After being a bit disappointed at Twilight, I decided to give SMeyer a chance. I purchased THE HOST last month, and here's what I think.

Title: The Host
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Drama/Romance
Year: 2008
Format: paperback (Pocket)

Summary: Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love. (Source: Stephenie Meyer's Official Site)

Dannie's Review: I admit I liked this book. It's kind of a nice change from the whiney, emo-ish Twilight. The summary is quite attention-grabbing (sp?), and let's face it - it's not really sci-fi (in fact, Meyer puts it as "Sci-fi for people who don't like sci-fi"). It's a drama/romance with some tiny sci-fi twist.

I LIKED:
* Melanie was a nice character- hot tempered, angry and still self-reliant. An improvement from Mary-Sue Bella.
* The focus on love and its implications was really good also, especially the part of how much is there of fate and casuality on love, and if it was possible for a soul to be attached to the one their hosts used to love.
* This quote: “It’s not the face, but the expressions on it. It’s not the voice, but what you say. It’s not how you look in that body, but the things you do with it.You are beautiful.”

COULD IMPROVE:
* Again, the urple prose...the story was a bit too long with it. You could cut 200 pages from the book, there wasn't that much plot in them. Sometimes, less is more.
* Some research on human biology could be in order...

I HATED (well, not hated but I was all "WTF?"):
* Is it just me, or SMeyer uses quite a bit of paedophilia on her books (first Jacob and Renesmee in Twilight)? Because there's a point where *SPOILER - highlight to read* Ian and Wanda/Pet (now a fifteen year old) almost get it on...and Wanda says she's glad she lied about her age.*END SPOILER*
* again, with Wanda - why didn't she actually DIE? She was so ready and determined to make the sacrifice, but NO, Smeyer had to put a "happily ever after" ending. Hm....
* Add more climax moments. There could've been a fight between humans and souls, and there was a chance of it (Wanda and Jared breaking into souls lab)., and it wasn't used

Dannie's rating: 3 out of 5. Lesson learned? Meyer's books are not Pulitzer material, they're mind candy, and boy do I have a craving for candy these days

I heard that this is being made into a movie. Well, going by your review, if the screenplay is good, it will be an entertaining movie.

I heard that this is being made into a movie. Well, going by your review, if the screenplay is good, it will be an entertaining movie.

Yeah, it may be the case as with the TWILIGHT Films - I preferred the movies to the books

I really liked this book. I pretty much agree with the entire review by Daniella.
It is like Stephanie has grown with her writing, and it is so much better than Twilight. I would definitely watch this movie.
And the ending......real life has no cookie cutter endings, so why did she do it?? Harry Potter, anyone?
I will admit to having liked Wanderer so much that a tear might have escaped at the, what I call, REAL ending. Just don't go passed the next few blank pages.