i finished the host today
idk i actually didn't like it that much while i was reading until maybe the last hundred pages but then it's like after looking back on it i just sighed and was like hey this actually wasn't bad and i was wrong for not wanting to finish it
well i guess it's because like where i personally thought it was faulty it was really flawed but then the parts i liked were really well done and that was somehow enough to cancel out the bad parts imo
i feel like the best part of this book was the characterization, particularly of mel and wanda. this story was driven by the protagonists, who were exceptionally well-written. the struggles and scenes involving them are all really well done. and meyer really does a great point trying to use them as a means to convey the overall theme - i started crying at the scene where wanda is out with jared and ian and she sees the little kid on the swings and that's a symbol of hope
and more specifically from that just the friendship between mel and wanda was enough for me to bump up my goodreads rating of it from three to four stars it was just really real and i love how well it developed and how eventually they saw the other as sisters, and how mel was willing to let wanda stay in her body, even though she's basically the third wheel, and how wanda was willing to die for mel. it's not like one of those can't live without the other relationships because they can, and certainly do, but the bond between them is just so great man like i cried when the book was over and this is why
also with ships it's a confusing subject because i liked jelanie and o'wanda probably in equal amounts but i honestly didn't feel like it was as central to the plot as the fandom makes it out to be???? they're both great for different reasons but i just didn't see them as much as i feel like i should have
and then with all the other minor characters i feel like they were either really well done or they just weren't there at all like i finished the book not knowing who some of the people were and we only get five seconds of screen time with pet and i already know every detail about her life
the writing was sort of ok not exceptional but you know what i didn't like in the book was the plot like i hate how slowly it went but then when something interesting DID happen i had no idea what was going on like was that even SUPPOSED to be a plot twist???? like it wasn't clear when i should've been surprised or when i shouldn't have
the concept was super interesting though and it sort of grows on you
though as much as i may have liked it i actually don't want there to be a sequel like i feel like everything was tied up super nicely and any sequel just wouldn't do the first one justice and it would be kind of like the second part of the tmi series.
as for the fandom i feel like i did like it enough to want to be a part of the fandom because in the end fandom mainly is dedicated to characters but i'm not really a fandom blogger and i don't think i ever really have cared about even the things i wholeheartedly loved enough to be one, but i will i guess reblog some of the posts i see and make graphics if they ever come to mind and i will see the movie as soon as i can
