Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1) in Overdue Podcast

Aug 04, 2021 ren rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2021

so... twilight! it's honestly wild that this is considered the famous epitome of bad ya novels - i mean, ive read hunger games, and those boys are worse. tho im probably the last person to go to for ya novel recommendations, considering im not huge on the genre.

nah, i guess the reason i like this more than other similar novels is cos its so... simple? and kinda purely innocent? its wholly wish-fulfillment, the product of sexual repression suddenly unleashed in an adorably sincere teenage fantasy ...more

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Jun 10, 2021 Lore rated it it was ok

1.75ish stars... fine I'll rounded up to two.
Okay listen, I read this having in mind that it was first published fifteen years ago, and that its
intended public was mostly teenagers... I still think my teenage self would've not be amused by this book.

I have to say though, I could get behind Meyer's idea of vampires that are very different from traditional ones: sparkly inmortal creatures that have almost no weak points. They can't be tamed or injured by crucifixes, garlic, holy water or wooden st ...more

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Mar 07, 2014 Chandler rated it did not like it

Shelves: ya-fiction, urban-fantasy, 301-499pgs, 1-star

When it comes to this book, I was admittedly a little biased. Regarding the Young Adult genre as a whole, I could not think of a series that has been bashed more then the Twilight series. Needless to say, I wanted to experience this novel for myself and see if what everyone was saying was true. That this book is boring, unrealistic of it's characters, and devoid of any personality. I am sorry to report that many of those views are true, both in name and scope. (Please note, if you wish to receiv When it comes to this book, I was admittedly a little biased. Regarding the Young Adult genre as a whole, I could not think of a series that has been bashed more then the Twilight series. Needless to say, I wanted to experience this novel for myself and see if what everyone was saying was true. That this book is boring, unrealistic of it's characters, and devoid of any personality. I am sorry to report that many of those views are true, both in name and scope. (Please note, if you wish to receive a synopsis of the novel, please look above.)

First, we must start with the main problem of the story (and the main character) Bella. She moves to Forks to get away from her mother and step-father. She then is in love with Edward Cullen, the main love interest of the story, whom we will get to later. Bella is the biggest problem with this story simply because she is so dull, or rather, she is written that way. During the entire course of the novel, I never once found out anything about her that didn't have to do with her lack of hand-eye coordination, her fascination with Edward, or her love of cooking dinner for her biological father, Charlie. I really wish that she was written with more of a personality. What are her hobbies? She doesn't have any. What does she like to do in her free time? Think about Edward. What does she like? Edward. What does she not like? Not being with Edward. I know I am mentioning Edward alot here, but that is just it. She seems to be infatuated with him from the moment she sees him, and can think of little else. This almost seems reminiscent of true love, but the writing just doesn't seem strong enough to handle this type of emotion without it coming off as obsessive. Further,I seriously believe that Bella is a blank slate so that anyone who reads it can imprint themselves into the story. My theory is confirmed by the fact that Meyer makes Bella a sympathetic character in the worst way. She makes her an emotionally weak woman who is clumsy, and has self-esteem issues. This, I feel, is an all to common trope to get the reader to sympathize with the character because she is just like you , ugh.
The only other person who is as odd as Bella, is Edward, only he is controlling, shows cases of misanthropy towards Bella's friends, and is just plain creepy. He should be very interesting, least of which because he is a Vampire who was bitten in the early 1900's. However, he is often representing to Bella a possible abusive relationship. He says that he could hurt her at any moment, is far stronger than her, and wants to drink her blood because her smell is like his own personal brand of crack. This is a recipe for a disaster of a relationship in the real world, but for bland old Bella, this is just the man she is waiting for, and the fact that he has urges to kill her, well...screw that he's hot!! All of his character traits are meant to develop their romantic relationship, instead of developing his personality. He can play the piano, and read people's minds, except for Bella's, which is convenient, since, if he could, he probably wouldn't find anything interesting in her head to begin with.

The only interesting person in this whole book is Carlisle, a vampire bitten in London during the sixteen hundreds, and is Edward's "Father" in the story. He has an interesting back story and could tell us about hundreds of years of history. If there ever is going to be a spin-off series, doing it featuring this character would make the most sense.

There is another problem with this novel, and that is that it is just plain boring. Many of these chapters have nothing happening in them that makes for interesting scenes. I might care that boys left and right wanted to go out with Bella, if Bella saw herself as someone who was worthy of their attention. However, with her low-self esteem, it just comes off as unbelievable that these male character would throw themselves at her. Also, Edward's sparkling abs are extremely lame. I do give credit to Meyer for trying to do something different, but COME ON! SPARKLES!!!???!!! The few points where there could be action in this story, Meyer seems to chicken out and give the story with as little action as possible, either by taking us away from the setting entirely, or knocking out Bella when she can't. Now, I'm not saying that there has to be violence, or blood in every book about vampires, but when Edward keeps informing Bella, and us, that he is a bad-ass who can kill someone easily, it would be nice for that to be seen by the reader. That way, when Bella decides to stay with him despite his aptitude for violence, the reader knows it is because she really does love him, and not out of ignorance or possibly stupidity.

So what is GOOD about Twilight? Well...not much. I suppose that it does succeed as a romance story, as the two leads spend alot of time together. And it does get young people reading. I don't like that they are reading this drivel, but at least they are reading something, I suppose. I must say that this book did nothing to change my viewpoint on the series. I thought it would stink when I started to read it, and my thesis was confirmed by the end. I am not sorry to say that I will not be returning to finish the Twilight saga any time soon.
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