As the first fiction book that I've read in over a year(!!!), The Host was a great novel written by the same author as the Twilight series - Stephenie Meyer. Before I dive into my review, let me first say a few things. 1.) I've never read anything from the Twilight series and have not had much of an interest. That said, I'm sure I'll be coerced at some point (likely by my mother) to read the first one and I'll subsequently love all of them. I am a sucker like that. 2.) There were definitely instances in the first 100 pages of this book when I said to myself, "Good lord, this is ridiculous. I can't believe I'm reading this." It took a little literary wherewithal (well executed by Meyer) to keep me interested.
So, for a little context: The premise behind this 619 page book is that a parasitic species, aptly referred to as Souls, have infected nearly all of the humans on Earth through a phased invasion without anybody noticing before it was too late. It's a relatively painless procedure for one of these shrimp-looking-souls (my imagination) to infect a human host with the unfortunate effect of eliminating the conscious of the human and replacing that with the soul's. Moreover, there is generally very little difference between a soul-controlled human and a normal person, with the exception of being overly altruistic and polite. Now, I know what you're thinking as I was thinking the same exact thing.... it seems, well, a little out there.
But I gave Meyer 100 pages to convince me - and she did. The critical concept driving this story is that once a soul takes one of these bodies, the thoughts or conscious of a strong willed person remains in the soul-conscious body. Said differently, there are two pilots for the same plane. So with some pretty solid character development, a fluffy love triangle involving two male humans and a split-minded chick (human/alien), and a penchant for suspense, Meyer pieced together a great page turner. I definitely found myself staying up until far to late into the night plugging through chapters at a time.
Compared to the non-fiction I'm accustomed to reading, this was as easy of a read as they get. Light. Funny. Suspenseful. A simple mind enjoys simple pleasures. Not the best fiction book I've read, but well worth it. It also had the added effect sending me through a few Descartian moments of reflection.
Recommended.
