The Host is a science fiction novel with a little bit of romance in it. The book is written by Stephenie Meyer. The concept in this book is something which is very different from normal thinking. The idea for writing this book originated on a trip from Phoenix to Salt Lake City. While traveling, Meyer made up many stories to kill her boredom when suddenly she realized that she had created something unique. The story grabbed her attention since there was something compelling in the idea of such a complicated triangle
This novel mentions an alien race. They are called souls. After taking over many other planets, they come to take over Earth and its inhabitants. The book describes one soul's troublesome situation caused because her host body refuses to cooperate with her takeover. This novel also mentions romantic situations between Ian and Wanderer. The story is written from the perspective of the main character, Wanderer, because her "host" Melanie changes her attitude towards the world forever.
Melanie Stryder is the main character. Wanderer is an alien soul who enters Mel’s body. Mel is her ninth host body. Souls are those creatures that rely on a host body to survive. Once they enter the body they erase any mental presence of the body and take complete control of mind and body. After going inside her new body, Wanderer is shocked not only by the intensity of human emotions, memories, and senses, but quickly realises that Melanie Stryder is not willing to give up her mind.
Melanie has a younger brother Jamie and the man she loves is Jared Howe. Since the time the soul has taken over her body, she is running away from it and not willing to give up her mind.
Wanderer is witnessing the memories of Mel and her yearning for Jared and Jamie. Wanderer falls in love with the humans and becomes desperate to meet Jared and Jamie. Melanie remembers that once her Uncle Jeb told her about a secret hideaway he once made on a road trip to Tucson. Wanderer starts to find that hideaway, but she becomes exhausted and dehydrated on the way. When uncle Jeb finds her, he takes her back to the caves in which a group of people called ‘the rebel cell’ lives. There she is treated spitefully as they believe Wanderer to be a "parasite" in Melanie's body. Two brothers Kyle and Ian O'Shea try to kill her, but uncle Jeb stops them. As time passes, Wanderer becomes a part of the group carrying out the daily routine by working and eating with them. She also teaches them history after evening meals; when she teaches some believe that Mel is present in her mind as well. In the meantime Ian and Wanderer become very close friends. Ian begins to fall in love with her. But Wanderer is confused because of the love she feels for Jared. But latter Wanderer learns that Ian loves her body i.e. Melanie and not the soul( Wanderer). Hence she rejects him.
Since Wanderer is trusted by other souls, the humans realize that she can be useful to them as a raider. Wanderer then decides to reveal the secret of removing a soul without killing either the soul on the human. But before revealing the secret to a doc she puts forward two conditions before him: first, he promises to send all the souls to a new planet, and second, he promises to remove Wanderer's soul from Melanie's body and bury Wanderer, since she does not want to be a parasite any longer. But Ian is enraged at the idea of Wanderer ending her life, and has Doc remove her from Melanie's body. So Wanderer goes away from Ian. But later it is mentioned that she arises in another human being, since none of the humans wished for her to leave. In the end the rebels discover another rebels group who has a soul amongst them.