Hey, it’s Monday.

I don’t know about you, but I seem to be cursed with a terrible case of the Monday blues. Nothing ever seems to go right. This week took a bit of a turn around for me though, it was actually a good day. Classes went well, I managed to complete my homework, and I had some free time to break out the hammock and hang out at the State Park for a bit with my roommate. It was cold, but oh so worth it! I posted a few pictures to Instagram, which you can find in the newly updated sidebar!

Anyways, this post isn’t supposed to be about my Monday adventures. It’s supposed to be me, updating you, on my recent adventures with Adolescent Literature. From what I can see, I took a bit of a different approach when it came to picking my book. I wanted to find an interesting piece of young adult fiction that was decently popular, but that I never got a chance to read. I wanted to have a bit of fun with my first book choice. I chose to start this semester off with The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I chose this because I had read a few of her other novels in high school, but this one managed to slip right by me. I thought it would be the perfect start because it contains action, adventure, romance, and aliens! It would be a nice, easy read that would give me quite a bit to talk about.

Lets begin with a summary…

A teenage girl named Melanie Stryder and her little brother Jamie are on the run and forced into hiding from an alien race called the “Souls”. These “Souls” are like parasites; they attach themselves to the host and take full control of the host body, giving the body a whole new persona and a set of creepy glowing, blue eyes. Hence, the title of the book. Melanie meets another boy named Jared and they fall in love only for things to take a very sudden downfall. While trying to protect her brother, Melanie is captured by the “Souls” and is claimed as a host.

Now, you would think that’s the end for poor Melanie. Usually, when a “Soul” is placed in it’s host, all the previous thoughts, memories, and feelings would vanish from the body. Who ever that person was would cease to exist and life would carry on. This was not the case with Melanie. She refused to disappear and was now forced to coexist with the “Soul” that inhabits her body. The “Soul”, Wanderer, does everything it can to resist Melanie, her emotions, and her feelings but fails miserably. Together, they run and search for Jared and Jamie.

As you can guess, they manage to find them, in the Arizona desert of all places. Poor Jared and Jamie are forced to cope with the fact that Melanie could be gone. As for Wanderer, she finds a love interest of her own and attempts to build a life with a whole tribe of rebel humans. Some who hate her, and others who adore her all while existing alongside Melanie.

I’m getting closer to the end of the book and I am very pleased. When I think Stephanie Meyer, I think Twilight. I think of the vampires who drink animal blood and have sparkly skin. I think of that cheesy, forbidden love story that many teenage girls worshiped. This, in my opinion, takes a totally different approach at that forbidden love and executes it beautifully. I feel for the characters and I can’t seem to stop turning the pages. I just find this story far more interesting.

I began this Monday with some adventures in the snow, I find it sublime to think that I’ll be ending it somewhere deep in the Arizona desert.