The Host - Stephenie Meyer

The Host by Stephenie Meyer is a fascinating page-turner that I had a difficult time putting down. This is the kind of book that I would stay up late into the night reading (if I were still in high school and didn't have two kids to take care of the next morning). When I reached the final 619th page, I was sad that it was over. To describe this book as a sci-fi novel about the invasion of alien body-snatchers just doesn't do it justice because there is so much more to the book than that.

The premise of the book is as follows:

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining “wild” humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, 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.

I love the way that Stephenie Meyer is able to create an alternate version of our reality that really makes us think about what it means to experience love and to be human. Meyer portrays how being human and living in our bodies with our emotions could be viewed through the experience of the alien, Wanderer.

The aliens (who call themselves 'souls') are basically nonviolent and concerned with the greater good. Once they take over a planet, they live together in harmony with no crime or poverty. They essentially live the law of consecration, where everyone shares what they have and no one is in need. They believe that they make the planets they occupy better, which is how they justify the hostile act of invading other planets and taking over the species who live there.

I enjoyed this book because it brings up interesting questions, but does not provide definite answers. In The Host, Meyer examines the topic of love and portrays it as having both mental and a physical component. I found the "love triange" in this story fascinating. Because of the physical connection between Jared and Melanie, Wanda had a difficult time knowing how she felt about Ian. It made me ponder how much of the love we experience is physical and how much is mental.

Meyer also brings up the topic of what it means to be violent versus peaceful in nature. The aliens view themselves as peaceful, but once Wanderer gets to know some of the humans she has to rethink her view of herself and her thoughts about the human race.

This is Meyer’s first novel geared towards a mature adult audience, and perhaps that it why I enjoyed it more than I did the Twilight series. We'll see how this year of reading goes for me, but right now The Host is at the top of my list.