"Friday Favs": The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Genre: Young Adult, SciFi, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Aliens. 651 pages.

Price: $7.99 ebook (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Back Bay Books. [1st Edition] April 21, 2010.

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating:     . 4 

Price I Paid: $1.99 on March 29, 2013

My Rating:     

**Yes, I purposefully posted the novel cover instead of the movie novel cover.**

My Thoughts: Aliens vs. Human, Racism In A New Light.

     What drew me to this book wasn't the author's name, because honestly I haven't red a single twilight book. No, what got me was the cover and size of the novel. My co-worker had this book with her for over a week and I finally asked her about it, intrigued by the concept I borrowed the book and read it faster than she did. The narrative and dialogue was intriguing keeping me truing page after page turning up at work with a book hangover, because I had to see how it all ended.
    In a world where humans are no longer their own beings, Melanie Stryder, is trying to survive with her little brother. The world that once was is no more, humans are now inhabited by aliens who have taken over the world making it their world now. Humans have gone underground in the hopes of one day rising to take back their world. Melanie is corned by the Aliens who seek to use her as a new host, in desperation she tries to run but even her attempt at suicide is thwarted, and when next she awakes Melanie is not herself. The Wander is placed in Melanie's body and begins to adapt, but soon Melanie starts to gain consciousness within herself. The two girls transition into a unique state of existence and bond as they had at first fight for the right to inhabit the one body they now share. The Wander now named Wanda, starts to become human in thoughts and feelings living amongst the human refugees, however she becomes faced with a huge choice having to decide whether to leave her host or risk staying for a chance at love and family.
   Overall, loved this book. I was never one to really read contemporary SciFi, but this book was one that helped bring me into the genre. My favorite character was Wanda, the Wander, she was so innocent and lost half the time but was so full of love and wisdom. The aliens weren't portrayed in a overly gruesome way but as another race, so the hate directed at Wanda seemed reflectant on modern issues of racism. One of my favorite parts of this book was the dual narrative between Wanda and Melanie, their conversations were always interesting especially since they were inside the same body but different minds or entities. And yes, I did watch the movie once I finished the book and No they are not the same. But they are similar and its an okay representation. I still prefer the book but enjoyed the movie. So if you want a book to fill your time with concerning aliens and their hosts, love and races, than this book would be great to read.

Hey, It's A Book Tour for "Spectacle" by S.J. Pierce

by S.J. Pierce

Author Links: Amazon Page, Facebook, Website, Goodreads.

Genre: Young Adult, Aliens, SciFi. 364 pages.

Price: $2.99 ebook (at time of post)

Book Link: Click Here

**Checkout the book tour schedule: Click Here**

*Synopsis*

Hunger Games meets Avatar in this spellbinding new Young Adult, Science-Fiction novel by bestselling author Susan James Pierce.

Two hundred years after the Great Disaster, the day earthquakes ravaged Earth’s landscapes, humanity has finally regrouped and is working toward a better future. But in New America – one of three remaining landmasses – the threat of overpopulation makes a better future seem bleaker by the year.

Mira (Mirabella) Foster and her parents are citizens of New America, and with the threat of starvation and disease looming on the horizon, a new discovery threatens to push everyone to the brink of chaos: blue markings develop on people’s skin. Markings that allow them to camouflage their skin, but also make them feared, and eventually, targets of violence.

Mira’s dad is one of them.

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My Rating:  

My Thoughts: Who Is She And What Is She?

     This story was definitely a mix of hunger games meets divergent. Based in an alternate reality the author wrote a fictional narrative involving aliens that mirrored contemporary history and dystopian possibilities. Definitely a book that will leave you thinking things over long after you've finished reading.

       Two hundred years after the Great Disaster, The world is facing an overpopulation problem and doesn't half enough land after the massive earthquakes that ravaged the planet, leaving only 3 continents. Readers are introduced to a young Mirabella "Mira" Foster, who lives a simple ordinary life with her parents in New America. Until one day her father shows her he has blue markings all over him, which signifies he is not human but an alien called a Changer. Spurred by panic the community of Changers are forced to explain themselves as the markings where starting to be believed to be a disease. Mira is elated to witness her father and her friends Cole and Luxxe's dads represent their race to the president. But events go horribly wrong and and assassination attempt is made being blamed on the Changers. Soon the Changers are rounded and placed on an island alone to live as away from humans. It's not until Mira is offered a chance to prove her father's innocence and gain Changers freedom that Mira has to make the hard decisions.

        Overall, good read which got me thinking and got a few tears. Not gonna lie this book really had me thinking more in a history kinda way than literature perspective. The Changers are rounded up and put in an island to basically die, and all I could think of was the holocaust. Perhaps the way the New America carried their plan out and how the Changers were marked like the Jews had been, the situation just clicked. Besides all that, the relationship drama in this book was interesting, because I assumed Mira was going to fall for her hot BFF, Luxxe,  but she didn't. In fact the author repeatedly made sure everyone understood they were just best friends. That's a huge rarity in any book since 90% of the time male - female best friends in books always admit attraction or end up together, so props to showing that doesn't always have to happen. However, down side was it was extremely repetitive on relationship status for everyone, when I felt as if the focus needed to remain on the politics, schemes and such. So if you are into dystopian worlds where people are separated for being a different people group and then fight back to be accepted all the while the characters try to figure out who they are and who they want to be with and where they want to live, than this might be a good book to try.

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 Author Bio

Susan James Pierce has a degree in Marketing Management, works for a Fortune 500 company in Atlanta, Georgia, and devotes her precious, spare time to writing Fantasy, Paranormal and Sci-fi novels. Please visit www.sjpiercebooks.blogspot.com and sign up for her mailing list or subscribe to her blog if you'd like to hear when new books come out!