Twilight

Title: Twilight (Twilight #1)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance/ Urban Fantasy
Pages: 498
Rating: 3/5 Stars
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Upon arriving in the rainy, small town of Forks, Washington, Bella sparks the interest of the mysterious, secluded boy, Edward Cullen. However, Bella doesn't know the half of what Edward really is. Because if she did, she wouldn't be so intrigued- she'd be appalled.

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I think I know what you're probably thinking. It's something among the lines of, "What?! You haven't read Twilight yet?!" Okay, I confess, I haven't felt the need to even touch this book until I decided I wanted a genuine opinion on this novel. So many people love it, and I felt like I was missing out on something. Plus, I mean, I love Urban Fantasy, I should love this, right?

I mean, yes and no. I have mixed feelings about this one. It was better than I expected it to be. Of course, I think I pictured it to be two people, sitting in a room staring at each other, so I'm not sure how much that says. But I did enjoy reading it. However, I have a couple problems with it. 

Firstly, there's Bella. I can't decide if she's a good role model or not. She's really studious, she takes all honors classes, gets good grades, and never intentionally is late for class. In the beginning, I couldn't figure out why so many people considered her to be a bad literary influence. But then Edward. I get that this is supposed to be a romance novel, so of course it's going to center around two people in love. Who wants a romance story where the main character isn't interested in the love interest? But I was hoping that the independent, strong, and powerful Bella that's introduced would remain the same. She doesn't. As soon as Edward shows up, she's at his beck and call. She literally does anything he asks of her, and she ignores everybody else. Plus her relationship with Edward isn't even all that healthy. I would feel violated if someone staked out in my room all night to watch me sleep- with or without my knowledge. 

And the romance is pretty artificial. It's definitely instalove if I've ever seen it. I think within the first day of meeting Edward Bella is confessing her love in her sleep. And I hated how irrational she was being. This guy was literally telling her that if she got a paper cut he'd probably eat her, yet she wasn't afraid- she didn't want to leave him. I mean, I suppose love wins all, but still! I don't think Twilight accurately represents a healthy relationship.

I'm taking off quite a bit from my rating simply for the horrendous writing. I don't care how you look at it, the writing is not good. And Edward chuckled and smirked way too much. I was severely annoyed by the fifteenth chuckle-smirk. 

Okay so now I'm going to defend Twilight. 

Near the climax, when Edward was away, it got infinitely better. I was honestly actually invested in the plot at that point, I was actually concerned about Bella's safety. 

And I don't think it's fair to compare Twilight to big franchise competitors such as Harry Potter. They're just completely different. As my dad would say, it's like comparing apples to oranges. Twilight isn't supposed to be better or worse than Harry Potter, it's supposed to be different. And Bella isn't supposed to be a heroine like Hermione. She's supposed to be a girl in love.

However, I could really relate to Bella. She faints at the sight of blood, and as someone who does that as well, it was nice seeing a character who isn't invincible. You get used to these fantasy characters who can literally do anything, but Bella's not like that. She faints at the sight of blood. And I appreciate that. 

I'll be continuing this series. I want to see how this creates a four part series, and if Meyer can maybe write a little better, but I can only award Twilight three stars. 

           

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