The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I finally decided to read The Host by Stephenie Meyer and let me tell you it was one of the best dystopian type novels I have ever read. The story takes the point of view of Wanderer who is inserted into Melanie Stryder's body. At the beginning you get to see memories from Melanie's life. Even though Wanderer is in control of the body Melanie is right there with her for this journey. What begins as hate for each other turns into friendship. Melanie was part of the resistance and headed to Chicago to find her cousin who she happened to see on TV. When she gets there she gets pursued by some of the aliens who have taken over others and she jumps out of a window and pretty much dies. Her body is healed by their alien medicine and Wanderer is put inside. They kept her body because they wanted to use her memories to find the rest of the humans in the resistance and have their bodies taken over too. When Wanderer is put inside Melanie she isn't supposed to be able to talk to or feel Melanie's presence but she does. This gets tricky for her and he appointed Seeker tries to get her to reveal information about the resistance, specifically info about her brother Jamie and her love Jared, which Melanie blocks from Wanderer. Wanderer decides to go south and get a healer to take her out of this host body and into a new one when Melanie gets her to help find the compound her uncle created and where she assumed Jared and Jamie went. This entails walking through the desert and almost dying. She is found by her uncle practically dead but he helps her even though he sees her eyes have the glow from the alien. She is taken to their hiding place and she finds Jared, who seeing her eyes is pretty much disgusted by her but wont kill her. She is help pretty much a prisoner for days until Melanie's uncle decides to take her around. The other humans start to be accepting of Wanderer and even start calling her Wanda. Jamie finds her and soon realizes that Melanie is indeed still there.

This story was so well written I still can't get over it. It was mature writing so some younger teens may not want to read it but it is so worth the read. This story I'd have to say was so much better than the Twilight saga. I did buy this book because the movie was coming out and my best friend told me it was amazing and I'd have to say she was correct. Once I started I couldn't put it down, the story grabbed me right from the start. All the characters were great and I really enjoyed the relationship between Wanderer and Melanie, it was probably the best relationship. I loved how Jamie pretty much figured out what was going on. I really got annoyed by how rude Jared was but I can totally understand that this was his love and someone else has taken her body, but I knew Melanie was alive inside and I just really wanted him to know she was there. Ian was a great character too and you cant help but love how his beliefs get changed by just getting to know Wanderer. Wanderer or Wanda was awesome and the fact that she was this great alien to all the others and ended up falling in love with the humans in the resistance was awesome! This story didn't make the romance a big thing either, it was mainly Wanderer dealing with being a human and having Melanie talking to her in her head.

I don't want to write more because I am afraid I might give some things away but I highly recommend this book. It is completely different than Twilight and I'd have to say was wayy better written. Pick this book up you will not be disappointed!