Brighter than Twilight: The Host

After being bombarded by thousands of pop-up commercials for the upcoming Twilight movie while online this week, I decided that I can’t escape Stephanie Meyer. And, as they say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Now, for those of you adamantly against the Twilight saga, don’t worry, I’m not reviewing those books now, or ever. There are plenty of people telling you what to think about them without me adding to the mix. I will say, mostly because I can’t help myself, that the books are neither as bad, nor as good as they are made out to be. And I actually must say I admire Meyer’s attempt to revamp the vampire by making them sparkly. I mean, yes, maybe sparkly wasn’t the most prudent choice since it so easily invites ridicule by classic vampire fans, but at least she did what she could to make vampires her own--put her stamp on it so to speak.

Anyway, I’ll move on from Twilight before the decision to discuss it at all comes back to bite me (haha…see what I did there?). The book that I was inspired to talk about this week is actually Stephanie Meyer’s other novel, The Host. Despite the fact that this book escaped as much notice, I would venture to say that, though certainly no masterpiece of literary innovation, it is more deserving of the spotlight than Meyers’ saga.

Now, don’t get your hopes up too high, like I said, this is not something that will blow you away. What makes me an advocate for its readability, though, is the relative originality of the story. Unlike Twilight, which takes a story and creature that has already been thoroughly explored, The Host takes a much less hackneyed look at a “body-snatcher” alien creature. Yes, this has been done before, but, as I always feel myself on the verge of saying, “What hasn’t?” At least this is something you’re much less likely to find in the Young Adult section of your bookstore.

To give you a little background, the main character is actually two characters. Melanie is the actual owner of the body, but her body and mind are inhabited by Wanderer, a parasitic alien form. These aliens call themselves "Souls", and they have invaded earth and taken over, with the goal of creating a better world, without conflict or disease (as they have done many times before). Wanderer, however, finds that her host, Melanie, is not so willing to submit to a takeover that she sees as hostile. Because Melanie won’t go quietly, Wanderer is overwhelmed by emotions that both are and are not her own, mostly for Melanie’s fellow resistor, Jared. As a result, Wanderer finds herself rebelling against her own species as she and Melanie seek out Jared and the resistance.

Like A Certain Slant of Light, the duality of the main character makes for interesting development of relationships. It takes the expression “walk a mile in another’s shoes,” quite literally. What this particular partnership has over what is found in A Certain Slant of Light, is the tangible presence of Melanie—she’s still there and she and Wanderer literally fight for control of her body. Despite their original status as enemies, they eventually become a begrudging team and, later, unlikely friends. Through their friendship, both of their perceptions of “the enemy” change—their relationship exposes the fact that, as is often the case, neither side of this fight is necessarily in the right. Both have flaws in their arguments and weaknesses in the logic they use to try and prove that their side deserves to win the fight for Earth.

It is this theme, running throughout the book, that is one of the books most redeeming qualities. I personally think the message of the book is a good one to share with young readers (and old readers actually). Even those who seem like bad guys, or those who are your enemies, are not necessarily wrong just because they're your enemies--they have their own, often originally good intentioned, motivations. The fact that Wanderer is the main character really highlights this--Meyer's choice to have her, rather than Melanie, narrate this story, was perhaps her best decision of the entire book. Though it is not a new concept to have the "bad guy" tell their story, I think in this case it was particularly potent because you realize that Wanderer, who is a parasite trying to invade a human's body and take over her life--a character you would normally condemn as being evil--is actually sometimes a more compassionate, fair, and human character than some of the human characters she encounters. Meanwhile her perspective, as an alien outsider, simultaneously critiques and exalts in the wonders and flaws of humanity.

Another facet of her character that adds interest to the story is her conflicting emotions. Her in-between state as both alien and human provides the reader with a character who is constantly left wondering which feelings are actually her own--which I think is a relatable trait, even though most of us are not torn between our body and the parasite who has taken it over.Wanderer finds herself falling for the man that Melanie loves, Jared, at first simply from feeling and seeing Melanie’s love for him. When confronted with Jared in person, her feelings intensify. Though she did not actually share in the moments that made Melanie and Jared fall in love, she cannot erase Melanie’s memories, nor can she extract herself from the body and mind that react so strongly to him. Meanwhile Melanie is also conflicted: she finds herself jealous of her own self—or rather the parasite living within her. She both longs to be with Jared again and to keep Wanderer away from him. That confusion they both face--wondering what's right, what feelings are really coming from someone else or from some obligation, and what they really feel--is something I think will especially appeal to young women.

So yes, I liked the alien, body-snatchers and the way they influence character development, but there’s a reason I said this wasn’t some sort of masterpiece. This book falls short because #1 the writing is nothing to brag about. She get's the job done, but I wasn't reading it going "Oh my goodness, I could really learn something from this woman." And, #2, the story underneath is not so new. In general, it’s still predominantly a teen love story. Despite the originality of the setting and the characters you’re still bombarded with the somewhat immature “I’ll love you forever. We were made for each other,” mentality that you find in Twilight, and a lot of other YA novels. Unfortunately, because that’s also the driving factor behind Meyer’s Twilight saga, it can be difficult to ignore the fact that, in terms of creating romantic relationships, she didn’t create a love story that was all that much different. Yes there are different complications for Melanie, Wanderer, Jared, and Ian, but the love square seems a little reminiscent of Meyer’s previous love triangle with one more player added in.

However (and this is a pretty big however), I think the reader has to concede that most Young Adult books these days reuse the same old love story. Because really, if a large component of the story is romantically based, what else are they going to do: it almost always has to go something like "Girl meets boy, they fall in love, they run into some problems, and they either get through or don't get through those problems." And if there's no love story whatsoever, unless the story is otherwise absolutely amazing, the writer is going to lose the interest of the teenage girls who make up the majority of the audience reading YA novels. Could Meyer have written a more unique and compelling love story with the same setting, but stronger characters? Sure. But really, she didn't do too bad. Just the fact that she didn't use vampires, werewolves, or magic this time helped win her case.

So, all in all, this book is actually going to stay on my shelf. If I happen to find a stronger alien-body-snatcher story, it will probably get booted off, but for now it stays simply because, I'll admit it, I liked it. It was a quick, easy read and I don't have anything like it on my shelf. Will I tell you your life won't be complete until you read it? No. In fact, I know that many of you might not like it if you didn't like Twilight--it is the same writer after all, and she wasn't taken over and changed by an alien life form. What I will say is that maybe if you can borrow it from someone or the library, it would be worth giving a chance on a lazy day when you have nothing better to read/do.