Review: The Host by Stephanie Meyer
Hello everyone! I've been watching the community feeling a wee bit disappointed that I didn't have any reviews to post but it occurred to me I wrote a review of The Host on bookish a few months ago that fits quite well in this comm.
Stephanie Meyer, WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST FEMINISM? DDDD= This book made me very upset. And then it made me angry. And then it continued making it me angry to the point that I am astonished I actually finished reading it.
Just ARGH. I'll give you a few point notes on its fail.
- The main character Wanda has absolutely no sense of self worth so much so that I felt she read very much like an abused child. So I was expecting (don't ask me why, I've read Twilight, I should've known that Meyer's id is a very scary place to be for women) that this was something that would be addressed and ultimately healed throughout the book. HAHAHAHAHAHA, NO. Wanda continually places no value on herself through the whole book and the text treats it as a good thing. Because in Meyer's world, the only way to be a female hero is to continually sacrifice yourself for men. DDDDDDD< And don't even try to feed me some line about Ian acknowledging that Wanda is self-sacrificing. He uses it as a reason to MAKE HER DECISIONS FOR HER. Awesome, rob your female character of even MORE agency, why don't you?
- Jared. Jared who I hated violently and passionately in a way I have not hated a fictional character in a long time. Jared who I was PRAYING would die in the raid. Jared who I hoped Wanda and Melanie would fall out of love with because LOVE DON'T MAKE LOVE BLEED. Take a wild guess as to how things went with Jared.
- Ladies, have you been wondering if there's a guaranteed formula for a happy and fulfilling life? Indeed there is! Just follow Meyer's doctrine of Undying Devotion to the Menfolk No Matter How Condescending Or Outright Abusive They Might Be and YOU too might have the privilege of starring in a Meyer novel!
And did anyone notice that this book was Twilight redux? Only worse because of the lack of decent female characters (Leah and Rosalie, you are my favourites and in my canon Breaking Dawn never happened). Wanda = Bella, Jared = Edward, Ian = Jacob, Jamie = Seth. Humans = vampires (in terms of other species the protaganist sees as inherently better than her thus abetting her horrible self esteem issues). In conclusion: HATE HATE HATE. I'm so glad I checked this out of the library instead of buying it.
Stephanie Meyer, WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST FEMINISM? DDDD= This book made me very upset. And then it made me angry. And then it continued making it me angry to the point that I am astonished I actually finished reading it.
Just ARGH. I'll give you a few point notes on its fail.
- The main character Wanda has absolutely no sense of self worth so much so that I felt she read very much like an abused child. So I was expecting (don't ask me why, I've read Twilight, I should've known that Meyer's id is a very scary place to be for women) that this was something that would be addressed and ultimately healed throughout the book. HAHAHAHAHAHA, NO. Wanda continually places no value on herself through the whole book and the text treats it as a good thing. Because in Meyer's world, the only way to be a female hero is to continually sacrifice yourself for men. DDDDDDD< And don't even try to feed me some line about Ian acknowledging that Wanda is self-sacrificing. He uses it as a reason to MAKE HER DECISIONS FOR HER. Awesome, rob your female character of even MORE agency, why don't you?
- Jared. Jared who I hated violently and passionately in a way I have not hated a fictional character in a long time. Jared who I was PRAYING would die in the raid. Jared who I hoped Wanda and Melanie would fall out of love with because LOVE DON'T MAKE LOVE BLEED. Take a wild guess as to how things went with Jared.
- Ladies, have you been wondering if there's a guaranteed formula for a happy and fulfilling life? Indeed there is! Just follow Meyer's doctrine of Undying Devotion to the Menfolk No Matter How Condescending Or Outright Abusive They Might Be and YOU too might have the privilege of starring in a Meyer novel!
And did anyone notice that this book was Twilight redux? Only worse because of the lack of decent female characters (Leah and Rosalie, you are my favourites and in my canon Breaking Dawn never happened). Wanda = Bella, Jared = Edward, Ian = Jacob, Jamie = Seth. Humans = vampires (in terms of other species the protaganist sees as inherently better than her thus abetting her horrible self esteem issues). In conclusion: HATE HATE HATE. I'm so glad I checked this out of the library instead of buying it.