D+
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publication Info: Little, Brown Young Readers 2006
ISBN: 0316015849
Genre: Young Adult
To say I was angsty as a teenager is something of a majestic understatement. I was miserable, for a host of reasons. And I had suitably angsty intense relationships with really awful, unsuitable, self absorbed guys who were interested more in screwing with my already ruffled emotions than they were any genuine efforts at being a couple. One particular guy was an absolute waste, and I am horrified that I spent so much time trying to make this fool happy.
Reading Twilight reminds me heavily of my angsty teen self, and how ridiculous it was that I expected rainbows and happiness when, let’s be honest, teenagerdom is pretty fucking miserable all around. It makes me think of a really old, navel gazing Alanis Morissette song wherein she says, “You were plenty self-destructive for my tastes at the time/ I used to say, the more tragic the better.” Yeah. That about sums up my teen years, and this book.
I’m still reading this thing, persevering to the end, trying to figure out what all the fuss is about, why so many people absolutely adore this book to the point that they set up bulletin boards and fan sites and, for God’s sake, whatever you do, don’t search “Bella” or “Twilight” on Etsy or you’ll get so much jewelry with swans and crap you’ll want to set your eyeballs on fire. The Twilight fandom is a serious fandom.
In case, like me, you’ve been under a rock for awhile (how’s your rock? Mine’s awesome!) and haven’t read or heard of this series, here’s the nutshell: klutzy teen Bella Swan moves to exceptionally small gloomy town in the Pacific Northwest to live with her father, who is so absent he might as well not be a parent so much as a chaperone who falls asleep or, in this case, goes fishing a lot. Gloomy, Abercrombie-gorgeous Hottie McVampire Edward is playing at being a high school student with his adopted family, and seems profoundly disturbed by her presence, only to experience equally profound mood swings which allow him to pay extreme attention to her. Commence panting courtship.
I do get the elements that are so sultry and seductive about the plotline: he’s over the moon about her; he can’t stop thinking about her. He’s mysterious, he’s dark and gloomy, he’s like angst and sexy rolled up in a sparkly taco shell. He’s isolated and longing for her, yadda yadda yadda. And I can see why some readers adore the plotline where she reveals him and gains solo entrance into his world, is the only one to make him smile, etc.
But what I don’t get is the degree of isolation that accompanies that entrance. I can’t even explain how uncomfortable their self-imposed alienation makes me feel. The former angsty teenager in my shriveled, echoing heart is all over it, because dude. Hot angst biscuit wants her and only her and after six weeks let’s make declarations of loooooove. He’ll watch over her while she sleeps, he’ll sneak into her home, he’ll insert himself silently into every part of her world. Former Angsty Sarah can see why that’s incredibly seductive, especially when one is feeling lonely and without anyone who truly understands.
Currently Adult Sarah, who is a lot older and one would hope marginally wiser than F.A.S. is majorly squicked out. The imbalance of power between these two characters is significant, and his moodswings don’t help much. He’s annoyed, he’s irritated, he’s blissful! He’s sparkly, he’s angry, he’s irritated again. But what really bothers me is the degree to which Bella subsumes her identity at every turn. She inserts herself into her father’s home by doing the things that will make him happy (cooking, laundry, making herself scarce when he wants to go fishing and is troubled by feelings of potential parental responsibility) with minimal fuss. She inserts herself into Edward’s world by doing the same – the biggest show of spine she has (so far, I’m on page 3,546,775 of 7,532,668) is asking a shit ton of questions, but mostly only with his permission to do so. She’s a mismatched dichotomy of the teen no one notices and the teen everyone notices and it doesn’t fit well on her, nor does it make for an interesting character. Even her name as a reference to her character is klunky: Bella Swan? COME ON NOW AND I MEANT IT.
Meyer’s writing is nothing to hyperventilate over, in my opinion, except for its tendency to hyperventilate in moments of drama. That said, I don’t necessarily see the point in condemning a book and saying no one should read it, it’s awful, omg, alert the vampires that a terrible insult has been laid upon them. Meyer definitely taps into the dark, mysterious tortured hero, one of my personal favorite archetypes, but the degree to which Edward’s intensity is focused on Bella, and the degree to which he shifts in mood and action (he’s here! He’s gone! He’s back! Whee! Do vampires get frequent flyer miles because damn, he gets elite status in, like, a week.) doesn’t seem to level out. And while Edward is a 9.0 on the Richter scale in terms of mood variations, Bella mopes from meh to meh. I’m curious about the movie, simply because the actress playing her is exceptionally talented, and could revive the character to a more vibrant portrayal. The book’s version of Bella and Edward reads to me like pairing lukewarm milk with a Red Savina pepper.
My wishlist for this book is a mile long in terms of things I wished had been a little different, a little better, a little more sparkly, if you’ll pardon the pun, but mostly I wish I could understand what it is about the book that sends so many people over the moon in terms of their adoration and pursuit of more. Either way, if this book makes people sunny and moony at the same time, more happiness to them. Whatever floats your boat. Or sparkles your vampire.
snarkhunter
In no way was I implying that all people here felt the same way as Lyra and handyhunter. However, I also hadn’t seen anyone else respond to their comments. And I stand by my response that I was disappointed by that attitude being displayed by anyone who reads/comments here.
One of the reasons I love this site is the strong line that SB Sarah and Candy have taken towards plagiarism and copyright infringement. My assumption when I first heard about the leak is that neither of them would think it was funny or take it lightly, whih I still believe wholeheartedly. I guess one of the reasons I was so disappointed with the glee/schadenfreude some here expressed is that I would think this would be the last site that anyone would feel it is ok to take pleasure in an author having their work appropriated without their permission.
Please do not take my comments as an indictment of everyone here, but rather my disappointment and dismay that even here there are those who would laugh at this as opposed to realizing how horrible and damaging it is to the author concerned.
WOW! Sasha! I’m really sorry I made a speculative comment!
Won’t be making any more!
sheesh
I’d probably have more sympathy for Meyer if 1. I liked her writing, 2. her response to this was professional, 3. she wasn’t handing out copies herself. Doesn’t make leaking the chapters right, of course, but. . .I don’t know, there’s a sense of inevitability to it.
But it reads just like all her other books. And she’s basically already written it—MS is Twilight from another POV.
My bet is that she still makes money from this eventually.
theo
My response was strong because any speculation about why Stephenie might not want to finish this project at this time (or ever) seems to be clearly blaming the victim. The best analogy I can come up with with why this bothers me so strongly is that it would be like hearing someone got raped and start wondering what they were wearing at the time of the attack (as if that should make any difference).
Other people’s mileage may vary on this issue – but that’s where I stand.
sasha,
You have every right to take any stand you feel is necessary, as do we all, but please don’t attribute things to me that weren’t said.
I in no way stated this, nor did I imply it to her:
Your words, not mine. I simply stated what I would do were I in her shoes. I have no idea what’s in her mind and to insist she do something like the above would be stupid of me.
I also did not assume this is the reason she’s not going forward with the book at this time:
Again, your words, not mine. I made a speculation. Would you have preferred if I’d thrown out a half dozen others I thought might also be the reason?
I understand your being upset with what has happened, but please don’t twist my comments to suit your anger.
Perhaps no one else has read them? This thread is rather tl;dr, after all.
Breaking Dawn? Train wreck.
spoilers may follow……
one of the utterly squickiest moments of it: when Edward suggests that maybe Jacob should ‘make puppies’ with Bella, since his own vampiric spawn is like, breaking her pelvis and stuff with rapid development of their mutant hybrid vampire baby. Wow. Is heroic the right word for that? HELLO? (even the most rabid teen fans I know – and I know ‘em – admit to disquiet at that. Although they don’t necessarily use the term, disquiet).
The series jumped the shark good and plenty with BD – the rest are pageturning angsty crack, such as one sometimes reads, but subsequently forgets. (I discussed the train wreck that is BD on my blog). With BD, Meyer disappointed in so many ways.
There are some hilarious forums on Amazon.com’s page for BD.
I think the PC and Kristin Cast series (another vampire skool) isn’t particuarly well written and has little steam, of what it had, left by book 3. I couldn’t care about the main characters any more (rabid fans say ditto).
When I point the rabid fans in the direction of Sunshine, some don’t get it, but some do. They come back and say, yes, that one REALLY has something. Doesn’t stop ‘em liking Twilight, but it does set them some measure of comparison in plot/character/structure/quality.
On the basis of the film trailers, there are boys interested in reading Twilight. Not sure what they’re going to make of the print version vs the vavoom of a brief, action-packed trailer – screeching cars, fights etc…
I am, however, trying to remember the last time I saw a modestly sized suburban bookshop devote an entire island of four to five cubic feet to multiple multiple (multiple) copies of four books by one author, as per the Meyer Cube I saw last week. I can’t. Apart from HP, and that’s a phenomenon all its own.
One version of events I garnered somewhere was that Meyer originally imagined Twilight then Forever (now Breaking, and how appropriate that is?) Dawn, and publishers said, well, what about a bit more high school life before Bella trots off to get married moments after graduation? Which argues to me that BD needed to change from its original incarnation to properly incorporate the later plot developments.
Must admit they are great covers, though. Kudos to the designer.
On the sneaky marketing front, the original Twilight paperback was on sale in Australia for $16.95 (average for a paperback). Then, when the series got popular, the publisher pulled this edition and issued a ‘special edition’ – maybe slightly larger format. What makes it special? That would be including the first chapter of Midnight Sun, WHICH YOU CAN READ ON THE NET FOR FREE. Oh, and the other special thing? The price. $24.95. KerCHING!
theo
are we really going to have a semantic discussion about the differences between the words “assume” and “speculate”? Because while they are not exactly synonymous – they aren’t that different either. If you would like, feel free to replace the word ‘assume’ in my post with the word ‘speculate’. It doesn’t change the meaning of what I was trying to convey.
As to my reading that many were telling Stephenie to pull herself up by her bootstraps or put on her big girl panties or whatever analogy/description people would like to use…my point was that the leak of the MS manuscript happened within the last week. She has been dealing with having her trust broken, her work stolen and published without her permission within a very short amount of time and I think that anyone saying what they would or wouldn’t do in conjunction to talking about what she has done/says she will do implies (at the very least) that they think her choices aren’t the right ones. Especially with the ad hominen attack on her writing abilities that you threw in (unnecessary in my opinion within this discussion) and the seeming lack of understanding you have over the idea that Stephenie might truly feel traumatized or what her choices should be. Those thoughts in such close proximity to one another seemed to imply (to me) a connection. Since you say I was mistaken in that reading, I will take your word for it.
I feel sad and upset that an author has been violated and her work appropriated without her permission. I am sadder and more upset that anyone would feel it is ok to speculate on whether this author is using a clear violation of her work & trust to deal with a backlash (blaming the victim for their response to an attack), or that it is ok for an author to have their work appropriated if we don’t like it, or we don’t agree with the response someone gives after being victimized, or if they gave copies of the work for others to read (shame at Stephenie Meyer for trying to help make a film of her work better. How stupid could she get trusting people!). But pointing out why responses have disappointed me here is me not “twisting comments to suit my anger”. It is me talking about how I read those comments, and as I said, if that is not how you (or others) intended your words to be understood, I will take your word for that.
Hmm..I just read P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast’s YA books this week.
(Marked, Betrayed and Chosen) I enjoyed them. I’m already a Cast fan from the “Goddess” books and thought the added Wiccan elements to a vampire story in the YA books were interesting .
I’m too old for YA books anyway and don’t really want to spend money on them other than maybe at a UBS. I was toying with the idea of reading the Twilight series but after reading all this……. I’ll save my book money for something else.
It’s been my experience that the ratings of books reviewed here are usually pretty darn accurate.
sasha,
Then by all means, please DO take my word for it. I’m not the one taking any of the comments here personally.
I am also not alone in my comment on her writing. We’ve all seen horrendous writers who have been published and make a ton of money. So be it.
As I said, you’re entitled to any stand you wish to take. However, I stand by my statement that you took my words and twisted them to suit your anger. However, I’ll take your word for it that you didn’t. Whether or not I agree is another matter.
______
Does it upset me that things were leaked? Of course. No author wants to see that happen. However it did. How any author recovers from it is a personal decision for them. Whether I would handle it differently or not is no indication of whether I feel they are doing the right thing.
As for all the comments, I thought this was a place of discussion. If there is no disagreement, then there is never a need for anyone to make comments here and eventually, no need to read this great site.
I am finding it very hard to believe that the so called ‘leak’ was not deliberate.
She’s been compared to JK Rowling, whom, if i recall correctly, also had one of HER later books ‘leaked’. So it stands to reason, that either Stephanie Meyer or her publishers would want to capitalize on the comparisons being made, and draw more similarities between the 2 authors, in just this way.
As far as the indignation over handing out drafts and someone decided to share their copy- she gave them copies. In that sense, it was THEIRS to do with as they chose.
Does it make it right? No. Not in anyway. But it was THEIR property from the moment she gave it into their possession. As long as no one is attempting to claim the work as their own, or attempting to change passages, and get it published, she really has little that she can do, other than quit writing it. Which, if she has a contract with the publisher, and most writers, especially the really smart ones, DO (it’s the *publisher* that dictates when the book is released, the writer usually has a set deadline as to when certain drafts are supposed to be to the editor and the final draft needs to be to the publisher. Yes, extensions can be granted, but it is still the *publisher* that dictates when the book is released. As we’ve seen with Jewel of Medina.)
As far as her posting a draft copy of Midnight Sun on her blog, well, I tried. I really did. I could barely get through the first chapter. I get it- Edward hated Bella with a passion. It did not need almost 3/4 of a chapter to tell me this in various ways.
I don’t throw books, but this draft copy, even in PDF form, made me really want to.
As far as being too ‘old’ for YA, one is NEVER too old. In fact, I just picked up Delia Sherman’s ‘Changeling’ a few weeks ago. I have books I read in high school, that I’ve looked for and found, original, first printing, hardcover editions for, that hold cherished places of pride on my bookshelves.
So yes, there are those of us who do read the comments, even if they become TL;DR. Mainly because, I have it set up to email replies to me. Heh.
Didn’t finish that thought, sorry.
Anyway, while, yes she can quit writing/working on Midnight Sun, if she has a deadline, she’ll have to meet it. Even with extensions, she’ll still have to fulfill her contract, or risk being in breech. After she hands over the finalized draft, it’s then up to the publisher as to when the book is released. Technically, not her.
FYI for the Tam Lin fans: The fictional Blackstock College is a very thinly veiled copy of Carleton College in Northfield, MN, which is Pamela Dean’s alma mater. The building names have been changed but otherwise it’s Carleton in just about every detail: the arboretum, the man-made lakes, the erudite graffiti in the (now-closed) tunnels, the tradition of stealing a bust of Schiller, etc.
When the web team was working on a site redesign, some of the mockups said Blackstock College. 🙂
Let me just address Sasha’s “for shame!”:
I found out Meyer’s “response” when it broke on fandom_wank late last evening. I don’t know if you’ve seen fandom_wank, but this kind of thing, in that context, is pretty hilarious (the macros, oh the macros). So, my response was directly influenced by that, and I apologize for not making that clear.
Furthermore, while I sympathize with the hurt Meyers is going through, I cannot respect the way in which she chose to respond. She is, to put it plainly, acting like a child. Despite her talent (or lack thereof), she is a paid, published author. I expect a certain level of professionalism from authors (and indeed, from all adults), a level of maturity where they do not flounce about saying the equivalent of “People hurt my feelings. I’m not going to let you play with my toys anymore.”
Her juvenile behavior overshadows whatever sympathy I have for her. I’m not saying she’s not entitled to feel this way. I’m saying she should know better than to pitch a big public fit. And THAT is why I am laughing so hard that it hurts (aside from the macros). Because I cannot believe a grown woman is doing this. Sometimes you’ve got to laugh to keep from crying.
Heck, it made SF-Drama on LiveJournal today!
That’s some hilarious reading there as well.
Y’know, I haven’t read Meyer’s books (they don’t sound like my sort of thing), but I have complete sympathy with her reaction to the theft and illegal posting of her work. I see nothing to mock and laugh at there.
It’s her intellectual property. It doesn’t matter whether her books are good or bad. It doesn’t matter how many millions she’s made from her fans already. It’s a violation and a betrayal—and from the sound of it, perpetrated by someone she trusted and perpetuated by the same rabid fans who purport to adore her.
I read her statement, and it doesn’t sound like a “flounce” or “unprofessional” to me. It sounds sad, and hurt, and very human. That she’s being ridiculed for it is just insult on top of injury.
Going back to the content of the books I found this explanation “Writing from the hips” both intelligent and funny –
http://maculategiraffe.livejournal.com/84297.html
walked46: how many miles I’d go to avoid reading Stephenie Meyer
I can definitely understand the draw in Edward’s character – brooding, handsome, intelligent, chivalrous, witty, musical – but it gets totally drowned out by how condescending and controlling he is. He slings Bella over his shoulder and carries her downstairs for breakfast in her own house; he pulls her to his car by the back of her jacket; they’re tussling around, someone comes in, and Bella “struggles to free [her]self” while he complacently rearranges her. He’s always smirking at her. It drives me nuts.
Something I thought might be interesting in this discussion:
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bd_faq.html
Just wait until the carnivorous fetus comes in…
Reminds me of the Buffy/Angel “perfect love” deal. My daughter got into these books, then my son, so I had to find out what the big deal was. The story itself isn’t bad (so far – I’m through book 2, so I couldn’t read comments for fear of spoilers!) but there’s a lot of BLAH BLAH BLAH exposition… if I were the editor, I could have cut these tomes in half, at least. And really, I expected more innovation – just another vampire/werewolf thing… haven’t we been there, done that enough already? I guess not the TEEN version, right? *sigh* I’m stuck now, have to see how it all turns out, but I do have a tendency to speed read the angsty parts… 🙂
…please, SK, save yourself from the cannibalistic fetus. Get out while your brain isn’t scarred forever again. There’s no hope for me, but… *choke* maybe there’s some for you.
(Am I the only one who would kill to see this specific scene put in a supposedly teen-rated movie? Just because it would be hilarious and mind-scarring for Sue-loving teens? I mean, it might kick them up into something a bit MORE…)
While I’m at it, let’s not forget the imprinting on said cannibalistic fetus. eegh.
If RPattz continues to be as… eloquent as he has been about the movie, I’d love to have that scene in the movie if only for his colour commentary during the interviewing process!
Yeah, except Angel goes bad and illustrates exactly WHY acreepy stalker boyfriend is BAD. Edward never does.
No, not everyone enjoyed that book. I found it tiresome and hated the author’s “Oh look I’m so clever” self-consciousness.
hell15 – Where I was when I was reading that garbage.
I’m late on the bandwagon but I just want to get this out once and for all. For the Love of all that Holy and Sparkly Vampire…STOP comparing Twilight to Wuthering Heights b/c while I try not to be judgemental person, I would so judge you if you think the former is on the same par as the latter. T^T
I mean I hate every single characters in Wuthering Heights but god, the writing is spectacular. The tone..the atmosphere…the whole mood as created by Emily Bronte is simply brilliant. I mean I could actually feel the cold creepy moor wind sending its tendrils out at me as I read the book…Meyer’s writings can’t even be close to that.
Please once and for all, agree with me on this and stop killing Wuthering Heights!!
<3
This post is so refreshing after all the “Twilight” praising blogs everywhere! Bella and Edward are both weird, an she gets weirder in the coming books. I read through all of them just to see if it will get better, it doesn’t. Wait till you reach “Breaking Dawn”.
I totally agree, I don’t know why so many people are fussing about this!
If you don’t analyze these books, they are fantastic. Meyers has a gift for storytelling even if the writing gets a bit repetitious and annoying. They are addictive, fast paced, and yes…romantic.
I will admit to not liking the two main characters. Meyers tried to force feed the idea that they were so selfless and would do anything for each other….but Bella was so bland and Edward was a 110 year old pervert sneaking into her room watching a 17 year old sleep. I just couldn’t swallow their relationship…and I my suspension of disbelief when reading the series was at an all time high. I found myself hoping that good old Jacob would win her over, but alas….Bellas intellect was on par with her personality…that is to say…stunted. I was relieved to have Jacob take on some of the storytelling later in Breaking Dawn….but it was unfortunatley obvious that his and Bellas voice were emanating from the same place. My final opinion of Bella was the same one she had of herself through much of the saga….she just wasn’t worth it.
A D+ is a bit harsh. It was fluff, but really more a C+/B- for the fluff that it was.
Allie, I’m really not trying to be facetious here. I honestly want to know. If you had so many problems with the two main characters and didn’t really like either one of them, thought the relationship was a 110 year old pervert and a stunted 17 year old, how can you call them romantic? Especially since you said yourself that you just couldn’t swallow their relationship and at the end, your opinion of Bella was that she just wasn’t worth it.
It just seems to me that with those kinds of faults, a D+ is really generous. Which is why I’m asking.
And I’m curious too that, if they were that…ugh, why one would keep reading them.
Honestly, I really am being serious here and not flip. I would think the tendency would be to stop reading even the first one when ideas of the main characters ran so against the more typical ‘romantic’ mold for lack of a better word. Does one continue reading in the hopes that things will get better?
I use “romantic” as a general feeling for the book. The settings, the idea…more “romanticism” than actual relationships between the characters. I actually enjoyed some of the supporting characters very much and was actually hoping at some point Bella and Edward would be killed off and other characters storylines fleshed out more.
I definatley agree with the points you’ve made about the book. There was so much to forgive in them….but they were such an addictive guilty pleasure that even looking at them figuratively after the fact I still have to admit that I enjoyed them in the moment. I found the writing to be very descriptive and involving…and it wouldn’t be the first book I read where the main characters were flat out unlikeable.
I’m not gaga over them….I’m not wearing a Team Edward shirt to work or designing Bella bracelets or anything….but I do enjoy mindless fluff for escapism now and again. I also don’t read many YA titles so I guess I was pleasantly surprised that it was enjoyable for me period.
Don’t worry…I didn’t think you were being flip or facetious. There is a lot to pick apart about this series. I just don’t spend much time analyzing fantasy. I still think the D+ is harsh….:)
Thanks, Allie! 🙂
I understand a bit better now what you were trying to say. I have to say though, this:
almost sent my coffee across my keyboard! 😉
I probably would find a lot more books to enjoy if I didn’t have to like the characters to keep reading them. I read lots of excerpts for this series over the past few months, when all the hype started for the latest release and recently, the ‘author leaked’ first twelve chapters of the book-that-shall-never-be-completed (which I only made it through two) and kept hoping the next excerpt would draw me in. But I didn’t find any growth in the characters even in those short sections. They were annoying to me and that kills the ‘romance’ factor for me.
But I can understand what you’re saying and see your points. Thanks for having the patience to explain 😀
OK, I think everyone reads differently. Some read for characters, others for locations. Some read with a critical eye and others just read. I am pretty analytical. I enjoyed the first book. I think the author has some skill with a metaphor and I didn’t hate Bella too much. She’s rather flimsy but I read it feeling that I’d enjoy watching her grow up. Didn’t happen. If you are interested in my review, it is on my good reads URL listed above.
Anyhow I wanted to address Sasha. I really respect your perspective. I love to read books about damaged people. I don’t care about penance for murder or anything like that, but I’m annoyed with their relationship in general.
I don’t care that they didn’t get punished. I care that they didn’t earn their melodrama. I had to sit through 300 pages of driveling angst in the second book, with people who love each other for no good reason. U smellz gud, I can haz angst now? That is not good enough for me as a reader. If you can make me care about them, I could understand what they see in each other. I love damaged characters but I have to be able to like them and to understand why they love each other so tenaciously. I don’t care if it’s improbable as long as you can make me buy the love. I didn’t.
Bella is a good person, but she’s a dishrag. It’s one thing to make others happy, it’s another to disappear to make their lives easier. It doesn’t feel like low self-esteem to me, that feels like a complete lack of basic sense of self-worth. When I first met her, I liked her and wanted her to grow. Then she meets Edward and simply wraps all her lost identity in his. Grrrr. Sexy vampires are awesome but Edward is… he’s spam rolled in diamond dust. Oh sure it looks good, but just taste it. It’s still spam.
For me the books were one interesting girl falling for one boring guy and then she becomes as dull as he is. They don’t “earn” their happy ending because I didn’t believe in their love story. I can’t sit back and be happy that they’ll be able to handle the difficulties that lie ahead because they love each other so much. I think their love is destructive and unhealthy and doesn’t serve either of them. It’s not two people being bettered by being with each other. It’s one person groveling while the other slavers. For eternity.
I guess that’s not my kind of happy ending.
Oh my goodness, this review made me so happy! I read Twilight a couple of years ago, and it literally made my brain hurt. I’m almost sixteen now, and it saddens me to see so many girls my age accept and glorify Edward’s abusive “love” for Bella. The whole book is so cliche, it makes my head spin. And a sparkling vampire? Come on! God forbid the characters have anything scary to go through!
I could write pages on this, but I’ll stop now.
I loved this review! Nailed the damn book (um, staked it in its angsty heart?) perfectly. I just read Twilight, got all caught up in the hype beforehand, talked to people who just loooooved the series, etc. ad nauseum.
So, bought books. Read first one and thought, Huh. I don’t think this is very intriguing, actually. In fact, I have major concerns. (Which this review encapsulated quite well, thank you.) With trepidation, I picked up the second book in the series and began.
I think I tossed it down in disgust on page 27 or thereabouts.
Let’s hope the movie shoots some sense into this ridiculous storyline. Because god help our nation’s girls if this is the sort of message they keep getting—and devouring.
LOL. my little sister was all crazy about this book, so finally i tried to start reading it last week. from the first few chapter, I already know Meyer’s strategy to make it so popular with the teenage girls ( mostly girls below 20)
Twilight series = romance trashy novels MINUS the sex scenes.
Of course those teens are all hooked. They have never read christine feehan. *wink*
Thank you for reviewing the books, now I can avoid them and the movie(s) like I avoided Jurassic Park and Titanic. I’ll stick to my Buffy DVD’s where Joss Whedon kind of already cornered the market on the high-school-girl-loves-vampire-but-they’re-doomed storyline.
And what’s with all the references to “sparkly”?? Who’s sparkly? I thought sparkles were out like glitter….
I am not looking forward to next term with a bunch of 18-yr-old girls in my classes going apesh*t over this.
I read the first two books in the series then went to Meyer’s site and read some spoilers for the other two. I have to admit, I’m glad I did that because I am no longer curious about the rest of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed Twilight even though I had MANY problems with it. It had a strange way of hooking me in. As pointed out in the review, Bella’s a bit of a doormat though the whole missing parent thing is also welcomed by her character (and convenient for Edward to sneak in the house).
One of the biggest things that annoyed me, though, was Edward’s angsty-ness! I mean, he’s 107 years old—his body is stuck at 17, not his mind/emotional state.
In any case, there’s a definite market for Twilight, as we’ve seen. And the movie wasn’t bad—it definitely entertained. BTW, has anyone noticed the massive output of vampire/fantasy YA novels lately?
Reading this review and the comments made me realize something. When I was the right age to have appreciated having an Edward of my own enough to have overlooked his creepy, stalktastic made-of-failness, I was watching Beauty and the Beast on prime time TV. Edward Cullen? Vincent, you’re not.
So it’s possible my guilty pleasure quality bar was set just a smidge too high at an early age for me to imagine ever enjoying Twilight. Not that my preferred angsty fantasy drama was perfect, mind you, it was purple as all-get-out, but for goodness’s sake, the title characters had actual personalities and real relationships with the world around them and the occasional flaw that got them in trouble (not “aw shucks aren’t I clumsy” trouble, but, like, plot-driving trouble) and they didn’t just fall in love with each other’s smells.
That said… this thread appears to have died out since before the movie opened. What did y’all think? Me and my posse were pleasantly surprised at the vast improvements made on screen, given the source material. Plot! Happened! In the first quarter of the movie even! And Bella actually seemed to be trying to relate to her schoolmates! Personally, I’d see just about anything the director turns her hand to next. I think she worked a miracle.
(Verification: “suddenly91”, which would be perfect to describe my all of a sudden nostalgia for the show if that had been the year it aired. Only it wasn’t. That was the year of Disney’s movie, not the Ron Perlman/Linda Hamilton TV drama. *sigh*)
I read this monstrosity of a series in four days, and could not help but notice how… quaint the writing style was *sighs*
And sorry, but did anyone catch the falling into love bit? I guess I always thought the point of being an audience was to get an inside scoop on the psyche of the characters – what they think, what they feel, how they react to whats going on… never caught that.
It was like Meyer fell asleep in between the “meeting each other” and them “madly in love” and forgot to include the unfolding of the relationship.
Anywho, parting words… Bella’s character sucked.
Is this creepy only to me, although it does kind of sound like Santa Claus.
He sees you when you’re sleeping/
He knows when you’re awake…
Sorry, I’ve always been a little perturbed by that song.
Anyway, my rock was nice and cozy too up until the moment Twilight became a movie. One of my friends swears by this series, and I thought I might read it, but now i’m seriously creeped out.