Twilight Vamps

Guide Review – ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer – Book Review

Twilight is told by 17-year-old Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her dad for the remainder of high school. There, she meets Edward Cullen and his family, who possess an other-worldly and irresistible beauty and grace to which Bella is drawn. Twilight is the tale of Bella and Edward’s burgeoning relationship, brimming with standard teenage drama alongside the unexpected, because, after all, Edward and his family are vampires. These undead friends have chosen to deny their urge to drink human blood, instead slaking their thirst with the blood of animals. Bella soon finds out, however, that not all vampires in her life are constrained by such scruples.
The book has been praised for its treatment of sexuality and morality. Although there’s plenty of yearning and sensuality, there is no sex, drinking, or drug use. Edward refuses Bella’s desire to be turned into a vampire herself, on grounds that it wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

Twilight is an easy and enjoyable read. Its first-person viewpoint keeps the the pages turning. This isn’t a masterpiece of literary achievement, however. You have to take it for what it is –- a unique and entertaining, if not flawlessly written, story. Twilight will almost certainly appeal to teenage girls and many women of all ages, but probably not to the majority of males. It’s sure to make readers eager to devour the next three novels.

By Simone Snaith at laist

Twilight is the first installment in the series of the same name that has generated an upcoming motion picture, as well as borderline hysteria in the hearts of mostly female teens and adults alike. After watching two or three friends get sucked into the madness (and only one of them a fan of teen fiction), an investigation seemed called for. The movie trailer looked decent; the fantasy of hot-vampire-falls-for-ordinary-girl was not totally unappealing.

And no, Twilight is certainly not. Meyer’s writing is nothing literary fans will deign to read, but, much like Harry Potter, the story and characters, and certainly her uncanny abilities with suspense, will suck your average reader right in. From the very first page of narrator Bella’s dismal, klutzy existence, the book is intriguing, thankfully, since this means the only attraction is not the hot vampire himself. Bella is a lead character who is, yes, unrealistically self-sacrificing, but also inadvertently funny, hopelessly uncoordinated and disaster-prone, stubborn, quick-tempered and often the only real adult in either of her separated parents’ homes. She moves from her sunny home in Phoenix to the tiny (now quite touristy, thanks to Twilight) town of Forks, WA, to stay with her dull police chief dad, in a characteristically selfless move to give her mother more time to travel with her minor league athlete husband. Her comical doom-and-gloom in the face of constant cold and rain, and as an embarrassing source of curiosity as the big city girl in a tiny high school, are entertaining enough, but the story does get a sharp kick forward when she discovers the Cullens, a group of mysterious, adopted teens who keep to themselves.
Naturally, the Cullens are vampires, trained by their adoptive father, the ultimate good vampire, to hunt only animals, and live among humans in peace. And the one who falls for Bella is Edward, impossibly attractive (all vampire legends make it so), impossibly strong, fast, intelligent, and he can even read minds. Except not Bella’s, which leads to some adorable conversations where he is frustrated by her silence and bombards her with questions. The issue, of course, is that Bella is attractive to Edward on two levels – one as a fascinating, intense love, and the other as, well, an actual snack, with an irresistible scent he can smell from across the school.

Sound perverse? It is. But it’s also sexy, and we as readers get to enjoy Edward’s excruciating attempts to control his animal side, just to be able to stand near Bella, while the latter stubbornly resists any natural fear or sense of self-preservation, because, well, he’s perfect. (And not perfect in a sappy way either – Edward Cullen may be willing to die for love, but he’s also a bit of a show-off, patronizing, impatient and easily frustrated.) He starts popping up everywhere, with his inhuman speed, fascinated by Bella but unable to touch her until he is absolutely positive he can control himself.

In short, as things progress, this becomes the only book in the world where, die-hard romantic or no, the reader will find themselves thinking wildly, “Oh my god…he touched her cheek!!”

(Which is perhaps due to the fact that author Stephenie Meyer is Mormon, and probably why parents and teachers are more than cool with Twilight as a teen hit.) But seriously, that is quite an accomplishment. And apparently, she keeps it up for two more books. (There is obviously a fourth now but I’ve heard the story changes quite a bit.)

The story builds up the timid romance for the first half, and then of course, the real world breaks into their pretty little bubble. A small group of non-friendly vampires arrive in Forks, bringing with them a vengeful hunter who bridles at Bella’s peaceful existence with the Cullens. Then the action begins, and it’s non-stop till the end, which it appears the movie will play up a whole lot more. The trailer reveals quite a few plot points that aren’t even in the book, but that may be beneficial in translating the story to the screen. Twilight fans will have to wait until December 12th to see whether it stands on its own or not.

My only complaint with the story was Bella’s pathetic parents, who probably have to be so lame in order for much of the plot to take place, but are still occasionally outside the suspension of disbelief. That, and Meyer’s tendency to describe every single twitch of her characters’ facial expressions. I guess the latter is forgivable, however, when it comes to the face each of us girls mentally assigns Edward. (*Teenagers sigh everywhere*) The movie’s Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter) is certainly easy on the eyes, and Kristin Stewart (Into The Wild) is exactly my vision of Bella, so here’s hoping they do the book justice.