The Host

Despite it being written by Stephenie Meyer, The Host is an amazing book, I'll admit it takes time to get into but once you do it's hard to put down. The Host follows the story of Melanie Stryder, a girl trying to survive after earth has been invaded by an alien parasitic species. When she does get captured, her body is given to one of these aliens called Wanda, however when these beings take over a body the human is supposed to just fade away but Melanie refuses to, her only goal is to find her brother and the guy she loves and keep them safe. Saoirse Ronan plays Melanie/Wanda, at first when I heard the casting, I wasn't convinced, I thought she's too young and not right but now after seeing her performance, I was a complete idiot for thinking otherwise. This girl could be twelve in real life and it wouldn't make a difference because she's such a good actress, she carries herself well on screen and is a true heroine. As for her love interests, Jared (Max Irons) and Ian (Jake Abel), I thought they did pretty well, I think it's the best acting either have done and both have great chemistry with Ronan. Having said that, the film itself- the story does not translate well on screen, it's patchy and poorly edited and the world building is rushed over. I recommend the book but not the film, as much as it pains me to say. 2 out of 5 stars.