The Host

OK-I'm a little embarrassed to admit this...Bear with me, I need a moment of silence as I prepare myself.

Hi, my name is Zoe and I am a Twilight fanatic. I know. I know. You don't even need to say anything. I'm not sure how it happened. I bought them for my gorgeous progeny one after another several years ago. She read them and read them and read them and suggested, rather vehemently I might add, I read them. So finally I picked up Twilight at the library, an audio book cuz’ I always listen to things I don't necessarily want to read.

And then it happened- I was hooked. I have this feeling it's going to be a lifelong addiction as I've read them all four times and I'm not bored yet. Although I'm sorry but the movie sucked. I like Catherine Hardwicke- Thirteen was brilliant but she missed the point in Twilight or something got lost in translation. Robert Patterson is a whiny bitch and I want to slap Kristen Stewart repeatedly. Also insert the phrase..."It's my turn to ask questions." But as always, I digress.

That being said...I wasn't sure I would like Stephanie Meyer's new book, the host. Reviews seemed to be mixed. It was very, very different than the series she's famous for. Even her writing style seems different. I'll admit, the book took me awhile and not because it was 600+ pages. I can eat 600+ pages for breakfast-this just took a while to get through and I wasn't enamored at first. It wasn't until I was a good hundred pages in before I decided I liked it enough to keep going.

There I sat at BloodSource with my life force dripping into a bag on its way to find refuge in another body while reading about small parasitic creatures that take root into various species about the solar system, pondering why is it exactly that in order for Earth to become Utopia, Earthlings have to be wiped out in one way or another? Why- do we really suck that badly?

Actually I know the answer to that already. So back to the story. Main character Melanie manages to escape the initial, albeit rather quiet, invasion with her brother and goes into hiding. Its then she meets the love of her new life, the ultimate hero, despite the hell they find themselves entrenched in. Unfortunately for Melanie she is captured and the alien life form or "Soul" is inserted into her body. In most cases the "Soul" takes complete control of the body and the human is lost forever but in Melanie's case, her Soul called Wanderer doesn't manage to break Melanie's sprit. Eventually the Wanderer becomes overwhelmed by Melanie's memories and feelings. Against her better judgment, she leaves the alien established civilization to search for Melanie's outlaw family.

Incredibly descriptive, Stephanie paints such a beautiful portrait of both the new Utopian civilization and renegade camp the reader can almost picture each grain of sand. Yet her true gift is exploring the relationships between all of the players and the study of what makes someone a human.

I did have to put the book away before I finished giving blood. Who knew the phlebotomists would get so freaked out when someone started to cry in the chair. I had to reassure them without sounding like a complete freak 'No, the needle wasn't hurting me but the story was just so moving'. I know Big Dork-what can I say.

So bottom line -great book. You'll love when you finally get through it.