Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy discussion
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Novels similar to Twilight
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Vampire Diaries was written ten years before Twilight and there are a lot of similarities - even some phrases that are nearly word for word (how many ways can you say these things? LOL). I think the forbidden love, the dangerous bad guy who wants to be good - or that the girl wants to see good in is something that has been around for hundreds of years - just hit the YA genre big time with the interest in the supernatural. My opinion is that Twilight has an intangible that I am hard put to describe. In spite of the criticism of the writing, the topic and every action that Bella and Edward take there is no denying that it has something other books just have not had. I think a lot of girls/women identify with Bella even if others like to laugh at her. Maybe if one was a popular cheerleader type they don't "get" her, but I did. Mike even said something in an interview about his part in the movie as "Mike". He said every guy remembers that unreachable girl he had a crush on who never saw him that way but went off with the popular or even dangerous guy. Girls and women remember the crush on the unreachable guy who never paid attention to her - in Twilight he did!
As I said in the other Twilight thread I started, I don’t agree that it was badly written. The quality of the writing, meaning sentence structure, wasn’t bad. I’ve read far worse.I felt it moved too slow but not everyone wants something very fast-paced, especially in a romance. Character interactions are important and I think readers really liked the character interactions in Twilight.
I’m now reading Die For Me, thanks to Katie’s kind suggestion in the thread where I asked for books with different paranormal heroes. I liked the idea of an original paranormal creation and also the Paris setting, so I decided to read this one first.
While those 2 things have appeal, I don’t get that breathless first love feeling that I think many got in Twilight. Probably because the heroine in DFM is cautious and takes things slow. While that’s commendable and a good message to send teens and pre-teens, heck, girls don’t WANT good messages sent their way! they want to read about girls who feel what they feel. They want to read of a “the world will end if he doesn’t love me back” kind of feeling.
And I think perhaps only Twilight delivered that in just the right way for them.
I’m still surprised I haven’t come across more books like Twilight. Yes there are the ones I mentioned but I got the impression from reviews that it’s a formula now that lots of recent authors follow. so where are all these other books?
I agree that these subsequent books can't compete with Twilight, and I don't think it's right to set that expectation. I think they sometimes parallel the set up of Twilight:1. Normal girl
2. Love triangle between paranormal boys
3. One guy who's right for her, one who isn't.
That's as close as it gets. I loved Twilight, and I love YA books, but I am actually trying to find YA that isn't in this model because I want to read something different. And I agree with the point about the other heroes not matching up to Edward for me. There is only one Edward Cullen for me. I also agree that these other books don't deliver that unique, powerful pang that I got with Twilight, although that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them differently.
Twilight of course introduced me to YA books and I love the paranormal/fantasy, but have not just loved all the ones I have read. I LOVECity of Bones & the whole series (by far my favorite)
The Iron King & the whole series
Shiver and the whole series
Clockwork Angel and intend to like the rest of the series
If you want one with Twilight overtones but far deeper and more grown up (nothing in it that a teen should not read so not "grown up" in that way) try A Discovery of Witches. It's probably the best book I have read this year. It's epic and there will be another book.
Try
...not quite done with it but so far it's pretty good. ☺
Vidya wrote: "So far I’m aware of Fallen, Hush-Hush, Falling Under and Die For Me. they all echo the basic Twilight situation of a schoolgirl falling for a hot guy though she senses he is dangerous. They have to..."I noticed that you said the first to do something is more successful, and I don't know if that's always true. Have you read
. There are so many paralells to Twilight it's eerie. The interesting thing is My Blood Approves was self published by Amanda Hocking after Twilight. It was also published after Amanda Hocking had tried to get published traditionally for years without success. I recently saw an interesting interview with Amanda Hocking that said she wrote that series before Twilight came out. So it makes me wonder if a little bit of luck and timing isn't involved somehow.
Life is about luck and timing.
Carressed by Moonlight is very similar to Twilight and a good read to boot!
House of Night by PC Cast. - has little to do with mythology unlike Twilight, vampires, good and bad ones and betrayal, young love and growing into their own.Vampire Beach by Alex Duval. - High school kids, vampires, good & bad, young love.
The Morganville vampires by Rachel Caine reminded me of Twilight. Young, naive girl gets pulled into workd she didn't know existed. Hot bad boy becomes her one and only. These books don't have the spark that twilight did. I agree with what Terry said above, Twilight just had that something that the other books didn't. A couple times reading Morganville, I thought I am too old for this. During Twilight, I just got lost in the series.
Thanks, everyone. Good suggestions. but yes, nothing exactly like Twilight.I find it hard to believe Hocking wrote MBA BEFORE twilight. It does sound like she copied some of the basic situations of Twilight. I simply don’t believe she thought of them before Meyer wrote the same things. she had teh hero who was capable of great strength, the perfect family of the hero, the heroine having to figure out what the hero was...
Hi LadiesYeah, I'm pretty surprised to hear that My Blood Approves was written before twilight. In fact, I have to say I don't believe it. There were some direct references...as far as I recall. Like didn't one of the characters say something to the effect of "we don't sparkle in the sunlight"???? I remember being really turned off by those kind of references even though I basically enjoyed the trilogy and read them all.
Anyway, another book that you might enjoy that is very much like twilight. Some differences but it seems like she went through Twilight and changed a few key points to make the story different...but overall its REALLY SIMILAR is
Fateful by Cheri Schmidt
A book that I love that doesn't follow the twilight formula exactly but will probably appeal to the same audience is
Enchantment by Charlotte Abel
If I think of others, I'll post em!
Uh yeah, I totally don't buy that MBA was written before Twilight. The similarities are just too glaringly obvious to have not been at least influenced by Twilight. In fact, the whole time I was reading MBA I was screaming "rip off! bad fanfic!", but maybe that was just me.
I guess I'm one of the few who didn't get any sort of a rush from twilight except a sleep rush. It was OK but nothing special and I intensely disliked Bella and the message she sent. I suppose it makes sense--what girl wouldn't want to date the hottest supernatural guy in school?I actually enjoyed MBA more than Twilight. Maybe because the plot actually moved forward at a reasonable rate.
Vidya wrote: "Thanks, everyone. Good suggestions. but yes, nothing exactly like Twilight.I find it hard to believe Hocking wrote MBA BEFORE twilight. It does sound like she copied some of the basic situations ..."
I know, I thought the same thing. When I first read the books I thought for sure she wrote them after Twilight because they are so similar. It was an interview on dateline or some other show like it that I saw that. The anchor of the show is the one who brought up the fact that her story was written before Twilight was published. Who knows if its really true, but Twilight was published in 2005 and Amanda Hocking was already sending query letters to publishers and agents about the story at that time. She self published the end of 2009 and had all four written and published the same month.
I absolutely loved The Secret Circle
I really like
and the rest of this series.Nothing quite like twilight, except the Vampire Diaries, which I did enjoy.
Here are a few other random ones:
I'm not sure anything can compare to Twilight. I mean who else can have sparkly vampires and pull it off not being silly. Who can have a chaste hundred year old vampire and he still seem strong and not whimpy. Twilight is what it is and I will admit, I liked it.
Alana wrote: "I absolutely loved The Secret Circle 
I really like [bookcover:The Summoning|2800905..."
The two book covers together make a face that is hilarious.
Swoon worthy? Hmm...not vampires, but I would highly recommend the Georgina Kincaid series and the Kate Daniels series.
Heather Brewer wrote a series geared more toward boys. My nephew read it and loved it. My favorites are Vampire Academy and House of Night was good at first, but for some reason I ended up stopping those.Also, I just read this one book called Life and Death of Lily Drake. It's not really YA, but it was really cool and I'm letting my nephew read it.
OMG since twiligh ti have read a ton of great books similar in theme!! Try this series its amazing! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97..., and http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11..., and http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12..., and http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13..., and http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97...
Ths book isn't about vampires, but I found it a bit eerie how many parallels it had to Twilight. It's a very, very good book, and I actually enjoyed it more than Twilight. And I read Twilight five times (it's one of my guilty pleasures lol). I thought it was better written and I liked the characters more. The second book is just as good, though it veers off the Twilight-like story. I highly recommend it. :)
Fateful and Obsidian both look good, thanks for the recommendations!
If you read Obsidian, let me know how you like it! :)
I recommend...A touch mortal, Leah Clifford
Glimmer glass, Jenna black
The iron king, Julie kagawa
Blue bloods, Melissa de la Cruz
The vampire stalker, Allison van die pen
Mercy, Rebecca lim
Falling under, Gwen Hayes
Fallen, Lauren Kate
Hush hush, becca fitzpatrick
Wither, Lauren DeStefano
Illuminate, Aimee agresti
Embrace, Jessica shirvington
Living violet, ( I forget the author!)
Sweet evil, Wendy Higgins
The space between, brenna Yovanoff
Nevermore, Kelly creagh
They're not all like twilight, but they're all great!
The iron king is a lt like twilight, though, except less cheesy!
I believe there were far too many Twilight copycats with the exact same premise ie. girl with no supernatural knowledge falls for supernatural guy. Girls also liked Edward because he was chivalrous, romantic, and respectful, a guy you don't often see these days.I went out of my way to write a vampire series where there is one human living in a whole supernatural city of vampires and werewolves. My agent's hoping we can get enough popularity for it as an eBook that a mass market publisher will pick it up. Check it out if anyone is interested! It's a series of 7, hoping to bring out the sequel by Valentine's Day.
Book Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCIT6k...
Reina Caraway, human girl and child of prophecy in a city of werewolves and vampires, finds herself at the core of a string of murders occurring all around her city. With only her dreams to guide her and her family to protect her, will she discover the murderer before it’s too late while juggling high school and newfound romance?
A murder mystery and coming of age romance, the epic Roseblood Series is certain to thrill and captivate all paranormal lovers.
Vidya wrote: "As I said in the other Twilight thread I started, I don’t agree that it was badly written. The quality of the writing, meaning sentence structure, wasn’t bad. I’ve read far worse.I felt it moved ..."
Totally agree. Twilight was more of a character development book, which definitely appealed to me. The characters are always what make the story, not the plot.
Emily wrote: "I believe there were far too many Twilight copycats with the exact same premise ie. girl with no supernatural knowledge falls for supernatural guy. Girls also liked Edward because he was chivalrous..."
tsk, tsk. No self-promotion allowed.
tsk, tsk. No self-promotion allowed.
Athena-Nadine wrote: "If you read Obsidian, let me know how you like it! :)"I started reading it yesterday, enjoying it so far!
There is Anathema and its sequels, by KA Tucker... also, Night World by LJ Smith, which I actually liked a lot better than Vampire Diaries!
Alexandria wrote: "I have a question? I had a reviewer do a review on my book, and she said my book was like twilight, instead of the smoldering looks alone, this was an adult version. How do I take that, no offens..."
It really depends on whether she liked Twilight. Did she give your book a high amount of stars?
It's really hard to say. For a lot of people here, 3 1/2 stars is a really good review. There are a lot of people who almost never give 5 stars for anything. :)
I don't think 3.5 is bad. I rarely give 5, but if I gave 3 to 5 stars that would be a book I would recommend.
I don't think 3.5 is bad. I rarely give 5, but if I gave 3 to 5 stars that would be a book I would recommend.
Alexandria wrote: "lol, okay lol. I guess I'm spoiled, because I've gotten a couple 4 & 5s lol."
I've often thought GR should do 1/2 stars. I think it would benefit reviews, since an average rating is shown with the title. I written half stars but have to decide if the stars I give will help or hurt the average.
I've often thought GR should do 1/2 stars. I think it would benefit reviews, since an average rating is shown with the title. I written half stars but have to decide if the stars I give will help or hurt the average.
Alexandria wrote: "not really lol, she gave me 3 1/2 stars lol. So I guess maybe she was tryin to tell me something? hahaha"
3 stars according to gr means "liked it." So I don't think that's a bad thing!
3 stars according to gr means "liked it." So I don't think that's a bad thing!
Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy
Books mentioned in this topic
Roseblood (other topics)Obsidian (other topics)
The Captive Part II / The Power (other topics)
The Initiation / The Captive Part I (other topics)
Remember Me (other topics)
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It sounds like all these novels were successful though nothing as successful as like Twilight.
Are there any other novels like this? From reviews I have read, it almost sounds like using these elements has become a genre of its own and there’s a whole slew of books like this. It’s like it’s a formula now that writers follow to capture some of the Twilight readership.
Why do you think none of these other novels became as big a hit as Twilight? My opinion is that they couldn’t compete with Twilight mainly because of the hero, that no hero appealed to both girls and women the way Edward did.
Plus there’s probably the fact that the first to do something is always the most successful. All those that echo the same themes now will be less successful.