Again with the freaky covers. I think I'm inexplicably drawn to books with strange, almost frightening pictures. So much for not "judging a book by its cover."
Anyway, simply put, The Host is about an alien invasion. The "soul", called Wanderer, is implanted in the "wild" human girl Melanie and takes over her life. Souls are virtually bodiless themselves and live by taking control of other species' bodies-- parasites, really. Once they take over a human, all the human's memories become property of the soul, and the human's soul (spirit, mind, whatever) disappear. It's different in Melanie's case. She fights Wanderer's presence and refuses to just go away while Wanderer is probing her memories to discover the hidden location of one of the few remaining human refugee camps. In the process, they become pleasant enemies (being that close to someone will do that to you). Once they reach the camp, they find the man that Melanie was in love with. Since Wanderer (who the humans call "Wanda") and Melanie share feelings, it becomes somewhat of a love triangle... that is, until Wanda develops her own feelings for someone else. Oi, could it be any more complicated? Well, yeah. See, there are souls who aren't fond of humans, and Wanda's original task was to flush out the resistance. And it just gets more interesting from there.
Stephenie Meyer is just about the most well-known author in the US right now, even though she's only released 5 books total. Classified as an "Adult Novel", The Host is about as different from her Twilight series as a book can be. Instead of vampires, we have aliens along with a totally different plot line. I read the Twilight books before The Host, and I must admit to having been wary. I was expecting another book very similar to the vampire/ human complication of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Although there are a few similarities in The Host, it's by no means a copycat. Once again, I wouldn't suggest letting younger (under the age of 13) kids read this book, i's a great book that I would highly recommend to anyone who's in the mood for a little sci-fi.
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