Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

By this point i'm sure you've all heard of the insane fandom that is the Twilight Universe. If not, turn on your TV, go to a bookstore, GOOGLE it for all i care, its EVERYWHERE.

Twilight is the story of Bella Swan, an average yet clumsy teenage who moves to the rainy town of Forks, Washington to live with her dad. There she notices the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen. Over time Bella discovers that he and his family are more than what they appear. In fact, they aren't even alive.

What i first liked about this book was the original plot line. It was the first time i had ever heard of such an interesting romance and that i had come across the vampire-genre. My favorite thing about Twilight was the unique re-write of vampirism that Meyer created. The Cullens, led by Dr. Carlisle Cullen (Edwards adoptive father-like figure), are not your normal vampires. They go to school, they go to work, they even play baseball. With their super-fast agility, enhanced hearing, smell, and eyesight, they could be the perfect predators... But they're not. They're more likely to go for a weekend hike in the Olympic Mountain Range that stalk you in the shadows of the night. They are "vegetarians", or the vampire equivalent, and hunt instead for game like mountain lions and irritable grizzly bears. But they still thirst for human blood, they just try to ignore it, like an alcoholic would ignore wine. And they did a good job too, until Bella, with her strangely amazing aroma, appears. I liked the character of Bella from the first page. I liked how she wasn't a "popular" kid, but not a complete geek either. She was the Everyday-Us girl and i liked that she seemed vulnerable. In Twilight, she doesn't form a dead-on search saying "He's a vampire! I must prove it!" but more like a tourist taking pictures of her travels; Bella seemed to just get more and more information as she went along. Also, at the beginning, i loved the idea of the "Good-Bad guy". As corny as it may seem there is something very appealing in the way that Edward went about distinguishing himself in the story. You must remember that the Cullens are trying a new way of life, a life without human blood, being around Bella is very worrisome to them. I found myself liking him more with every "I'm dangerous, stay away from me" that he said. And Bella must have the same weaknesses as i do because by the end of the book, they're going steady. Curse you, reverse psychology!

As much as i liked the plot line and the characters and the history that Meyer creates, it is not without flaws. I don't want you to think that i am one those completely brain-dead fans that worship this book and never question it. Nor do i want you to think that i am one of those anti-fans that are set on trashing it as long and loud as possible. When i reread Twilight, i realized right off the bat that Bella is not as interesting as i first made her out to be. She's extremely over critical and often thinks the same things over and over again. That gets annoying. Meyer does a horrendous job at moving the plot along and in my opinion, uses to much "filler material" writing Bella into doing daily chores such as laundry just to fill up pages and have Bella rethink situations, which she had already done the page before. I know you're trying to stress the thought process of Bella Swan, but seriously? Do we really need all that drama? It was also brought to my attention by a fellow blogger that basic elements a story are missing, such as the change that an adventure usually creates in its main character. You could argue that Bella Swan changes when she finds out what Edward is and falls in love with him anyway, or the Edward Cullen changes when he falls in love with Bella despite his urge to kill her. But whatever. I tend to think that its just another one of those "flaws" we mentioned earlier.

I read Twilight for the first time in the summer of 2006. Since then, i've read it 6 times. So obviously, its good. When i first picked it up out of my local library's bookshelves i thought it would be cool to read a non-mainstream fantasy novel. I loved it. I begged and poked and prodded until my friends read it. And then we read the sequel. And we started going online to visit all the fan sites and whatnot. By the time the third book came out, half the people we knew had read it. It wasn't our thing anymore, it mainstream. Now the forth and final installment is about to make its appearance and a Twilight MOVIE is coming out in December (its got Kirsten Stewart in it. Ick.). And i'm sitting here wondering if it was such a great idea that i helped contribute to the phenomenon that is Twilight, that it's a good idea to go on about so much drama that doesn't even exist and that girls will stay up all night wishing hopelessly for their perfect boyfriend: Edward.

Well, that's just my opinion. Read it, and form your own.