What did Twilight have that other vampire romances didn’t?

[Shannon]

I certainly agree that because Edward was the hot guy that wanted and loved her innocence despite the fact she would have sacrificed it, was the big appeal.

[Yy]

I think it was just luck and timing that made Twilight stand out among other similar books.

[Missyb]

Yy wrote: "I think it was just luck and timing that made Twilight stand out among other similar books."

Luck and great marketing really made the difference. I liked the series, but the first two books were hard to stick with, they had so much filler. As the series went on the books got better and had less filler and more substance. Who wants pages and pages of moping, that's what it gave us, and that's a lack of story for the amount of pages in the book.

[shinfu]

Nothing.

[Vidya]

MissyB, I’m with you. There seems to be an awful lot of filler in the books. Book 2 as you said was pages of moping. I’m now on Book 4 and it feels like too much of the book is devoted to the fetus they fear will kill Bella and all their worrying about it.

It’s hard for me to like Bella. When Edward leaves her, she deliberately engages in dangerous stunts just so she can hear his voice and doesn’t worry about how devastated her parents would be if anything happened to her.

Many reviewers have said the writing is bad. I don’t agree. It isn’t great literature but it serves the genre. I’ve read books written far worse than this. At a sentence structure level, ie how well sentences are crafted, this books works well for a romance. I think people who complain about the bad writing may be forgetting that purple prose is not at all a sin in romance writing but is very acceptable.

My problem is with the story and characters. The characters don’t appeal to me. Alice and Rosalie seem more interesting than the main characters. The plot seems to me to drag and focus on one thing for too many chapters.

Bella keeps making self-destructive choices such as her insistence on carrying to term a baby that is cracking her ribs and sucking her life away.

If people love the book, its isn’t for the exciting plot because I don’t think anyone could call the plot exciting.

For some reason they love Bella and Edward. That may not be comprehensible to those of us who have a problem with these two, but there is something about these characters they love.

In Edward’s case I think I understand. A lot of romance heroes act like jerks to begin with. In a way Edward acts like a gentleman from the beginning. He warns her he is dangerous, yet he never actually threatens her. He is never aggressive, doesn’t even kiss her against her will as so many romance heroes do. He doesn’t engage in innuendo, is never sexually suggestive.

Yes his sneaking into her room to watch her sleep creeped me out but teen girls probably find that romantic. Maybe even protective. Its like he’s hovering over her to ensure nothing bad ever happens to her. It's like having your own personal guardian angel.

I don’t think he is ever rude to her as so many romance heroes are. This is probably one of the politest heroes in any romance and I suspect that is where his appeal lies. What do you guys think? Or rather, what do you girls think?

Some may not agree but I feel compared to other romance heroes, he actually treats the heroine with a lot of respect and that is what pre-teens may have swooned over. Because the boys they meet in real life probably don’t treat them with that level of respect and adoration. The boys they know don’t keep telling them how special they are, how every thought of theirs totally fascinates them.

[Claire]

I kinda fell on them! I always look around book stores & read the backs of books to see if their any good. I saw the cover of Twilight & it just drew me to it! I didn't knopw nothing about the hype or anything! Not until I'd read the first 2!!! think there was a gap in the market also for a good Vampire read. One which adults & Teens would enjoy! I'm in my 30's & loved it - even my mum has read them all!!!