The Host

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

 

I became interested in the book when I found out that Saoirse Ronan was going to be in the film adaptation. A couple of months ago I got it and read it and I still have not had the chance to talk about it much.

First of all, I must say the book's idea sound pretty interesting and at the beginning it turns out to be a delightful surprise. If you are not familiar with the story, it's about a "post-apocalyptic" world in which an alien spices has taken over humanity and the few humans remaining fight desperately to remain humans. Now, that is quite interesting isn't it? So I thought.

I started reading and I got to page 150 very fast but from that on, for some reason, the author decided that a "twilish" romance was much more interesting that the world she had created within those few chapters, in my opinion, not a good choice. The interest in the story went down quickly enough to put the book aside for a couple of months. I got back to it and finished in about a week, still thinking that the whole point of the alien invasion should have been the main focus of the story and not just some sort of background.

The characters in the story are quite interesting, except some of them who make only appearances now and then and don't do/say much. The main role (Wanda/Melanie) is perhaps the most interesting thing of the whole book, they are two different characters, very different actually, living in the same body. But that too falls to impress once the love story starts to become the main focus of the story.

Overall, The Host is a book that could have been if not very book, very interesting, but unfortunately it's only vivid enough to keep you reading. Obviously, if you are looking for a big Meyer romance, this is your book, if not, maybe you should try something else.

I will be posting a review of the film once it hits theatres.

MadHatterSays: Meh…Read it but only if you really, really feel like it.

2'5/5