Loved your review! And love or hate the book, I think all girls and women relate to Bella on some level. I am also, like you and so many others, drawn to characters like Edmond Dantes and Edward Rochester. Twilight is the first of four books, with New Moon and Eclipse in print, and Breaking Dawn to be released later this year.

I really loved your comment.
It happened the same to me, I started the book and didn't closed it until the last page! I also read it by a recomendation of a friend's son (he is twelve) and I can tell you that the greatest books I've read are from this kind of recomendations.

I'm sorry but I have to say this, if only because I am now physically ill. HOW on earth could ANYONE compare wonderfully classic and well written characters like Edmond Dantes or Aragorn, let alone Sherlock Holmes to Edward?
I understand everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I not only strongly advocate that but can also generally see them from another person's point-of-view but I'm sorry I just do NOT see it in this case and feel many great authors are currently collectively rolling over in their graves.

I was only saying these characters were similar in terms of one character trait. I was not saying that the quality of the characters or the writing was equal. I could note that two objects--lets say an amethyst and discarded plastic wrap--are shiny (something that I find appealing), but that doesn't mean I am saying they are comparable on all accounts.

I think your review was great.

I was pretty much forced into reading it by a friend, and I finished the first three books (this was before the 4th came out) in 5 days.

Nice to see your review amongst all the "this book is drivel" commentaries. :)

It's no work of art, but it is a fun and addictive read. As a 30something mother of two I have trouble making time for one book a month for my book club, but I read this and it's sequel in a day apiece.

As a high school teacher in Washington, I decided to read Twilight as a form of "cultural literacy." Being able to talk to my students about what is important in their lives gives me more leverage in dealing with other school related issues. I started out with a critical attitude, but 100 pages in I was hooked. I have cruised through Twilight, New Moon, and I'm half way through Eclipse. Stephanie Meyer weaves a great tale, and I think encourages young readers to reach out to some classics like Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice.

I really liked your comment. I too felt a tinge of Mr Darcy meets 2005 meets sci-fi.

I agree!

i loved ur review! it summed up most of wat i wanted to say about twilight! THANK YOU for finally saying something good! this was like the first review of twilight that was positive!

Melissa,

I really enjoyed your review! You put into words what I was thinking. I read the entire series on the encouragement of my 12-year-old daughter, and completely agree with you that Bella is a very empowering character. There are three more books... enjoy! Watch the movie too!

I have always felt that it's important for parents to know what their kids are reading... this was the most enjoyable of these tasks.

Bonnie

Hi,

Finally someone else who likes the book! Have you read them all? I was trying to find a like minded fan on here.

Mariquita wrote: "Hi,

Finally someone else who likes the book! Have you read them all? I was trying to find a like minded fan on here. "

Yes, Mariquita... I have read them all twice, and am on my 3rd read of "Eclipse". None of them have bored me enough to want to pick up something else (although I have, since our copies are frequently out on loan). Keep going... while I loved "Twilight", I love the follow-ups. Did you see the movie?

All the Best, Bonnie

Same - I've actually lost count of how many times I have read the series or even watched the movie. I love the books and highly recommend them to anyone who wants to escape reality for a while.

Amanda wrote: "Same - I've actually lost count of how many times I have read the series or even watched the movie. I love the books and highly recommend them to anyone who wants to escape reality for a while."

Thanks, Amanda! Are you older than a "tween" too? I am finding myself logging my reads and views of the movie... it's inspiring me to get some romance and good manners back into my life.

Being older than a tween and a mother of one, I tried to avoid Twilight at all costs but saw the movie on a whim (watched it twice) and had to read the book. I couldn't put it down. I finished it tonight and went straight to the library only to be told I had to be put on a waiting list. I am glad to see that the other books shouldn't dissapoint.

Love your Review....sick of people saying "I HATE THIS BOOK" I mean seriously HATE?? Thats a strong emotion for a "book" dont you think!! Hmmm....

I am also 31 year old mum of two little ones and I LOVE this series...read each atleast 6 times now!!

I personally dont care what others say about this book....Thanks for a great review!

Roxy wrote: "Love your Review....sick of people saying "I HATE THIS BOOK" I mean seriously HATE?? Thats a strong emotion for a "book" dont you think!! Hmmm....

I am also 31 year old mum of two little ones an..."

Hi Roxy... I am so on your page! I turned 50 two weeks ago, and have read "Twilight" and "New Moon" five times each. I just opened "Eclipse" for the 5th time as well. I MAY (emphasis on MAY) put them down for a year when I have read "Breaking Dawn" one more time. I also don't care what others say. Have a lovely day! Bonnie

Although I detested the book, it bored me senseless, I am still trying to figure out why so many people loved it.

There has to be something there, I just don't know what it is. I couldn't get past all of the badly used speech tags and the constant 'golden' eyes. In some places, I started counting the repeated phrases to amuse myself.

I think what the book really needed was a strong editor. It could have been saved. But since the author is now a millionaire, we'll just have to live with her badly written books. But then again, Dan Brown's been making a good living on bad books for years so that's nothing new.

I enjoyed your review. You said better how the experience of reading this was for me too. Two thumbs up! :)

I think, just as much as those who hate the book can't understand those of us who fell in love with it, neither can we understand those who despise it. I don't want to understand it. I don't care if it relegates me to the "outside", as it were. I found similar reviews of Asimov's Foundation series which I always grew up believing was nothing short of a miracle of sci-fi writing ... and yet some people, myself included, found it boring and difficult to get into. Perhaps one day I will; I hope so!

I don't think Ms. Meyer crafted a miracle here, but like you I enjoyed reading something I didn't have to take notes on as well. Whatever, I'm just so thrilled I enjoyed this book, despite all the negative reviews it seems to have received.

Roxy wrote: "Love your Review....sick of people saying "I HATE THIS BOOK" I mean seriously HATE?? Thats a strong emotion for a "book" dont you think!! Hmmm....

I am also 31 year old mum of two little ones an..."

If "hate" is too strong an emotion for a book, couldn't the same be said of "love"?

Edit*
So, I went back and read the original review. Having read the book while just slightly older than the target group, I found myself having to drag my way through the book. I read two or three other books while trying to read Twilight and finally made myself sit down and finish it because I had to return it to the friend that loaned it to me.

I must disagree with Annie up on the first reply on all girls being able to relate to Bella, she was flat and way obsessed with her own plainness and how pretty and awesome Edward was, it made her seem more like an ill made puppet than a rounded example of the new girl in town. Despite the fact that she (and by extension the reader) is not supposed to know that the Cullens are vampires until the reveal, it takes everything away from Edward's "mystery" that his being a vampire is written right on the back of the dust cover. Never mind that Bella's being intelligent is more of an informed ability than a feature of the character, maybe she's just book smart (which isn't really shown either) but one would think that when faced with "oh, that guy I've been lusting after wants my blood" the reaction would be something along the lines of "that isn't good" or "he might be dangerous or crazy" instead of "he LIKES me!!!", but maybe that is just me. She isn't written to have any faults, there is no "I admit that I really don't like most of my class mates and I don't know why" or any "oh man, this class was way hard at my old school, maybe I'll do better this time". Instead her big "fault" is being clumsy, that isn't a fault it's something cutesy that lets Edward save her twenty times a chapter.

Edward is no better, he want's her blood, he isn't attracted to her personality or even her body just her blood. He reminds her repeatedly that he is dangerous. Belittles her, tries to gaslight her after the thing with the van, and watches her sleep before they even thought about being "together." Rather than listening to Bella when she says "I don't want to go to prom", he takes her anyway just because he wants her to. He sucks the "venom" out of her hand, instead of just letting her get turned because HE wants her to stay human. There is no mystery to him, Edward is an over powered teenage boy who just happens to be over a hundred years old.

I should also note that the entire book could have been improved with the use of an editor, character growth, and more use of the side characters.

I really dislike this book, but I can see why you were drawn into it.

Carol wrote: Stephanie Meyer weaves a great tale, and I think encourages young readers to reach out to some classics like Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice.

I agree, but only because once I read Twilight I couldn't bear it any more, so went and decided I would start reading classics. I bought To Kill a Mockingbird, and my Twilight book is lost somewhere in my sisters' bedroom.

I'm sorry if i insult anybody but i can't relate to that Whiny Bella at all. I hate her, she is dependent on men, a brat, pathetic and boring. She has no self esteem, and that what makes her so unrelateable.

I am very conceited, sadly, i love myself, my huge hips and crazy hair. I think, know actually, that i am very attractive, at least to myself.

Bella is not this way, she thinks she is average and unappealing. I do not agree with your thoughts that she is empowering, she drags back the woman's movement 100 years.

Roxy wrote: "Love your Review....sick of people saying "I HATE THIS BOOK" I mean seriously HATE?? Thats a strong emotion for a "book" dont you think!! Hmmm....

I am also 31 year old mum of two little ones an..."

Is love not also a strong emotion for a book? I mean, it is an inanimate object, is it not?

First of all, what subject do you teach? I would be horrified if you taught English. I thought twilight was poorly written and had many spelling mistakes; I don’t know if you know that Stephenie Meyer has a degree in English but she does and I can say that I, a fourteen year old girl can spell better than her, something I learned from reading books, ones that were much better written than this one. Even if you are correct in saying that twilight is well written, structured or whatever you said, there is more to reading than how well written something is or whether it has received awards. Reading is also about emotions; reading something because you want to because it makes you happy, not because it has a lot of metaphors or whatever. And another thing, Meyer’s almost constant use of a thesaurus was really annoying, sometimes it is good to use interesting words, but not all the time just to make yourself seem smarter than you are. Then again, maybe you are an English teacher; they seem to like boring ‘well written’ books. And the fact that Edward was a vampire was so obvious and especially because it was on the back cover, I found myself just sitting there waiting for her to finally figure it out. And ‘didn't rush it’? That is one of the biggest understatements ever. She did exactly the opposite, dragging the story out to build ‘suspense’ until the tiny section of plot finally appeared.

As I said before, I am the obviously targeted audience of this saga, and I don’t see myself as anything like Bella personality wise. Some people are not shallow and superficial and constantly wondering what other people think of them. The main reason why most people like this saga is because ‘OMG Edward/ Jacob is sooo hot!’ Trust me I know, and they are really talking about the actors not the book characters, because even though half of the content in Meyer’s series is about how hot Edward is and his eyes or whatever she is going on about at the time, most people still cannot actually picture what the characters look like, so they think of the actors instead. And another thing that annoyed me to no end was how Meyer kept going on and on and on about Edward’s ‘crooked smile’. How are you supposed to smile crookedly? I didn’t even know that was possible unless like me you have crooked teeth, which is why people get braces and since Edward is so rich and has been around for at least 100 years, I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t have fixed his teeth if they were in fact crooked.

But enough about crooked teeth, on to the part of your review I found most disturbing ‘she's horribly accident-prone, which allowed for Meyer to create plenty of damsel-in-distress moments. Fortunately, she's also independent, intelligent, observant, and heroic in a way that I think most readers could imaging themselves being heroic. So ultimately, she's an empowering character.’ After reading that, I have to wonder if we read the same book. Everything about Bella is ridiculously exaggerated and while there is nothing wrong with being clumsy, as a clumsy person myself I know that nobody her age could be that clumsy. Clumsiness is dropping things, lack of co-ordination, tripping, but it is not tripping over every few steps you take and always hitting your own team members on the head in sport. People can be clumsy but not that clumsy; it is exaggerated and unrealistic. And Bella-‘independent, intelligent, observant, and heroic’? Since when? Bella always has to be rescued by someone else and is so pathetic that she can’t do anything by herself. It took her ages to realise what Edward was, and when she did, instead of being afraid like a normal person she decides she loves him. Some people would call this true love, I call it stupidity. How is she heroic? This book gives the wrong ideas about love and how people should behave especially girls, and portrays Bella as some kind of hero. Her being ‘heroic in a way that I think most readers could imagine themselves being heroic’ and you say that like it’s a good thing? If all teenage girls were to believe the message of the book, and see her behaviour as heroic and try to imitate it, there would be a whole group of girls who believe that their only option, their only way to fight back is to either surrender themselves to the enemy or harm themselves so the enemy is distracted and goes to attack them instead (that was in eclipse), and whose only way of becoming something in life is to have a husband/ boyfriend. And ‘almost excessively, the center of male attention’? What do you mean ALMOST excessively? I think the word you are looking for is extremely. Extremely excessively the centre of attention for no reason, because Bella Swan is a Mary Sue.

There were so many things that didn’t make sense, I mean I know it is fantasy and everything, but even fantasy has to be consistent with the laws of common sense, especially her rules for the world of Twilight-you can’t say one thing and then contradict it later.

I'm glad there's someone like you here :) . I guess Bella's being awkward, stupid, clumsy or whatever others could think of just made me love her . because she is so unlike any other characters . And I'm a teen and I would say that I can relate to her. That's just that. call me an idiot, but I don't care coz I know I'm not . :p

Pauline wrote: "I'm glad there's someone like you here :) . I guess Bella's being awkward, stupid, clumsy or whatever others could think of just made me love her . because she is so unlike any other characters . A..."

I'm not going to call you an idiot, but I do want to know what exactly made you like Bella. How is she a character you can relate to ? Please, be specific.

I'm sorry but I have to say this, if only because I am now physically ill. HOW on earth could ANYONE compare wonderfully classic and well written cha...moreI'm sorry but I have to say this, if only because I am now physically ill. HOW on earth could ANYONE compare wonderfully classic and well written characters like Edmond Dantes or Aragorn, let alone Sherlock Holmes to Edward?
I understand everyone is entitled to their opinions, and I not only strongly advocate that but can also generally see them from another person's point-of-view but I'm sorry I just do NOT see it in this case and feel many great authors are currently collectively rolling over in their graves.

ahahahahaah agreed

I agree, at first I thought Twilight did not sound interesting, too immature. But, then I began reading. All the characters were very well developed and the story in many ways is an orginal. Dana

M.R.,
I enjoyed your review. Clear, honest and interesting. I agree with much, including being pleasantly surprised when I found myself not wanting to put this book down; the attraction of Bella (though some of her klutziness felt a tad annoying to me); that young people, alas, often consider themselves “inconsequential and common”; and that intrigue and of course Edward keep the reader turning pages. However, I confess to buying into what you so amusingly call the “omg he touched me!” moments...and what's worse, I just admitted it out loud.

Great review! I only bought this book as there were so many neverending quiz questions about it and I wanted to answer them so I got an on sale copy while standing in line at the grocery store. I never had a clue it would become my favorite book of all time and I would become obsessed with it.

I identify with Bella and like most everyone in the books which rare as most books have awful characters. I never even cared much for Mr Rochester as I felt he was so superior and prone to look down on Jane. Then I read Wide Sargasso Sea and really came to hate him altho I always had sympathy for Jane Eyre. I loathe Mr Darcy as he is too "goody two shoes" but you have me wondering who Sydney Carton is now. Poldark was a good romantic lead as he was not too perfect and didn't have a poor mad wife living in the attic.

Wide Sargasso Sea

I love your review! I loved the book as well. I like how Edward is such a mysterious character. I relate to Bella because she is a very shy person. My favorite part about the book is the mysterious romance between Edward and Bella.

Mackenzie wrote: "I love your review! I loved the book as well. I like how Edward is such a mysterious character. I relate to Bella because she is a very shy person. My favorite part about the book is the mysterious..."

How is Edward or the "romance" between him and Bella at all mysterious? It all seemed rather trite when I read it.

I loved you're review . Many people don't ind Twilight very good but I do and I love that someone else feels the same .