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When you think of aliens what do you think of?

Little green men, big bug like eyes, croaking in broken English, “take me to your leader.” These are the stereo types that everyone always thinks when aliens are brought up in conversation. We have Hollywood to thank for that. Stephanie Meyers, author of the Twilight Sage, has created a whole new spin on aliens. Imagine this, a small silver worm like creature that’s inserted into the back of the neck. The silver worm like creature is another type of alien called a soul. In this book, “The Host” it gives the reader a unique look into how an alien, other words a soul, would feel invading the human world. The souls are strangely kind, patient, understanding, and extremely advanced in every aspect. Every soul that is inserted in to a human body is given a job. There are three major categories so to speak of. The Healers, the souls that are responsible for inserting the newly arrived souls and acting as doctors and nurses. The Seekers, the souls who are responsible for capturing remaining humans in a peaceful manner. Last but not least regular souls who work regular boring jobs. A Healer names Healer Forbes inserts Wanderer, our main character. Our story starts off with Wanderer being inserted into a human named Melanie Stryder. Usually when a soul is inserted into a human body, the human fades away in their own mind being replaced by the soul. On a rare occasion a human will fight an insertion of a soul and remain present in the brain. The brain gets pretty crowded with a soul and a human fighting for control over one body. Our story continues when Melanie Stryder bombards Wanderer with past memories of why she continues to fight Wanderer. And so it begins. Suddenly Wanderer finds herself fighting her own nature of being a soul. Wanderer sneaks away from the other souls and attempts to help Melanie Stryder. The pair, Wanderer and Melanie, travel across many states to find Melanie’s Uncle Jeb. Melanie is certain that her Uncle Jeb has given safe haven to her two reasons to continue fighting Wanderer.

Jamie and Jared.

Jamie being Melanie’s younger brother. Jared being the love of Melanie’s life. Melanie shows Wanderer past memories of both Jared and Jamie to ensure that Wanderer falls in love with both of them before taking her to them both. Soon Wanderer and Melanie find Uncle Jeb. Jeb, over the time of the invasion, had found a hidden sanctuary in an extinct volcano. To both Melanie’s and Wanderer’s surprise Jeb had not only found Jared and Jamie, but all other types of human too. Melanie’s Uncle protects Wanderer against other humans who want to kill her because of what she is and the fear of what she will do. IN Wanderer’s time being in the hidden sanctuary she learns who humans really work. They are different then what Seekers and told all the other souls. Over time Wanderer grows close with the humans and picks up the nickname Wanda. When Wanda grows close with the other survivors she also grows close with Ian, a human whose brother was hell-bent on killing her. They fall in love while growing closer. Melanie on the other hand hates this with a burning passion considering that she is desperately in love with Jared. Over the course of the book the reader can see how Melanie and Wanda begin to form a bond like sisters. Because Wanda has grown to love Melanie like her sister she decides to give Melanie her body back. Wanda makes the hidden colonies Doctor promise her a deal in exchange for the information of how to take a soul out of a body. Wanda makes the Doctor give her his word that he will not send her to another plant. Instead she wants to be buried by Walter, an elderly man Wanda helped ease his pain as he passed away, and Wes, a young adult who was one of the first humans to accept Wanda for being what she is. The Doctor reluctantly gives her his word in exchange for the knowledge of how to remove a soul from a human body. In the end Wanda willingly gives Melanie her body back. And Wanda? Well I’m not one to spoil the ends of books, so go read it for yourself. Overall this book by Stepenie Meyers is a ten out of ten because of the complex plot and outstanding characters. Give it a read, you won’t regret it.