The Host

There’s no pain, there shouldn’t be. The Healer cuts open her skin near her collar bone and put the silver worm inside. She can now control her and “tame” her. She will find out more for them and find the rest of the “wild” humans. The book I have read over the summer is called The Host by Stephanie Meyer. This was a fantastic book and I’ve enjoyed it very much. The book takes place in the future on Earth. This fiction book is mainly about an alien named Wanderer inside Melanie’s body who was trying to get back to the remaining human. The book started out with an insertion where Wanderer, the alien, entered Melanie’s body. They said this would be hard for Wanderer because she is a “wild” human, meaning that she was found recently while almost all the other aliens were put in a body that was already “tamed” and have not been hiding.

Wanderer, unlike most of what she thinks, was not adjusting to this body very well. She was actually talking to the human and this was very strange for her since she had lived on many planets and had many host before. This has never happened to her. She thought this was very unnatural and was determine to find out what she can do. When she finally got to know Melanie, she finds out that she actually cares about her and was trying to help her get back to her little brother, Jamie, and find her boyfriend, Jared, who was still human. The more Wanderer found out about Melanie, the more she cared about her. Wanderer and Melanie became inseparable. When she found Melanie’s family in the desert, she found out that there were more humans there than she expected. Gaining their trust was also very hard since she’s no longer the person they once knew. She was an outsider.

Slowly after Wanderer and Melanie settle down, the people began to trust her except for Kyle who had attempted to kill her several times. Kyle’s brother, on the other hand, found Wanderer quiet amazing and developed feelings for her. Since Wanderer and Melanie shared the same thoughts, Wanderer thought she liked Jared, Melanie’s boyfriend. When Wanderer finds out what Doc, the leader of the wild humans, do with the aliens they find, she knew what she had to do. She has to save her kind without hurting the others. Of course she knew what she can do, but is she willing to give up her life to save people not of her kind is the question here. She made up her mind when her Seeker finally found her with the “wild” humans. There is a way for Melanie to come back, for Wanderer to willingly give up the body.

Before Wanderer left Melanie’s body, she had to do a few things. First, she had to figure out her feelings for Jared and Ian. She realized that her feelings to Jared are just because of the body that she is in and her feelings for Ian are real. She thought that Ian can never love her because she’s not one of them. She also got Kyle to not hate her anymore. She also figured out that she was not the only one that wasn’t adjusting well to the human body, but all the other invaders as well. When she left Melanie’s body, the humans put her into another body so that she can stay with them.

The theme of this book is that it doesn’t take a human to know what’s right or wrong. I chose this theme because even though Wanderer isn’t a human, she knew what was best for everyone and chose to do the right thing. If someone not human is able to do what is right then we as humans should too, but we don’t always do it. We are able to, but we choose wrong at times. Not everyone is able to give up oneself for someone else. So if Wanderer can do it, we can too.

My reaction to this book is that I think that this book was fantastic. It was very descriptive and I can always imagine Wanderer like it was a movie. You can imagine what the book as telling you and it grabs your attention. It was a book that I told many of my friends to read and the overall plot was also very good. It was not only about love like an ordinary novel, it was also about being in a place not familiar to us and survival and a bit of science behind it. So overall it was a great book.

Like I said, this book is slightly related to science. In scientific terms, the “host” means that it has a parasite in it that absorbs its nutrients and/or food. In this case, Melanie is the host and Wanderer is the parasite. Like in science, Wanderer is living inside Melanie and getting her information. Melanie is providing space and food for Wanderer. There is also science behind the insertion of Wanderer. Parasites often get into the host body by a cut. The book is also related to science because no one can prove that aliens exist, just like no one can prove that they don’t. Maybe there are aliens called Souls and planets named the Origin. The existences of aliens are still unknown so this book might give us an idea of what might happen if one day aliens are found. They might take over the planet or they might just leave us alone and we will all live in peace. If the aliens are like the Souls, they might make us their host and control us.

The likeliness of this scenario happening is almost impossible to me. Planets with aliens called “the bird” and “spiders” are not that possible unless they also speak English. I also think that humans will be a lot stronger with our nuclear weapons and such these days. I also don’t think that aliens will make us their host because if they can attack us, they must not need the humans, but rather just the Earth itself. Also, I don’t think there are such strong and effective medicines out there in space since this is the only planet with life known now.

If this book became reality, it will affect our society greatly. First, our society will no longer be made up of people, but instead, hosts and Souls. We will no longer control our mind, but has another “thing” control it for you. You can’t say things you want and you can only talk to your invader inside your head. There is no longer a need for money because everything will be free to take and even if you are near death, the Healers can heal you and make you as good as before. Let us hope that will never happen and this was really a fantastic book.