I used to think these books sounded stupid and refused to read them, making fun of anyone who did. However, when my nineteen-year-old self got dumped a few years ago and I was looking for a distraction, I decided "you can't knock it till you try it, right?" I read the whole series front to back in 4 days (which speaks more to the lack of complexity of this series than it does to my reading abilities) and here's my verdict:

This series is about as entertaining as reading a twelve-year-old girl's diary. It's very absorbing and absolutely hilarious at times, but it doesn't do much for me on an intellectual level. The main character, Bella, does nothing but whine and complain about everyone being in love with her. She's a useless human being and she doesn't have much of a personality and certainly doesn't have a mind of her own. When her boyfriend dumps her in the second book, she turns into an even more useless lump by hiding from everyone for months on end. This sends the message to teenage girls that there is nothing more valuable in life than having a boyfriend. Meanwhile, Edward, the supposed love of her seventeen-year-old life (like anyone knows who they're meant to be with at seventeen), is a creepy, possessive stalker who does nothing but obsess over Bella day and night. I'm sorry to all the fangirls out there, but the way Edward "loves" Bella is not a true representation of love in my book. That whole watching her while she sleeps thing - awkward?! In the meantime, Bella emotionally tortures her other suitor, Jacob, by playing games with his affections. In my opinion, he's a much more likable character than either Edward or Bella, until of course in the fourth book when he imprints on Edward and Bella's newborn child (pedophilia anyone?).

Although I will admit that these were absorbing and entertaining, they should not qualify as literature because of the simplicity of the writing. A seven-year-old could read these were it not for content above their level.