The Host by Stephenie Meyer: #tbt review

The human era has ended. An alien species who call themselves the Souls have taken over the Earth and no humans who are still human remain, aside from a few ragged, very hunted bands. Wanderer, a member of this alien species, survives parasitically by taking over other the bodies of individuals of other species—destroying their minds in the process.

But there’s something wrong with Wanderer’s host, Mel. Her feelings are too strong and her mind refuses to go away. Now Wanderer isn’t just a Soul anymore: she's an abomination to her own species, a combination of minds in one body. 

The other Souls mustn’t know that Mel’s mind still exists; they'd destroy Mel's body and Wanderer with it. At the same time, Wanderer's very existence is inimical to all humanity—so there's no hope to be found there. She must find a way to work with Mel if she is to survive on a planet where she doesn’t belong anywhere and everybody wants her dead.

This is a fascinating piece of speculative fiction that gets into the mind and the motivations of a member of a species that any rational human would consider intrinsically evil. This species exists by invading the bodies and destroying the minds of other species—and doesn’t consider itself evil, any more than any predator does. The speculation extends to the nature of memory (how much of it exists in the physical brain? Do we have souls?), the mind/body dichotomy, and the power of love and forgiveness.

Don't let this author's other books scare you away from this one; there are no vampires, sparkly or otherwise, to be found. This is good, meaty sci fi. Highly recommend.