The Host

A Novel

By: Stephenie Meyer

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 23 hrs

Publisher's summary

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of 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.

©2008 Stephenie Meyer (P)2008 Hachette Audio

awesome

slow but so worth it. The Host has been one of my favorites for so long.

Good story if you stick with it

Slow to start but worth the wait. Sort of expected more vampires; none about, but lots of other life forms abound.

3rd time i listen

Since this book came out i read it 3 times plus the movie.
It's beside a beautiful story also relaxing.
The narrator is superb. She voices each character with its own tone, recognizing immediately who is talking. Very difficult and wonderful job she did.

The writer needs no introduction.

Glued to my ear buds the moment I pressed play!

I’d like to start off this review by stating that this novel is nothing like Twilight so whatever hang-ups you may have about Stephenie Meyer’s original series should be set aside. As an avid reader, I’m a firm believer in that “the book is always better” saying so when I found out that there was a The Host movie in the works I couldn’t resist bumping this novel to the top of my to-be-read pile. Saying that I’m glad I did would be a gross understatement; I was glued to my ear buds from the moment I first pressed play!

The Host is unlike anything that I have ever read thanks to its emotionally complex story, unique POV and unlikely love triangle. This is one of those books that when you’re done reading it, you’ll need to take a moment to let it all sink in. I really enjoyed the two-characters-for-the-price-of-one aspect of this novel; it gave a whole new meaning to the “we” and “our” possessive pronouns. In this instance, instead of talking about a group of people the author is referring to the two minds in one body which made for one heck of an interesting first person POV. Kate Reading does an excellent job of sounding “other” while narrating from Wanderer’s perspective and human while reading from Melanie’s. Her voice is mesmerizing and definitely helped to make this 23 hour audiobook just fly by.

Normally, love triangles are one of my biggest pet peeves in fiction but Meyer’s is so outside of the box that it’s impossible not to get caught up in the characters’ emotions. Imagine having two people inside of your head who are in love with different guys! Not only that, but Wanderer and Mel’s psyches become so closely intertwined over time that it’s a challenge (even for them) to determine which feelings belong to whom. Throw some good old fashioned jealousy into the mix and you’re left with one incredibly complicated predicament!

A lot of really interesting questions surface in this book but the one that I personally found the most fascinating was what it means to be human. In the beginning the answer is pretty clear cut: humans = good and souls = bad. However, as the story progresses that line becomes progressively blurrier. Does the answer simply come down to a matter of genetics or is it a person’s actions that determine their humanity? By the end of this book I was surprised by how much my opinion of Wanderer had shifted. Although, it’s important to note that she’s not a typical soul so even though she won me over, the rest of her race did not.

The Host is an emotionally charged story that redefines the classic love triangle and take the first person POV to a whole new level. After finishing this novel the first thing that came to my mind was how in the heck are they ever going to make a movie out of this? I have a sneaky suspicion that as usual, the book will be better than the film.

Slightly mixed feelings

You know, we all become arm-chair critics when we have this ability to criticize the work of someone else, but the bottom-line is that this book was unique in MANY ways and that alone is unique...

My overall take is that it was wonderful, different, and well-written. I do have mixed feelings though because of one thing.... I got extremely frustrated with the main female character's tolerance of the main male characters mistreatment of her. He would physically and verbally abuse her and she would still say, ...Oh, Jared, I love you... [Having said that, there IS a reason (you will see) and I tried very hard to put myself in the two perspectives.]

I was intrigued enough to read it twice and to get more out of the second reading.

I really loved the all-too-brief descriptions of alien medicine, and would have loved to know more about the aliens themselves, their history, etc.

But, I guess if a book can leave you wanting MORE, then it was a success.

A Refreshing and Captivating tale.

I chose this novel because I couldn't find anything else I wanted. Lucky me!! I loved this book, it was captivating. The choice of narrator was excellent. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes alternative sci-fi.
The plot is entirely believable and the characters all have their own charm and imperfections. I could go on about this book for hours, but I wouldn't want to spoil things for you.

Wow! And I don't say that often...

This is my first experience with this author. I wish they were all this good. We Audiblephiles face a double risk: good story and good presentation. Host more than hits the mark on both fronts. What a wonderful telling of humanity from an outside/inside viewpoint. The narration is flawless, and captured the conflict/coflict brilliantly. Move over Dax, this is a joined being you won't soon forget. Well done!

The Host

I had previously read this book and liked it. Listening to it 0n Audible is an even better experience. The narrator is very talented. I would recommend this book and listening experience to anyone.

Fabulous

The book drew me in quickly and it was almost impossible to turn off. Even better the next time around as the beginning made much more sense and was more appreciated. I went from being upset with the souls & then the humans to being utterly in awe of Wanderer & the humans that over came their fears.

The BEST Book I have ever read/listened to

I am deeply depressed this book is over and was so short. I miss my friends now and can't keep my mind off it. I really don't know if I can find a better book or even one that rivals it. Definitely worth the money and time.