The Host

by Stephenie Meyer

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has already succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
While Wanderer has been tasked with finding the remaining humans by searching Melanie's thoughts, something unexpected happens: Melanie fills her head with visions of the man she loves who is still in hiding, and Wanderer, unable to separate herself from her body's desires, falls in love with him too. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

First: there is minimal language in this book, I could count the times it swore on one hand. Second: There are a few scenes with sensual content; excessive making out mostly and a few sexual references. I only mention these things for those who are sensitive to these kind of things (like myself). And now...drum-roll please.............I liked it!! I was plesantly surprised because this book was so much better than the Twilight series, which by the way I greatly dislike (to put it mildly). It had the depth that I missed while reading Twilight. This book is about being human and all the good and bad that comes with it. I regularly don't care for alien books, but occasionally there are books like this that simply impress me. Now this also isn't a book I would ever buy simply for some of the content. My rule is: if I wouldn't feel comfortable letting my (future) kids read this then I won't buy it. I wouldn't let teens read it. But I feel that way about Twilight too...so to each his own.