Gripping fantasy read
The Host by Stephenie Mayer (Sphere)
The Host is Mayer’s first adult work after her Twilight juveniles, a tale of an Invasion of the Body Snatchers with a twist – the narrator is one of them.
The alien known as Wanderer is implanted within Melanie, a captured human, only to discover that Melanie won’t easily be erased from her own brain.
But when Wanderer uncovers Melanie’s memories, she is suddenly driven by confusing emotions to find the man whom her human loves, blundering straight into a resistance cell bent on vengeance.
This is a tense novel which doesn’t flinch from showing both sides of the war for Earth at their best and worst, yet Mayer paints her unlikely protagonist so vividly that I was fervently hoping she got a happy ending.
Verdict: Does without SF’s usual toys and doesn’t need them – a gripping, heart-wrenching read.
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The Host by Stephenie Mayer (Sphere)
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