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Smile Store - The Host: A Novel
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List Price: $25.99
Our Price: $16.49
Your Save: $ 9.50 ( 37% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780316068048
ISBN: 0316068047
Label: Little, Brown and Company
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 624
Publication Date: 2008-05-06
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: 2008-05-06
Studio: Little, Brown and Company
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Editorial Reviews:
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The author of the Twilight series of # 1 bestsellers delivers her brilliant first novel for adults: a gripping story of love and betrayal in a future with the fate of humanity at stake.
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. 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.
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.
Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Host: My Review
Comment: I enjoyed this book. Unfortunately i began reading it promptly after i finished reading the twilight series (recording breaking time of 1 week!)So i couldn't get that book out of my head and kepting wandering off track. The book itself was a great story and i enjoyed it. Although, it wasn't as good as Twilight.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading but starts slowly
Comment: See other reviews for a synopsis. This novel starts out reading like a mediocre harlequin. The fault lies not with the author but with myself. It just takes awhile for the characters to develop. The main character goes through a very subtle but remarkable transformation throughout the book. So be patient with the beginning. It hangs together well as a whole by the end.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Typical Stephenie Meyer Book
Comment: No one can deny that Stephenie Meyer has a fantastic imagination. This book, about peaceful aliens who require bodies to host them, is a great concept. The author pulls the story off quite well in fact.
I liked how the book made me ponder between a peaceful society that could be and the violent society we live in now. The characters are real and endearing, especially Ian and Jeb. I liked the adventurous bits - Melanie wandering through the desert, the raids, the seeker.
So why did I rate it only 3 stars?
1) The emotional drama throughout most of the book. Even though the alien, known as Wanderer, is in control of Melanie's body - Melanie still has a strong presence in the mind. Melanie being madly in love with Jared - who HATES the alien that took over his love - makes life so *emotionally* difficult for the alien that it's depressing to read. That's all well and good except tht it doesn't let up. It's this way through the whole book! It's this emotional drama that made New Moon difficult to read - Bella being so devastatingly heartbroken over Edward leaving her. (This is why I say it's a typical Stephenie Meyer book - drama, drama, drama).
2) The alien talks about other hosts & worlds that she lived on. No problem - but I just found it difficult to believe; ie being a bat or a flower... or someone who eats flower people. Not your typical aliens. Give the author kudos for imagination, but believability? Not really.
As iritating as the book was at times, it was still a good read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Different, but not for the good
Comment: THE HOST is a book that I hesitated to read. First of all, because while I do find S. Meyer's TWILIGHT series an amusing read, I wasn't sure if her raw talent would get her far in the Sci-fi department.
I gave in and started reading eventually.
... And I was subjected to the biggest flaw that existed in the Twilight series as well. To put it simply, and harshly, S. Meyer is a mediocre writer. We'll get back to that later.
THE HOST is an original idea, wrapped around cliches. A rebel called Melanie Stryder is found by the 'Seekers' of the alien race (called the Souls? Original.) They insert one of their hibernating souls into her, Wanderer, expecting Wanderer, or Wanda, to completely take over the body. Essentially, Melanie would be erased. But she's not and always a constant factor in Wanda's presence.
Wanda, under the influence of Melanie's strong emotions (or the emotions of any human being), goes out to find Jamie, Melanie's brother and a man named Jared.
All of this is pretty original. Wanda's battle with Melanie at first and the friendship that forms between the two of them is a nice read, as well as the initial (and continuing) distrust of the community Wanda stumbles upon.
But as said before, Meyer writes in a mediocre fashion. Her prose is dreadful, at best, she over-repeats words, and is apparently incapable of writing a decent book without hundreds of pages where absolutely nothing happens.
Shorten the book at least 250 pages, give the woman a thesaurus and a good editor and this would have been a good read. Instead, it's a 612 page read where at the end of it, I wondered what on earth the plot was.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Interesting read...well worth your time
Comment: I was surprised this book held my interest because I do not tend to enjoy SciFi type scenarios. I believe the reason I kept reading (besides the fact that the book was well written) had to be the psychological battle the main character endured throughout the novel. The idea of literally battling between two minds was really interesting to me as a psychology major.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for something new and interesting. The characters will hold your interest and the story will keep you reading late into the night if you aren't careful.
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