Book Review- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
So I just finished reading this book. I have had recommendations from friends that this is a good easy read. I don't really know why I even read these any more because I never enjoy them. Anyway, this book is written for teenage girls, and I suspect it would play very well with that audience. After all, I loved Karate Kid when I was that age.



I thought Twilight was boring and flat. I don't really understand the fuss I've been hearing. The story focuses on Isabella (Bella) Swan and Edward Cullen. Bella moves to Forks, Washington after her mother remarries and decides to follow her new husband in his career. Bella hates everything about Forks except her Dad, Charlie. Everyone seems to know who she is before she arrives, but she just wants to be invisible. Pretty soon Bella is the target of all of the boys at Forks High School, none of whom hold any interest for her except Edward Cullen, who acts like he can't stand her. Turns out he is so attracted to her that he doesn't trust himself to be around her. Bella is nearly immediately and "irrevocably" (and inexplicably) in love with Edward and he finds himself having to save her from her own clumsiness and what seems to be her destiny to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.



I don't find Bella to be a very compelling character at all, and I am having a hard time understanding what the appeal is for Edward-- it has to be more than that she smells good. She is supposedly articulate and well-read, but to me she seems boring. She seems to be a loner, but for someone who is so independent-minded she does not seem to have much of an active inner-life that would make her appealing to the teenage male population of the entire town of Forks. She spends her time alone brooding, writing emails, listening to CD's, taking showers, etc. ZZZZZzzzz. She rarely seems to catch on to anything that is going on around her. Maybe this gets developed further in the sequels.



Edward is a more interesting character as he is more developed (strange since the whole story is told from Bella's perspective as the narrator), but I can't help but wonder why a man who is supposedly 80 plus years old would be interested in a 17 year old girl. The constant sexual tension seems creepy to me in that context. He is chronically on the knife edge of wanting to devour her and wanting to protect her. Sounds like some kind of creepy Nabokov-esque fantasy.



The rest of the characters have even less character development. The writing falls flat and the dialogue is stilted. Bella seems to have a stronger connection with the vampire family than even her own family (despite her attempts to protect her parents).



Overall, I guess this book is just not my style. If you want to read a really good vampire book, try The Historian, which is a lyrical book that has interesting characters with actual plot development.


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