Review: The Host (The Host Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer

The Host (The Host #1)

by Stephenie Meyer

Hardcover, 619 pages

Published May 6th 2008 by Little, Brown and Company

characters: Melanie, Jared Howe, Ian O'Shea, Wanderer, Jamie Stryder

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Details from Goodreads:

The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. But Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, 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. Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves--Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.


REVIEW:

Reading about aliens is new to me -like a child seeing thing they first notice, curious and vivid- so I dont exactly know what to expect. Some of my friends said that its not worth reading, but curiosity overpower me. Lol. I dont know if its just me or the book or the book with audio in it, but the book is really good, though its thick and i think theres a hundred pages that should not be in here.

Narrative is fluid, the novel easy to read and the characters likeable and believable. When Melanie and Wanderer first discover the underground cavern of hiding humans, the story becomes more interesting as it tackles issues such as violence within a society or community, and how humans deal with conflict and adversity. It gives insight into the human race’s potential to work together as a strong unit or destroy each other.

One major strength of this novel is the way Meyer builds her character. Bella in Twilight annoyed me; she was too angsty, too emotional, too wrapped up in Edward (which is perhaps reality for some teenagers, but not something that needs to be promoted, in my opinion). In The Host, the main character is actually two: Wanderer (or Wanda), the host invading the human body; and Melanie, the human who just won’t let the soul take over. Wanda and Mel are as different as night and day: Mel is strong, persistent, courageous, all those good traits needed to fight to survive. Wanda is gentle, self-sacrificing, and kind, all good traits needed to be a soul, since their goal is to create a peaceful civilization. Wanda and Mel contradict each other in many ways, but that works, as all their strengths can work together to ensure their survival. I love Mel’s spunk, and I love Wanda’s ability to love.

As for the ending of the novel, I found it superb. I cried the first time I read it. In the end, Wanda knows she must be removed from Mel’s body in order for Mel to have her life back, including being with the man she loves, Jared. Wanda is also in love, however, with a man named Ian; while she wants to be with him, she cannot stand the thought of taking over another body, of destroying another life. She convinces the doctor in the compoud where they’re hiding to let her die and bury her on Earth. However, he goes back on his promise, and they find a host body where the original human can no longer be found. In the end, Melanie gets her body (and Jared) back, and Wanda gets a new body (without harming another human), and gets to stay on Earth and be with Ian.
As far as overall theme in the book, I walked away from reading it, hoping that one day, I could love like Wanda and Mel do. The two of them have deep, self-sacrificing love for their family. They fight hard for the people they love. They fight for what is right. This kind of love isn’t the overwhelming, passionate love of Edward and Bella (which is nice, but not always so realistic). Instead, this is the kind of all-encompassing love of a woman for her brother; for the kind, old gentleman dying of cancer; for the man she loves. It’s kind of hard to explain the difference to someone who has never read both books, but there is a definite difference, and in my opinion, The Host is far superior to Twilight (although I love that book, too).

Stephanie Meyers magical skills of story weaving cannot be denied. The Host is fresh, compelling, and at some points so disturbing you will have to put it down and watch a cartoon for a while.

Review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer

Published by Atom Books
Published 5 June 2010

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is the riveting story of Bree Tanner, a vampire first introduced in Eclipse, and the darker side of the world she inhabits. The novella chronicles the journey of members of the newborn vampire army from their preparations to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullen family to its unforgettable conclusion.


As much as I occasionally mock various aspects of the Twilight Saga, I do actually pretty much love those books. Well, I don't really love Breaking Dawn, what with the shizzle that goes down, because really, like really?. To call this a *review* is really pushing my luck, because really, thats not what this is. The whole point of reviewing is to breakdown the book and access it's writing, the plot arcs, the character development and interactions etc etc etc. To do all this stuff, you need to be objective, because if your not your views are going to be seen through a pair of mega shiny rose tinted glasses, which is pretty much what I have on. Hey! like you don't, there the good stuff. And, to be quite truthful, I can't be objective. If I said I could, I would be a big liar, just like those damn Volturi *shakes fists* so i'm just going to babble a bit. Okay?

Right, I can remember reading Eclipse for the first time, and I fricking hated these newborn vampires who were out to get Bella and the Cullens. I wished lots of fire and flames on each and everyone of them. Bree didn't even register in my mind, even though she was in the book. Crap, even Riley evaporated from my memory to be known as that insane vampire who thought Victoria was in love with him. The lovesick vampire, thats who he was to me. He wasn't a character, and neither was Bree. Actually, I thought Bree was a mard arse and a vampire that deserved to die for being such a wimp. Who barges into a battle to kill people and then cries and surrenders. A big fat wuss thats who. So, to read a book that had both of them in it, was insane, but that good insane.

A big lesson I learned from the book is this - vampires who sparkle in the sun are awesome *cough* not nearly as awesome as wolves *cough* but you know whats better? KILLER vampires who sparkle and are still good even though they may want to eat you. They are like the epitome of vampires. At last, Ms Meyer has given me what I wanted, a good vampire who sparkles and kills things that are not like deers or bears. I mean, I know I really shouldn't want real live people to die, but come on kids, this is fiction, and if I can't get excited by killer vampires, then this is a sad world. Plus, I really liked Bree as a character, she struggled with the thirst and trying to keep a sense of normalcy in this new strange world she's been re-born into.

The last 50 or so pages were bloody brilliant (pun intended). To see the whole scene in the meadow from a vampires point of view and not Bella's, who ultimately, was way to invested in the outcome, was so strange. I never thought not knowing what the vampires thought about the situation was a Bad Thing, I wasn't missing out. Edward was probably worrying about Bella, Jasper was being all "I don't trust people" and Rosalie was maybe just mad that she got blood on her shirt. I never once thought how it would look through this strange vampire girls eyes. And now that I know, it's like I always kind of knew. It complements that scene spectacularly, and makes you realise there was a lot going on before that event and during it that Bella was not privvy too, being a weak ass human and all. I will say, the last page, I actually wanted to cry like a girl. I didn't, but I wanted to. I still love Stephenie Meyer a LOT and I don't think that will be changing anytime soon.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer

As we all know, Stephenie Meyer’s latest novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, hit shelves this past Saturday. If you haven’t had the chance to get yourself to a bookstore or if you purchased a book from an online retailer that hasn’t gotten to you yet, have no fear! As promised, Stephenie has made the book available online. The book will only be available from June 7th to July 5th, so act fast!

To read the online version, click HERE. You cannot read the book anywhere else, nor can you download or print it. Remember that $1 from every book purchased goes to benefit the Red Cross, so if you love the book then make sure you buy it!

On that same note, USA Today has read and reviewed the book, and they have some great things to say about it! Check out an excerpt below:

We’ve always loved Bella, but, at this point, we also care for Bree. She was transformed into a vampire three months before the novella begins. Her story is tragic.

She barely knew her mother. Until she ran away, to live on the streets of Seattle, she lived with her abusive father. Starving, she’s easily taken in by Riley, Victoria’s henchman, when he offers to buy her food.

Bree was so hungry, it’s intimated she would have paid him back in any way he liked.

She pays with her humanity.

Reading Bree’s story enriches our reading of the Twilight saga and will enhance enjoyment of the Eclipse movie. Parts of the novella are woven into the film; Jodelle Ferland portrays Bree.

Bree Tanner is a brilliant reminder that Twilight’s vampires, despite physical beauty and passion, are tragic creatures. Meyer strips them of romanticism through a teenage girl who never had a chance for happiness in her first, or second, life.

Review: Twilight Graphic

Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1

by Stephenie Meyer, Young Kim (Illustrator)

published March 16th 2010 by Yen Press (first published January 1st 2010)

details Hardcover, 224 pages

url http://yenpress.us/

description

When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret... Beautifully rendered, this first installment of Twilight: The Graphic Novel is a must-have for any collector’s library.

REVIEW

With several popular novels and movies based on The Twilight Saga, a graphic novel adaptation of this dark teen romance seems to have a sure-fire recipe for success – just take the story, add pictures and stir. By letting Young Kim's artwork do much of the storytelling, the graphic novel is an improvement on the novels, because Meyer's florid prose is one of the most distracting aspect of her books.

But for all the things it does right, this adaptation is also beset by poorly-placed word balloons and lovely, but occasionally awkward artwork. It'll please Twilight fans, but won't likely win many new ones.

*Pros

-Lovely artwork that captures the dark, moody and romantic tone of the novels

-Relatively straightforward storytelling that's easier to follow than say, Vampire Knight

-Selective use of color in this mostly black and white story creates drama at key moments

-Classy, library-worthy hardcover will please fans and collectors

*Cons

-Suffers from haphazardly-placed word balloons that sometimes cover characters' faces

-Occasional lapses of draftsmanship, with some awkward anatomy and foreshortening

-At P800+, it's roughly twice the cost of most graphic novels

Jacob and other characters' faces lack the rich characterization seen in Bella and Edward's faces