Jenn's Review: The Host

Summary: The author of the Twilightseries of #1 bestsellers delivers her brilliant first novel for adults: a gripping story of love and betrayal in a future with the fate of humanity at stake. Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, The Host is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.


Review: While I enjoy fantasy, I've never been a huge fan of science fiction (save The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Actually, I had no intention of reading this book until I passed it by on a sale table... and when I went back to get it, it was gone and I had to confess myself disappointed. I was hearing good things about it. My curiosity about it was apparently getting the better of me, so I finally broke down and bought it. Good decision.

This is an absolutely beautiful story from start to finish. Well, okay, it took me fifty-ish pages to get into it, but after that I was so drawn in that I couldn't put it down. It was a surprising refreshing read. The reader empathizes with the Wanderer and with Melanie. Though the Wanderer is thousands of years old, in some ways she is still a child, and though Melanie is 20, she is wise for her years due to living on the run. They have much to learn from each other and in their coexistence, they learn tolerance and empathy. But this makes them a danger to both of their kind, and a misfit everywhere. Their species are still at war. If they find Melanie's family and Jared, how will they convince them that they mean no harm? And more importantly, how will they convince them that both Melanie and Wanderer dwelling in the same body.

Meyer has woven a beautiful love story into a genre I would otherwise ignore. As a writer, she has matured into a master of emotions and hopeless (hopeful?) love stories. She left this book lightly open ended (no cliff hangers) and I truly hope she picks up this thread again. I would certainly read the next installment.

Rating 5.0/5.0 <-- and those don't come readily for me

The Host Review Part Deux

Girls Just Reading Book Club Expands

Four years ago, the girls of Girls Just Reading and our friend started a virtual book club (see our explanation here).

When Girls Just Reading came into being we tried to bring our virtual book club to you by doing group reviews of our Book Club Picks. Now we're taking it to another level.

Along with our "Currently Reading" selections you will also find our next Book Club Pick and our due date so you can read what we're reading and be ready to post your comments! Our next pick is Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos and we plan to be ready to discuss it around the first week of April. We look forward to your point of view!

Giveaway: Delicate Edible Birds

We have two copies of Delicate Edible Birds to give away. Please leave a comment here by midnight EST time March 22, 2009 to be automaticaly entered. See my review of the short story collection. I enjoyed it.

For an even better chance to win, post about this contest on your own blog (linking back to this post) and your name will be entered twice! The winner will be announced on March 23, 2009.

Good Luck!

Jenn's Review: 7th Heaven

Summary: A terrible fire in a wealthy suburban home leaves a married couple dead and Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner Rich Conklin searching for clues. And after California's golden boy, Michael Campion has been missing for a month, there finally seems to be a lead in his case--a very devastating lead.

As fire after fire consume couples in wealthy, comfortable homes, Lindsay and the Murder Club must race to find the arsonists responsible and get to the bottom of Michael Campion's disappearance. But suddenly the fires are raging too close to home.

Frightened for her life and torn between two men, Lindsay must find a way to solve the most daunting dilemmas she's ever faced--at work and at home.

Review: This is one of the better books in the series. I thought the juggling of multiple cases in this installment was handled well, especially because one of them was at trial with Yuki. Patterson introduces the arson perpetrators in the forward, so this time, I wasn't ID-ing anyone early... and as for the disappearance there was an un-obvious twist in that case too, albeit cliché. From a prental point of vewI found both cases disturbing. And, for once, the little personal side stories seemed well balanced instead of detracting.

The only downside was Lindsay's inability to make a decision in her love life. I think this thing with her partner came out of left field (which can happen in real life) but there is so little in the books to substantiate it that it just comes off as a not so clever plot device for keeping Lindsay off-balance.

4.4/5

Julie's Review

Jenn's Review: Conan Doyle's Wallet: The Secrets Within

Summary: The inspiration for this book came to the author after he purchased Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's wallet, untouched since the day he died in 1930, at a Christie's auction in London. This true story is based upon the unique contents, which led the author to begin spiritually communicating with Doyle. Sir Arthur's wish was to enlighten those who have lost their loved ones or feel they are lacking direction in their lives. Through Patrick McNamara, Doyle explains that how we live our lives here on earth affects how we live in the afterlife. Sir Arthur was a great proponent of spiritualism and his consistent goal was to find 'evidence' of the afterlife, which could alleviate anxiety of people as they journeyed through life on earth to the afterlife. By communicating with the author, Conan Doyle provides his knowledge of the afterlife and the new world in which he lives. This is a fascinating and comforting insight for all readers that provides a spiritual philosophy for living.


Review: I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but it certainly wasn't this. If you can get past the glaring typos in the first few chapters, it is easy to become immersed in the subject. However, it's more like two separate works that have been forced together. One deals with spiritualism in it's practice and is more of a "how to"/life guide, the other deals with Conan Doyle's research into the subject and his constant professional disagreement with Harry Houdini (think of him as Patrick Jayne from Mentalist) who did everything possible in his lifetime to prove all mediums frauds. Although Houdini and Conan Doyle disagreed over the subject they kept an open discourse and were often on the same side in exposing fraud, as Conan Doyle felt that frauds were hurting real mediums. According to sources, it is not until after his death that Houdini became a true believer and recanted.

Whether you believe in spiritualism or not, this book provides an interesting study into the subject matter. All in all, a fascinating read, I just wish that it was more cohesive and better proofread.

3.75/5

Julie's Review: Quicksand

Summary: The action-packed 12th installment in bestseller Johansen's saga featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan (after Stalemate) is also a sequel of sorts to Pandora's Daughter, which chronicled the life of Megan Blair, an Atlanta physician with burgeoning psychic abilities. Intertwining the two disparate story lines intensifies both, as Johansen pits her two courageous female protagonists against a vicious serial killer who claims to have murdered Eve's seven-year-old daughter, Bonnie, years earlier. When Eve's love interest, Atlanta police lieutenant Joe Quinn, tracks down elusive child predator Henry Kistle to a small town in Illinois, Quinn alerts the local authorities and sets off a series of bloody events that lead Eve and Megan Blair to a remote area in the Okefenokee swamp where they'll either discover the whereabouts of Bonnie's body—or come face-to-face with a psychopath bent on killing and burying them all in unmarked graves. The adrenaline-fueled narrative will keep Johansen fans eagerly turning the pages. ~amazon.com

Review: I truly enjoy the Eve Duncan series and Quicksand (Eve Duncan Forensics Thrillers) is definitely not a let down. It starts off quick and never stops. In Quicksand, we are again on the hunt for the killer of Eve's daughter, Bonnie. This time it leads us to Henry Kistle and Eve playing a dangerous cat and mouse game. I had a VERY hard time reading this book at first because of the subject matter...a serial killer who "specializes" in children. I couldn't read it before bed because it gave me nightmares. I made my way through it because I knew that justice would be served in the end.

Quicksand brings back some of my more recent favorite characters from Ms. Johansen's books Stalemate and Pandora's Daughter Megan and Philip Blair, Montalvo and Miguel. I love how she weaved all these characters into one book. Of course Joe and Jane were still in the story. For Eve and Joe, their relationship is at a crossroads. You can tell that decisions will need to be made but those are for another book.

Eve made me mad at times during the book because I think when it comes to the search for Bonnie's remains she can be a bit obsessive but as a mother I empathized with her as well. I can also see where Jane and Joe come from regarding their feelings about the continuous search. I do like the books a bit more when they deal with cases other than trying to find Bonnie because at some point they are going to have to find resolve that plot line and move forward.

There is pretty good twist at the end of the book that I sensed was going to happen but was happy it did. I think it sets up a new direction for the series.

If you like fast paced, intense thrillers than Quicksand is for you. I do think you would have a better understanding of the characters if you read Stalemate and Pandora's Daughter first but it's not completely necessary.

Final Take: 4/5