Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
NOT RECOMMENDED
In a word: Tedious
Plot: Isabella Swan (Bella for short) moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father, the local Sherriff. She enrolls in the local high school and meets Edward Cullen. Edward is a vampire. Edward is also gorgeous, marvelous, golden-eyed, godlike, porcelain-skinned, strong, handsome, breath-taking, brilliant, chivalrous, polite, Adonis-like, perfect, wistful, a terrific baseball player and a great dancer. Oh, and his breath smells INTOXICATING! Bella hates Edward at first, then quickly falls in love with him - Edward can't resist Bella and quickly falls in love with her. Bella spends countless pages rambling about how perfectly wonderful Edward is (see above) and how she could never leave him. Edward spend countless pages expressing how bad he is for Bella (you know, the whole vampire thing) - but how he will never leave her. James, a not-so-nice vampire, interrupts their adoration of each other long enough trap Bella and beat the crap out of her. Edward saves Bella and they go to Prom. The End.
Thoughts: This book just didn't work for me on any level. The characters were insipid and the plot was negligible.
Let's start with the characters. First there is Bella. I just know that Bella is supposed to be stong and independent, but she comes across as a whiny, needy, selfish brat. She supposed to be smart, but she never uses her brain. And she is useless. Once she decides that she loves Edward (which she does before having a first date or even a civil conversation with him) - she can't seem to do anything without his help. She can't even go shopping with friends without Edward having to save her life. When she does finally make a decision on her own, she chooses to do the dumbest thing she can do without a second thought. By the end of the book she is almost begging Edward to make her a vampire, without thinking about what that would mean to her parents, her friends, her life or even Edward. She really is annoying and, unfortunately, the book is told from her perspective - so you get no reprieve from her. We also get no reprieve from Bella gushing about Edward. Almost every page is strewn with flowery, syrupy descriptions of how great Edward is. While we are on the subject....
...Let's talk about the Vamps. The Cullen clan consists of Edward, his 'parents' Carlisle and Esme, and his 'siblings' Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice. The vampires in this book can walk in daylight, but choose not to because it makes their skin "sparkles" and they look inhuman (a plot point that is conveniently forgotten once the action moves to Phoenix, Arizona!), hence the need to live in rainy climates. Edward is psychic and Alice is a seer, neither of which is much of a bonus. They are 'good' vampires because they don't drink human blood, just animal blood. But human blood still tempts them and is takes great resolve not to give into that temptation. So the younger vamps enroll in a school where they are surrounded by tempting young throats and Carlisle becomes a doctor working in a hospital, surrounded by fresh blood. Makes perfect sense, right? Maybe the whole clan is masochistic. Or maybe there is a secret bet amongst themselves as to who will give in to temptation first. My money is on Rosalie. Nothing this clan does makes much sense - except to further the fragile plot. Why enroll the younger vamps in school? It isn't like they are going to learn anything. Is can't be to socialize, since none of them seem to be close to any of their classmates. It isn't like they are going to graduate and move on to college. It's to let Edward meet Bella, so he can find that someone he can't 'read' psychically. No other reason. Then they can fall in DEEP, ABIDING, FOREVER LOVE!!!! And declare that love every five minutes. It really does get tedious.
The main problem with Twilight iis that there is nothing is new here. Everytime Bella met someone or did something, I knew exactly how it would turn out - because the plot is paperthin and predictable. This story has been told before - and better (Film: Lost Boys; TV: Buffy/Angel; Book: Charlain Harris and Laurell Hamilton - just to name a few). Stephenie Meyer has taken a theme (human falls in love with a vampire) that is well-worn and added nothing new to it.
I can see why this book is popular amonst pre-teen and teenage girls. Bella is the typical damsel in distress, Edward is a gorgeous white knight (and vampires are sexy!) and the adults are inane. Good for them for picking up a book. With any luck, they will move on to more interesting fare.
More interesting fare: Tithe, Valiant, or Ironside - all by Holly Black