i picked up this book purely because it was written by stephenie meyer, the fantastic author of the twilight series. and i was a little worried when the first few chapters reminded me of every body snatching movie i'd ever seen, especially the invasion with nicole kidman which was pretty much the same story. however i loved this book for it's fantastic plot, characters and the sense of hope present throughout. it progressed into something completely it's own which was unlike any other story i had ever read. i was amazed to find myself not only liking sci-fi but unable to put the book down for more than a moment before i was picking it up again, delving back into wanda and melanie's story. i read on s. meyer's website that her publicist couldn't decide if she liked the host or twilight the best. which i must say made me think she was mad, but she's right. the stories are completely different but the writing style is so similar and the characters are so amazing that i myself am finding it hard to decide also. read this book any way you can!!! you won't regret it!!!