The Host (The Host, #1) in Addicted to YA

Apr 29, 2008 Angie Taylor rated it really liked it

2019 It’s been a couple of years since I read this last. I still really enjoyed it. Wanda’s narrative bugged me a little bit this time. I had a hard time swallowing her timidness. I really just wanted Mel to take over. Having said that, I was again touched or faced with pondering what it means to be human and how amazing it is to have a body. Meyer does such a fantastic job of making the reader contemplate humanity and what it means to really be human. I also thought about how much store I put i 2019 It’s been a couple of years since I read this last. I still really enjoyed it. Wanda’s narrative bugged me a little bit this time. I had a hard time swallowing her timidness. I really just wanted Mel to take over. Having said that, I was again touched or faced with pondering what it means to be human and how amazing it is to have a body. Meyer does such a fantastic job of making the reader contemplate humanity and what it means to really be human. I also thought about how much store I put into how I feel about those around me based on their outward appearances. I’m not sure appearances influence how I feel about people, but I bet they do. Something to think about.

2014 I decided to read this again just for the fun of it. I was surprised that I felt the exact same way about it this time as I did the first time I read it. There were times I loved the story and times that I hated it. I struggled so much with feeling sympathy for the alien, Wanderer, and I realized that this is exactly how I should feel if this story were real. I would be so mad and angry if my world was attacked and my body was infested with an alien. I would fight to the death to get back all that I had lost. I hate this story because it is written from the alien's point of view, and as a reader, I am forced to hear her thoughts and feelings, and hate her because she is an alien. However, that's where I end up loving the story. Stephanie Meyer creates this crazy insane storyline that I hate, but at the same time can't help but get sucked into and sympathize with. I read this from a writer's stand point this time, and even thought there isn't crazy amazing eloquent writing, it's still pretty dang good writing with all the tense changes, and point of view changes. It's really hard to do that and Meyer does it stupendously. When all is said and done, I'm glad I took this ride again. April, 2014

This was a very interesting read. I was frustrated a lot because I wasn't sure if I liked the way the story was going. This is one of those stories that makes you think a lot, and I wouldn't reccomend reading it at night because you wont' be able to put it down. It definitely has sci-fi themes, and they were very believable. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it and once again am a Stephenie Meyer fan. May, 2008 ...more

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Aug 14, 2008 Morgan rated it really liked it

Story:
The earth has fallen to the star faring race know as the souls. There was no resistance until it was to late and now the souls "control" most of earths inhabitants by taking over there bodies and carrying out the lives of their host as if nothing has changed. The true "humans" are an almost extinct race except for small pockets that realized what was happening and scattered to remote areas that the invaders either find to difficult to get to or don't feel like wasting resources on. Melani Story:
The earth has fallen to the star faring race know as the souls. There was no resistance until it was to late and now the souls "control" most of earths inhabitants by taking over there bodies and carrying out the lives of their host as if nothing has changed. The true "humans" are an almost extinct race except for small pockets that realized what was happening and scattered to remote areas that the invaders either find to difficult to get to or don't feel like wasting resources on. Melanie Stryder is part of one such group. Melaine is captured when she goes into an occupied city to try and find some of her family she hopes is still human, unfortunately she is found out and tries to kill herself before she can be turned which also fails. Her body is healed and she has her new "soul" implanted. Now her name is Wanderer... or is it? The orignal Melanie is one of the few human hosts that can retain their mind after implantation and Melanie will not fade away quietly. Pretty soon Wanderer is fighting a losing battle with Melanie who wants to be reunited with her younger brother Jamie and her lover Jared. Soon her odd behavior brings the attention of a seeker, more or less an alien police detective, who wants to know why Wanderer is acting strange and why she cannot seem to access the information on the rebels that the seeker wants. Wander/Melanie desperatley want to find their family but do not want to bring the seekers down on them. Pretty soon their every move is being watched, until they get a lucky break while driving to another state to get some "help" for Wanderer's problem. Melanie recognizes a landmark in the desert and belives her family may hiding there. This begins Wanderer's journey to understand what is to belong to the body that she is inhabiting and perhaps to help the surviors understand their themselves and their unwelcome guests a little better.
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There is proably not much I can say that hasn't already been said about this book considering it already has a ton of reviews. It is differnt from the run of the mill alien invasion books. It did keep my attention especially later in the book once certain characters stop acting like idiots and actually try to work with the situation they are in. I did like how most of the story was written and it does show how a non violent method way of invasion can work (really just a modified version of a conquering nation winning by owning everything, in this case bodies rather than businesses or real estate). I would recommend this book to any one who likes alien scifi, complicated romantic triangles, and those who like the action to come through dialouge and situations rather than everything getting blown up. If you like this you also might like Belarus, Learning the World, Voyage from Yesteryear and Quozl.
m.a.c ...more

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Nov 16, 2008 ~*mandy*~ rated it really liked it

i'm guessing i like this book so much because i 'read' it on audiobook. it is very very full of details and it's a bit slow on the up-take, but it's an awesome story! i'm an ian and wanda fan, because ian reminds me of my fiance :) it had a happy ending, which i was worried about. it was a great listen and i'm hoping Stephanie Meyer gets on the ball and writes some more awesome books! ...more

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Aug 26, 2008 Katie rated it liked it

I read this on recommendation- hadn't thought it looked that great, but figured I'd give it a shot considering I'm in love with Stephenie Meyer's other books.
It started off pretty slow, but ended up quite a page-turner. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the dual-consciouses, but I suppose that's part of the story.
All-in-all, not quite up to Bella's story, but definitely a fun read, even thought-provoking on more than one occasion. ...more

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Jun 01, 2008 Kaitlin rated it it was amazing

What can I say? I really love Meyers writing style. I sat down at work and read a solid almost 8 hours (it was a slow night) and then read another 3 hours today to finish. I'll admit I was speed reading, but I just couldn't wait to see how the dilemma this story presents worked itself out. I simply couldn't put it down. ...more

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