Humanity is almost obsolete on earth.  The human body now serves as a "host" to unseen invaders from another life form.  These invaders plan to take over and make the earth a more civilized place, and it won't be tainted by things like war, sexual perversity, hatred and other human complexities.  "Wanderer" invades the body of Melanie Stryder.  It should be simple enough.  At first, the Wanderer will experience some withdrawal, where the former soul refuses to succumb and the invader experiences thoughts and memories that are not her own.  But as Wanderer goes on with her life and career, she realizes that Melanie lives within her, tormenting her thoughts.  The reason to the host's refusal to move on dawns on Wanderer: Melanie is looking out for two humans, one of whom is the love of her life.  Things reach a head, and Wanderer can no longer distinguish between her thoughts and Melanie's, and soon their feelings for Jared are in synch as well.  How will it all unfold?Stephenie Meyer once said that she was a better storyteller than she was a writer.  I think I get what she means after reading this book.  I bought this a year ago, began to read it, then put it down after about one hundred pages.  Now I dust it off, open it to the dog-eared page, and carry on reading it.  I didn't have to reread the first hundred pages, for it was not difficult to pick it up where I'd left it off.  The first two hundred or so pages are extremely dull.  It is nothing more than a series of flashbacks and Wanderer having an internal dialogue with Melanie.  Things pick up after this rather tedious beginning.  However, things drag on and on to a point where I almost throw the book to the nearest wall in more than one occasion.  This book should have been at least two hundred pages shorter.  The redundancy is extremely exhausting.  Science fiction has never been my favorite genre.  I cannot imagine green-colored men and aliens with six or seven eyes that are found in those books.  (I do like paranormal fantasy though, which is why I enjoyed Meyer's Twilight series better.)  However, this one is entertaining and at times compelling.  If only it had been better written and edited.  But oh well.  I needed to know why this book was so popular (still in hardback and an NYT bestseller after over one year), and so that's out of the way.  Read it if you must. 

Question: How many pages does the book have?
Answer: The first two hundred or so