Call them Souls not aliens (The Host by Stephanie Meyer)

“...How much is physical, how much in the mind? How much accident and how much fate? Why did perfect matches crumble and impossible couples thrive? ... Love simply is where it is...” – Kathy, Wanderer’s comforter

The Souls, also known as aliens or parasites, need a host, and eventually they found and invaded the earth. Each of them lives inside the human body. Souls are very kind and honest.

Wanderer, the name of a soul from the origin who has travelled to eight different hosts already, lives inside the body of her ninth host of whose name is Melanie. Usually, the host cannot control the soul, but Melanie’s thoughts are very strong. She could show the soul what she wants to show, but never let Wanderer hears or sees all of her memories and secrets, because these could help the seekers find the pure humans she knows. Wanderer thought she could take control of Melanie, but instead of erasing her, she helped her find her family. But when she finds her family, she becomes a stranger to them.

What would Wanderer make them believe that Melanie is still alive? And what will happen now to earth with souls everywhere and only a few pure human remain, is there still a chance for these people?

The story can somehow change one’s perspective of his/her life, the people around him/her, and the world he/she lives in. I was overwhelmed by my realizations from this book. I hope I could also live in that kind of world that Stephanie Meyer described where everyone is kind and honest.

This book is actually quite boring from the start. It took me twenty chapters or so before I got really interested with the story. But once I got into that part, I never stopped reading it – except when I needed to sleep, of course – although, there were parts when I wanted to skip. It was a good read, I even cried towards the end.

Its film adaption is quite disappointing. They could’ve done a better storyline. Although I’m fine with them rewriting the characters, they still shouldn’t have steered away from what really happened in the book. They could rearrange the events but not the lines or dialogues. Regarding the cinematography and effects, I think the film company did a good job, despite them not being too familiar. Well, maybe this is the consequence of reading the book. I think, for those who didn’t read the book, the movie might be good. Another thing, I know it’s not a very emotional story, but with Souls invading the earth, they could’ve shown that humans are hopeless and helpless to bring out the emotions and make people – the movie goers – realize how important planet Earth. The Souls were not even portrayed as kind as they are described in the book, making them scarier and truly an alien. Showing the other planets that Wanderer lived in too could help it more interesting, visually. With all of these, I’m still thankful enough that they produced a film adaptation, answering all my curiosities in the book.