The Host- A Review

 

I am a huge fan of Stephenie’s Twilight Series and her name inscribed in the book along

with the title The Host made me involuntarily extend my hand and grab it, not even taking a

peek at the book blurb. I don’t regret this decision, not even once in my life. It was such an

epic novel, published in the year 2008, considering my love for fictional romance. It was not

just romance alone, but emotions blended with a thrilling experience of exploring a dystopian

community. ‘Wanderer, the invading soul who has been given Melanie’s body, knew about the

challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too- vivid memories.’

That’s an extract from the book blurb and it defines the whole angst and emotional roller coaster

both Melanie and Wanderer have went throughout the novel.

The novel is a first person narrative, from the perspective of a soul who has traversed

almost seven planets and experienced the Universe from its origin and hence got the name

Wanderer. The Wanderer, in short called as Wanda is a name that’s never gonna leave you no

matter how long it’s been after you finished the book. It’s mentioned as a soul (an alien in the

human world) who has travelled six or seven planets, of which even the fellow souls are not

convinced of. Unlike Earth, the other planets were so peaceful and quiet. She’s been almost

everything. A Flower, a Bear, a Spider, a Sea Weed, a Bat and even a Dragon. She has

experienced the universe more than anyone else. She has experienced each breath of the

universe and finally reached Earth, which is the most chaotic and violent one among all the

planets that she has explored. Not only was she able to accustom with the human life inside

Melanie, but she was also taunted by the emotions and memories of Mel. This human lives,

emotions and memories, that’s all new to her and she was not confident on dealing with it, that

she even thought of leaving the body and taking an expedition to another world.

As the story progress, we can see Wanda slowly getting accustomed to this world and

it’s only because of Melanie. It’s neither the world nor its beauty that holds her, but memories

and emotions of Mel where Wanda herself felt her care and concern for Jamie and love for

Jared. She doesn’t want to exit Earth leaving behind her loved ones, whom she doesn’t even

know how she got associated with. She struggled hard with it. Not able to choose between the

emotions of Mel and the life of souls. She just remained as a selfless soul who was ready to

sacrifice anything and everything for those she cared. Wanda was an important and eminent

soul and it continued even after she imposed herself into a host. The Seeker was always after

her, forcing her to get the memories of Mel and finding the rest of the human race. The Seeker

is one such annoying character we will start to dislike the moment she was introduced. She

never genuinely cared about anyone, and was deceiving Wanda to get to know how to control

her host body. Not only was she useful for the Seeker, she was such a resourceful person who

shared her experience of living a life in different world to the humans in the hideout. It helped

them to learn about more species and the adventurous life Wanda led in different worlds.

Jared and Ian have love interest towards Mel and Wanda respectively. Though Wanda

has feelings for Jared because of Mel, Ian slowly occupied her and she started to fall for him.

That was yet another dilemma for Wanda. Mel’s memories and emotions were always directed

towards Jared and Wanda was not sure about whom she loved and what she wants. She was

not able to single out her and Mel’s emotions. (Spoiler Ahead) But by the time she realised

her love for Ian, she has reached a point where there’s nothing to do about it. “I love you too.

Me, the little silver worm in the back of her head. But my body doesn’t love you. It can’t love

you. I can never love you in this body Ian. It pulls me in two.” This is one of the most heart

wrenching confession I’ve ever come across in my life- Wanda’s desperation and helplessness

so evident. There’s also a situation which depict Ian’s unconditional love for that tiny silver

worm. When Wanda was separated from Melanie and kept in the crypto tank, Ian carried it,

close to his heart, that beautiful little thing. The love relation of this duo is what impressed me

more than that of Mel’s and Jared’s.

Something that’s noteworthy and excited me the most is the setting and the location in

the novel, where most of the plot is progressing- a cave somewhere in the middle of a desert.

Stephenie vividly described it and it’s still clear in my head. Those paths that can’t be easily

found by the Seekers was too complicated for anyone visiting there for the first time. I

understood the paths completely only when I reached almost 2/3 of the novel. Stephenie for

sure did an excellent job in creating this mystic place inside a cave with enough water resource

and sunlight seeping through the small pores. They had enough rooms and resources for the

remaining human race to exist. These caves and hideouts only happen in someone’s

imagination and I commend Stephenie for this unusual kind of setting that can be witnessed in

most of her works.

Though the beginning of the novel is a bit dry and lagging, you’ll easily get hooked up

the moment you understand the real care Wanda has for Mel, her emotions and memories. It’s

like two people living in a single body. Wanda by herself is a soul that can think and feel and

both Mel’s and her emotion put her in an undesirable position where she chose emotions over

the strictly formed norms and rules of souls. I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book and will

suggest it to anyone who’s interested in fantasies and fictions. Among all the books I’ve read

until now, I still hold it close to my heart!