Sarah's review

I couldn't agree with you more.

This book was AWFUL, for all of the reasons you said.

That was the best review I have ever read of Twilight.

I was so glad to read this. Although many of my reviewers RAVE over TWILIGHT (the entire series, really), I couldn't even make it through the first book. I hated it; totally, completely, and absolutely. And there's not a whole lot that I hate. :)

I absolutely agree with you. Still, because the books were getting so much hype, and because I need to be solid in my position in an argument, I continued reading the other two books in the series. All those things you mentioned up there get so much more worse. Like, it's sickening. In fact, when I was done reading the third book, I felt extremely exhausted by the ton of angst that this series vomits at you. It's infuriating, the kind of message Meyer sends out about how a girl should be if a total hottie happens to take notice in her is disgusting. Not to mention her messages on love are extremely unrealistic. Throughout the series she repeats the idea that love is a matter of forced fate, not a matter of meeting, getting to know each other gradually and then eventually falling in love. And it gets a million times worse when the werewolves come in. Not that they're even really werewolves, since like the vampires they have all the good traits and none of the bad. They don't feed on human flesh when they're in wolf form, and they can turn to wolves when they please and aren't forced to turn when the moon is full. It goes on with a bunch of other Mary Sue nonsense.

And the Edward description? I actually managed to get an idea of him in my head, and it really creeped me out, so I sort of blur it when I imagine him. Meyer must not actually use her brain when she writes, otherwise she'd see how horrible this stuff is.

I applaud you for attempting to be educated about your viewpoint!

Thank you, :D I never like to discuss things if I've no idea what the hell I'm talking about. On top of that I work at a bookstore so I'm often better off reading some of the popular books since people often ask for my opinion. I've no idea what I'll say the next time I get asked about these.

ahhh I see. Well rock on!!

Though I am quite obsessed with this series, I have to say I agree with some of your points. Awesome review!!

It is refreshing to find someone else who was as disturbed by the Bella/Edward romance as I was. Thank you for your review.

1st. I'm not looking to start a fight. I read your review because I wanted to see what those who hated the book ad to say.

2nd. I'll admit it. I can be the type who decides to cry at I dunno the movie Happy Feet. - So this book would probably be good for a person who was somewhat LOOKING for some sappy ass story. Honestly I wasn't. I read it because my best friend was and I wanted to encourage her to read more.

3rd. About no one every questioning their age. I wondered the same thing too. In fact I wanted to hear a bit more about what EXACTLY caused them to leave Alaska. Something obviously happened there to bring them to Forks.

4th. The term vegetarian was supposed to be the family joke. I don't read tons of vampire lit however I must say I have an increasing interest to find out what else is out there - and I don't doubt that once I have more under my literary belt my feelings towards this book may change. But I wasn't sure why you called that out - from what I've seen the concept of vampires avoiding drinking human blood is not a new one.

5th. Educational aspirations. Edward tells Bella how Carlisle spent a lot of time educating himself. I felt that may have been worth a mention.

6th. Liking someone based on physical appearance (and Edward liking Bella's scent). Bella does mention that there is more to know than what he looks like. But yes there are an infinite amount of references to his "Adonis"-like looks. Yes, Edward was intoxicated by Bella's scent but I had the impression his secondary attraction was more one of arrogance. He couldn't read her mind - so he was fascinated.

Overall though I thought your review was put together well.

To Ver De Levre:

First, I want to thank you for presenting yourself and your opinions in a nice, respectable way. It's refreshing to come across a Twilight fan who can actually respect the fact that I don't worship the series.

Now, I'm don't want to argue either, I just want to clarify a few things.

First, the vampires in the series, are too human like for my tastes. I mean, the only vampire qualities they have are they drink blood, they're immortal and they all seem to have a special power. Along with that, they have none of the bad things that come along with being a vampire... they can go out during the day, their powers really aren't that bad, I mean, that their powers have no consequences or bad things with them.

Like I said above, I felt that Meyer only added the "sparkling" to give a reason for the vampires to be out in the daylight to begin with. To me, I think she could have been much more creative in coming up with a reason as to why they could come out during the day. I'm sorry, but I thought the whole sparkling thing made them even more pathetic than they all ready were. At least, in my opinion it did.

The whole education aspirations thing, I was talking about Bella... since she seems to not care about her education, as long as she has Edward, she's all set. At least, that is what I got from it. And that is a REALLY bad message to send to the young girls who are reading this series.

And, I didn't remember reading anything about Bella and her love for Edward that went deeper than just looks. They seem to have nothing in common. If they do, it was not made clear enough for me to be able to see it.

Hey no problem. The internet is far too full of people who are all too quick to start net arguments. This is a site that should be treated as above that sort of thing.

I'll agree. They were incredibly human. Which was a bit .... odd. And the special powers. Totally new to me. I'm not sure if I liked that or not. I'm leaning a little towards not. I think it may stray a bit too far from what keeps it in the realm of vampire fiction.

The going out during the day. I looked at it this way. It's like how Douglas Adams and other sci fi writers would come up with reasoning for why certain things worked certain ways. It was her infinite improbability drive by saying it was a myth. However, I feel that that's somewhat of a vampire staple and perhaps would have been best off left unchanged.

As for Bella ans her education. I'm not sure I've made up my mind on that. I just began the second book and they are at least making a concentrated effort to show the Cullens family pushing to insure she goes to college. I saw no reason to really mention that in my last comment since we were discussing the first book - this tidbit I considered a bit off topic.

Now - if we are looking as this as a vampire novel. And that is what you wanted and expected when picking it up. Yeah - I could see how people would see this as a piece of shit.

If you had no expectations and like myself can just be a retarded 6th grader and go all to pieces over gooshy unnecessary romance - then yes. It's just fabby.

well, i kinda disagree. i'm not really into romance books, and i typically don't like books that everyone else likes (ex: i HATE harry potter, the inheritance series, inkheart/inkspell, stuff like that) and i when i picked up twilight i didn't expect much from it. but i personally loved it; it kinda surprised me. sure, bella is a little annoying and whiney sometimes, but i don't think it takes away much from the actual story.

Brigid-
You're right. I'm most of the way through Eclipse and after three books I am seeing how Bella can indeed be very whiney.

i haven't even read eclipse yet, but i'm going to... and i'm gonna read the fourth one too once it comes out

That's not how Bella is meant to be at all. She is more of an awkward teenager who has never found love before, and now her first love is a dangerous but deeply seductive vampire. Quite beautiful really. And SELFISH!??! You've got to be kidding me. She moved all the way out to Forks for her MOTHER'S SAKE, and she almost got herself killed so that her mother could live. As for being a damsel in distress, what would you do if a car came flying at you or some crazed vampire dude wanted to kill you?

I agree that the writing wasn't the best I've ever written, but it was still pretty good, and your description of bella is completley wackadoo!

To Emily:

So, is that the only thing in my review that you don't agree with? And... yes, she IS a selfish, stupid damsel in distress, at least I think she is. Yea, she moved to Forks for her mother, but she didn't WANT to and that is made very clear at the beginning of the novel.

She is "brave" for going after this vampire all by herself just to save her mother, but, it wasn't the BEST idea in the world. Especially since when she gets there she acts like a stupid damsel in distress... she barely even tried to fight back. I know that he's a vampire and she probably couldn't fight back THAT much, but COME ON... she could have at least TRIED. I know she had a broken leg or whatever, but come on! I would have fought for my life even if I knew it wouldn't do anything because if I was going to be killed I sure as hell wasn't going to make it EASY for him... even if it didn't do any good.

That is my opinion, I'm sorry if you disagree with it, but you are not going to be able to change my opinion and I am not going to be able to change yours. I am not going to argue about this... I don't really care if you read the book and you liked it, I even respect your opinion... even though you could have presented it in a better way.

To Emily -

You may see I responded to this review some time ago. I have been watching it ever since.

From someone who liked the book:
I'd have to say after reading the review I started to look at it from the reviewers perspective. I believe she offers a bit of a feminist perspective. If you look at the book independent of your own rationale and approach it with her eyes you can see where she is coming from.

Yes, Bella IS awkward like many teenagers - however in her case it's more awkward than most. Yes, she does act a lot like a teenage girl. I remember those days in high school where you have something on your mind and the rest of the days events are a blur. But this CAN also be seen as this girl spending the majority of her days worrying about as well as "mooning over" Edward Cullen.

The damsel in distress was a blanket statement. Bella's attack by James was only one portion to take away. Bella can be seen as a girl who is waiting for some sort of event to whisk her away from her unhappiness and discontentment.

In closing. I also support your right to hold your own opinion. But - a book review should never contain the word "wackadoo." If nothing else it detracts from reasons to see you as serious.

I know, I'm not trying to change anybodys opinion, but the point of goodreads is saying what you think about books. The book was just supposed to be romantic, and if Bella had been all tough and independent and a crazy feminist nazi the book wouldn't have the same appeal. It's a gushy romance book about an awkward teenage girl who falls in love for the first time with a mysterious, handsome and seductive vampire. That's what the book is. Period. It's not the type of book you anaylze over.

Emily:

You said that the point of goodreads is to say what you think about books, but then you also say that "Twilight" is not the type of book you analyze. You've contradicted yourself.

Sarah read the book, and wrote an insightful and thorough review of what she thought of it. She had to analyze the book in order to determine what she thought of it. I think that the hundreds of other people who have written reviews (positive and negative) about the Stephanie Meyer's series would disagree with you that this book shouldn't be analyzed. There isn't a book in the world that can't be analyzed and thought about from many perspectives.

If Bella was a "tough and independent and a crazy feminist nazi" then perhaps the book wouldn't have appealed to YOU, but it might have appealed more to other people. I know it would have definitely appealed more to me if Bella had been a bit more independent and not so lovesick.

Sarah - I think that your "wackadoo" description of Bella is right on the money!

When I said that I meant that on goodreads you can express your opinions about books, but some books are simple and you don't need to go into great detail about them. Twilight is what it is, and people overanaylze the book too much. If these books are so terrible, how do you explain over 5.3 million copies have been sold?

She's not talking about overall perspective of the books, shes talking about HER persspective of the books. And who says a feminist has to be a nazi? Who says a feminist can't fall in love?

It wouldn't be as appealing if Lois Lane was Superman's sidekick, would it? And this is the last thing I'll say--she's a teenager! A teenager in love, can you blame her for the way she acts? What I loved about the book was the sort of tragic romance element to it. The way that Edward was torn between loving her and thirsting for her blood. How she fell so hard for him even though she knew he was dangerous. We can all relate, we've all fallen deep in love with someone we shouldn't fall for. It's a nicely crafted love story, and I believe it's meant for girls ages 12-16, so if you're 30 and you're complaining about how you didn't like the book, go figure.

Maybe it wouldn't be as appealing, but Lois doesn't have to always be the damsel in distress to make it interesting. In fact, the ones where the women are strong and stubborn happen to be the best ones.

Here here I personally love literary characters like Elizabeth Bennett.

As for who this book is meant for - aren't you 19? This does not fall between the ages of 12 - 16.

Also - your profile is correct. If you'd like to become a writer - you should consider reading a tad more. But you should also grab better hold of your "emotions" during literary discussion.