Okay, so for my first book review here I've decided to review "The Host". Why? Because now that they're making it into a movie, another hype will start, just like it happened with the twilight series. And I have a feeling that the movie might destroy my feelings towards this book (after all, I don't even like the actors they've chosen). And for everybody, who is interested in the book, but doesn't know if he/she should read it, I'm writing this review. After all, it takes some courage for some people to read a book by Stephenie Meyer after twilight, even though this is still a lot better than twilight, in my opinion. So let's go on to the 'real' review.
Aliens have invaded the earth, and they're taking over the minds of humans. It's not like they're bad, actually the aliens are more peaceful than the humans, always wanting the best for the others. But when they possess the minds, that part of the humans passes away, most of the time. But Melanie Stryder refuses to pass away, and Wanderer has to deal with it, since she doesn't want to start this life as a child but as an adult. Melanie, being one of the last 'free' humans, knows other humans, whose minds aren't possesed, but she won't show Wanderer where they are. But after a while, Wanderer finds out about a man called Jared, and she starts feeling affection towards him. She and Melanie go on an adventure to find him, and her brother Jamie, that is not as easy as it sounds.
So, what did I like about this book? Obviously the storysetting and the characters, most of all Ian. As well as the friendship of Melanie and Wanderer, and also kind of the love triangle (since those are my weakness).
I'll be honest, it took me a while to get into it, I think the first hundred pages were a bit slow, for me. But after that, I couldn't stop reading. I finished it within two days because I was so engrossed in it.
At some points the writing was really sappy, but I don't remember being bothered by it, since I've always liked sappy stories. If you are bothered by it, you should probably skip those parts, as they're not that important... I think. Well, you need them to understand the feelings of Melanie, but you don't have to read all of it, since the style of Meyers writing is not the best (though it improved from twilight!) I don't want to say it's bad, it's just that I've read better styles for sappy scenes.
And the ending, I adored it so much. I honestly didn't know how she was going to end that book without destroying the atmosphere, like some auhora do, and I'm so glad she didn't. For me, it had a perfect ending, that's also why I don't want it to have a sequel. But oh well, it's not up to me.
What I also quite enjoyed was Wanderers history, being on so many different planets and everything. I could imagine these scenes perfectly in my mind, as if they really happened.
I'm giving this book 4 stars, although I think it is a rather amazig book. The storysetting, the characters and the feelings all were they, and as a reader I was able to discover it all. The perfect ending made the last star. The missing star, because of the slow start... But I think it's really worth the read. :)