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mbpartlow's review against another edition
3.0
Intriguing plot, but not my cup of tea. Too "oh, gosh, I'm really a good person" for me.
sereia8's review against another edition
4.0
I waited to hear some positive reviews before giving this book a try. Though I felt that there were pacing problems and that it needed to be tightened up (where was her editor?) I actually liked it more than her previous three books. What a relief to have a more sympathetic main character (no whining!).
baranii20's review against another edition
5.0
کتاب جالب و قشنگی بود که معنب انسانیت رو به طور متفاوت تری بیان میکرد
rhack05's review against another edition
3.5
I did like this book if even if it was a bit too long imo. There were a couple of problematic scenes that I couldn’t really get on board with but overall it was entertaining. It definitely made me think about humanity and what we would do in the same type of situation. What would we do if aliens took control of our bodies? Where does humanity end and alien worms 🐛 begin to take over? Could you fall in love with an alien worm in a human’s body/brain? Are you in love with the human or the alien or a combo of both? 👽👾🐛🪱🧐
blurrypetals's review against another edition
4.0
I kind of wish I hadn't reread this! For the longest time, I have sort of upheld The Host as Stephenie Meyer's only good book. With the release of Midnight Sun earlier this year, I kind of became interested in whether that opinion still held up after 11 years and...kind of? But not really?
I still like this book. I think it does a lot of things right. Stephenie is incredibly adept at the inner monologue and, in a book where there are two simultaneous inner monologues, her talent with that really shines here. I think that is also what made the Twilight books so absolutely consumable, too, but, at the time this was published, this was her greatest achievement in that respect.
Then Midnight Sun came out and dethroned it. I just had to reread this to realize Midnight Sun had dethroned it I guess!
But, that's not the reason my rating on this jumped from a 5 to a 4. Unfortunately, the auxiliary characters just aren't as great as I remembered them. Ian O'Shea, in my memory, was this amazingly kind, lovable doof. I don't think I'll ever forget that version of him, but he read so differently to me this go around than he did the first time I read this book. It was kind of disappointing! He's been one of my favorite love interests in literature for such a long time that it was so weird to find he wasn't as I had remembered him.
However, that all said, it was still a really fun walk down memory lane. I really enjoyed revisiting it even though certain aspects weren't as good as I remembered. Stephanie's writing is an extremely consumable thing and that definitely held up despite the time that's passed. It was absolutely still way better than the movie, which I legitimately don't have the energy to get into right now. I just don't think Stephanie's writing style is suited to be adapted for the cinema, which would be perfectly okay if her books weren't turned into such awful movies.
To future-Sara: if you are at all considering rereading this in another 10 or 11 years, maybe don't. Unless you do. Just consider the possibility the 4 might get bumped to a 3 if this has enough time. Hold onto those good memories instead for this one.
I still like this book. I think it does a lot of things right. Stephenie is incredibly adept at the inner monologue and, in a book where there are two simultaneous inner monologues, her talent with that really shines here. I think that is also what made the Twilight books so absolutely consumable, too, but, at the time this was published, this was her greatest achievement in that respect.
Then Midnight Sun came out and dethroned it. I just had to reread this to realize Midnight Sun had dethroned it I guess!
But, that's not the reason my rating on this jumped from a 5 to a 4. Unfortunately, the auxiliary characters just aren't as great as I remembered them. Ian O'Shea, in my memory, was this amazingly kind, lovable doof. I don't think I'll ever forget that version of him, but he read so differently to me this go around than he did the first time I read this book. It was kind of disappointing! He's been one of my favorite love interests in literature for such a long time that it was so weird to find he wasn't as I had remembered him.
However, that all said, it was still a really fun walk down memory lane. I really enjoyed revisiting it even though certain aspects weren't as good as I remembered. Stephanie's writing is an extremely consumable thing and that definitely held up despite the time that's passed. It was absolutely still way better than the movie, which I legitimately don't have the energy to get into right now. I just don't think Stephanie's writing style is suited to be adapted for the cinema, which would be perfectly okay if her books weren't turned into such awful movies.
To future-Sara: if you are at all considering rereading this in another 10 or 11 years, maybe don't. Unless you do. Just consider the possibility the 4 might get bumped to a 3 if this has enough time. Hold onto those good memories instead for this one.
ellipsiscool's review against another edition
3.0
I am really torn over what I think of this book. The concept is really interesting. The idea that humans could be taken over by these delicate, non violent creatures and afraid of them, while the "souls" couldn't see what they were doing wrong because they always had been doing it to less conscious creatures is the central theme. Besides all the romance of course which is very Stephanie Meyer. Of course there are two men fighting over her, the difference being that one man is in love with the human girl and "has a claim to the body" and the other is in love with the alien.
It takes about 300 pages to even get to the fact that the other man is in love with the alien. This book is LONG. I am a big reader and don't mind pages and pages of character development. The problem with "Host" is that the character development doesn't really change for hundreds of pages. Your listening to the same thoughts and conversations over and over again. It gets really boring. There were parts where I was so BORED.
Then there were other times, I was really compelled with the world. However, not with the writing style. It's sad when a story has such potential, but doesn't have compelling writing. I would have loved to learn more about the souls and there philosophy. I would have liked to meet more of them. It would have been great if some sort of epilogue told of the future of the humans and souls and if they ever learned to live together. Instead we get a perfect ending where everyone gets to be with their lover of choice. Sound familiar?
It takes about 300 pages to even get to the fact that the other man is in love with the alien. This book is LONG. I am a big reader and don't mind pages and pages of character development. The problem with "Host" is that the character development doesn't really change for hundreds of pages. Your listening to the same thoughts and conversations over and over again. It gets really boring. There were parts where I was so BORED.
Then there were other times, I was really compelled with the world. However, not with the writing style. It's sad when a story has such potential, but doesn't have compelling writing. I would have loved to learn more about the souls and there philosophy. I would have liked to meet more of them. It would have been great if some sort of epilogue told of the future of the humans and souls and if they ever learned to live together. Instead we get a perfect ending where everyone gets to be with their lover of choice. Sound familiar?
xcaity's review against another edition
4.0
I was very excited about this book from being such a huge fan of her Twilight series. But, it took me a while to get into. Probably around 100 pages... Which is about 30 pages more than it usually takes me to get into a book. And 100 pages more than it took me to get into any of the other four books she's published. However, once I did finally get hooked I couldn't put the book down. It even made me cry. All in all, it's definitely worth reading. Maybe even more than once... =]
jasminehodge's review against another edition
4.0
it’s not good. i’ll always love it. 4 stars for 10 year old me who read it 5 times in one week.