The Host Is A Pain In The A**

Oh god. I never imagined the day would come when I would actually hate a character - the main character, mind you - in a book so much, what more from Stephenie Meyer, one of my favourite authors.


But I can't help it. Every time I open the book to read, various 4-letter words of the not-so-nice variety will undoubtedly pop into my head, and I will be inwardly cursing Melanie a.k.a. Wanderer. To me, Melanie (the host) is just an irritating, annoying, selfish, stupid, pigheaded, unreasonable, miserable excuse for a human being. Wanderer (the soul who invades Melanie's body), on the other hand, is a total pushover who is unable to control her host's thoughts and emotions, even going so far as to give in and join in Melanie's desire to search for her apparently not-yet-brainwashed boyfriend Jared.

Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself there. The gist of the story is that Melanie Stryder, one of the last remaing humans, is captured and a "soul" is placed inside her body. The "soul", named Wanderer because of her vast experience in other hosts on other planets, is supposed to probe Melanie's thoughts to find out the locations of the remaining human resisters. However, instead of giving her directions, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with vivid memories of Jared, a human living in hiding from the "invaders". Predictably, Wanderer begins to share Melanie's desire to reunite with him, and so the two of them (or should I say "she", since they're stuck in one body anyway) go on a road trip to search for him.

This time around, I'm actually on the side of the so-called "bad guys" a.k.a. the invading souls. What's so bad about having peace on Earth for a change, anyway? Where people live in harmony with each other and nobody has to pay for groceries. How great is that? Sure, some people might argue that humans have the right to choose for themselves, celebrate the human spirit and all that tosh, but personally, I am of the opinion that Melanie should just give up and give in already, instead of just whining and kicking up a royal fuss in Wanderer's head like a spoilt brat.

Sorry, Stephenie Meyer, but the RM61.90 (or $16.00) The Host cost me would have been better spent elsewhere. You should just stick to writing vampire fiction.