The Host: Reading Response

The Host is a captivating book that is pure torture to put down. As of now I am halfway through the book and the story is still going strong.  The main character is Wanderer an alien who came to earth after her race who calls themselves souls took over our little green and blue home. Wanderer was implanted into Melanie’s body, placed there to unlock the secrets of how a human could have survived so long without being captured and made into a host for a soul.

Wanderer is rare for her kind; she has lived on nine planets. Spending a lifetime on each in a native’s body. Unlike most souls Wanderer hasn’t found a world she is attached to enough to stay. After Wanderer takes over Melanie’s body she is surprised to find that Melanie is still there. Typically once a soul is implanted into a host the host’s continence disappears, but  Wanderer finds that Melanie is still there as a voice in her head, a constant tormentor.

Souls are peaceful beings who would never tolerate violence and are a well working community. Before coming to earth Wanderer never needed to think of a word as traitor, unlike the humans the souls run the world without currency and crime.  Human have wild emotions that influence one fiercely, and for Wanderer who has never had a human body the emotions are overwhelming. Soon Wanderer starts to question the simplest things and change her mind on the most important subjects.

I so far love this book and strongly suggest reading it. Here is a quote from the book; “Perhaps without the lows, the highs could not be reached.” Just something I enjoyed thinking about.