The Host
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By Teagan Shelton and Kiah Elmer
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Though science fiction is not her normal genre, Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, stepped out of her vampire shell and dove into the world of aliens and science fiction galore. The Host, her first project besides the best selling Twilight series, is just another example of what a fantastic writer she is! The Host begins with a Soul being placed into a young woman, Melanie Stryder, who had been one of the last remaining human beings on the Earth. Melanie had been the last because the Souls, aliens who had come to Earth to make it a better place, have been implanted in the humans’ bodies. The Souls use the humans’ bodies to communicate and survive on Earth as another planet that they are able to use. They take much better care of the Earth than the humans did, and they never fight. When Wanderer, the Soul that was placed in Melanie, wakes up, she can hear Melanie talk to her, which is uncommon because not many humans are able to resist against the Souls’ presence. Wanderer is informed that Melanie was one of the stronger humans that had stayed hidden longer than the others, and that her body had been very damaged because when she had finally been discovered, she had jumped down an elevator shaft in an attempt to kill herself, but had failed in doing so and had only severely damaged her body. Wanderer is asked to find out information regarding Melanie’s past life because the Seekers (Souls who seek out the remaining humans) believe that Melanie had had remaining family and friends that she had hidden with. Wanderer tries to help the Seekers by finding out more information on Melanie, but finds it nearly impossible to do so because Melanie puts up a wall between them to keep Wanderer out. Melanie continues to resist against Wanderer until one night Wanderer has a dream about Melanie and her brother, Jamie, and boyfriend, Jared. She immediately tells the Seekers about her dream, but feels horrible afterward because she feels almost as if she loves them as much as Melanie does. Wanderer decides to look for Jared and Jamie so she can be with them, and does not want the Seekers to find them first. She travels the desert looking for them, but eventually goes unconscious from dehydration and starvation. While unconscious, Melanie’s Uncle Jeb, a seemingly crazy old man, and others find her. They take her to their secret underground hide-out. Jared and Jamie are at the underground hiding place with Uncle Jeb and a few other families. Jared is at first furious that Jeb has brought Melanie into their home when Wanderer is inside of her. He wants to kill her but refuses to do it himself, so she remains alive, but jailed up like a hostage, in a small, cramped cave. Melanie is terrified of everybody, but overjoyed to see Jared. She is upset when she feels that Wanderer is beginning to fall in love with Jared, as well, and, though she and Wanderer are growing closer, becomes jealous of her for being in control of her body. Wanderer is eventually allowed out of her cave as she is trusted more and more by the different members of Jeb’s hide out. She talks to Jamie, Melanie’s younger brother, and comes to love him as her own little brother. She also meets a man there, Ian, who takes special care of her and makes sure that Jared is nice to her. The Host is a novel filled with twists and turns that keep readers interested through all of its 619 pages. Stephenie Meyer has yet again created a new world for her fans to dive into and has created a beautiful love story with a twist that will leave readers wishing there was more!
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