The Host was released yesterday here in the UK. But apparently I didn't do my homework very well . . . I was freaking out that I couldn't find the Special Edition of Eclipse anywhere! I even searched for that long awaited first chapter of Breaking Dawn in the paperback edition of New Moon; I was that desperate. My anxiety was calmed after looking up on Amazon.com to find out that the EC Special Edition won't be released here until May 31. So I guess that's one more date to put on my calendar! I was really looking forward to reading that chapter and posting a quote on here for the rest of you. But I guess you'll have to settle for something from The Host.
I am only on page 52 so far, so consider this my first impressions of the book. I don't want to give anything away so I'm hesitant to even post my reactions. Let me just say that my dh noticed I didn't get instantly immersed into the book like I did with the other books. I think the hardest thing for me will be to not compare this book to SM's others. Having said that, however, there are some obvious differences in her style of writing (in my opinion). The Host has been harder for me to "get into." This is definitely not a YA book: vocabulary is at a higher level and it's a little hard to follow the story at first.
Anyway, I'm anxious to see what everyone else thinks. Amazon said it comes out in the US on May 6th, just 4 more days to go. I'll post some quotes in the comments so don't read them if you don't want to. . .
14 comments:
"The emptiness swallows me. My legs flail, useless. My hands grip the air, claw through it, searching for anything solid. Cold blows past me like tornado winds.
I hear the thud before I feel it. . . . The wind is gone. . . .
And then pain is everywhere. . . . Pain is everything."
"You . . . She . . . she's still that . . . present?"
"Don't let her control how you interact with your kind, Wanderer. Don't let her control you."
**I don't think these really give away too much more than the back of the book or the inside cover. But hopefully they'll be fun for you to read them and make some guesses before you read the book. :)
Fun Ruth - I didn't think about the difference between an adult novel and YA. I can see what you mean just in what I've read that it might be a little harder to get engrossed so quickly as I did with TW. But, I love her writing - so I think I will enjoy it. Keep us posted! Is it on your book review blog?
Ruth I've been gone but what a nice surprise.
So I wont be too jealous that you got the Host first, since you wont be getting the Eclipse Special Edition. I can handle teaser quotes from the Host but that BD chapter one might have killed me off with suspense.
So it looks good. I can't wait to hear more. We get ours on Tuesday and I'm sure most of us will at least start it so we can discuss it soon.
Thanks for sharing with us.
(psst. . .don't like it more than Twilight kay?)
Cool Ruth! Thanks for the teasers, I'm intrigued by them. We only have two days until we get our copies. I assume you're still reading, let us know how it's going when you take a break next. I would be pretty jealous too if you had that first chapter of BD in your hands!
Ruth, I assume you must be enjoying your new book, we haven't heard from you in a while!
Hello! I'm back! Yes, I did enjoy the book. I just finished late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. I didn't want to put my thoughts here until everyone has read it. I will say that I didn't like it as much as TW for a few reasons:
1. It was science fiction (I'm really not a fan). And I LOVE fantasy. So maybe it's not a fair comparison.
2. I prefer YA to most Adult Fiction to begin with.
3. The romance was much better in TW.
4. . . . I can go on, but I'm sure I don't need to. You all know that it's tough to beat these TW boks.
So what do you guys think so far????
Okay, my reaction is that it is just different than Twilight.
Twilight describes new romantic love so well - that's one of the things we love. New love is so there and strong in the moment that it overwhelms your feelings. The Host depicts mother/altruistic love & enduring love very well. Enduring love is more subtle, but no less powerful.
The characters are not as obviously vulnerable as Bella & Edward. Melanie/Wanderer & Jared - these people are all survivors. They are tough & live a tough life. The writing style & the romantic descriptions fit this. They are less detailed & more matter-of-fact because the characters are that way, even when they are emotional. There isn't as much fun and the humor is definitely drier.
So, I will turn to Twilight in my girlie-need-romance moments, for sure. (The guys will definitely like this one more. Lots of action/suspense.) But I would say that The Host is SM's most cohesive book & her most effective story-telling so far.
So I am on chapter 19. I am liking it, a lot. But its very different than I thought. At first I thought it would be a hard read, but I find it easy now. I skip ahead more than I should. I never did that with Twilight unitl Eclipse, and then only a minor bit.
I can put it down, but I do think about it from time to time during the day. I am very curious to see where she takes things.
I hope to get much if not all of it read this weekend.
Finished it yesterday. After a little thought I have decided that . . . I loved it.
It had a wonderful ending. I can't wait to talk to everyone about it.
And I know I don't need to say this, since I was never comparing the two, but just for the record, no I didn't love it like I do Twilight. But the Host is a very beautiful book.
I finished reading it Saturday night. I really did enjoy it, but again, not as much as the TW books. Just very different, as I had expected. The more I read, the harder it got to put it down. I also found myself thinking about the characters and storyline throughout my day, but not nearly as addicting as TW. Most of the book made me cry though. I found the whole story and situation overwhelmingly sad to me, until the end, of course. But even at the end, I still felt some sadness for Wanderer...
I loved The Host as well. I cried way more than I should have - seriously probably the last 100 pages...I don't know what that means. But, very different feelings than that of TW. I was a little slow in wanting to start it, but it drew me in, and I agree with MA - a beautiful book. The quote you posted is wonderful - very fitting for what the book made me feel - just about every emotion. That is similiar to TW actually - I remember thinking that in Eclipse - every other page made your emotions change. Anyway - yeah for Stephanie - what an amazing book, again!!!
So who else is left to finish it before we start a small discussion without having to worry about spoilers?
Well, I finally finished it! And I really, really liked it. It took me a while to get into it, in fact the first half was pretty slow for me, but the last half made up for it. I really started to love the characters and looked forward to reading again when I had to do other things. Stephenie has an amazing mind, and I love a happy ending! I will go to the other post to add my thoughts to it!
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