The Host by Stephenie Meyer

This has been a long time favorite of mine but I still remember my reaction when a friend recommended it to me. The cover stood out and I found it interesting, my eyes immediately focused on the silver lining around the pupil of the eye. The next thing I noticed was the author’s name. It will probably come up in a later post so I won’t give all my reasons here but I am not a fan of the Twilight series. Authors each have a unique voice in their writing and I have noticed that different books or series that share an author often feature similar themes or characters. To my pleasant surprise, it was not the same with The Host and Twilight.

 

From the premise to the genre, the books are completely different. The Host is a science fiction novel that is essentially about an alien invasion and the human resistance after it. The aliens’ physical forms are akin to silver worms that can attach to a creature’s spinal cord and thus possess its body. Of course, with all medical procedures there are some risks, in this case when the alien is placed within a host there is supposed to be nothing left of the host. The body is supposed to be a shell or husk. In the case of Wanda, her host was still alive. Alive and determined to preserve her life. Mel was able to convince Wanda to seek out Mel’s family by showing her sentimental memories and arguing with her every day.

 In addition the romance shines through between Wanda, an alien who has been to almost every planet her kind have colonized and Ian, a human who at first meeting attempts to kill Wanda and her host Melanie. The love triangles in this book were interesting. On triangle has Wanda, Melanie, and Melanie’s boyfriend Jared. The second has Wanda, Ian, and Jared. Although the romantic struggle and mix up was nice in theory, I never really had a moment where I thought Wanda would end up with anyone other than Ian and likewise with Jared and Melanie. 

The biggest reason I love this book is Ian. I’m not even going to try to lie. Despite knowing Wanda’s true form, Ian is still able to love her and after she is removed from Melanie’s body and placed into another host he doesn’t have much trouble accepting her new body. He truly loves her for her personality and mind which I find very sweet and emotional. 

The ending is satisfying to me but it leaves plenty of room for a sequel. The romantic plot is resolved but overall the resistance isn’t over. Aliens still inhabit human hosts and I can see Meyer writing a sequel exploring that further. I’m also excited to see how the movie adaption turns out. 

Readers, how do you feel about love triangle in YA fiction? Are they useful plot devices or trite and overdone?