The Host - ISBNLookup.com

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Stephenie Meyer's first adult novel broke new ground when first published in 2008. Now this gripping fiction about a woman who refuses to relinquish control of her own body arrives in mass market paperback. One critic called it "Survivor crossed with Days of Our Lives"; another, "A vigorous blend of romance and science fiction." Now in mass market paperback and NOOK Book.

Lev Grossman - Time

"Meyer has, like one of her vampires, turned into something rare and more than merely human: a literary phenomenon....The way she manages the reader's curiosity, maintaining tension and controlling the flow of information, is simply virtuosic....People do not want to just read Meyer's books; they want to climb inside them and live there."

Carol Memmott

"An epic story of love, family, and loyalty. . . . The Host is The X-Files meets Days of Our Lives."

Jeff Giles

"Meyer is more interested in relationships than in flashy genre conventions. . . . Her affirmative life lesson is disarming."

Orson Scott Card

"Stephenie Meyer is an amazing phenomenon--out of the brightness of her mind and spirit comes the illuminated darkness of her stories. For no matter how much pain her characters suffer, Meyer infuses the tales with light and hope."

Ridley Pearson

"A fantastic, inventive, thoughtful, and powerful novel. The Host should come with a warning label: it will grab you and keep you reading well into the wee hours of night, and keep you thinking, deeply, hauntingly, well after the final word. Stephenie Meyer captures characters and handles story line like a master--a hybrid combination of Stephen King and Isaac Asimov."

Sherri Hallgren

"A brilliant and fascinating premise.... Its mix of adventure and new love on a new Earth is just right to get lost in this summer."

Lev Grossman

Meyer has, like one of her vampires, turned into something rare and more than merely human: a literary phenomenon....The way she manages the reader's curiosity, maintaining tension and controlling the flow of information, is simply virtuosic....People do not want to just read Meyer's books; they want to climb inside them and live there.
— Time

Carol Memmott

An epic story of love, family, and loyalty. . . . The Host is The X-Files meets Days of Our Lives.
— USA Today

Jeff Giles

Meyer is more interested in relationships than in flashy genre conventions. . . . Her affirmative life lesson is disarming.
— Entertainment Weekly

Jane Jorgenson

The Host lives up to the hype, blending science fiction and romance in a way that has never worked so well.
— Library Journal

Sherri Hallgren

A brilliant and fascinating premise.... Its mix of adventure and new love on a new Earth is just right to get lost in this summer.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Publishers Weekly

In this tantalizing SF thriller, planet-hopping parasites are inserting their silvery centipede selves into human brains, curing cancer, eliminating war and turning Earth into paradise. But some people want Earth back, warts and all, especially Melanie Stryder, who refuses to surrender, even after being captured in Chicago and becoming a host for a "soul" called Wanderer. Melanie uses her surviving brain cells to persuade Wanderer to help search for her loved ones in the Arizona desert. When the pair find Melanie's brother and her boyfriend in a hidden rebel cell led by her uncle, Wanderer is at first hated. Once the rebels accept Wanderer, whom they dub Wanda, Wanda's whole perspective on humanity changes. While the straightforward narrative is short on detail about the invasion and its stunning aftermath, it shines with romantic intrigue, especially when a love triangle (or quadrangle?!) develops for Wanda/Melanie. 10-city author tour. (May)

Library Journal

Meyer's YA vampire novels (Breaking Dawnwill be out in August) have been touted in the Wall Street Journalas successors to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. And with a fan base that has grown exponentially with each new release, they may not be far off. All of which makes the publication of Meyer's first adult novel even more noteworthy. It lives up to the hype, blending science fiction and romance in a way that has never worked so well. In this page-turner, Meyer explores what happens to relationships when two beings inhabit the same physical body. Earth has been overrun by an alien species called Souls, which invade human bodies and erase personalities. As the novel opens, Melanie Stryder, one of the few human holdouts, has been captured by the aliens and is implanted with a Soul named Wanderer, who is something of a legend among her own kind because of the many hosts and planets she has experienced. Inhabiting a human mind and body is unlike anything Wanderer has ever known, and soon she finds that Melanie isn't quite willing to give up to this invader. Overwhelmed by Melanie's memories and feelings, Wanderer finds herself driven to reconnect with Melanie's old life. As with her vampire novels, Meyer will make new fans of readers "who don't read books with aliens." Highly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ1/08.]
—Jane Jorgenson

Kirkus Reviews

The body snatchers are coming, but they just want to talk-to themselves. Meyer, author of the Twilight young-adult series (Eclipse, 2007, etc.) concerning the latter-day adventures of werewolves and vampires, turns inward and cerebral with her debut book for adults. That is to say, her protagonists are no longer throat-rippers; neither is this novel wholly a bodice-ripper, even if it does involve a drippy, kissy-face romance and sometimes strays into the space-gothic genre. The problem for studly young Jared throughout is just who he's kissing, since his beloved, young Melanie Stryder-echoes of The Fellowship of the Ring there-has been swallowed up like poor Smeagol by an extraterrestrial being who turns out to be, well, pretty OK once you get to know him/her/it. Melanie has taken a spill down an elevator shaft while trying to avoid becoming one of the pod people. Fortunately, the aliens have a good health plan, and the great and noble soul called Wanderer finds Melanie's shell to be reasonably capacious and well-appointed enough to serve as a vessel. Yet Melanie hasn't been wholly evicted, and Wanderer and she find themselves locked in an uncomfortable dialog: "I hate you, the voice hissed in my head. ‘Then maybe you should leave,' I snapped." Wanderer may have lived on six or seven planets-opinion among the ETs varies-and may have "been almost everything," but he/she/it has never taken on a liberated American woman. In time, just as things start to get weird in the sci-fi world, Wanderer and Melanie reach an accommodation-at least of a sort. Who has to wash the dishes? Who gets to do the kissing? ("His tongue twisted with mine, and there was no part of my mind that was not invaded bythe insane desire that possessed me.") Stay tuned, earthlings. A clever premise and competent writing keep this from turning into a pastiche, though after a couple of hundred pages, readers may wish that just one artery would get punctured.