Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

 

 

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–Headstrong, sun-loving, 17-year-old Bella declines her mom's invitation to move to Florida, and instead reluctantly opts to move to her dad's cabin in the dreary, rainy town of Forks, WA. She becomes intrigued with Edward Cullen, a distant, stylish, and disarmingly handsome senior, who is also a vampire. When he reveals that his specific clan hunts wildlife instead of humans,

Bella deduces that she is safe from his blood-sucking instincts and therefore free to fall hopelessly in love with him. The feeling is mutual, and the resulting volatile romance smolders as they attempt to hide Edward's identity from her family and the rest of the school.

Meyer adds an eerie new twist to the mismatched, star-crossed lovers theme: predator falls for prey, human falls for vampire. This tension strips away any pretense readers may have about the everyday teen romance novel, and kissing, touching, and talking take on an entirely new meaning when one small mistake could be life-threatening.

Bella and Edward's struggle to make their relationship work becomes a struggle for survival, especially when vampires from an outside clan infiltrate the Cullen territory and head straight for her. As a result, the novel's danger-factor skyrockets as the excitement of secret love and hushed affection morphs into a terrifying race to stay alive. Realistic, subtle, succinct, and easy to follow, Twilight will have readers dying to sink their teeth into it.–Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library

My Review:

In 2003 Stephanie Meyer woke one morning from dream she had. That dream changed her life. She spent three months remembering each detail and writing her first novel which was picked up by Little, Brown. It was published in 2005 and became an instant best seller. It was the inspiration for a blockbuster movie series, it has been spoofed, it will forever be a part of pop culture, but why do we read it?

My sister hounded me for four long years to read Twilight. She was a teenager at the time and I was already an adult with children who wanted nothing to do with a vampire novel for kids. I hadn’t read very much since high school and at that point in my life I hadn’t intended on reading if it weren’t my son’s homework, or a recipe book. Eventually, I gave in. The first time I read Twilight was in 2008, shortly after the movie was released. Yes, I said first time. I have now read the book approximately twelve times and each time I read it, I fall in love with it all over again.

While the writing is mediocre and there is nothing that jumps out to make it fabulous; it is the feelings that the novel stirs in me that makes me read it over and over. The reason I read Twilight is nostalgia.

Twilight is about a seventeen year old girl named Isabella (Bella) Swan. She reluctantly moves to Forks, Washington from her home in Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father. Her life is basically something I believe a lot of young girls could relate to. She is quiet, shy, and klutzy. Bella never seemed to have much of a relationship with her father, but they are both trying. She starts school and a whole new life in a town she has only visited since her childhood. She is basically an awkward and anti-social character. I personally related to that.

Bella’s entire life changes when she meets a boy in school. He is good looking, but for the most part, seems to want nothing to do with her. He literally runs from her on more than one occasion. Through time, Bella and the boy, Edward Cullen, develop some type of friendship. Bella has a friend from a local Indian Reservation, named Jacob, who helps her figure out why Edward is still such a mystery despite their friendship. He tells her a couple of legends his people have passed down through years; one in specific makes everything clear to her. Edward is a vampire.

When I close my eyes, I have never envisioned a vampire as anything other than a dark and seductive creature of the night. Thanks to writers like Anne Rice, I imagine them being strong, sexy mystical creatures with an insatiable love of blood. That is my first mistake. As mythical creatures, vampires can be anything. In the Twilight universe, Vampires can be everything I normally imagine. However, the Cullen’s (Edward’s “family” of Vampires) are actually “vegetarian vampires”; they aren’t ruled by their bloodlust. They hunt animals for sustenance instead of people. There are other noticeable differences from standard vampires in the book, such as all vampires having odd colored eyes, and their skin glistening like gemstones. I choose to ignore all of those controversial details and focus solely on the relationships.

Once Bella realizes Edward’s secret, their friendship takes a romantic turn. I believe it has something to do with the freedom of spilling your soul, life, and secrets with someone and them not turning you away. The relationship between Bella and Edward quickly becomes the quintessential story of all-encompassing first love. Just going through my notes of the book for this review and remembering small details brings butterflies to my belly.

It carries memories, which I might have otherwise forgotten in my ten year marriage, to the forefront of my mind. Memories like the feeling when I liked a boy and would come to class early to catch a glimpse of him, the disappointment when he missed a day of school, the nervousness the first time I kissed him, or held his hand. Those feelings it stirs in you are the reason for an adult to read this novel.

While it is lacking on action, sex, and anything I would normally be drooling over in a modern Young Adult novel, it does not lack in relation to the characters. The romanticism of vampires and the thoughts of an eternity with the one you love can make any heart, young or old, yearn for the person who can make that happen. While I was not insanely impressed with the novel as a whole, I am impressed enough to recommend it to people who might need to remember why they crave love in the first place. It is a very seductive novel when you need to get back to the basics of love before things like sex changed a relationship.

All in all, I would give Twilight three and a half kisses. It is an easy read and despite all the ragging I do on sparkly vampires, it has a message that I forgot a long time ago. Love is eternal. No novel has conveyed that so adequately in my mind and I will forever be grateful.

Pros
1. Relatable Characters
2. Nostalgia
3. Unique take on a mythical creature

 

 

 

 

Cons
1. Lacking action until the end
2. Sometimes the main characters brooding can be overwhelming
3. It is not amazing writing. Most things are spelled out for you. Bella’s awkward attempt at flirting where she tells you it is awkward is brought to mind.

Rating:

 

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