautiful.”
“What was it that made this human love so much more desirable to me than the love of my own kind? Was it because it was exclusive and capricious? The souls offered love and acceptance to all. Did I crave a greater challenge?...Or was it simply better somehow? Because these humans hate with so much fury, was the other end of the spectrum that they could love with more heart and zeal and fire?”
“Happy and sad, elated and miserable, secure and afraid, loved and denied, patient and angry, peaceful and wild, complete and empty...all of it. I would feel everything. It would all be mine.”
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