Books at the Box Office: The Host

As someone who read Twilight pretty early on, I of course wanted to see The Host when it came out, though I don’t know if I ever finished reading the book (which was stolen from me for a few weeks by JD and kept in his backpack…rude) but I definitely didn’t realize it had THE Saoirse Ronan in it until recently.

There’s a reason it didn’t get quite the attention Twilight did, but it was an uh…interesting concept.

First, the book:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, 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.

Melanie fills Wanderer’s thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves — Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body’s desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she’s never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, The Host is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.

This is a long book, around 600 pages, and it’s of course not a literary classic but it’s an interesting sci-fi read.

Now, onto the movie, which I KNOW I saw in movie theatres, the Cinemark back in Kentucky, but I can’t remember if it was with my boyfriend at the time or my friend, Tanner.

The trailer:

I’m very shocked I didn’t realize this was Saoirse Ronan at the time, because I went through a major Atonement phase in high school (weird, I know), but I reached out and I definitely did see this with my high school boyfriend, so apologies to Stephen for putting him through this. Such a strange film.

Anyway, it’s got Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, Max Irons, and was directed by Andrew Niccol, who also directed Gattaca (which I lowkey love) and Good Kill with Ethan Hawke. The movie has a 9% Rotten Tomatoes rating, which is insane, but a 5.9/10 on IMDB, so I think it was critically panned,but perfect for the YA scene of the time.

It’s streaming on Hulu.