Stephenie Meyer, author to the best-selling series Twilight, was unaware of the vampire sensation she would cause in the world of reading when she submitted her novel on June 2, 2003. Since being published, her popularity grew. Not only was Twilight placed #5 on The New York Times bestseller list and New Moon #1 for 25 weeks straight, but her series were made into the widely popular and highly anticipated movies. But everyone knows about Edward, Bella, Jacob, and all of Twilight’s other characters. What about Meyer’s other novel?

In The Host, Stephenie Meyer created a world where everything has been taken over by “souls,” aliens who came to Earth to protect our planet from our destructive actions. Wanderer, a soul who can’t find a planet where she wants to stay, is placed inside Melanie, a “resistant host” who refuses to let her mind slip away. When Wanderer fails to make her thoughts and old memories fade, she grows attached to the people of Melanie’s past and together, they take a journey that makes Wanderer understand the beauty of human life as she experiences pain, friendship, and love.

Don’t let its description fool you; Stephenie Meyer has a way with making the unrealistic seem possible. Reading her novel, I had tears rolling down my cheeks as she captured the complexity of human emotions and emphasized the little happy things in life that make the bad worth suffering. Filled with vivid descriptions and plenty of action, The Host is a book worth reading.