Review: The Host

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So this book wasn't as bad as I had expected compared to New Moon and Eclipse. When I first started reading it, I thought the plot was really interesting and that Stephenie Meyer created a unique science fictional universe where parasitic souls take control of humans to use their host bodies. This is where Meyer hit her first cliff: Melanie and Jared's ridiculously sappy and unrealistic relationship. They are both super attractive and apparently some of the last remaining people in the human resistance against the invading souls. The depth of their relationship is never explicitly mentioned in the books but it seems that their attraction is based solely off of the fact that the two help each other and Melanie's younger brother Jamie survive. But never did this story mention any real understanding or love between these two. It almost seemed like they were "in love" for the sake of the story.

The middle of the book was surprisingly really good. I liked reading about how Wanda became adapted to the cave lifestyle and made friends among the human survivors. And then the second cliff hit: Jared is a complete ass and Wanda is a spineless idiot. I understand Jared's anger and frustration in losing his true love and whatnot, but that does not justify some of his actions towards Wanda/Mel. The humans were desperate and paranoid, but Jared's actions make me question "Mel's love" for him even more. Like serious, you like this guy because he kisses you and looks good? Please. Wanda honestly wasn't any better. Her entire attitude toward her situation annoyed me: if you want to hit me, that's okay; if you want to kill me, that's okay; I just want to love Jared and Jaime unconditionally. Ugh...

The only characters I actually liked in the story were Jaime, because of his devotion and innocence, and Ian, who is sensible and compassionate. Ian and Wanda's interactions while Jared went on his raid helped me understand their relationship and sympathize with their internal struggles (probably why I didn't end up giving this story two stars).

Overall, this was an enjoyable quick romantic read, but it didn't blow my mind enough to receive four stars. I would recommend this to any Stephenie Meyer fans and those who are looking for a dark sci-fi romance.

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