The Host (The Host, #1) by Stephenie Meyer

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

• Genre: Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction romance (Earth), Aliens
• Age: young adult
• Source: owned ebook 
• Read from April 14 to 18, 2013

FINAL RATING: ★★★★★/★★★★★

I cannot describe how much i love this book. Even though it was long, i still loved every page of it. I never read Stephanie Meyer before, but i love this book. She really is a good writer. The only downside that i had was that i watched the movie first - therefore i knew what was going to happen. But book was so much better, with more informations about Souls, and better characterization.And, one important thing: you will either love or hate this book.

One thing also that i really loved was that it was not an insta love, no matter how it seemed. The whole book happens in a long period of time - months actually, but nothing felt extremely rushed. And it can also be sad that this actually is a love fourangle - 3 boddies and 4 souls. This story is actually centered on romance and less on science fiction (if it can even be put as sci fi, because we only meet aliens...and find out about some of their worlds).

“What was it that made this human love so much more desirable to me than the love of my own kind? Was it because it was exclusive and capricious? The souls offered love and acceptance to all. Did I crave a greater challenge?...Or was it simply better somehow? Because these humans hate with so much fury, was the other end of the spectrum that they could love with more heart and zeal and fire?” 

The Host by `Sugargrl14

STORY:

World has never been more perfect - there are no wars, no hunger, no unecessary pain, no illness. But, the world belongs to the aliens called Souls. They are conquers and they are "parasites". They need hosts to live - otherwise they die. And when they discovered Earth which was slowly being destroyed, they thought it was perfect chance to save it. Therefore, they occupy it and start fixing the Earth. Souls are kind, caring, intelligent race, but can their good qualities compare to what they had done to human race? They destroy minds of humans and possess the bodies. Only a handful of people are left on Earth, the unpossessed ones called rebels. And they want to take their world back, but they can't do anything against them. To make things go as planned and to protect Souls , Souls placed Seekers to be something like a police for them. Seekers are the only one who are not honest, who lie and who hurt - and they are eager to find every human there is.

This is a story about Wanderer, a Soul who was put into the body of Melanie Stryder, a rebel human.

The thing that Wanderer didn't expect though was that Melanie is still alive and kicking in her mind. Melanie wants her body back, but she can't do anything about it and Wanda wants her gone, because the body belongs to her now. Melanie then shows her memories of Jared, her boyfriend and Jamie, her brother, and Wanda begins to realize that she slowly falls in love with those humans. And when she goes to try to find them, things don't exactly go as planned. The only thing left is to keep moving forward.

CHARACTERS:

♦ WANDERER/WANDA AND MELANIE/MEL:

“Body and soul. Two different things”

 Melanie and Wanderer are both kind, caring and wonderful characters. They made me feel so much, both of them are the characters i really love, and i loved how the book was told from Wanda's perspective. Wanda, the Soul, is one of the most kind of them all. She is called Wanderer for a reason: she never settled on any planet, and she was on a lot of them. Earth is all knew to her, and human race is confusing to her as well...our emotions are not easy for her at the beginning. But, she begins to feel like Earth is the planet for her:

“This place was truly the highest and the lowest of all worlds - the most beautiful senses, the most exquisite emotions.. the most malevolent desires, the darkest deeds. Perhaps it was meant to be so. Perhaps without the lows, the highs could not be reached.”

And even though she didn't like Melanie at the beginning, as can be said for Mel too, she starts loving Mel, and the other way around, until they became friends and sisters by souls.

But, even if Melanie spammed her mind with Jared and Jamie, she can't really know how she feels. She begins to love Ian, but her body loves Jared....and it makes it so confusing to her.

Melanie is fun, she is sarcastic, strong and amazing. And she is a fighter. She doesn't give up easily and her love for Jared and Jamie is so strong that she starts showing memories to Wanda, so she could understand. I loved Melanie, she was just awesome :)

“Melanie Stryder?” he asked, addressing her.
We both started at the name.
Ian went on. “I’d like the chance to speak with Wanda privately, if you don’t mind. Is there any way that could be arranged?”
Of all the nerve! You tell him I said no chance in hell! I do not like this man.
My nose wrinkled up.
“What did she say?”
“She said no.” I tried to say the words as gently as they could be said. “And that she doesn’t… like you.”
Ian laughed. “I can respect that. I can respect her. Well, it was worth a try.” He sighed. “Kind of puts a damper on things, having an audience.”
What things? Mel growled.
I grimaced. I didn’t like feeling her anger. It was so much more vicious than mine.
Get used to it.

♦ JARED:

Jared is Melanie's boyfriend. They met when Mel was robbing someone, and they both thought the other one was Soul... Except Jared noticed it first and he kissed her, which made Mel angry and she punched him (he deserved it).

“My name is Jared Howe. I haven’t spoken to another human being in more than two years, so I’m sure I must seem… a little crazy to you. Please, forgive that and tell me your name, anyway.”
“Melanie,” I whisper.
“Melanie,” he repeats. “I can’t tell you how delighted I am to meet you.”

And then, they slowly but surely, fall in love.

But, when he finds out that Melanie is gone and that Wanda took her place, he becomes cruel and unforgiving. He hurt Wanda many times and he said many many unkind things. And it shattered both Mel's and Wanda's heart seeing him like that. In some way, i can understand what he felt, it's not easy when the person you love is gone. And that someone else took her place. But he didn't have to be that much cruel (no wonder why everyone is team Ian). And even after all of that, i started liking the poor bastard, and in the end i loved him.

♦ IAN:

Ian is one of my favorite characters in this book. Even though he wasn't exactly kind to Wanda in the beginning (in that include him trying to strangle her), he grew to my heart. He regret what he had done to Wanda and soon starts seeing her as herself, not just the body. He starts to like her and eventually, he starts loving her.

“It's not the face, but the expressions on it. It's not the voice, but what you say. It's not how you look in that body, but the thing you do with it. You are beautiful.”

♦ JAMIE:

Jamie is Melanie's little brother. He was forced to grow up earlier than he wanted to. He became like an adult, despite his young age. He wanted to believe that Melanie was still alive, he wouldn't accept it otherwise, and he is the one of the rare ones who thought that Wanda is wonderful person and that she should be given a chance...

♦ EVERYONE ELSE: 

Jeb was amazing. When he was young he found out about a cave, which fortunately, saved their lives by becoming a perfect hiding place for humans who survived. The motto he has is "My house, my rules" and everyone respects him. He believed in Wanda, he saw her as she is, he liked her from the beginning and he was kind to her.

Kyle, Ian's brother, got on my nerves so many times, but in the end, i loved him too. Ian doesn't like him, and actually, no one really does, mostly because of his attitude and because he was irritating.

Wanda's Seeker is one of the characters i don't know how to feel about. We find out about her, but for me she was just confusing. But she isn't a quitter and she knows what she is doing. And that makes her scary opponent.

There are so many characters i wish to talk about, but i would be tempted to spoil and we don't want that to happen, do we? :D

OVERALL:

I love this book. And i am sad that it ended. But, i will surely read it again and again, because i want to be with Mel, Wanda, Ian and Jared again... I am also happy that there is going to be a sequel and i can't wait for it.

MY REVIEW ON GOODREADS