The Host
April 21, 2009
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Posted by Heather
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
The Host
By Stephenie Meyer
Read by Kate Reading
I just don’t get the whole thing about Stephenie Meyer. I don’t understand why so many people look down on her as being a poor writer. I don’t understand why so many are just totally enamored with her and her books. I like her. I think she can tell a great story, even if she gets fixated on particular words and expressions and repeats it throughout her books and drives me batty with it. I like her for what she is; a good, quick, practically thoughtless read.
That said; The Host is probably my favorite over the Twilight series. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Twilight well enough, and I liked the other two okay, but The Host, especially after listening to it on audio, is my clear favorite. First, let me tell you a bit about The Host, just in case you are the last person in the book blogging world to have not read it.
Our planet has been invaded, rather like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but a peaceful race of parasites. Which is rather oxymoron-ic, but anyway, they are peaceful amongst themselves and in their minds, they have bettered our planet by taking over the evil, warring, terrible humans. One such human however, Melanie Stryder, refuses to go down without a fight. Wanderer, the “Soul” who has been inserted into Melanie’s body, knew the challenges that would come from taking over a human host, but she had no idea what she was getting into (no pun intended!) when she woke up in Melanie’s body.
Melanie was still there. And she refuses to give up control of her mind.
As Wanderer falls deeper and deeper into Melanie’s memories and thoughts, she finds she cannot separate herself from that life anymore. Melanie’s assault has an unintended effect; Wanderer and Melanie now love the same man. Outside forces combine to make Wanderer and Melanie unlikely allies and they set off to find the man they both love.
The Host is marketed as Meyer’s first adult book. I don’t find it all that different from the Twilight series in language, scope, situations or anything else – I think it’s probably just a ploy to get adults to read her too. As for the audio edition, which I am reviewing here, I can’t recommend it enough. Kate Reading was already one of my favorite readers, but this put her up near the very tip top with Davina Porter. She has a warmth and tenderness to her voice that gives Wanderer much needed…well…humanity. And when you read it, you’ll see why that is a plus.
One of my frequent problems with Meyer is her messages, her morals, and her attitudes toward gender differences. Sometimes I feel like she’s, well, shoving her ideas down the reader’s throats. At times she seems very antiquated in her treatment of relationships, particularly those between men and woman. However, The woman can write a very absorbing story, so it’s hard to stay very annoyed with her.
Also reviewed by:
Fyrefly Books | Melissa’s Book Reviews |
If you have listened to this book, let me know in the comments and I will link to you here.
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Categories: Book Reviews, Books
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Tags: audiobooks, Book Reviews, Books, stephenie meyer, the host
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Leave a reply
Great review! I’ve added a link to it on mine…
Here’s my review.
Thanks!!
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My friend who talked me into reading the Twilight series loves this book and sings its praises any chance she gets. I haven’t yet decided if I want to read this one. She’s working on me . . .
Great review.
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I haven’t read any of Meyer’s books, and don’t understand why so many people feel the need to bash her work either. After all, she’s gotten thousands of teens excited about reading. That can’t be all bad.
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Fantastic review! I’m with you on Meyer…I think that she’s great at what she does…she writes fantastic, fun novels. I do have my issues with her and they’re much the same as yours are, but she always hooks me with her stories and I have to say that I honestly look forward to what she does next. I didn’t find this to be all that more “adult” than Twilight either…maybe she was trying to broaden her audience??
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I liked this book better than the ‘Twilight’ series, too! And, yea, I can be very critical of Meyer. I just think she way too over-hyped! I mean, for a fun read, she’s great, but when you start to think about just what sort of a role-model Bella is for the age range that is supposed to be reading these books… I just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a lot to say, I guess… lol
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I liked the Twilight series on audio so much better, so maybe I’ll have to try this one on audio.
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I enjoyed The Host much more than the Twilight series as well. My only complaint is that the book was too long. I felt there were many scenes that could have been taken out because they didn’t add to my knowledge of the characters and were hindering the plot. Thanks for the review!
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I am one of those who has yet to read this book. I loved the Twighlight series so I am sure I will get to this one soon. Great review! Thanks!
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I’m one of those last readers too
I really liked your review and agree with you on Stephanie’s appeal, as well as the things that bug. Overall her books are enjoyable and well, sometimes you just want to be entertained. Glad to hear you liked the audio of this. I’m still not too sure about audio books but maybe I’ll give this one a try in that format.
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Great review! I’d read The Host halfway through reading the Twilight books and really got caught up in the story. I enjoyed this much more than her Twilight series but I couldn’t see any difference in age range really – both story and style were similar to most YA books out now.
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I’ve just read Twilight and I liked it, but I didn’t love it enough to read on. I suppose we feel about the same! I see no reason to bash an entertaining author.
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Thanks Melissa! I added your link. Thank you for that
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You really should. I think Meyer matured a lot as a writer while working on this one. It makes me excited to see what she does next.
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You’re right. It’s awesome that she did that!
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That’s all I can figure. I couldn’t tell any difference between Twilight and The Host in maturity. Maybe it was the publishers way of saying it’s okay to read Twilight too? lol
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She is way too over-hyped and I think it hurts her. And she’s very readable, but no, Bella is no role-model I want for my kids! LOL It’s probably one I would have to discuss with them, if they ever read them.
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It’s a different reader, but she does a great job.
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It felt a little long to me too, especially the second time around. Do you think Meyer has reached the point where they don’t try to edit very much? I certainly hope not!
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I love audiobooks!!! You really should at least try one!
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I need to get back to this one. I was in a bit of a slump when I started this one, and the length tooootally scared me. Looks like I need to try again!
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