Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
“We need hosts for our eggs. Live hosts.”


A delicate new alliance between Ea Nir’s people and the humans hinges on one thing: survival.



The Nepenthe will shelter and provide for these bipeds while both races seek a new home world. The humans, in return, will host Nepenthe eggs for their incubation period.



In theory.



The surviving humans huddle aboard the Nepenthe starvessel. Unanswered questions paralyze their capable hosts:



A clutch is how many eggs at once?
What does that mean, ‘locked in?’ To where?
Did she just say ‘venom??’



From among the fears of many, steps the curiosity of one.



Brave, reckless, or both, Alyss wants to be the first.



His first.


__

Host dives right back into the We Are Nepenthe universe with a shapeshifting alien doctor, a discovery-hungry human geneticist, and a marathon ovipositing spree. And tentacles. All of them.



But don’t worry—this is for Science.



A one-click read for adventurous explorers only.

214 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2022

269 people are currently reading
543 people want to read

About the author

Octavia Hyde

3 books176 followers
Octavia Hyde is a reclusive author of the outrageous, the gratuitous, for the discerning libertine. She swims up from the depths from time to time, releases a cloud of ink to purge her filth traps, and then sinks below the waves to start again.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
454 (36%)
4 stars
397 (32%)
3 stars
281 (22%)
2 stars
75 (6%)
1 star
26 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
Profile Image for Ruby Dixon.
Author 164 books19.4k followers
Read
March 27, 2022
I read this before the first book and it was a little confusing at first? But DAYUM. This book was scorching. Lots of tentacles and egg-laying so if that isn't your jam, keep walking. But good lord, lol. I don't have the words other than GOOD LORD.
Profile Image for Poppy || Monster Lover.
1,739 reviews476 followers
March 4, 2023
Once again, this book was 80-90% smut. The author made it an interesting mix of “I’m a scientist and I want to study how your species mates”, “we’re both so horny we need to go harder” and “I need to implant my eggs so that you can save my species”. The MMC and FMC had a good banter throughout and the addition of a human man to the mix for scientific study was a fun deviation from typical sci fi smut.

Spice: 5/5

Triggers: infertility and pregnancy loss discussed, dubcon/power exchange/Quid pro Quo
Profile Image for Wicked Fox ✨️.
449 reviews152 followers
January 22, 2024
This was a fun erotic read! I did notice how "clinical" most of the descriptions are compared to the first book 🤔 which kind of killed the 'eroticness' of it all. But this book was still quite enjoyable!
Profile Image for Jac K.
2,501 reviews463 followers
Read
December 14, 2024
I really enjoyed the first book, so when I saw I had missed the sequel I jumped right in. I was fairly new to alien looking aliens when I read Nepenthe and was so intrigued with the idea of the two nearly extinct races coming together to survive, but for me, Host was missing everything I loved about the first book.

For starters, we only have one couple-ish, (more on that) and almost the entire book is one VERY LONG experimental sex session between three individuals, and rather than being hot it’s written super clinical because they are scientists recording data.

This picks up immediately after the last book, the humans are being partnered up with nepenthe, and Alyss is introduced to Ea Nir because they are both scientists. She is a geneticist, and I believe he is their doctor. They decide to document the mating/egg growing, so others can use the data in the future.

For Ea Nir to understand human copulation, Alyss recruits her assistant, Farrokh so he can watch. This goes on and on and is so dry because she’s not even really enjoying it until Ea Nir gets involved with his secret sauce that heats things up a bit around 50%. Then the last 40% or so is just the couple doing their thing with Farrokh taking notes which is a smidge weird with all the egg laying.

Bottom Line- Not much plot here. I really wish it explored more of the whole egg hatching, first couple follow up, species survival storylines, but it’s all smut. 🤷‍♀️So I guess it depends what you're in the mood for.
Profile Image for Cat H.
1,951 reviews218 followers
May 5, 2022
4.2 stars.
Uh, so.
This was erotic as all hell.
And also a bit confusing. The writing seemed to try a little too hard to be alien and in doing so lost some of its ease of understanding. I had a hard time trying to figure out and picture what was happening at times.
And at others I could picture it all too clearly.

This book focused on a singular pairing, well, ‘host’ pairing with a third thrown in. You know, for science. Unlike the first book which had three different ones.

I really wish I had known that this was an interconnected series that was unfinished before starting. That cliffhanger was not appreciated.

Still. It was alien, it was weird, and it was totally hot.
Profile Image for Krista.
1,103 reviews29 followers
November 21, 2022
Whew! I have no words. I may take a break from sci-fi for a while. It was INTENSE. Maybe a bit nerdy wordy, but hell- skim that and understand that a good 50-60% of this book is 1 sex scene. For Science.

We pick up this story where the 1st novella leaves off- you must read that one first if you want to understand some of the things happening. This pairing is a human geneticist with an illegal implant and a Medic/Healer Nepenthe. She has no shame or a personality disorder, I can't tell. She definitely runs the show, from inviting her lab assistant to participate in and record the sex lesson to provoking a violent response in Ea Nir.

"For an instant, Ea Nir saw purple.
Fill her.
Give her your eggs.
Pin her.
Anchor.
Mate!
He shook his head."

and he couldn't believe it either: "Ea Nir stared, unblinking, at the unprecedented display taking place on his exam platform."

This lol moment: "Misters (plant misters) sighed into activity on a light column somewhere behind him. Even irrigation devices couldn’t hold their fluids around this woman."

I am still shaking my head. Wow. Afraid to read it near any human being in case they caught sight of my kindle...
427 reviews5 followers
March 27, 2022
thank goodness

it's OVER!!! let me say--i DO enjoy the books of this author--in BOTH her nom(s) de plume,but THIS book was an infodump of bodily mechanics and scientific inner monologue. the entire book was 200 pages literally decidated to two scenes. so boring. i was heartily SICK of her eyes,his arms,their names,the platform, joints,fingers,the memory surface,suckers, the word pale,and so much more by the end of this book. excessive word repetition is a personal literary pet peeve of mine,and "host" stomped on my last good nerve with the numerous reiterations and lack of synonyms. twenty five percent of the book was taken up by what COULD have been a hot interlude,but alyss' clinical detachment killed all sekksiness ( misspelled for the 'zon censors). we learned absolutely NOTHING about these characters,there was no plot,and it didn't really advance the series in any meaningful way besides the eggs. i gave book one a tentative 4 for the interesting premise,despite the irksome flaws, but this book had nothing to redeem it. my thoughts only. feel free to read and form your own opinion. but don't say you weren't warned.
Profile Image for E.J. Frost.
Author 27 books637 followers
March 22, 2022
Tentacled glory

First book was great. This one is beyond great. The collision of science and desire is utterly delicious. “Alysss … I have more eggs for you” is a line that will keep me shivering for years.
Drop everything else you’re doing and read this book. That is all.
Profile Image for Jessica {Litnoob}.
1,300 reviews100 followers
Read
January 15, 2023
I knew what I was getting into this time. And it was longer, and I still read it. This fleshed out some of the world and have a more solid look at one pairing which felt less choppy then the first book in this series.
Profile Image for Serial Romance Librarian.
1,160 reviews288 followers
April 9, 2022
Nobody writes like Octavia Hyde/Eris Adderly. I devour everything she writes. I also appreciate that she does her own cover art, as it really gives us a great glimpse of how she imagines her characters. Her characters have depth, humor, and vulnerability. This series about how the Nepenthe species and humans team up to survive is riveting. This author writes excellent SCI-FI romance. Her world building and descriptions are thorough and relevant without feeling like information dumps. The Nepenthe aren’t mammals like us, but intelligent life form cephalopods. How does it work? Mrs. Hyde makes it seem feasible. Not only that, but the Nepenthe are lovable!

Merged review:

Nobody writes like Octavia Hyde/Eris Adderly. I devour everything she writes. I also appreciate that she does her own cover art, as it really gives us a great glimpse of how she imagines her characters. Her characters have depth, humor, and vulnerability. This series about how the Nepenthe species and humans team up to survive is riveting. This author writes excellent SCI-FI romance. Her world building and descriptions are thorough and relevant without feeling like information dumps. The Nepenthe aren’t mammals like us, but intelligent life form cephalopods. How does it work? Mrs. Hyde makes it seem feasible. Not only that, but the Nepenthe are lovable!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ♠ TABI⁷ ♠.
Author 15 books508 followers
May 23, 2022
Literally nothing but a threesome "for science".
Profile Image for DemetraP.
5,740 reviews
April 5, 2022
So I like author Erris Adderly and Octavia Hyde is another pen name for this author. I wasn't sure about tentacle aliens but the story is hot and the characters care about each other.

At the end of book 1, the humans agreed to be hosts for the aliens in return for the aliens helping them find a new planet.

SPOIELR SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

The heroine is a geneticist, a scientist, and is very curious about the process. She approaches the doctor of the aliens and he is happy to answer her questions. He is asking about human mating so she gets a male volunteer to show the alien his body parts and how men and women who are human, mate.

So they have an alien threesome. It's funny because she keeps yelling at the human male (her assistant) to take notes and he keeps forgetting because he's caught up in the moment.

After the threesome, she says it's time to host his eggs. So she and the alien do it while her assistant watches and takes note. She calls the hero a pervert and he says maybe he is since this is his first time mating with anybody (human or alien).

They all have a great time.
Profile Image for A.S. Etaski.
Author 16 books65 followers
March 21, 2022
A geneticist woman with a virgin scholarly alien, written from the alien's POV.

This is peak sapio-sexual writing, I've never found anything like it! There is still a wonderful degree of intimacy and emotion in this engagement, but our brainy characters need to earn it. First, Octavia takes the time necessary to satisfy every intellectual curiosity I could want about our adorable tentacle aliens (things I've been wondering about since Book 1), and gently exposes the vulnerabilities harbored within our two geniuses.

Rewarding curiosity and perception, imaginative and colorful, extremely arousing as we really get down into it.... I love this book, and I can't wait for the closer in Book 3!
Profile Image for Leslie OBrien.
755 reviews14 followers
March 24, 2022
Octavia Hyde’s latest is an absolute delight. I had no idea this was the story I needed right now and I’m doing my best to savor every last wet, squelchy word of it. While I’m one of those people who finds science sexy, the “science talk” in this story is downright dirty in a way I never dreamed possible and I loved every moment of it. I just…putting into words my feelings on this story isn’t possible until I can figure out how best to spell out all the cackling I did as I read the story coupled with multiple oohs and aahs. This story is nerdy at a level I didn’t think achievable in a sci fi romance and it’s also weirdly, yet incredibly hot. You definitely want to read this.
Profile Image for Bebe Harper.
Author 9 books171 followers
March 22, 2022
Tentacle Hotness 🥵

I’ve waited for this book for a loooong time and it did not disappoint! First of all this cover is amazing 😍 secondly, I love everything about this book— the pushy human geneticist, her obedient lab assistant, and especially the inexperienced tentacle alien 🥰🐙🥰

Profile Image for TaylorReads.
203 reviews12 followers
January 1, 2025
DNF 71% I’m honestly surprised I made it that far. Someone on Reddit mentioned this on a book rec post. It was really poorly written to be honest, and got way too freaky for me😭
Profile Image for Natalie  H.
3,726 reviews30 followers
April 20, 2022
From one bizarre book to another. Unlike the first one this is one pairing with a little help from the assistant. It was weird. It reads as a tutorial experiment for a virgin alien. In the beginning it was just awkward but once they get going its alright.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for DMCechak.
1,786 reviews23 followers
March 14, 2022
Where do I find my own Medipract and WHY did this book have to end?

Octavia Hyde/Eris Adderly (I am including both names used by this author because you will want to read everything she has published) has drawn out our agony, with book two, HOST, in her We Are Nepenthe series.

I have to be perfectly honest with you. You have never read anything remotely like this series, by any other author…(except maybe one, and just ask me in the comments and I will let you know the name of that author. It will be ok, as Octavia and she are good pals;)

Here is my quote describing the Host. “Literary Brilliance Found in the Deepest Reaches of Our Psychological Senses!”

What do I mean by that? Well, it is so hard to find a specific genre that can pigeonhole the writing found in this series. It is ScFi. It is Intensely Stimulating-mentally and physically. It is Smart-Intellectual, but with heart.

Host is what Great Literature used to be. It is captivating. Oh…and there are tentacles!

Merged review:

Where do I find my own Medipract and WHY did this book have to end?

Octavia Hyde/Eris Adderly (I am including both names used by this author because you will want to read everything she has published) has drawn out our agony, with book two, HOST, in her We Are Nepenthe series.

I have to be perfectly honest with you. You have never read anything remotely like this series, by any other author…(except maybe one, and just ask me in the comments and I will let you know the name of that author. It will be ok, as Octavia and she are good pals;)

Here is my quote describing the Host. “Literary Brilliance Found in the Deepest Reaches of Our Psychological Senses!”

What do I mean by that? Well, it is so hard to find a specific genre that can pigeonhole the writing found in this series. It is ScFi. It is Intensely Stimulating-mentally and physically. It is Smart-Intellectual, but with heart.

Host is what Great Literature used to be. It is captivating. Oh…and there are tentacles!
Profile Image for Ähmsry.
623 reviews12 followers
January 5, 2023
This book, the story as a whole and the detailed description of the theoretically possible discussion with the necessary steps to implement this pairing almost borders on scientific immersion in the subject, irritates and captivates at the same time. The smaller, more individual questions are also touched upon and dealt with. All this is wrapped up in a writing style and narrative art that is wonderfully fluent and light.
The portrayal of the characters is successful, great and also sweet.
I'm still not quite able to gather my words in a meaningful way, except that books one and two swept me away, intrigued and entertained me, and almost demand the third book for immediate consumption, if it is/were already published.

As always, far be it from me to spoil content, but the reader should have an open mind, respect for the lives and thoughts of others and a little spirit of adventure, even in connection with strangers and tentacles.

Nothing less than a romance, yet so different and familiar.

Re-read Jan-2023
Still perfect in its build and flow and entertainment and I found some new to me lines that brought some new understanding and showed development. Maybe I rushed to much reading it. 🤭
503 reviews2 followers
March 23, 2022
Ok so I'm not going to lie. It has been long enough between reading this book and reading Nepenthe, that I was a little bit confused at first. Of course after that first chapter I was back on track and OMG I sped thru the rest of the book so fast it was over before I was ready. I really enjoyed the play between the 2 main characters and even the one secondary character. It made for some very steamy and VERY interesting scenes. Can't wait for more!
Profile Image for Cass.
510 reviews34 followers
July 18, 2022
Not BAD, per se, but it ended up being too clinical and therefore boring. Could have benefited from being broken up into multiple sections and with character developing moments instead of being one very, very, very long scene.
223 reviews11 followers
October 7, 2022
This was really fun to read scientific experiment :) I do wish that we would get more back story, for both the Earth and where ever Nepenthe are from.

(I'm getting over my initial freakout about the tentacles, tho LOL)
Profile Image for Q.
121 reviews3 followers
October 13, 2023
Even more boring than book 1 even tho it had a mfm threesome in it…
The writing was confusing and trying too hard, very clinical instead of “erotic”
Profile Image for Nikki Kelly.
Author 2 books26 followers
September 14, 2022
A strong sequel

Host is the second book in the We Are Nepenthe series.
This book changes up the format of the last book. In this one, we only follow one couple.
It follows Alyss and Ea Nir, both scientists/healers.

This book goes into HEAVY detail of human anatomy, and at times was very drawn out. It could have been half the size of the book with out so much anatomy description.

It was weirdly hot, I'm not ashamed to say it...

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (could have been higher if it wasn't for the anatomy leasons)
🌶🌶🌶🌶/5
Profile Image for DancingMarshmallow.
491 reviews
August 16, 2023
Overall: 4 stars.

This book was 25% story, 75% smut, but make no mistake, friends, this was was premium alien smut. Logical scientist heroine meets beta/cinnamon roll alien octopus man: fluids ensue.

Kinks include: tentacles (duh), voyeurism, exhibitionism, a threesome (with a human man), and medical/exam vibes (tentacle sex….for science!)

If any of those work for you, you should read this. I’d love for a smidge more backstory, but for what it’s going for, this books knocks it out of the park.
Profile Image for A✨.
74 reviews
January 15, 2025
DNF @ 29% the first one was hot but this one is boring, sorry!
Profile Image for Dani.
684 reviews17 followers
September 24, 2024
Oh, ya know. Just your good hearted filthy alien smut. I’m here for it 👀
Profile Image for Marcie.
1,111 reviews59 followers
July 19, 2024
Octavia shook me with this delicious second book!

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any hotter, Octavia proved me wrong with this second book of her We Are Nepenthe series.

She picks up where the last book left off, focusing on one coupling this time around. The two, Alyss and Ea Nir, are both of the medical background which made it more interesting. At first they had a “for science” attitude that quickly fused with arousal as they learned from one another and the icing on the cake is that Ea Nir is a “virgin” so watching him lose himself to his fugue was a delightfully hot treat.

Octavia has spun me into her web with this series and I need so much more of it!! It overflows with all the tentacle hotness I could ever hope for with characters I enjoyed getting to know - I really hope this talented author continues on with this series!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.