The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Planet Earth has been invaded and the human race has become “hosts” to a race referred to as “souls.” The souls inhabit the bodies of their human hosts and take over their minds. Most humans succumb to this invasion easily, others, such as Melanie Stryder, do not. When the soul Wanderer is placed inside of her, Melanie refuses to disappear. Wanderer might have control of her body, but Melanie will not give it up without a fight. 

Sharing a body is not without it's complications and Wanderer soon finds herself in love with Jared, the man Melanie is in love with, and worrying over Jaime, Melanie's younger brother. Unable to resist her any longer, Wanderer with the aide of Melanie sets off to find Jared and Jaime. What she discovers is an underground resistance movement of humans. Now Wanderer and Melanie's future is even more uncertain. Can they convince the humans that Melanie is still inside of Wanderer? Can the humans put aside their prejudice? Can love survive even in the most hopeless and impossible of circumstances? What will the future hold for both the souls and the human race?

I have to admit that I was hesitant to pick up this book. Not because I didn't think the story sounded interesting, but because I was afraid that after Twilight, Stephenie Meyers might be a "one hit wonder." I knew that I would not be able to read this without comparing it to Twilight. While I did enjoy this book, I did not love it the way that I love Twilight. It took me a bit to get into the story and I did not connect with the characters as quickly as I did with Twilight. I also wasn't able to lose myself in the world of this story the way I can when I read Twilight. This book (and potential series) is one that I really did like, but I know that I will not come back to it again and again like I do with Twilight. The story is well written and by the end of it I did connect with the characters. I think that it will be interesting to see how it plays out on film (movie to be released in March) and if the two rumored sequels are published I will read them. For those of you who are not fans of Twilight and sparkly vampires, I would suggest giving this one a chance and not dismissing it out of hand. It is different from Twilight and written with an older audience in mind.