The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Summary:

This book takes place in the distant future, on the west side of the United States (mostly in Arizona). In this society, there are things called “souls,” and they latch on to humans and live in their bodies. Upon doing this, the human, usually, doesn’t have anything else to do with the body, other than let the parasite take over it.

This sounds scary in perspective, but they really made a utopian society of sorts, just filled with soul-implanted humans. There was no stealing, and nothing had monetary value because they were programmed to be trustworthy. Everyone helped for the common good, and there was hardly any greed, so they didn’t have any need to have a token society.

The souls look like worms, and they have long silver hairs on them that make it easy to attach onto a human or some other being. They’re implanted in the neck.

There are various different worlds that these souls can go to, some being peaceful and wonderful, and some being torturous and full of sorrow. Regardless of the world, the souls come in by force and take over the inhabitants of that planet, although most hosts aren’t as resistant as humans.

A soul named Wanderer came to Earth. She has been on several other planets in the past, which was unusual for most souls. They usually just go from planet to planet until they find one that they want to live, and die, on. Wanderer was a special case.

She was implanted into a body that was resistant. Some humans didn’t really fight when the souls came to take over their bodies, and some humans hid away so they wouldn’t be used as host bodies. The body that Wanderer was implanted into, named Melanie, was one that hid for a couple of years before she was found.

It was never really made apparent how Melanie had gotten caught, and Wanderer didn’t ask many questions.

The only problem was that Melanie was still there: in Wanderer’s mind. As previously mentioned, when a soul takes over a body, there’s usually nothing left of the human’s mind left, and a soul would feel like a normal person. But, Wanderer could actually hear Melanie inside of her head. Wanderer tried to shut her out, but she only got louder.

Each soul is assigned a Seeker and a Comforter. A Seeker just wants to get the human’s secrets out in the open, while a Comforter is almost like a therapist, in a sense. When Wanderer came to them with her unusual secret, they told her that she should immediately go to her Healer (which is like a doctor), so she could get another body—one that’s less defective. However, by this time, Wanderer had started warming up to Melanie’s voice in her head.

Soon, Melanie flooded Wanderer with memories of her brother, Jamie, and a boyfriend, Jared. Melanie felt so strongly about them that the feelings transferred to Wanderer. She soon found herself wanting the same things that the human wanted, regardless of what the other souls had to say about it.

While acting like she was going to a Healer, Wanderer actually drove to the desert, and started wandering around; looking for the things that Melanie was telling her to look for. As time goes by, she felt hopeless, and actually thought she was going to die due to lack of food and water. When she passes out in the middle of the desert, another human wakes her up and takes her to their caves, where a somewhat-large collective group of humans live their normal lives—hidden from the souls.

What will happen with Melanie and Wanderer? What about Jared and Jamie? Check this book out to find these answers and more.

Review (spoilers—Skip to the bottom to see the rating):

This book was amazing, honestly. I was hesitant to read it at first, being that Stephenie Meyer, the writer of the Twilight Saga, wrote it. The Twilight Saga was okay… When I read it in sixth grade. I would never go back and read it again; it seems really childish at this point. But, when I saw that she had an adult novel out, I was a little bit curious, to say the least.

When I found this book at the flea market, I didn’t hesitate to grab it. It was cheap enough that I could sell it for twice the amount I paid for it, given that I didn’t like it. I figured it’d be a sound investment.

I started reading the book about a week ago, and admittedly I was really confused at the beginning. None of it made sense, but I figured if I had read on, it’d start to come together. It did, thankfully.

When Wanderer arrived at the caves, they stuck her down in a really small hole. The man who took her there was Melanie’s Uncle Jeb, and he was the kindest out of all the people there—initially. After a short time in the cave, it’s revealed that Jared and Jamie were there, which is something that set off Melanie (in a good way).

However, when Jared met Wanderer, he was beyond furious. He wanted to kill her for taking over Melanie’s body. As she waited her time out in the hole, Jeb continued to be really nice to her, and Jared remained cold. However, one day, they needed supplies, so they sent Jared out.

While he was out, Jeb started taking Wanderer places with him so that the people around could get used to her being there. At one point, it actually happened, and things were civil for a while.

Kyle and Ian O’Shea are brothers that live in the cave. They were both horrified about the presence of a ‘parasite’ among them, however, eventually Ian warmed up to her.

Ian was probably my favorite person in the entire novel. He went through such a dramatic character change that it was kind of hard not to admire him. He went from this despicable person to someone that you’re rooting for in the end.

Overall, the characters in this novel were pretty great. Of course, I was hesitant that they wouldn’t be, being as this is coming from the same writer as the Twilight series. This book definitely shows the talent that was missed in the Twilight series, being as she actually gives her characters a lot of depth, and improved the character-to-character interaction.

Characters aside, the story in itself was actually above par. Dystopian novels are of my favorite genre, so when I see one that was written well, I almost feel the need to brag about it. And, I mean, most of it was just every day life in an underground volcanic cave, but it was the stupid little things, such as when they got a soccer ball and came together to play, that I find the most memorable.

Usually I’m not a sucker for good endings, but for this story, I put every ounce of my hope into this turning out well for everyone. I wasn’t disappointed, to say the least. However, I do think this was a proper ending to what is ‘Melanie and Wanderer’s story.’ I don’t know if the rumored second and third book are true—or a good idea for that matter. But, we’ll just all have to see when the time comes.

Overall:

The book was fantastic. Set aside some time to read it.

What I liked: Character development, the romance (which really surprised me), the plot, and pretty much everything else.

What I didn’t like: It tried to force more people in at last second, and it was kind of overwhelming (but I suppose if there are going to be more books, then that really shouldn’t be an issue).

Rating: A

30 Days of Night Novelization by Tim Lebron

Summary:

This book takes place in Barrow, Alaska: a town that endures a month without sunlight each year. During this time, plenty of people leave (in fact, over half the town), and come back when there’s sunshine again.

Among the people that stay are Eben Oleson, Eben’s brother Jake Oleson, their grandmother Helen, and Eben’s friend Billy. Eben is the main character of the story, and he fits the exact definition of a protagonist. He’s a police officer and his mission is to help people. His friend Billy is a police officer as well.

Stella is Eben’s wife, but you don’t find that out until a little ways through the book. Eben and Stella were living apart at the time; you just kind of have to infer that they had some serious problems with their relationship. Stella doesn’t want anything to do with Eben and she makes that very, very apparent.

When Stella tries to board the plane and leave, she finds out that she missed the last plane and is stranded to stay in Barrow for the duration of the 30 days.

During this time, Eben encounters a man named John Riis whose supposedly vicious dogs were brutally killed right outside of his house. Eben doesn’t know who could have done this, and he gets kind of suspicious. Things like this don’t usually happen in Barrow.

Then, the owner of the town’s diner, Lucy, called about an unusual person in the diner. Barrow didn’t get visitors, usually—especially when it’s going to be dark. When Eben came, he was really thrown off by the visitor because he was preaching about how it’s ‘too late’ for everyone, and how the town of Barrow was doomed because ‘they’ were coming.

No one knew whom ‘they’ were referring to, but the people of Barrow got pretty freaked out, so Eben took the stranger to the police station so he could stay there until further notice.

The stranger never specifically said what was going on, but it’s implied that the city of Barrow is in danger by the way he’s acting.

When mysterious creatures appear in Barrow, no one is safe.

What becomes of Barrow? Do Eben and Stella ever get back together? Who will survive through the attack of the mysterious creatures? Check out this book for these answers and more.

 

Review:

I was interested in this book purely because I have the movie with the same namesake. I found myself chuckling that it’s a book that’s based on a movie, that’s based on a screenplay, that’s based on a graphic novel. Being that I found it at Salvation Army, I figured it’d be worth the 60 cents spent.

That being said, it was definitely worth the 60 cents, but probably not much more.

It isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy the book, because I did. It just didn’t really strike me as anything special. Upon reading it, you really see how processed it is. It kind of reads like how a movie in words would read. Sure, it was descriptive enough, and I knew what was going on, but I didn’t get attached to any of the characters.

In fact, the characters are pretty unlikeable. I’m sure it’s because this was adapted from a graphic novel, and they really can’t come up with a plethora of background information that an actual novel can provide. Well, they could if they really tried, but it’d be drawn out and unpleasant.

I mean, there’s the do-good police officer that, of course, gains leadership as survival gets harder (Eben), and there’s the wife that’s petty and annoying and overall unlikeable (Stella). Not to mention the token kid that has to grow up too fast (Jake). It’s all been seen and done before.

As for horror goes, sure this came out before the vampire (spoiler, they’re vampires) craze came about, but from the way it’s portrayed, you’d think it came out right along with the sensationalist times. No, they aren’t sparkly, but they are super strong and like to eat people’s blood. This book wasn’t scary, and it didn’t give me nightmares. In fact, it’s pretty tame. It’s probably something that I’d give to an 8-year-old who’s looking for a little bit of thrill.

It had the potential to be a great novel. It really did. But honestly, it seems like someone, probably LeBron, got paid to copy the screenplay into something readable for people who like novels.

 

Overall:

It’s not something I would pick up again if I wanted something to read. Sure it was worth the 60 cents paid for it, but I wouldn’t advise buying it full price by any means. Don’t waste your time on this book, unless you’re in jail and it’s the only material there. In which case, enjoy. It’s not that I didn’t like the book, it’s just that it was overly processed and therefore, it was borderline unenjoyable.

I liked: Not much of anything.

I didn’t like: The characters and the use of vampires.

Rating: D-

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

This book originally takes place in Chicago, Illinois in modern time. The narrator is Colin Singleton, a child prodigy whom has an odd preference for only girls named Katherine. After being dumped by the nineteenth Katherine, Hassan, Colin’s overweight Arab best friend, thought it would be a good idea to go on a road trip.

Of course, Colin and Hassan’s parents were hesitant, but they were allowed to go anyways.

They find themselves in Kentucky after a day of driving, only stopping because Colin saw a sign advertising the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the man whose killing started World War I. After stopping in a store, Colin and Hassan were told that the grave was in a town called Gutshot.

When they arrived in Gutshot, they meet a pretty blonde girl named Lauren who runs the convenience store that hosts the grave. She gives them a tour and when they reach the store once more, her mother, Hollis, is outside.

For some reason, Hollis offers to host Colin and Hassan for dinner, and they willingly oblige. After talking for a couple of hours, it is decided that Hollis was going to give them a job and let them stay in her giant pink house.

While staying in Gutshot, Colin attempted to make a mathematical formula predicting how any relationship will go between any two people, which catches the interest of Lauren.

On this road trip, both Colin and Hassan learn a lot about themselves and learn the true history of the little town of Gutshot.

Does Colin ever finish his equation? What’s Lauren and Hollis’s story? What does Gutshot have to offer? Check out the book for these answers and more.

 

Review:

I really didn’t want to write a review of this book. This one felt like more of a chore than something I really wanted to do, such as the other books that I’ve reviewed. There are just so many issues that I have with this story.

First off, what kind of parents just let their kids take their car and go on a random road trip? It’s not even like they were staying in a hotel or anything, rather, someone’s house. That’s just an overwhelming amount of bad parenting.

And where do Colin and Hassan get off randomly trusting strangers to live with? The same can be said for Lauren and Hollis, who took them in without any question. I mean I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that they could have been serial killers. Of course I kind of figured that wasn’t the case with this book; I didn’t think John Green could write a story about serial killers.

It isn’t like I dislike John Green, because that’s a lie. I loved Looking for Alaska just like the other 90 percent of the world. I thought this book would be just as good, but you’ll have to excuse me, I’m a little skeptical.

The story just isn’t believable on any aspect. I couldn’t get into it because the entire time I was just thinking: “Nope, nope, doesn’t happen, they could be serial killers, nope, nope,” and trust me, that was really distracting.

Colin was almost unbearable as a character. I didn’t like him at all. He came across as whiny and desperate: something that an author should never do to their main character. The only character I liked is Lauren, and that’s because she was the only one that didn’t complain the entire time. Not to mention that she had some character development, unlike Colin or Hassan.

This isn’t to say that it’s an unbearable book. It’s perfectly average and would probably appeal to pre-teens everywhere.

 

Overall:

If you like sappy books about teenage angst and infatuation, this book is for you. If not, I don’t really advise that you spend your time reading it.

I liked: Lauren and some of the plot.

I didn’t like: Colin, how unbelievable it is and the other parts of the plot.

Rating: C-

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Summary:

Water for Elephants is implied to take place in the era of the Depression, around 1931. It starts at Cornell University, which is an Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York. The narrator, Jacob Jankowski, a redhead of Polish descent, is majoring in veterinary studies, just like his father had. A little before he was to take his final exams, the superintendent called Jacob into his office to tell him some horrible news.

Because of said news, Jacob runs off, not knowing what else to do. When he sees a train approaching, he doesn’t think much before jumping on it. Upon landing, Jacob realizes that he jumped into a manned trailer, and the occupants rough him up a little bit.

After a while, they tell him that he boarded the train of the ‘Benzini Brothers,’ which is a travelling circus. A friendly man whom they call Camel helps Jacob to get a job and a place to eat and sleep. The owner’s name is Uncle Al, although they never explained why they called him that. Uncle Al has a personal vendetta against ‘Ringling’, which we all know and love as our circus of choice today.

Uncle Al was hesitant in the beginning, but as soon as Jacob mentioned that he was going to be an animal doctor after college, he quickly reconsidered letting him come on. It was pretty much a verbal contract, and soon enough, Jacob had a makeshift ‘home’ in the corner of a trailer with a midget affectionately called Kinko.

August, a quirky man with terrible mood swings, is in control of most of the animals on the train, but he isn’t certified in any sort of veterinary care. He has a wife named Marlena who’s the star of the show, so to speak. She’s the horse trainer, and she’s really good at what she does. The tension that comes up between Jacob and Marlena is completely obvious to all whom see them together.

What becomes of Jacob and Marlena? What’s the problem with August? Check out the book to find these answers.

Review: (Spoilers)

I actually got this book free from a bookstore—and no, I didn’t steal it. There was a mixed bag full of books that they were selling for $5 because they were excessive duplicates. This one happened to be right on top, and I was really interested in it. The lady working the counter told me to just keep it because she could tell that I was a devout reader.

Gosh, I really like telling the stories of how I obtain these books. It might be annoying, but they really are like my children in a sense.

This book was interesting in the aspect that it’s told from two narrators—23-year-old Jacob and 90 (or 93, as he commonly says)-year old Jacob. The younger Jacob lives on the train and the older Jacob lives in a nursing home.

It reminds me of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks in a way, regarding that they both feature a cutesy cliché love story and show it from a “looking back” perspective.

That being said, one of the things I didn’t like about the book was the romance aspect. The book could have been so much stronger if they would’ve focused more on the circus-doings instead of the blatant attraction that Marlena and Jacob shared. I mean of course they had to end up together in the end. It implies it from the very early pages.

I just really wanted more for this book. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed, but it isn’t a book that I’m going to think about past this review. And that’s okay. Perhaps it wasn’t my thing, but it very well might be someone else’s.

One of the things I did like, however, was the scene setting. It perfectly described the scenery around them, and it made me feel like I was in the circus. If you can’t tell, I’m a rather visual reader. I like to think about what the author’s telling me. So when you put a well-researched scene in front of me, of course I’m going to devour it. Everything from what Jacob looked like to what the circus looked like to what the elephant looked like… It was there. Covered.

Another thing I liked was the animals. Not too often does an author make animals such an important part of a story, save, Marley and Me. And usually when they try to make the animals important, it turns out entirely too cliché, and I find myself rooting for the story to be over rather than continue. Not for this one, however.

There was an elephant named Rosie, and she captured my heart for some reason. She appears probably close to half way through the book as a last resort effort from Uncle Al to keep the circus up and running. She was claimed to be dumb and not know any tricks, so August treated her horribly. He whipped her, yelled at her, called her names and other things of the like. Keep in mind, ‘an elephant never forgets’.

Overall:

It’s an okay book if you have some spare time. Not something you should necessarily go out and buy right this second, but if you see it for cheap—or free—go for it.

What I liked: The characters, the scene setting and the animals.

What I didn’t like: The overplayed, overdone, overcooked romance.

Rating: B+

Places to buy this book cheaper than your bookstore:

Amazon $4
Betterworldbooks $4
Thriftbooks $4

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Summary:

Photo provided by geishainjapan.blogspot.com, all photo credit goes to them.

The story is told in the point of view of an older woman recalling her childhood through a series of memoirs, which fits the title of the book rather well.

This 428-page book takes place in Japan before World War II. It starts in the little fishing village of Yoroido, Japan, where you meet Chiyo, Satsu and their parents. Chiyo is the narrator of the book. The story makes sure it is well know that Chiyo’s eyes are blue, and that is uncommon among Japanese people.

Her mother is sick and dying from cancer, and her dad is a devout fisherman, often described to smell fishy and look older than he really is. Yoroido is a small town that depends on fish to bring its income. It’s a poor village nonetheless because as you can imagine, even if they bring in a bounty of fish, fish alone will not be enough to support all of the people.

Chiyo’s dad sells Chiyo and Satsu to a man who takes them into the more popular city areas. This wasn’t for cruel reasons; her dad was probably just keeping the girls from seeing their mother die (and extra income is also good for getting medicines).

After being examined thoroughly, Chiyo is sent to the Nitta okiya in the Gion District, otherwise known as one of the most prestigious houses for geisha to live in. Satsu gets sent to a different district commonly known for its prostitutes.

At first, Chiyo is not well accepted into the family. There are several people living in the house, the owners being Granny, Auntie and Mother. However, there is a girl there around Chiyo’s age that she affectionately refers to as Pumpkin, being as her face was big and round. There’s also another person there who’s younger than the three owners of the house, and her name is Hatsumomo. She’s the top-earning geisha in the Gion District.

After Hatsumomo tortures Chiyo and causes her to owe much debt to the okiya (framing and destruction of property), it is decided that Chiyo is not to be a geisha, but instead a maid so she can pay said debts off.

Does Chiyo end up being a maid full-time? What will become of Hatsumomo and Pumpkin? What exactly does being a geisha entail? Check out the book to find out these things and more.

Review:

I absolutely love this book. I decided that I wanted to give it a chance after seeing the movie, but I waited until the right time to buy it considering how thrifty I am when it comes to book shopping.

Luckily I found it at a flea market for $.50. It’s hardback and actually in really nice condition. Moral of the story: Sometimes waiting will get you really cool deals.

Anyways, I have to say that this book is fantastic. Although, I suggest if you’re going to read it, you see the movie first. Trust me, it’ll make a lot more sense if you do. It’s a book that’s very descriptive, but the movie just makes everything seem so real. It’s like reliving a better version of the movie; they’re really close.

Before this book, I knew little of geisha’s lives. I just knew that they were elegant creatures that put on performances and danced. This book completely takes you into the life of a geisha. It covers the wonderful parts and the… less glamorous parts (such as smearing bird defecation on their face to get really white skin) of being a geisha.

While their culture is completely different from American culture, you can definitely find yourself in Chiyo’s (often uncomfortable) shoes. The relationships are believable as well as the conversations. Many times you’ll just feel as though you’re with the characters while they’re having their conversations. Not many authors can do that as effectively.

This book definitely isn’t for people that don’t have a lot of time on their hands. It’s a long book with small text, however, when the book ended, I almost went through a sort of depression because I won’t know anything else about Chiyo and the rest of the little details about her. If you’ve ever felt like that, you’ll know that it’s one of the emptiest feelings a reader can experience.

While I know most of her life is covered in this book, I just wish it would have explained her adult years a little better. It crammed a lot into the last ten pages, and I think they could have done more with it. And if you’ve seen the movie, don’t worry, the last parts of the book aren’t even in it.

Overall:

This book is worth every penny and every moment spent on it. It won’t disappoint you, and at the end you’ll want more Chiyo. I know I did. Watch the movie first, however, and then read the book. If you’re willing to read this, you must be able to set a lot of time beside for it. It’s not a book you’re going to want to put down. Not even when you’re finished.

What I liked: Correlation to the movie, development of Chiyo and the romance aspect.
What I didn’t like: The ending was too quick.

Rating: A

 

Places to buy them for cheaper than your bookstore:

Betterworldbooks $4
Amazon $6
Thriftbooks $3.69