MelaBooks discussion

We've settled on The Host by Stephanie Meyer for our May book. Check out the site.

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost...

Any objections...speak now or forever hold your peace!

Great idea. We'll all probably read it anyway!

Don't forget that this book does not go on sale until May 6th! A lot of people have pre-ordered it, good luck with the hunt! I'm sure it will sell out everywhere.

I got my copy in the mail yesterday, I'm excited to start. Anyone started already?

Tisa finished it already. I've had a lot of false starts (only getting through a couple pages/paragraphs before I have to put it down) but I have the whole evening to myself tonight and I am planning on having a read-a-thon.

I'm only about 50 pages in right now, but it is a really intriguing idea. Overall I am really enjoying it. There are a few aspects that I don't like so far, but I guess I won't spoil anything and I'll save my comments for our discussion at the end of the month.

I am 358 pages in now... I love that Stephanie Meyer can write a novel and you have no idea what will happen through the coarse of it. I can't tell you how many times I thought the main character(s) would die. I am really enjoying this book, everything is so unexpected!

I bought the Host. I did. I started it this afternoon. It's interesting...so hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to read...

So, I know that the rest of you have already finished the book, but it's on my list for the rest of the week (on the long car ride to AZ anyways...).

But I'm in the middle somewhere, just after Jared returns from his trip to get supplies. I feel like I'm just starting to become emotionally connected to this book. For some reason, all I feel when I read is intrigue. I have no idea where the story is going and don't really even have an idea of where I want it to go. At this point, I don't really like any of the characters. I don't know, maybe I'm not getting something, but I don't even know who the "good guy" is at this point. Okay, so this is purely rambling, so I will cut it short. But I'm excited to read your comments when I get back! And I'm excited to finish the book. Talk to you all later!

I felt the same way, Jessica. It was intrigue more than anything that kept me reading, and I didn't know who to root for or what kind of ending I wanted. About half-way through I finally decided what ending I wanted. But even after reading the book, I'm still not completely won over by any of the characters. Compared to her other books, characterization is pretty minimal. Maybe its because its all through the voice of an alien? I don't even feel like I know Wanderer/Wanda that well. Probably Jeb is the person with the most distinct characterization.

THIS NOTE CONTAINS SPOILERS!

In psychology (and medicine) there is a huge debate about how much the body effects self. Would you be the same person in a different body? Is personality physical? Or ar ethe mind and body completely separate? Stephenie Meyer addressed this a couple times. Obviously with Wanda having the same feelings of love and devotion for Jared and Jamie that Melanie did. But I was never quite sure if that was just because she fell in love through Mel's memories or if there was some physical thing. I know she said it was a physical tie with the body to love these two guys, but I'm not quite sure that I ever bought it. The second example, which I found much more interesting, was how Wanda changed in her new body. She was much more shy, a little more giggly, and more demure. It just makes you wonder...in a different body, what about you would change and what would be the same?

Although I don't think this was how I was supposed to feel, I spent most of the book hating Wanda. I think it was just based on principle. I wish the author would have given a little more background on Melanie and Jared's relationship prior to Melanie being captured. I feel like the only glimpse we got into their feelings was the birth control discussion. Despite that, I found myself sympathising with Melanie more than anything. Even though Wanda was a very likeable character, I just couldn't. I didn't want her to get her own body. I didn't want a solution that made both Wanda and Melanie happy. I just wanted her to leave the planet and let Jared and Melanie be. I felt this way almost up until the end. Then, as soon as Wanda started plotting to do exactly that, I started to understand her side of the argument. I think that once she was willing to give up her life and cease to exist, I all of the sudden didn't want her to and I got very panicked thinking that she might. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending but found the epilogue to be a terrible disappointment. I think I would have rather had an epilogue that talked a little more about the relationships in the book or just not had one at all. Overall, it was a very thought-provoking book and I enjoyed it, although I didn't find it particularly hard to put down at any time, including mid-chapter. And I agree with Meagan about when Jared kissed Wanda good bye. I was really upset by that because I was really counting on him to side with me in despising Wanda no matter how nice she was to everyone.

I agree that it was not good that Jared kissed Wanda.

When reading the book jacket, I really expected there to be more about Melanie and Jared. I was surprised how little Melanie was actually part of the story.

I feel Wanda's case for existence was made mostly by Ian--he explained that Wanda really had no choice in the matter and deserved to exist as much as anyone.

I liked the epilogue. Two of my favorite scenes in the book were the one where Wanda and company are on a raid and seen the alien parents playing with their baby and the epilogue when we see that Wanda isn't the only one to have "gone native." It gives us much home for the humans.

I still could never understand the aliens. Their agenda and motives never meshed with their actions. Like, there's this group of happy, superior beings who never fight or brake the law. They automatically trust and the world is just a perfect place (allusions to communism? or even the law of consecration?). So if they were these completely wonderful beings, what motivates them to overtake planets? It's not just for knowledge and a learning experience. Because if that were true, they wouldn't eradicate an entire species or planet. They would coexist to learn from them. Anyway, it never quite jived to me. There were quite a few things that didn't quite jive.

Jessica texted me the other day and said she finished it. She said it was intriguing more than gripping and that she really wanted to hear more from Melanie.

I never posted about this, but the more I reflect on the book, the more I liked it. My mom just finished reading it and really enjoyed it. As I've talked to others who've also read it (my other Megan friend), they've agreed with me that the ending where Wanda becomes all timid is annoying. That's probably the most annoying part to me. As well as the fact that I didn't get any closure on Melanie. However, the saving grace of the ending was meeting the other group of people like them. I really liked that that came full circle like that...like there really was hope for humanity. Anyways...that's all.