Twilight (Twilight Series, Book 1)
by Stephenie Meyer
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 45117)
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
morons
I really enjoy lively details. There's nothing better than knowing an author has really thought about her characters and situations, and come up with some surprising and delightful detail that makes the whole reading experience fuller. Lively details, you understand -- pointless details are a nightmare to read. I don't need to know that Bella ate a granola bar for breakfast. I REALLY DON'T. (Notice that I remembered the granola bar. I think this is partly because I was ferve...more
I really enjoy lively details. There's nothing better than knowing an author has really thought about her characters and situations, and come up with some surprising and delightful detail that makes the whole reading experience fuller. Lively details, you understand -- pointless details are a nightmare to read. I don't need to know that Bella ate a granola bar for breakfast. I REALLY DON'T. (Notice that I remembered the granola bar. I think this is partly because I was fervently hoping it would have significance. Like, she would spectacularly choke on her oatmeal the next day and think, "AH, I should have had a granola bar like yesterday!")
"Show, don't tell" is not the be-all-and-end-all of writing. There's a little thing called summary narrative. It's beautiful; it facilitates plot progression without having to follow your narrator through 24-fucking-hours of a day... and "watch" as she eats a fucking granola bar for breakfast.
I've seen this novel accused of Mary Sue-ism and um, yeah, any character named Isabella Swan seems destined to be a Mary Sue. But honestly, I wouldn't begrudge a semi-autobiographical story if it actually had any of the realism of autobiography. All the high school/teenage stuff honestly made me boggle. Because... that's not what high school is like! That's not what being seventeen is like! Twilight reads like... well, it reads like a thirtysomething who has no recollection of being 17. Bella has all the emotional maturity of a 32-year-old and that's just not remotely believable.
Meyer is not a bad writer. She has the ability to string words together. Unfortunately, she lacks any kind of flair. There was no original description; no truly evocative language. Twilight reads like Meyer has read a lot of mediocre novels and regurgitated the same kind of language onto the page. There is just nothing exciting to the language. The dialogue is awful: not only uninspiring and lacking in wit, but... it's all the same! There's no difference in speech patterns to the characters; no awareness of personal tics. The characterization is wafer-thin (see above, re: Mary Sue). The plotting is terrible: the novel trundles along at a slow pace for 250 pages and then Meyer seems to suddenly realize she needs a climax and the gears shift abruptly and the reader is caught up in a series of ridiculous contrivances that set up Meyer's final set-piece (which, by the way, I saw coming a mile away).
This is such a profoundly antifeminist novel. And it's funny, because I think Meyer has no idea that it's antifeminist. I mean, she has a female heroine! A heroine who reads Austen and writes essays about misogyny in Shakespeare! Surely she's kicking butt for all womankind. Um... no. She cooks, she cleans, she looks after the man in her life! She needs male characters to protect her from the big, bad, scary world! She falls headfirst into a disturbingly dysfunctional relationship with a man 90 years her senior without the slightest amount of worry!
Seriously. Bella/Edward. What's that all about? I don't get the attraction. He has her in his thrall. She is, let me quote, "unconditionally and irrevocably" in love with him -- and after, like, a week. o__O She's consumed by him; she's willing to sacrifice her life for him, and that's... romantic? I just think it's a bit sick, really. You know what I find romantic? Human warmth. Not sweeping, dramatic statements of everlasting and overarching love. Little, sweet moments of connection that ring true. That's something Twilight's apparently epic love story is sorely lacking in. (Did I say Bella has the emotional maturity of a 32-year-old? Well, except when it comes to Edward. There she has the emotional maturity of a dumb dog.)...less
"Show, don't tell" is not the be-all-and-end-all of writing. There's a little thing called summary narrative. It's beautiful; it facilitates plot progression without having to follow your narrator through 24-fucking-hours of a day... and "watch" as she eats a fucking granola bar for breakfast.
I've seen this novel accused of Mary Sue-ism and um, yeah, any character named Isabella Swan seems destined to be a Mary Sue. But honestly, I wouldn't begrudge a semi-autobiographical story if it actually had any of the realism of autobiography. All the high school/teenage stuff honestly made me boggle. Because... that's not what high school is like! That's not what being seventeen is like! Twilight reads like... well, it reads like a thirtysomething who has no recollection of being 17. Bella has all the emotional maturity of a 32-year-old and that's just not remotely believable.
Meyer is not a bad writer. She has the ability to string words together. Unfortunately, she lacks any kind of flair. There was no original description; no truly evocative language. Twilight reads like Meyer has read a lot of mediocre novels and regurgitated the same kind of language onto the page. There is just nothing exciting to the language. The dialogue is awful: not only uninspiring and lacking in wit, but... it's all the same! There's no difference in speech patterns to the characters; no awareness of personal tics. The characterization is wafer-thin (see above, re: Mary Sue). The plotting is terrible: the novel trundles along at a slow pace for 250 pages and then Meyer seems to suddenly realize she needs a climax and the gears shift abruptly and the reader is caught up in a series of ridiculous contrivances that set up Meyer's final set-piece (which, by the way, I saw coming a mile away).
This is such a profoundly antifeminist novel. And it's funny, because I think Meyer has no idea that it's antifeminist. I mean, she has a female heroine! A heroine who reads Austen and writes essays about misogyny in Shakespeare! Surely she's kicking butt for all womankind. Um... no. She cooks, she cleans, she looks after the man in her life! She needs male characters to protect her from the big, bad, scary world! She falls headfirst into a disturbingly dysfunctional relationship with a man 90 years her senior without the slightest amount of worry!
Seriously. Bella/Edward. What's that all about? I don't get the attraction. He has her in his thrall. She is, let me quote, "unconditionally and irrevocably" in love with him -- and after, like, a week. o__O She's consumed by him; she's willing to sacrifice her life for him, and that's... romantic? I just think it's a bit sick, really. You know what I find romantic? Human warmth. Not sweeping, dramatic statements of everlasting and overarching love. Little, sweet moments of connection that ring true. That's something Twilight's apparently epic love story is sorely lacking in. (Did I say Bella has the emotional maturity of a 32-year-old? Well, except when it comes to Edward. There she has the emotional maturity of a dumb dog.)...less
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recommends it for:
no one, not even my worst enemy
Okay, I have to say that I picked this book up due to all the hype... I mean, so many people had recommended it to me and I finally got sick of hearing about it, so I picked it up and read it... or as least tried to.
Let me first say that I am a huge romance and vampire/supernatural fan, so when I first heard about the book I was really excited to read it because it combined two of my favorite genres.
But, I really regret ever buying and forcing myself to finish it (I hate no...more Okay, I have to say that I picked this book up due to all the hype... I mean, so many people had recommended it to me and I finally got sick of hearing about it, so I picked it up and read it... or as least tried to.
Let me first say that I am a huge romance and vampire/supernatural fan, so when I first heard about the book I was really excited to read it because it combined two of my favorite genres.
But, I really regret ever buying and forcing myself to finish it (I hate not finishing books, even if I hate them), it was so bad. Though, let me tell you that I really wanted to like it, really I did... I'm one of those people who likes a lot of popular things, Twilight was popular, so I figured... I would love it just like everyone else, but I was very, very wrong.
A lot of fans wonder why I hate the book so much and here is my list and it's a pretty long one, so get ready:
1. Lack of characterization:
Bella- Okay... I absolutely hated this girl. She was the worst female protagonist I have ever read about! She's stupid, shallow, selfish and just plain annoying! Not to mention she's pathetically dependent on Edward... I mean, come on, NO girl should be that dependent on a boy, not only is that pathetic, but it is very unhealthy. She was also a clumsy little damsel in distress who was dumb enough to get herself into situations that she couldn't get out of. I would have loved for Meyer to have given her a backbone, so she could have done something useful instead of whining and doing stupid, idiotic things that no remotely intelligent teenage girl would actually do. Not to mention the fact that she is apparently very "plain" looking... if that's the case then why are there several guys fawning over her? She's a Mary Sue, simple as that. And I hate Mary Sues.
Edward- Okay, this boy is just way too possessive and stalkerish (it is not romantic of him to sneak into Bella's room and watch her sleep! It's creepy and wrong!) Oh, and "bad boys" usually, don't sit there and say "I'm dangerous, stay away" etc. all the time.... I also hated the fact that Bella described some part of his body every other page. It was completely UNNECESSARY!! Okay, we get the fact that he's hot, Bella... now MOVE ON!
I could go on and on about all the characters... every single one of them was a flat, cardboard cut-out that did not seem realistic at all.
2. Writing style:
Purple Prose- Ew... to this... seriously, all the purple prose made me want to throw the book across the room. Enough said.
3. Descriptions:
I know I said up there that I got sick of reading about how gorgeous some part of Edward's body was every other paragraph... and if that wasn't bad enough... what's worse than is the fact that even with all that unnecessary description of him and everyone else (though mostly him, since Bella is that shallow) I still had a hard time picturing him or any of the characters in my head, for that matter. I also had a hard time picturing a lot of the setting and the action in my head as well. It's kind of sad really... there was so much description, you would think that everything (Edward especially) would be embedded into my brain, but no. That's what makes me wonder why so many fans find Edward so "hot", I never got a clear picture of him in my head to even begin to form an opinion about whether he was "hot" or not.
4. Plot:
Okay, the plot gets it's own category because it pissed me off so much. I mean, seriously... where was it?! It was nothing but sappy, gag worthy fluff between Edward and Bella until page 400 or so, when something finally happened. And, even then... it went by so fast and was not explained well at all. It seemed to me that Meyer just threw it in there, and it was only put there in the first place, so that she could point at it and say, "Look, there's a plot right there.", when people like me came around and said otherwise. But that's not a plot!! The plot should not take 400 pages to start! And no the whole "romance" between Bella and Edward is not the plot!!
6. Plot holes
The one thing that drove me absolutely CRAZY was the the fact that no one in the small town of Forks noticed that the Cullens never aged! And the "children" never graduated and went on to college. I mean, if they've been there for more than four years, than I'm assuming that someone would have noticed! I mean, the town could not be full of that many morons! Speaking of school, why in the world would they willingly choose to take high school over and over again? I know they need to "fit in", but seriously.. . that's just stupid... someone is bound to figure out sooner or later.
Oh, I love the fans response to this, it usually goes like this: "Well it is a fictional book." That's a stupid reason. Just because it's a book with vampires doesn't mean it's exempt from having to be realistic and having glaring plot holes.
7. Vampires
Like I said before, I'm a big vampire fan. But, this book is an embarrassment to vampire fiction. The vampires are pathetic, sweet, innocent, almost "misunderstood" creatures. I know that Meyer has every right to create her own idea about vampires, but come on! Sparkling vampires?! Vegetarian vampires? That's just ridiculous! All the other myths about vampires are nonexistent. The whole sparkling vampire idea just seemed to be there because Meyer wanted a reason as to why the vampires could even walk around in the daylight to begin with. The idea was just a convenient way for her to write the vampires... who, were way too human like for my tastes. Oh, and not to mention the fact that they had all the good things when it came to being a vampire, but none of the bad things (ex: they don't burn in sunlight, they sparkle, they all have certain powers, but none of them have the bad things that come with them, etc.)
I don't like my vampires to be blood thirsty monsters that kill everything in sight. But, I also don't want them to be so pathetic and innocent either. The only two vampiric qualities that are there are the ones that are well known among everyone: drinking blood and being immortal. Otherwise, the Cullens are disgustingly human like.
I think the thing I have the problem with the most is the fact that Meyer has never seen any vampire movies/t.v. shows are read any vampire novels. If she had, I would have been able to respect her ideas more because at least then she would have done her research. It's quite obvious that she had no idea what she was doing when she created the vampires in this story.
Where the vampires are concerned, this novel is an embarrassment to vampire/supernatural fiction.
8. Messages
I am somewhat appalled at the messages that this book sends out.. they are so anti-feminist, it's disgusting:
1. It's perfectly okay to have no goals or aspirations or even an education, just get yourself a man and he'll take care of you.
2. It's also perfectly okay to like someone because of their physical features... this is not love people, it's lust! They have nothing in common! He likes her because she smells nice and she likes him because he's hot.
3. When you have several guys fawning over you pick the hottest one of them all because looks are so very important.
4. It's okay if the guy you love sneaks into your bedroom and watches you sleep at night... that's completely normal and romantic... not the the least bit creepy or stalkerish.
9. The Obsession:
Well, this gets its own category, mostly because I just don't understand what all the obsession is over... it's a book, and a poorly written one at that. I run across girls all the time arguing over who Edward "belongs" to... it's pathetic and kind of scary. He's a book character... he doesn't belong to anyone, but Meyer, since she's the one that created him.
This was obviously a fulfillment story that I would expect a preteen to write on her livejournal. This is not a book I would expect a thirty something year old women with a
college education to write and actually attempt and then succeed in getting published. And, it was a degree in English... seriously, I would have expected much better from someone who had that degree... since she spent college studying books and analyzing them etc. you would think that she would know how to write one the proper way...
Meyer could have made this book great, but no... instead she took the easy way out: a cliched, simple, overused plot and added vampires to it(as if that made it any different).
Honestly, I've read better over on fictionpress.com... and that's really sad, because most of the authors over there are between the ages of 14 and 26 and are amateurs in the field. Maybe, if Meyer had posted this up there first, it would have been a much better story because the good writers over there would have set her straight. Maybe then, I would have been able to get through the novel, because it might have actually been good!
And, oh just for the record... Twilight is NOT the next Harry Potter, nor is it better than Harry Potter... I say that not only because JK Rowling actually has talent, but also because they are in completely different genres and can't really be compared.
Though, it does make me sick to see Harry Potter even mentioned in the same sentence as this piece of crap... (unfortunately, that couldn't be avoided in this review) and it's an insult to JK Rowling to have her amazing writing compared to the horrible writing of Stephenie Meyer....less
Let me first say that I am a huge romance and vampire/supernatural fan, so when I first heard about the book I was really excited to read it because it combined two of my favorite genres.
But, I really regret ever buying and forcing myself to finish it (I hate no...more Okay, I have to say that I picked this book up due to all the hype... I mean, so many people had recommended it to me and I finally got sick of hearing about it, so I picked it up and read it... or as least tried to.
Let me first say that I am a huge romance and vampire/supernatural fan, so when I first heard about the book I was really excited to read it because it combined two of my favorite genres.
But, I really regret ever buying and forcing myself to finish it (I hate not finishing books, even if I hate them), it was so bad. Though, let me tell you that I really wanted to like it, really I did... I'm one of those people who likes a lot of popular things, Twilight was popular, so I figured... I would love it just like everyone else, but I was very, very wrong.
A lot of fans wonder why I hate the book so much and here is my list and it's a pretty long one, so get ready:
1. Lack of characterization:
Bella- Okay... I absolutely hated this girl. She was the worst female protagonist I have ever read about! She's stupid, shallow, selfish and just plain annoying! Not to mention she's pathetically dependent on Edward... I mean, come on, NO girl should be that dependent on a boy, not only is that pathetic, but it is very unhealthy. She was also a clumsy little damsel in distress who was dumb enough to get herself into situations that she couldn't get out of. I would have loved for Meyer to have given her a backbone, so she could have done something useful instead of whining and doing stupid, idiotic things that no remotely intelligent teenage girl would actually do. Not to mention the fact that she is apparently very "plain" looking... if that's the case then why are there several guys fawning over her? She's a Mary Sue, simple as that. And I hate Mary Sues.
Edward- Okay, this boy is just way too possessive and stalkerish (it is not romantic of him to sneak into Bella's room and watch her sleep! It's creepy and wrong!) Oh, and "bad boys" usually, don't sit there and say "I'm dangerous, stay away" etc. all the time.... I also hated the fact that Bella described some part of his body every other page. It was completely UNNECESSARY!! Okay, we get the fact that he's hot, Bella... now MOVE ON!
I could go on and on about all the characters... every single one of them was a flat, cardboard cut-out that did not seem realistic at all.
2. Writing style:
Purple Prose- Ew... to this... seriously, all the purple prose made me want to throw the book across the room. Enough said.
3. Descriptions:
I know I said up there that I got sick of reading about how gorgeous some part of Edward's body was every other paragraph... and if that wasn't bad enough... what's worse than is the fact that even with all that unnecessary description of him and everyone else (though mostly him, since Bella is that shallow) I still had a hard time picturing him or any of the characters in my head, for that matter. I also had a hard time picturing a lot of the setting and the action in my head as well. It's kind of sad really... there was so much description, you would think that everything (Edward especially) would be embedded into my brain, but no. That's what makes me wonder why so many fans find Edward so "hot", I never got a clear picture of him in my head to even begin to form an opinion about whether he was "hot" or not.
4. Plot:
Okay, the plot gets it's own category because it pissed me off so much. I mean, seriously... where was it?! It was nothing but sappy, gag worthy fluff between Edward and Bella until page 400 or so, when something finally happened. And, even then... it went by so fast and was not explained well at all. It seemed to me that Meyer just threw it in there, and it was only put there in the first place, so that she could point at it and say, "Look, there's a plot right there.", when people like me came around and said otherwise. But that's not a plot!! The plot should not take 400 pages to start! And no the whole "romance" between Bella and Edward is not the plot!!
6. Plot holes
The one thing that drove me absolutely CRAZY was the the fact that no one in the small town of Forks noticed that the Cullens never aged! And the "children" never graduated and went on to college. I mean, if they've been there for more than four years, than I'm assuming that someone would have noticed! I mean, the town could not be full of that many morons! Speaking of school, why in the world would they willingly choose to take high school over and over again? I know they need to "fit in", but seriously.. . that's just stupid... someone is bound to figure out sooner or later.
Oh, I love the fans response to this, it usually goes like this: "Well it is a fictional book." That's a stupid reason. Just because it's a book with vampires doesn't mean it's exempt from having to be realistic and having glaring plot holes.
7. Vampires
Like I said before, I'm a big vampire fan. But, this book is an embarrassment to vampire fiction. The vampires are pathetic, sweet, innocent, almost "misunderstood" creatures. I know that Meyer has every right to create her own idea about vampires, but come on! Sparkling vampires?! Vegetarian vampires? That's just ridiculous! All the other myths about vampires are nonexistent. The whole sparkling vampire idea just seemed to be there because Meyer wanted a reason as to why the vampires could even walk around in the daylight to begin with. The idea was just a convenient way for her to write the vampires... who, were way too human like for my tastes. Oh, and not to mention the fact that they had all the good things when it came to being a vampire, but none of the bad things (ex: they don't burn in sunlight, they sparkle, they all have certain powers, but none of them have the bad things that come with them, etc.)
I don't like my vampires to be blood thirsty monsters that kill everything in sight. But, I also don't want them to be so pathetic and innocent either. The only two vampiric qualities that are there are the ones that are well known among everyone: drinking blood and being immortal. Otherwise, the Cullens are disgustingly human like.
I think the thing I have the problem with the most is the fact that Meyer has never seen any vampire movies/t.v. shows are read any vampire novels. If she had, I would have been able to respect her ideas more because at least then she would have done her research. It's quite obvious that she had no idea what she was doing when she created the vampires in this story.
Where the vampires are concerned, this novel is an embarrassment to vampire/supernatural fiction.
8. Messages
I am somewhat appalled at the messages that this book sends out.. they are so anti-feminist, it's disgusting:
1. It's perfectly okay to have no goals or aspirations or even an education, just get yourself a man and he'll take care of you.
2. It's also perfectly okay to like someone because of their physical features... this is not love people, it's lust! They have nothing in common! He likes her because she smells nice and she likes him because he's hot.
3. When you have several guys fawning over you pick the hottest one of them all because looks are so very important.
4. It's okay if the guy you love sneaks into your bedroom and watches you sleep at night... that's completely normal and romantic... not the the least bit creepy or stalkerish.
9. The Obsession:
Well, this gets its own category, mostly because I just don't understand what all the obsession is over... it's a book, and a poorly written one at that. I run across girls all the time arguing over who Edward "belongs" to... it's pathetic and kind of scary. He's a book character... he doesn't belong to anyone, but Meyer, since she's the one that created him.
This was obviously a fulfillment story that I would expect a preteen to write on her livejournal. This is not a book I would expect a thirty something year old women with a
college education to write and actually attempt and then succeed in getting published. And, it was a degree in English... seriously, I would have expected much better from someone who had that degree... since she spent college studying books and analyzing them etc. you would think that she would know how to write one the proper way...
Meyer could have made this book great, but no... instead she took the easy way out: a cliched, simple, overused plot and added vampires to it(as if that made it any different).
Honestly, I've read better over on fictionpress.com... and that's really sad, because most of the authors over there are between the ages of 14 and 26 and are amateurs in the field. Maybe, if Meyer had posted this up there first, it would have been a much better story because the good writers over there would have set her straight. Maybe then, I would have been able to get through the novel, because it might have actually been good!
And, oh just for the record... Twilight is NOT the next Harry Potter, nor is it better than Harry Potter... I say that not only because JK Rowling actually has talent, but also because they are in completely different genres and can't really be compared.
Though, it does make me sick to see Harry Potter even mentioned in the same sentence as this piece of crap... (unfortunately, that couldn't be avoided in this review) and it's an insult to JK Rowling to have her amazing writing compared to the horrible writing of Stephenie Meyer....less
Like this review?
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(78 people liked it)
83 comments
Read in November, 2007
I actually had to give this book three separate reviews by three sides of my personality. My three-star rating is the median of the three:
Review 1, by My Inner Fifteen Year Old Girl (5 stars):
Bella is smart, funny, well-read, pretty and yet misunderstood by most of her peers (just like me). Then she meets a cool, hot guy who turns out to be a good vampire, and he can do really cool things, like run fast and stop cars with his hands, but he's still sweet and wonderful. It's ultimat...more I actually had to give this book three separate reviews by three sides of my personality. My three-star rating is the median of the three:
Review 1, by My Inner Fifteen Year Old Girl (5 stars):
Bella is smart, funny, well-read, pretty and yet misunderstood by most of her peers (just like me). Then she meets a cool, hot guy who turns out to be a good vampire, and he can do really cool things, like run fast and stop cars with his hands, but he's still sweet and wonderful. It's ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy -- what's not to like? Meyers can make your heart speed up with some of the tense, tortured "we must be together/no, what if i hurt you" pg-13 erotica.
Review 2, by My Fan of YA Lit (3 Stars):
Meyers can tell a pretty good story, when she lets herself actually tell it -- the book starts out well, and would have been a bit more interesting if I hadn't known he was a vampire all along. Then it slows down during the long "getting to know you" dialogue exchanges between Edward and Bella -- there's no plot, just back-story and exposition disguised as conversations, and far too many "I can't be with you, I don't want to hurt you!" "But I love you, I don't care about danger!" back-and-forths. When the evil vamps show up, however, the story kicks back in and the end is quite exciting. When Meyers isn't dwelling on how perfectly angelic Edward is (again!) she can get the pages turning. Since there are A LOT of pages to turn, I wish she would have infused that urgency into the story more often. While abandoning most of the conventional cliches of vampire-lore (stakes, sunlight, garlic, coffins) she keeps all the modern-vamp-romance cliches (alabaster skin, good hair, expensive taste in clothes, tragically distant), and adds a few of her own unfortunate twists (vampires avoid the sun because it makes them sparkle, the good-vamp clan play some extreme version of baseball in a scene that was far too Quidich-y for my taste). Too many cliches or trying to hard to be original -- somehow both criticisms are accurate.
Review 3, by My Inner Feminist (1 Star):
Meyers describes Bella as being strong, brave, and independent, but then shows her as a spineless, cowering victim who needs to be saved by her violently jealous and over-protective boyfriend. She constantly goes on and on about how Edward is perfect at everything and how he's so gorgeous and she is so unworthy of him, how he's so strong and he protects her. In fact, she never gives any reason for liking him other than how hot he is, but that's fair because Edward never gives a reason for liking her other than she smells good. He is frustrated that Bella is the only person whose thoughts he can't read, so he eavesdrops on her friends minds to find out what they talk about, he follows her whenever she leaves her house, and he secretly camps outside her room when she sleeps - that doesn't sound sweet, it sounds creepy. If girls want a romantic, conflicted vampire/human romance, they should go watch the firs three seasons of Buffy -- not only is there the dark, mysterious, conflicted vampire, but the girl he's in love with can kick some serious ass all on her own....less
Review 1, by My Inner Fifteen Year Old Girl (5 stars):
Bella is smart, funny, well-read, pretty and yet misunderstood by most of her peers (just like me). Then she meets a cool, hot guy who turns out to be a good vampire, and he can do really cool things, like run fast and stop cars with his hands, but he's still sweet and wonderful. It's ultimat...more I actually had to give this book three separate reviews by three sides of my personality. My three-star rating is the median of the three:
Review 1, by My Inner Fifteen Year Old Girl (5 stars):
Bella is smart, funny, well-read, pretty and yet misunderstood by most of her peers (just like me). Then she meets a cool, hot guy who turns out to be a good vampire, and he can do really cool things, like run fast and stop cars with his hands, but he's still sweet and wonderful. It's ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy -- what's not to like? Meyers can make your heart speed up with some of the tense, tortured "we must be together/no, what if i hurt you" pg-13 erotica.
Review 2, by My Fan of YA Lit (3 Stars):
Meyers can tell a pretty good story, when she lets herself actually tell it -- the book starts out well, and would have been a bit more interesting if I hadn't known he was a vampire all along. Then it slows down during the long "getting to know you" dialogue exchanges between Edward and Bella -- there's no plot, just back-story and exposition disguised as conversations, and far too many "I can't be with you, I don't want to hurt you!" "But I love you, I don't care about danger!" back-and-forths. When the evil vamps show up, however, the story kicks back in and the end is quite exciting. When Meyers isn't dwelling on how perfectly angelic Edward is (again!) she can get the pages turning. Since there are A LOT of pages to turn, I wish she would have infused that urgency into the story more often. While abandoning most of the conventional cliches of vampire-lore (stakes, sunlight, garlic, coffins) she keeps all the modern-vamp-romance cliches (alabaster skin, good hair, expensive taste in clothes, tragically distant), and adds a few of her own unfortunate twists (vampires avoid the sun because it makes them sparkle, the good-vamp clan play some extreme version of baseball in a scene that was far too Quidich-y for my taste). Too many cliches or trying to hard to be original -- somehow both criticisms are accurate.
Review 3, by My Inner Feminist (1 Star):
Meyers describes Bella as being strong, brave, and independent, but then shows her as a spineless, cowering victim who needs to be saved by her violently jealous and over-protective boyfriend. She constantly goes on and on about how Edward is perfect at everything and how he's so gorgeous and she is so unworthy of him, how he's so strong and he protects her. In fact, she never gives any reason for liking him other than how hot he is, but that's fair because Edward never gives a reason for liking her other than she smells good. He is frustrated that Bella is the only person whose thoughts he can't read, so he eavesdrops on her friends minds to find out what they talk about, he follows her whenever she leaves her house, and he secretly camps outside her room when she sleeps - that doesn't sound sweet, it sounds creepy. If girls want a romantic, conflicted vampire/human romance, they should go watch the firs three seasons of Buffy -- not only is there the dark, mysterious, conflicted vampire, but the girl he's in love with can kick some serious ass all on her own....less
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Read in September, 2005
recommends it for:
Romance obsessed teen girls
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
The problem I have with Twilight is that while my inner fangirl loves this book my outer author (though amateur) knows how poor a book this is. But Twilight is a romance meant for teenage girls longing for a romantic escape, realism would only detract from the magic of Forks and the Cullens, if you want to enjoy this book then you must embrace that inner fangirl and let go of your outer author. I only wish that Mrs. Meyer had put more effort into at least making the characters more real. Questio...more
The problem I have with Twilight is that while my inner fangirl loves this book my outer author (though amateur) knows how poor a book this is. But Twilight is a romance meant for teenage girls longing for a romantic escape, realism would only detract from the magic of Forks and the Cullens, if you want to enjoy this book then you must embrace that inner fangirl and let go of your outer author. I only wish that Mrs. Meyer had put more effort into at least making the characters more real. Questions such as why the Cullens returned to Forks arise or why they are attending high school again (according to an FAQ it is to stay current with new discoveries but surely such a small town is not ideal for knowledge), I like to pretend that the Cullens returned to Forks for Alice and Jasper's sake so they could be at the beginning of the vampires' enemies as well as learn to be human in a small town before moving on to bigger things- alas, such reasoning is not used and we must accept this reality without explanation, which even my inner fangirl cannot accept.
The romance- some love it, some complain how unrealistic and stupid it is. Well, it is Bella's first love, despite all the male attention she didn't care. Edward has read the minds of everyone around him for 90 years, immediately labeling someone and (most likely) not giving them a chance beyond politeness, then comes along a girl whose mind he can't read and whose blood drives him to the edge of insanity; when he learns more about Bella he sees a, mature girl who shares similar hobbies, and enjoys old fashioned things (like himself). Alas, what I have pointed out (actually based on someone else's review) is not remarked upon in the book; we are to accept that they love each other and that is all- no questions, their love transcends time and they shall die for the other and blah, blah, blah. If only Meyer had Bella and Edward explain their attraction to each other, then this book would be more liked.
The main character is either called smart or stupid. Bella does display positive traits: unlike the sequels she is selfless enough to get her friends together and move to Forks so her mother can be happy with her boyfriend, Bella is also intelligent enough to be placed in an advanced program, she displays a sarcastic wit which eventually turns into decent humor rather than complaining, she reads the classics like Austen, listens to Debussy and other music quite often, and most importantly, is very observant- she notices the Cullens vampire speed speaking to each other, how they don't eat their food, how Edward's eye color changes, their abnormal camping season, and how beautifully alike they all are.
On the bad side: Bella is not wise enough to think that as a danger prone, clumsy, bad luck magnet that she may be in danger at night, alone, in an unfamiliar city. Her intelligence is arguable when she is in Edward's presence since she either is too consumed by first love to think clearly or she is perhaps, so stupid and selfish she doesn't care (which becomes apparent in the sequels). A neutral trait is Bella's clumsiness- a common Moe Moe trait- which is actually rather cute given that it is random and not serious (unlike the sequels) but her clumsiness is questionable in it's realism- though thankfully, her clumsiness didn't set in motion events (unlike the sequels which only happened because of an ACCIDENT than her clumsiness). Her issue with blood is my biggest gripe, I know real people are hemophobes (fear of blood) but it just seems out of place with Bella, of all her traits, this one feels the most tacked on, existing only for irony.
The biggest flaw is not even of her character but of her appearance. If you read Meyer's FAQ you will see just how similar Bella is to Stephenie only her appearance reminds me of a cute anime girl- the clumsy Moe Moe. Bella's name is even worse: Isabella Marie Swan- Beautiful Swan- gee, that's subtle. I cannot fathom how Eric, Mike, Tyler, and Jacob all came to pursue Bella- Eric is desperate, Mike is popular so he doesn't make sense, Tyler only wants to make up nearly killing Bella, and Jacob falls in love with Bella with nothing more than the knowledge that this girl used to hang out with his older sisters. Then of course is Lauren- the most popular girl in school- who becomes jealous of Bella for the rest of high school for having so much attention and not wanting it.
Bella reminds me of Fujioka Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club, only Haruhi is cool and special, I can understand why four guys and a girl love her and why a mean girl is envious. Only Bella chooses to fight because she knows she will trip if she tries to run while Haruhi will choose to fight to protect girls from jerks.
Edward's appeal comes largely from the fact that no man (or woman) can be THAT romantically perfect. My fangirl coos at Edward's suave, flirtatious, and mysterious nature (also because he wears a turtleneck) while my author longs for a more solid character. All of Edward's charming characteristics stem from his experience as a vampire rather than the son of a wealthy lawyer in Chicago who dreamed of fighting in the war- but either 90 years of mind reading and some of killing bad people leads to a questionable conclusion, I just don't feel that Edward's past is part of the vampire Bella meets. Also, his angst- laughably dumb. Sorry Ed, but I just don't care, perhaps it is Edward's nature to try and help others but his past escapades of murder and heroics are forgotten after they are mention and are not recalled in the sequels.
The writing was simple and had a nice magical ring to it, it brought a real sense of the misty, green atmosphere behind Bella's house and the sunny yellow meadow of Edward's.
A big problem I have with Twilight is how we must exit Bella's head to analyze characters. Bella's self esteem seems fine in the beginning given how she doesn't care for the male attention nor cares for Lauren's envy but as she falls in love with Edward he is seen through her "first love and with the perfect guy" eyes and Edward as a person is lost to Bella considering him perfect. Luckily, we only encounter a few of her self-depreciating comments- only when she is caught by surprise by Edward's vampiric beauty (and for the first time). But I do not enjoy having to analyze these characters through the eyes of a girl who can see nothing but absolute perfection. Bella is supposed to be observant and yet cannot pick out characteristics like how much Edward questions her since he can't read her mind and especially not what someone would be like after 90 years of immediately labeling someone by reading their thoughts.
As an author and reader, I roll my eyes at Meyer's biggest mistake- whereas my fangirl was excited and happy with the random encounter of James' coven, I still know how desperate Meyer must have been for an exciting conclusion and so tossed this in. Albeit, fangirls will enjoy the cat-and-mouse game at the end (as well as the character development of Alice and most definitely Jasper) but critics will scoff at the sudden appearance to conclude what just was a mystery and romance driven plot where the only danger was Edward himself. The worst part of the encounter is how this completely random wind sets in motion the hunt, not even Bella's clumsiness (which may have improved the chase), but a wind.
Meyer had plenty of opportunities to be the new Anne Rice (with actual literary credit rather than a strong fan following) and yet she fails to create strong supporting characters, secondary characters, world, vampire mythology, and overall a strong story. Her vampires have NO WEAKNESSES, rather than die in sunlight they sparkle, they even have super, special, awesome powers- some which effect Bella and some that don't, which goes unexplained for two books. While I am not a romance fan and have no interest in romance myself, I was still enchanted with Twilight. Alas dear reader, the magic shrivels up and dies in New Moon and Eclipse; trust me, stop here- maybe read New Moon since a lot happens plot and relationship wise, but DO NOT read Eclipse for even though important stuff does happen it is handled so poorly I can scarcely acknowledge it....less
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Hilaire by:
the Netrecommends it for: no one, not even my most hated enemy!
my original critique: http://icantthinkofanythingrig...
Twilight is stupid and lame-o
I think everyone knows that the characters are essentially the ones who make up the book. It’s through them that the plot is developed, the conflicts are carried, the climax is revealed, stuff like that. And when you’re writing in a first person POV, you have to make that “f...more my original critique: http://icantthinkofanythingrig...
Twilight is stupid and lame-o
I think everyone knows that the characters are essentially the ones who make up the book. It’s through them that the plot is developed, the conflicts are carried, the climax is revealed, stuff like that. And when you’re writing in a first person POV, you have to make that “first person” interesting and observant. Bella, our first person, is about as interesting as a rock.
Isabella is nothing more than a Mary Sue. It doesn’t even take a genius to figure out that ‘Bella’ is Italian for ‘beautiful’. And her last name is ‘Swan’, which as a device in literature, symbolizes grace and beauty. Bella Swan? Beautiful Swan? Not very clever.
Here’s the contradiction: She’s ordinary. At least that’s what she keeps on insisting throughout the book. Practically everyone in her new school asks her to the dance, or to the prom. And she gets the guy who apparently “doesn’t date” because “none of the girls… are good-looking enough for him.” Her appearance is somewhat similar to the author’s, as well as her story of moving to a new place. If it helps, she’s a klutz – a last ditching effort to not make her a complete Mary Sue.
Most readers who like Twilight relate to Bella. Well I don’t. I can’t possibly relate with a young woman with no plans, no goals, no solid interests, no personality, no deep observations of life, no nothing - but is just “unconditionally and irrevocably in love with” her boyfriend. I really can’t. There’s something so shallow and pathetic about it; the way she’s willing to throw away her friends and family for a guy she has been acquainted with for just… two weeks? Besides, she is extremely boring, the sort which makes you fall asleep while she talks. And if she’s not obsessing over Edward, she does, well, nothing but whines, or tells him and his family that she doesn’t want to be rescued.
I would have liked it if Meyer had given her a little backbone and some brain cells, so she can get out of the stupid situations she puts her stupid self in. I don’t buy her “I grew up in Phoenix” statement. Nobody who grew up in Phoenix would be an idiot enough to wander around empty streets of an unfamiliar city alone. Then again, her idiocy is necessary to give way to her savior, Edward Cullen.
Edward is a vampire – oops! – a perfect vampire. He’s the most beautiful thing which ever existed… Have I mentioned that he’s perfect? And that he has topaz eyes?
He’s also bipolar. He’s serious one time, and then laughs exuberantly another. Insane mood swings, I tell you. He’s supposed to be your perfect male protagonist – hawt!!! (not hot; it should be hawt and must always be followed by three exclamation points), dangerous, smart, mysterious, perfect, and, uhm, sparkly (although the last adjective is not really required; it’s just a bonus if you’re lucky enough). He has this stalker-ish behavior, which is sick: He sneaks into Bella’s room and watches her sleep before they even get to talk. Some think that it’s romantic, but it’s just creepy. I don’t understand what’s so romantic about it.
Edward is 100-something years old and lives with his vampire family. Apparently he and his family don’t drink human blood, because they don’t want to be completely evil. They’re vegetarians: They only drink blood of animals. They are basically good vampires - who play baseball in the woods. (Ha! Who told you it’s boring to be a vampire? You’re allowed to play baseball!) And every myth about vampire is WRONG! Stakes, garlic, sleeping in coffin (although the idea of not sleeping ever was okay) – even sunlight!
But you know, age and race don’t matter in this book, because Edward and Bella actually fall in love! As for the reason… what is the reason again? Oh, because Bella smells good and Edward is hawt!!!. They’re made for each other! It’s destiny!
Seriously: The romance between them is forced and trite. And it’s even more boring than they both are, because they have no personality whatsoever. Geez, what am I saying? There’s no romance at all. There is no development of feelings. Just… BAM! They’re in love! They don’t even do anything but talk about how in love they are. From there, everything becomes sheer selfishness, and for the nth time, stupidity. Bella’s life revolves around her boyfriend, and nothing more. Not only is it absurd; it also gives horrible messages, namely:
1. It’s okay to fall in love in a matter of days and then risk your life for it.
2. You don’t have to have dreams or goals or anything like that; just get a girl/boyfriend. It’s far more important!
3. It’s perfectly fine to lie to your parents especially when it concerns your girl/boyfriend.
4. Ditch your friends. Girl/Boyfriend first, I tell you! Girl/Boyfriend first!
Considering the fact that Edward is so much older than Bella, shouldn’t he be more rational? Shouldn’t he be the mature one? Knowing he can kill Bella, he should have just left her alone. And how come Edward just blabbers everything to Bella? You know, the vampire stuff? For someone who has been in this world for more than a hundred years, he sure displays the maturity of a fetus.
And he’s supposed to be dangerous. That could have worked, if only Bella had the wits to be actually scared. It’s funny; that girl’s so brainless you can’t possibly scare her! As for Edward, it would have been better if he had shown how dangerous he could be. Then again, he is a good vampire, and he doesn’t want to become a monster. So he can only talk about it when it would be cooler for him to show it.
Oh, how could I forget! Edward SPARKLES UNDER THE SUN! Did you know that? Isn’t that cool? The coolest thing ever?! It’s like the very magnificent thing next to Edward! Sparkly sparkles! He sparkles, man, he sparkles “like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface” of his skin! Sparkling! Glittering! Glistening! Scintillating! Oh! my! gosh! Meyer is so original! Who else could have thought that?!
The plot is absolutely zero (the romance between Bella and Edward is not a plot). It’s basically just “He’s a vampire, she’s not. They fall in love. End of story.” And there were a lot of loopholes:
1. Why would the Cullens want to study in high school?! This is my number one question. Hello? Are they nuts? Can someone answer this for me?
2. Why would they want to blend in with the rest of humanity?
3. Why would they put themselves near humans when they know it’s hard to resist biting them?
4. Why would one bad vampire like to bite Bella specifically?
I’d like to answer and expand on loophole 4, because it’s absolutely preposterous. I didn’t even care about that James-vampire when he appeared, because his arrival was so cliched and so late. It’s like Meyer suddenly remembered that there should be something climax-y in Twilight, just to give it a semblance of a plot. This James ought to do the trick. He should be the one to threaten Bella’s life and then she makes an insanely silly mistake and she almost gets killed BUT Edward rescues her!
Meyer’s writing style isn’t something to commend on either; she writes like a twelve-year old. She makes Dan Brown look like a Pulitzer Prize winner. Her words are stilted. The narration is unexciting, dragging, and redundant. Bella keeps telling the readers how much she hates the rain in the first 100 pages of the book, and how she can’t dance If not that, she repetitively says how perfect and beautiful Edward is. What’s ironic is that despite all the perfect descriptions of him, I never quite pictured him in my mind. I’m still wondering how the rest of humanity can drool and squeal at the thought of him.
Bella glares all the time, too. Bella also grimaces a lot, and hisses, and stumbles. Glares, grimaces, hisses, stumbles. Four redundant freakin’ verbs in a 500-page book. That’s not so much, unless you can count only to three.
Meanwhile, Edward always smiles his crooked smile, and he dazzles people (especially Bella).
Nobody ‘said’ anything. Characters only ‘gasped’, ‘chuckled’, ‘questioned’, and ‘answered’.
Meyer also occasionally uses ridiculously long AND obscure words, which don’t quite fit since the rest of her words are plain and simple. I remember one: Ostentatious. She could have simply used ‘showy’ or ‘flamboyant’, but it just had to be ostentatious. Why she used that, I’ve no idea. (In the next books, Meyer uses bigger words. I wonder how big they are…)
And you know, Meyer ends Twilight with Bella attending the PROM. That’s how a vampire story should end: The heroine should attend the prom with her vampire boyfriend. In that ruffled gown and stiletto heels… It just makes sense (although it did take Bella about ten years to figure out Edward is taking her to the prom. What an idiot). Meyer skipped the almost action-y part (Emmett and Jasper’s dealing with James) but she elaborates on the prom.
Now that I’ve finished reading and dissecting Twilight, I still don’t understand all the hype it’s getting. It reads like a bad fan fic. I won't stop you from reading it, though. That's a choice for you to make....less
Twilight is stupid and lame-o
I think everyone knows that the characters are essentially the ones who make up the book. It’s through them that the plot is developed, the conflicts are carried, the climax is revealed, stuff like that. And when you’re writing in a first person POV, you have to make that “f...more my original critique: http://icantthinkofanythingrig...
Twilight is stupid and lame-o
I think everyone knows that the characters are essentially the ones who make up the book. It’s through them that the plot is developed, the conflicts are carried, the climax is revealed, stuff like that. And when you’re writing in a first person POV, you have to make that “first person” interesting and observant. Bella, our first person, is about as interesting as a rock.
Isabella is nothing more than a Mary Sue. It doesn’t even take a genius to figure out that ‘Bella’ is Italian for ‘beautiful’. And her last name is ‘Swan’, which as a device in literature, symbolizes grace and beauty. Bella Swan? Beautiful Swan? Not very clever.
Here’s the contradiction: She’s ordinary. At least that’s what she keeps on insisting throughout the book. Practically everyone in her new school asks her to the dance, or to the prom. And she gets the guy who apparently “doesn’t date” because “none of the girls… are good-looking enough for him.” Her appearance is somewhat similar to the author’s, as well as her story of moving to a new place. If it helps, she’s a klutz – a last ditching effort to not make her a complete Mary Sue.
Most readers who like Twilight relate to Bella. Well I don’t. I can’t possibly relate with a young woman with no plans, no goals, no solid interests, no personality, no deep observations of life, no nothing - but is just “unconditionally and irrevocably in love with” her boyfriend. I really can’t. There’s something so shallow and pathetic about it; the way she’s willing to throw away her friends and family for a guy she has been acquainted with for just… two weeks? Besides, she is extremely boring, the sort which makes you fall asleep while she talks. And if she’s not obsessing over Edward, she does, well, nothing but whines, or tells him and his family that she doesn’t want to be rescued.
I would have liked it if Meyer had given her a little backbone and some brain cells, so she can get out of the stupid situations she puts her stupid self in. I don’t buy her “I grew up in Phoenix” statement. Nobody who grew up in Phoenix would be an idiot enough to wander around empty streets of an unfamiliar city alone. Then again, her idiocy is necessary to give way to her savior, Edward Cullen.
Edward is a vampire – oops! – a perfect vampire. He’s the most beautiful thing which ever existed… Have I mentioned that he’s perfect? And that he has topaz eyes?
He’s also bipolar. He’s serious one time, and then laughs exuberantly another. Insane mood swings, I tell you. He’s supposed to be your perfect male protagonist – hawt!!! (not hot; it should be hawt and must always be followed by three exclamation points), dangerous, smart, mysterious, perfect, and, uhm, sparkly (although the last adjective is not really required; it’s just a bonus if you’re lucky enough). He has this stalker-ish behavior, which is sick: He sneaks into Bella’s room and watches her sleep before they even get to talk. Some think that it’s romantic, but it’s just creepy. I don’t understand what’s so romantic about it.
Edward is 100-something years old and lives with his vampire family. Apparently he and his family don’t drink human blood, because they don’t want to be completely evil. They’re vegetarians: They only drink blood of animals. They are basically good vampires - who play baseball in the woods. (Ha! Who told you it’s boring to be a vampire? You’re allowed to play baseball!) And every myth about vampire is WRONG! Stakes, garlic, sleeping in coffin (although the idea of not sleeping ever was okay) – even sunlight!
But you know, age and race don’t matter in this book, because Edward and Bella actually fall in love! As for the reason… what is the reason again? Oh, because Bella smells good and Edward is hawt!!!. They’re made for each other! It’s destiny!
Seriously: The romance between them is forced and trite. And it’s even more boring than they both are, because they have no personality whatsoever. Geez, what am I saying? There’s no romance at all. There is no development of feelings. Just… BAM! They’re in love! They don’t even do anything but talk about how in love they are. From there, everything becomes sheer selfishness, and for the nth time, stupidity. Bella’s life revolves around her boyfriend, and nothing more. Not only is it absurd; it also gives horrible messages, namely:
1. It’s okay to fall in love in a matter of days and then risk your life for it.
2. You don’t have to have dreams or goals or anything like that; just get a girl/boyfriend. It’s far more important!
3. It’s perfectly fine to lie to your parents especially when it concerns your girl/boyfriend.
4. Ditch your friends. Girl/Boyfriend first, I tell you! Girl/Boyfriend first!
Considering the fact that Edward is so much older than Bella, shouldn’t he be more rational? Shouldn’t he be the mature one? Knowing he can kill Bella, he should have just left her alone. And how come Edward just blabbers everything to Bella? You know, the vampire stuff? For someone who has been in this world for more than a hundred years, he sure displays the maturity of a fetus.
And he’s supposed to be dangerous. That could have worked, if only Bella had the wits to be actually scared. It’s funny; that girl’s so brainless you can’t possibly scare her! As for Edward, it would have been better if he had shown how dangerous he could be. Then again, he is a good vampire, and he doesn’t want to become a monster. So he can only talk about it when it would be cooler for him to show it.
Oh, how could I forget! Edward SPARKLES UNDER THE SUN! Did you know that? Isn’t that cool? The coolest thing ever?! It’s like the very magnificent thing next to Edward! Sparkly sparkles! He sparkles, man, he sparkles “like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface” of his skin! Sparkling! Glittering! Glistening! Scintillating! Oh! my! gosh! Meyer is so original! Who else could have thought that?!
The plot is absolutely zero (the romance between Bella and Edward is not a plot). It’s basically just “He’s a vampire, she’s not. They fall in love. End of story.” And there were a lot of loopholes:
1. Why would the Cullens want to study in high school?! This is my number one question. Hello? Are they nuts? Can someone answer this for me?
2. Why would they want to blend in with the rest of humanity?
3. Why would they put themselves near humans when they know it’s hard to resist biting them?
4. Why would one bad vampire like to bite Bella specifically?
I’d like to answer and expand on loophole 4, because it’s absolutely preposterous. I didn’t even care about that James-vampire when he appeared, because his arrival was so cliched and so late. It’s like Meyer suddenly remembered that there should be something climax-y in Twilight, just to give it a semblance of a plot. This James ought to do the trick. He should be the one to threaten Bella’s life and then she makes an insanely silly mistake and she almost gets killed BUT Edward rescues her!
Meyer’s writing style isn’t something to commend on either; she writes like a twelve-year old. She makes Dan Brown look like a Pulitzer Prize winner. Her words are stilted. The narration is unexciting, dragging, and redundant. Bella keeps telling the readers how much she hates the rain in the first 100 pages of the book, and how she can’t dance If not that, she repetitively says how perfect and beautiful Edward is. What’s ironic is that despite all the perfect descriptions of him, I never quite pictured him in my mind. I’m still wondering how the rest of humanity can drool and squeal at the thought of him.
Bella glares all the time, too. Bella also grimaces a lot, and hisses, and stumbles. Glares, grimaces, hisses, stumbles. Four redundant freakin’ verbs in a 500-page book. That’s not so much, unless you can count only to three.
Meanwhile, Edward always smiles his crooked smile, and he dazzles people (especially Bella).
Nobody ‘said’ anything. Characters only ‘gasped’, ‘chuckled’, ‘questioned’, and ‘answered’.
Meyer also occasionally uses ridiculously long AND obscure words, which don’t quite fit since the rest of her words are plain and simple. I remember one: Ostentatious. She could have simply used ‘showy’ or ‘flamboyant’, but it just had to be ostentatious. Why she used that, I’ve no idea. (In the next books, Meyer uses bigger words. I wonder how big they are…)
And you know, Meyer ends Twilight with Bella attending the PROM. That’s how a vampire story should end: The heroine should attend the prom with her vampire boyfriend. In that ruffled gown and stiletto heels… It just makes sense (although it did take Bella about ten years to figure out Edward is taking her to the prom. What an idiot). Meyer skipped the almost action-y part (Emmett and Jasper’s dealing with James) but she elaborates on the prom.
Now that I’ve finished reading and dissecting Twilight, I still don’t understand all the hype it’s getting. It reads like a bad fan fic. I won't stop you from reading it, though. That's a choice for you to make....less
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English 425 Submitter’s name __Kelly Boehm____
Book Bank Book Bank subject: Fantasy
Reference information:
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Children's Books Year: 2005
# of pages: 498 Genre: Fiction
Reading level Interest level: Middle School, plus
Potential hot lava: vampire theme (possibly could be seen as witchcraft?)
General response/reaction:
I loved this book!! I read the book on a plane ride to Colorado during spring break, and by...more English 425 Submitter’s name __Kelly Boehm____
Book Bank Book Bank subject: Fantasy
Reference information:
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Children's Books Year: 2005
# of pages: 498 Genre: Fiction
Reading level Interest level: Middle School, plus
Potential hot lava: vampire theme (possibly could be seen as witchcraft?)
General response/reaction:
I loved this book!! I read the book on a plane ride to Colorado during spring break, and by the plane ride back I was reading the third book in the serious. I have turned into a huge fan of this series. I’m not sure though I could see myself teaching the book though because of the whole romance portion of the book I think most guys may not like the book as much. This book though I would love to teach, but I don’t see that happening I see this book as more being on an English required summer reading list.
Subjects, Themes, and Big Ideas:
Love, unconditional love, soul mates, growing up, being a new kid at school, making decisions that benefit those you love, being strong, doing what’s right.
Characters:
Isabella Swan – Referred to as Bella. She is the main character of this book and the story is told from her point of view. She is living with her Dad in Forks, Washington which is a small town that is very rainy and isn’t really excited about it until she meets Edward (the vampire) and falls in love with him.
René – Is Isabella’s carefree mom. She isn’t in the book that much because she is moving around with her new husband who is trying to find a job.
Charlie – Isabella’s Dad who she goes to live with so she is able to stay in the same school while her mom and her step-dad are moving around for him to find a sports job.
Edward Cullen – Is the beautiful vampire that Isabella falls in love with and he falls in love with her. His talent is being able to read people’s minds but for some reason he cannot read Bella’s mind. Everyone in his family is unique for vampires because they do not eat humans because they feel that it is wrong instead they kill animals.
Esme Cullen – (vampire) She is appears to be in her late 20s and is married to Carlisle and they tell everyone in town that they have adopted Edward, Emmet, and Alice and that they are foster parents to Jasper and Roselie Hale. She is very companionate
Carlisle Cullen – (vampire) He is married to Esme and is the adopted father to Edward, Emmet, and Alice Cullen and the foster parents to Jasper and Roselie Hale. He is a doctor at a local hospital.
Emmet Cullen – (vampire) Edward’s brother who is the strongest out of the family. He has a relationship with Roselie Hale.
Alice Cullen – (vampire) She is the smallest in the family and can predict what’s happening in the immediate future and is almost always right. She has a relationship with Jasper Hale.
Jasper Hale – (vampire) He is the newest addition to the family and to being a vampire. He has a relationship with Alice Cullen.
Roselie Hale – (vampire) She is sort of a bitch and ignores Bella. She is seen as the most beautiful of the family. She has a relationship with Emmet Cullen
James – He is an evil vampire who loves tracking and decides that he wants to take Bella’s life and will not stop until he is either dead (which he believes he is to strong to die) or Bella is his. He loves the game he makes out of tracking Bella and the obstacles the Cullens and Hales put of to try to protect Bella.
Victoria – Is James’s Mate for life she has bright red hair and she tries to help James get to Bella.
Laruent – He happens to be traveling with Victoria and James but decides to go to another covenant for protection when he finds out that the Cullens and the Hales are going to do everything possible to protect Bella even if that means killing James.
Jacob Black – Is a Native American boy that is two years younger than Bella but they bond over the fact that Jacob tells her at the beach stories which he believes to be myths about vampires and werewolves.
Billy Black – Jacob’s father and friends with Bella’s dad Charlie. He is in a wheelchair. He believes in these vampire “myths” and tries to keep/talk Bella out of hanging around Edward and his family.
Jessica – The first person that Bella meets at her new high school she is very chatty and has a crush on Mike.
Lauren – a snobby girl who isn’t really friendly like everyone else to Bella.
Angela – she is quiet at first but Bella soon realizes she prefers this and likes her as a friend.
Mike – He has a crush on Bella since the first day of school and Bella finds this annoying but is still nice to him.
Plot summary:
Isabella (Bella) Swan moves to live with her dad, Charlie in Forks, Washington; so that she is able to go to the same for at least a year until her newly wed Mom’s husband finds a stable sports job. She doesn’t like going there at first because it is always rainy and never sunny. She hates how on the first day of school everyone pays so much attention to her because, the new girl. Everyone goes out of their way to be friendly to her except Edward Cullen and his 2 adopted sibling and 2 foster siblings. They just completely ignore her and she thinks that Edward may even hate her. She sees them eating in the cafeteria and thinks that him and his siblings are the most beautiful people she has ever seen. It bothers her how much she thinks Edward hates her. Later though she finds out that there may be more to him than she thinks. One icy day a car almost hits Bella, but instead of it killing her some how Edward shows up and shields her from the car and he is left unscratched and has saved her life. After a while though Bella figures out that Edward is not only beautiful but he is also a Vampire. This though does not seem to phase Bella and she now find herself head over heals in love with him. She finds out though that Edward didn’t hate her at all, but the opposite he was also in love with her, but thought it would be best to stay away from her. Because, not only does he love her he is drawn to her blood unlike anyone else’s blood and has to keep himself from killing her.
As the novel progresses you find out that Edward protecting Bella from himself is not the biggest threat to her life. Another vampire group, James and Victoria has spotted Bella, and James is a vampire who loves tracking humans. When James sees how defensive Edward is over Bella he sees catching and killing Bella to be one of his greatest tracking challenges ever. This turns the whole Cullen family upside down when they try to protect Bella from James. They risk their livelihood not only for Bella, but they know if Bella dies Edward will end up killing himself too, because he is so in love with her he doesn’t think a life with out her is worth living. In the end James meets up with Bella alone but the Cullen family saves her just in time. They found out that Bella has been bitten though by James and Edward finds himself put to the biggest test of all. He must suck Bella’s blood to get rid of the poison, but not get to carried away in which he kills her. He though successfully removes the vampire venom without killing her. Bella though has received many injuries from James and has to be hospitalized as result towards the end of the book.
Edward and Bella’s relationship is one of the strongest ones I have ever read about. Edward realizes he is placing Bella in danger by being with her, but he loves her too much to leave her. Bella loves Edward so much that it does not even faze her that he is a vampire and could kill her any minute. Edward still wants Bella to experience human life though so he tries to participate in all human traditions making it appropriate that the end of the novel ends with Edward taking Bella to the Prom.
Strengths (including reviews and awards):
New York Times Bestseller!
Drawbacks or other cautions:
Teaching ideas:
Before: Do a Project on Vampires and Vampire Myths
During: Write a Journal Entry: If you were Bella what would you do? Would be at all scared? And discuss it in class
After: Write a Journal Entry: Is Edward being selfish by staying with her? And discuss it in class
...less
Book Bank Book Bank subject: Fantasy
Reference information:
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Children's Books Year: 2005
# of pages: 498 Genre: Fiction
Reading level Interest level: Middle School, plus
Potential hot lava: vampire theme (possibly could be seen as witchcraft?)
General response/reaction:
I loved this book!! I read the book on a plane ride to Colorado during spring break, and by...more English 425 Submitter’s name __Kelly Boehm____
Book Bank Book Bank subject: Fantasy
Reference information:
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Children's Books Year: 2005
# of pages: 498 Genre: Fiction
Reading level Interest level: Middle School, plus
Potential hot lava: vampire theme (possibly could be seen as witchcraft?)
General response/reaction:
I loved this book!! I read the book on a plane ride to Colorado during spring break, and by the plane ride back I was reading the third book in the serious. I have turned into a huge fan of this series. I’m not sure though I could see myself teaching the book though because of the whole romance portion of the book I think most guys may not like the book as much. This book though I would love to teach, but I don’t see that happening I see this book as more being on an English required summer reading list.
Subjects, Themes, and Big Ideas:
Love, unconditional love, soul mates, growing up, being a new kid at school, making decisions that benefit those you love, being strong, doing what’s right.
Characters:
Isabella Swan – Referred to as Bella. She is the main character of this book and the story is told from her point of view. She is living with her Dad in Forks, Washington which is a small town that is very rainy and isn’t really excited about it until she meets Edward (the vampire) and falls in love with him.
René – Is Isabella’s carefree mom. She isn’t in the book that much because she is moving around with her new husband who is trying to find a job.
Charlie – Isabella’s Dad who she goes to live with so she is able to stay in the same school while her mom and her step-dad are moving around for him to find a sports job.
Edward Cullen – Is the beautiful vampire that Isabella falls in love with and he falls in love with her. His talent is being able to read people’s minds but for some reason he cannot read Bella’s mind. Everyone in his family is unique for vampires because they do not eat humans because they feel that it is wrong instead they kill animals.
Esme Cullen – (vampire) She is appears to be in her late 20s and is married to Carlisle and they tell everyone in town that they have adopted Edward, Emmet, and Alice and that they are foster parents to Jasper and Roselie Hale. She is very companionate
Carlisle Cullen – (vampire) He is married to Esme and is the adopted father to Edward, Emmet, and Alice Cullen and the foster parents to Jasper and Roselie Hale. He is a doctor at a local hospital.
Emmet Cullen – (vampire) Edward’s brother who is the strongest out of the family. He has a relationship with Roselie Hale.
Alice Cullen – (vampire) She is the smallest in the family and can predict what’s happening in the immediate future and is almost always right. She has a relationship with Jasper Hale.
Jasper Hale – (vampire) He is the newest addition to the family and to being a vampire. He has a relationship with Alice Cullen.
Roselie Hale – (vampire) She is sort of a bitch and ignores Bella. She is seen as the most beautiful of the family. She has a relationship with Emmet Cullen
James – He is an evil vampire who loves tracking and decides that he wants to take Bella’s life and will not stop until he is either dead (which he believes he is to strong to die) or Bella is his. He loves the game he makes out of tracking Bella and the obstacles the Cullens and Hales put of to try to protect Bella.
Victoria – Is James’s Mate for life she has bright red hair and she tries to help James get to Bella.
Laruent – He happens to be traveling with Victoria and James but decides to go to another covenant for protection when he finds out that the Cullens and the Hales are going to do everything possible to protect Bella even if that means killing James.
Jacob Black – Is a Native American boy that is two years younger than Bella but they bond over the fact that Jacob tells her at the beach stories which he believes to be myths about vampires and werewolves.
Billy Black – Jacob’s father and friends with Bella’s dad Charlie. He is in a wheelchair. He believes in these vampire “myths” and tries to keep/talk Bella out of hanging around Edward and his family.
Jessica – The first person that Bella meets at her new high school she is very chatty and has a crush on Mike.
Lauren – a snobby girl who isn’t really friendly like everyone else to Bella.
Angela – she is quiet at first but Bella soon realizes she prefers this and likes her as a friend.
Mike – He has a crush on Bella since the first day of school and Bella finds this annoying but is still nice to him.
Plot summary:
Isabella (Bella) Swan moves to live with her dad, Charlie in Forks, Washington; so that she is able to go to the same for at least a year until her newly wed Mom’s husband finds a stable sports job. She doesn’t like going there at first because it is always rainy and never sunny. She hates how on the first day of school everyone pays so much attention to her because, the new girl. Everyone goes out of their way to be friendly to her except Edward Cullen and his 2 adopted sibling and 2 foster siblings. They just completely ignore her and she thinks that Edward may even hate her. She sees them eating in the cafeteria and thinks that him and his siblings are the most beautiful people she has ever seen. It bothers her how much she thinks Edward hates her. Later though she finds out that there may be more to him than she thinks. One icy day a car almost hits Bella, but instead of it killing her some how Edward shows up and shields her from the car and he is left unscratched and has saved her life. After a while though Bella figures out that Edward is not only beautiful but he is also a Vampire. This though does not seem to phase Bella and she now find herself head over heals in love with him. She finds out though that Edward didn’t hate her at all, but the opposite he was also in love with her, but thought it would be best to stay away from her. Because, not only does he love her he is drawn to her blood unlike anyone else’s blood and has to keep himself from killing her.
As the novel progresses you find out that Edward protecting Bella from himself is not the biggest threat to her life. Another vampire group, James and Victoria has spotted Bella, and James is a vampire who loves tracking humans. When James sees how defensive Edward is over Bella he sees catching and killing Bella to be one of his greatest tracking challenges ever. This turns the whole Cullen family upside down when they try to protect Bella from James. They risk their livelihood not only for Bella, but they know if Bella dies Edward will end up killing himself too, because he is so in love with her he doesn’t think a life with out her is worth living. In the end James meets up with Bella alone but the Cullen family saves her just in time. They found out that Bella has been bitten though by James and Edward finds himself put to the biggest test of all. He must suck Bella’s blood to get rid of the poison, but not get to carried away in which he kills her. He though successfully removes the vampire venom without killing her. Bella though has received many injuries from James and has to be hospitalized as result towards the end of the book.
Edward and Bella’s relationship is one of the strongest ones I have ever read about. Edward realizes he is placing Bella in danger by being with her, but he loves her too much to leave her. Bella loves Edward so much that it does not even faze her that he is a vampire and could kill her any minute. Edward still wants Bella to experience human life though so he tries to participate in all human traditions making it appropriate that the end of the novel ends with Edward taking Bella to the Prom.
Strengths (including reviews and awards):
New York Times Bestseller!
Drawbacks or other cautions:
Teaching ideas:
Before: Do a Project on Vampires and Vampire Myths
During: Write a Journal Entry: If you were Bella what would you do? Would be at all scared? And discuss it in class
After: Write a Journal Entry: Is Edward being selfish by staying with her? And discuss it in class
...less
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Read in July, 2007
Let me give you an idea of how much my opinion of this book changed at different stages of reading. When I was about a third of the way through, I was so into it that I immediately put my name on the library reservations list for the sequel, and wishlisted every edition on BookMooch. Now, having finished, I doubt I'll bother to read any further in the series. The opening is really quite interesting: Bella moves from sunny Arizona to rainy, gloomy Washington State to live with her father (her som...more
Let me give you an idea of how much my opinion of this book changed at different stages of reading. When I was about a third of the way through, I was so into it that I immediately put my name on the library reservations list for the sequel, and wishlisted every edition on BookMooch. Now, having finished, I doubt I'll bother to read any further in the series. The opening is really quite interesting: Bella moves from sunny Arizona to rainy, gloomy Washington State to live with her father (her somewhat loopy mom wants to follow her new husband while he's on the road as a minor league ballplayer). To her surprise, she gains almost instant popularity at her new high school—with the exception of the beautiful Edward Cullen and his siblings, who either ignore her, or in the case of Edward himself, seem to be repulsed by her. Even though the reader probably knows going in that at least part of what's going on relates to Edward being a vampire (because it says in BIG LETTERS ON THE BACK that Edward is a vampire), it's still fun to speculate about what exactly is going on—why does Edward seem both drawn and repelled by Bella? Why does he save her life? What are a bunch of vampires doing impersonating students at a small town high school, anyway?
Unfortunately, the answers to all these questions seem to be either nonexistent or extremely lame. Edward reacts weirdly to Bella because she 1) smells unusually good, and 2) is the only person he's ever met whose mind he cannot read. No. 1 apparently makes him fall in love with her, while the reasons behind No. 2 are never explained. But, you know, the actual mysterious stuff is apparently not important—instead it's more important that we realize that the Cullens are good vampires, who only eat animals, and who do nice, all-American things like play baseball in the woods. Okay! Also, all the weaknesses you've heard vampires have are just myths. Garlic, stakes, even sunlight—no problemo. Yet Edward would never even consider turning Bella, because that would make her an Evil Thing. Oh, and they also can't have sex, presumably because Meyer once read "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" (and/or is a Mormon. Sorry).
Instead, what Edward and Bella apparently CAN do is be very emo and teenage about their twu luv (despite Edward actually being over 100 years old), and be threatened by a villain that shows up in the novel's last third just to give it some semblance of an actual plot. Then, once all is well, they go to the prom! SERIOUSLY. THE BOOK ENDS WITH EDWARD TAKING BELLA TO THE PROM. What. The. Fuck.
And still, none of this answers my number one question: if you were a century-old vampire, why the HELL would you spend your time going to high school in Washington State? (Especially when you're not even trying to bang high school girls.) Angel at his most pathetic emo mopiness had more spine....less
Unfortunately, the answers to all these questions seem to be either nonexistent or extremely lame. Edward reacts weirdly to Bella because she 1) smells unusually good, and 2) is the only person he's ever met whose mind he cannot read. No. 1 apparently makes him fall in love with her, while the reasons behind No. 2 are never explained. But, you know, the actual mysterious stuff is apparently not important—instead it's more important that we realize that the Cullens are good vampires, who only eat animals, and who do nice, all-American things like play baseball in the woods. Okay! Also, all the weaknesses you've heard vampires have are just myths. Garlic, stakes, even sunlight—no problemo. Yet Edward would never even consider turning Bella, because that would make her an Evil Thing. Oh, and they also can't have sex, presumably because Meyer once read "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" (and/or is a Mormon. Sorry).
Instead, what Edward and Bella apparently CAN do is be very emo and teenage about their twu luv (despite Edward actually being over 100 years old), and be threatened by a villain that shows up in the novel's last third just to give it some semblance of an actual plot. Then, once all is well, they go to the prom! SERIOUSLY. THE BOOK ENDS WITH EDWARD TAKING BELLA TO THE PROM. What. The. Fuck.
And still, none of this answers my number one question: if you were a century-old vampire, why the HELL would you spend your time going to high school in Washington State? (Especially when you're not even trying to bang high school girls.) Angel at his most pathetic emo mopiness had more spine....less
Like this review?
yes
(58 people liked it)
33 comments
Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Fans of PN Romance or Sweet Romances
I have to admit that I haven't read a great deal of young adult literature during my adult life, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Twilight. There was also a great deal of hype surrounding this book, which can sometimes mean a really great book and other times can be a big letdown. Now that I have finally read Twilight, I have to say that it definitely lived up to the hype for me. I absolutely loved this tale of teen love between a human and a vampire. With this type of su...more
I have to admit that I haven't read a great deal of young adult literature during my adult life, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Twilight. There was also a great deal of hype surrounding this book, which can sometimes mean a really great book and other times can be a big letdown. Now that I have finally read Twilight, I have to say that it definitely lived up to the hype for me. I absolutely loved this tale of teen love between a human and a vampire. With this type of subject matter the story could have been completely campy, but instead was very beautiful, in my opinion, with enough romance and substance to rival the best adult romance novels. In fact, I thought that Twilight exhibited a surprising depth of emotion, intimacy and even sensuality without ever resorting to anything explicit. I think the intimacy was owing in large part to the amazing level of communication between Bella and Edward. These two teen protagonists affected more stark honesty in their communication than many adult characters in romance novels, rarely holding anything back from each other. Edward was even forthcoming about who and what he was far sooner than I ever expected him to be. The sensuality was conveyed through simple things like smiles, kisses and touches and most importantly their beautiful dialog. Of course much of this was possible because, neither Edward nor Bella, were really “normal” teenagers. I'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed the book nearly as much as I did if the main teen characters had behaved in what has seemed to become the “typical” teen manner of extreme cattiness, rebellion, and out-of-control hormones. Instead, the story became a refreshing take on teen behavior, and a gentle reminder that not all teens do behave in the “typical” way.
I honestly can't think of a single thing that's not to like about the two main characters, Edward and Bella. Edward is a kind, sensitive and loving beta hero with a dash of alpha protectiveness (he probably wouldn't be a very good vampire without that). He wages a constant battle in his own mind between the knowledge that Bella is perfect for him and the knowledge that being near him will only increase the risks for his adorable but accident-prone danger-magnet. Edward is frequently reminding Bella of the risk he himself poses to her very life, and yet he always behaves as a perfect gentleman, even in the most difficult circumstances. I also love the gentle way that Edward teases Bella, and sometimes she gives back in kind. I enjoyed this banter and thought that it gave a lightly humorous dimension to the story. In addition to having a good sense of humor, Bella was also very intelligent, shy and a bit socially awkward, and endearingly clumsy, making her entirely relatable to me. Bella considered herself to be a very plain, ordinary girl, but Edward thought her to be completely beautiful. Having played the role of parent in her relationship with both of her parents, one could say that Bella had not had the most ideal upbringing, but it did not stop her from being the best person she could be or loving her parents dearly. I think Bella's best trait though, was her intuitive nature about Edward and things in general. I love it when the heroine in romance novels can simply sense things about the hero and read into that accordingly. Bella did have one moment where I would predict that many adult readers would consider her TSTL (too-stupid-to-live), but I was able to forgive that lapse because of her youth and inexperience with such dangerous situations. Overall, both Edward and Bella were two engaging characters who sparkled (no pun intended, but you'll get it when you read the book) in nearly every scene that they shared. I greatly enjoyed reading them and thought that they complimented each other perfectly.
The secondary cast of characters was a wonderful dichotomous mix of both the human and the supernatural. There were Bella's high school friends, who were generally a mix of pretty good kids, the type I wouldn't mind my own kids being friends with or would have liked being friends with myself in my teen years. Edward's family was an eclectic mix of personalities. There was Emmet, the big, lovable lug of a teddy bear, mysterious and aloof Rosalie, Alice and Jasper with their amazing psychic and empathic gifts, and their “parents,” Carlisle (aka Dr. Cullen) and Esme who have their own fascinating back-stories. I also found the Native American father and son characters, Billy and Jacob Black to be intriguing. They seem to share some contentious history with the Cullens which isn't fully explored in this volume. It will be very interesting to see where this part of the story leads in future installments.
Twilight is a very sweet and innocent romance, which I mentioned earlier has no explicit elements. There is no sex, only a couple of mild profanities, and considering that the subject matter deals with vampires, the violence is kept to a minimum. In my opinion, this book is quite appropriate for the age group for which it is intended. I would have no problem at all with my children reading it when they are a bit older. In fact, I felt as I read the book that it sends some positive family and relationship messages to teens. Even though Bella's relationship with her parents is less than ideal, there is still love and respect between them, and Edward seems to have very loving “family” connections as well. What I liked most though, is the development of Edward and Bella's romance. Their physiological attraction to each other is immediate and powerful, yet they take the time to build a friendship that is based on mutual trust, respect and love, which is more than can be said for many adults. Edward and Bella only discuss sex one time over the course of the novel and in very subtle terms, but in my opinion, Edward's blood lust could be taken as something of a metaphor for sexual desire. Whether taken in the metaphorical or mythological context, I thought that Edward's self-control contained a beautiful message of his pure love for Bella superseding all other desires.
I found Twilight to be a thoroughly enjoyable read which has earned a place on my keeper shelf. The first two-thirds of the book moves at a rather languid but steady pace owing to the extensive character and relationship development. After that, it almost instantly turns into a taut suspense/thriller when Bella's life is threatened. This is one of those books that was very difficult to put down. I just couldn't wait to see what might happen next or what new piece of the puzzle might be revealed, and Ms. Meyer also did not disappoint with her own unique take on vampire mythology. Even though the book is written entirely in first-person from Bella's perspective, I thought the author did a good job of conveying Edward's thoughts and feelings too, through extensive use of dialog. As an aside, I really liked the small-town atmosphere of Forks, but as a Phoenician, I couldn't help but have a soft spot for the scenes in Phoenix. As such, I can attest to all the place names being real and the descriptions of the city to be spot on, which isn't surprising since Ms. Meyer is a Phoenician as well. It was rather surreal but also pretty cool to read scenes that are set in places that I have actually been. Twilight is the first volume in the Twilight Saga followed by New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Ms. Meyer is also planning a re-write of Twilight from Edward's perspective titled Midnight Sun. I am really looking forward to continuing this fascinating series, and even though I am often disappointed with movie versions of my favorite novels, I am truly looking forward to the the Twilight movie which is due to be released in theaters this December....less
I honestly can't think of a single thing that's not to like about the two main characters, Edward and Bella. Edward is a kind, sensitive and loving beta hero with a dash of alpha protectiveness (he probably wouldn't be a very good vampire without that). He wages a constant battle in his own mind between the knowledge that Bella is perfect for him and the knowledge that being near him will only increase the risks for his adorable but accident-prone danger-magnet. Edward is frequently reminding Bella of the risk he himself poses to her very life, and yet he always behaves as a perfect gentleman, even in the most difficult circumstances. I also love the gentle way that Edward teases Bella, and sometimes she gives back in kind. I enjoyed this banter and thought that it gave a lightly humorous dimension to the story. In addition to having a good sense of humor, Bella was also very intelligent, shy and a bit socially awkward, and endearingly clumsy, making her entirely relatable to me. Bella considered herself to be a very plain, ordinary girl, but Edward thought her to be completely beautiful. Having played the role of parent in her relationship with both of her parents, one could say that Bella had not had the most ideal upbringing, but it did not stop her from being the best person she could be or loving her parents dearly. I think Bella's best trait though, was her intuitive nature about Edward and things in general. I love it when the heroine in romance novels can simply sense things about the hero and read into that accordingly. Bella did have one moment where I would predict that many adult readers would consider her TSTL (too-stupid-to-live), but I was able to forgive that lapse because of her youth and inexperience with such dangerous situations. Overall, both Edward and Bella were two engaging characters who sparkled (no pun intended, but you'll get it when you read the book) in nearly every scene that they shared. I greatly enjoyed reading them and thought that they complimented each other perfectly.
The secondary cast of characters was a wonderful dichotomous mix of both the human and the supernatural. There were Bella's high school friends, who were generally a mix of pretty good kids, the type I wouldn't mind my own kids being friends with or would have liked being friends with myself in my teen years. Edward's family was an eclectic mix of personalities. There was Emmet, the big, lovable lug of a teddy bear, mysterious and aloof Rosalie, Alice and Jasper with their amazing psychic and empathic gifts, and their “parents,” Carlisle (aka Dr. Cullen) and Esme who have their own fascinating back-stories. I also found the Native American father and son characters, Billy and Jacob Black to be intriguing. They seem to share some contentious history with the Cullens which isn't fully explored in this volume. It will be very interesting to see where this part of the story leads in future installments.
Twilight is a very sweet and innocent romance, which I mentioned earlier has no explicit elements. There is no sex, only a couple of mild profanities, and considering that the subject matter deals with vampires, the violence is kept to a minimum. In my opinion, this book is quite appropriate for the age group for which it is intended. I would have no problem at all with my children reading it when they are a bit older. In fact, I felt as I read the book that it sends some positive family and relationship messages to teens. Even though Bella's relationship with her parents is less than ideal, there is still love and respect between them, and Edward seems to have very loving “family” connections as well. What I liked most though, is the development of Edward and Bella's romance. Their physiological attraction to each other is immediate and powerful, yet they take the time to build a friendship that is based on mutual trust, respect and love, which is more than can be said for many adults. Edward and Bella only discuss sex one time over the course of the novel and in very subtle terms, but in my opinion, Edward's blood lust could be taken as something of a metaphor for sexual desire. Whether taken in the metaphorical or mythological context, I thought that Edward's self-control contained a beautiful message of his pure love for Bella superseding all other desires.
I found Twilight to be a thoroughly enjoyable read which has earned a place on my keeper shelf. The first two-thirds of the book moves at a rather languid but steady pace owing to the extensive character and relationship development. After that, it almost instantly turns into a taut suspense/thriller when Bella's life is threatened. This is one of those books that was very difficult to put down. I just couldn't wait to see what might happen next or what new piece of the puzzle might be revealed, and Ms. Meyer also did not disappoint with her own unique take on vampire mythology. Even though the book is written entirely in first-person from Bella's perspective, I thought the author did a good job of conveying Edward's thoughts and feelings too, through extensive use of dialog. As an aside, I really liked the small-town atmosphere of Forks, but as a Phoenician, I couldn't help but have a soft spot for the scenes in Phoenix. As such, I can attest to all the place names being real and the descriptions of the city to be spot on, which isn't surprising since Ms. Meyer is a Phoenician as well. It was rather surreal but also pretty cool to read scenes that are set in places that I have actually been. Twilight is the first volume in the Twilight Saga followed by New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Ms. Meyer is also planning a re-write of Twilight from Edward's perspective titled Midnight Sun. I am really looking forward to continuing this fascinating series, and even though I am often disappointed with movie versions of my favorite novels, I am truly looking forward to the the Twilight movie which is due to be released in theaters this December....less
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