Have you read the books? i am not sure how much sense the story will make without having read them, but i highly recommend the books and the movies. My oldest daughter last year had mentioned wanting to read some book about a vampire, her friends at college had suggested it. i pooh poohed it and said oh for heavens sake that sounds stupid. then last summer when we were on vacation i went into a book store and picked up some novels for beach reading, one happened to be twilight, i didn’t even realize that was what she had been talking about. She saw it and said, OMG you said that was STUPID, and i said well turns out it’s GOOD!! LOL! we read all 4 books, i read and then handed off to my 21 yo who then handed to the 15 yo. It is escapism pure and simple and they are extremely enjoyable. i highly recommend it!
Thanks for your review!
An Amazon review:
133 of 154 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Garbage..., July 12, 2008
By Audrey
The reviews for this book were many and varying, but the majority gave high ratings. Twilight was given to me as a gift from someone who had not read it but thought I might enjoy it after reading such glowing reviews. Now, the thought that they paid actual money just to give this to me, and with only the best intentions at heart, makes me feel tremendous guilt. You know who you are, and if you come across this, I’m sorry. However, I feel no guilt in telling exactly what I thought about this story.
I am deeply offended. Not only at the author for penning such a thing, but most especially at the publishing company for allowing it to be printed, for this story lacks any imaginative or enjoyable storyline, contains only one-dimensional characters, and scenes and a narrator so ridiculous as to be stomach-churning. The entire book felt like one tremendously bad joke and not even a funny one.
Everyone knows what this is about. The main character, Isabella Swan, moves to live with her father in Forks, Washington, and, there, meets and falls in love with fellow classmate-and vampire-Edward Cullen. This is tagged as a dark fantasy/romance, and really, after reading it, I would not call it that; this is nothing more than a romance with a really pitiful excuse for vampires, and just because it has the author’s version of vampires doesn’t mean it should be pinned as a dark fantasy. Ooh...the sparkles...
I had no feelings whatsoever for the main characters. Edward was extraordinarily unlikable. There was no quality in him that was humorous, kind, or sympathetic. He came across as irritatingly moody and brooding and very controlling. He often told Bella what to do, and was the boyfriend equivalent of a bully; and, of course, spineless Bella (yes, I’m coming back to this) went along every single time. The entire story he was either ordering her around (he was constantly telling her to eat or drink), telling her who was allowed to say and do what and when, and basically controlled their entire relationship (I cringe at calling it even that, as terming it such also offends). All of the things mentioned in the previous sentence (not to mention his weird and unromantic stalking) remind me of the warning signs of a possible abuser. Other than his constant warnings for her to avoid trouble and that being with him was dangerous, he was incredibly boring and had no other qualities. Also, the more Bella oozed about his exquisite body—as he continued to be as boring as paste (Seriously; the guy has no personality. What’s to like???)—the more I disliked him. He was supposed to be older than a century (don’t remember the exact age but basically...he was old), and he came across as nothing more than a moody, moping teenager. Well, let’s not insult the teenagers; better yet, like a guy on PMS. The author did not pull his age off.
Now, Bella, the spineless wonder, had me cringing with embarrassment. She was conveniently clumsy, and such clumsiness (which I would preferably call idiotic behavior, despite the author’s terming) consistently almost got her killed, thus thrusting her in the path of danger and allowing Edward to save her numerous times. She did nothing for herself. The entire story, Edward was looking after her. Also, during the span of 498 pages, her focus was set solely on Edward. She had no dreams (other than those about Edward...), no personality, no hobbies...Every thing, including nearly every obsessive sentence, was about Edward. If he failed to come to school, she would be moody, incredibly rude, and basked in her own boring despair. And when not in his presence she actually used such words, usually better left for describing mourning. Yes, she mourned the dude when he was away. She was rude to everyone but Edward and almost completely ignored her father instead of strengthening their relationship. I disliked Bella immensely. She was self-centered, vapid, helpless, mean, unbearably whiny, and childish. Her character, based upon her treatment of others, her intense obsession with physical beauty (what kind of message is the writer sending with this?), her dislike of those who were unpopular and/or not as attractive as others, her constant moping, and selfish behavior were almost unbearable. I disliked the fact that the author replaced character personalities with beauty. It’s like saying you can have the ugliest personality in the world and still be the most beautiful, desirable person that ever lived...The author also seemed to vindicate lying, vanity, and stalking. There was no quality in either main character that was admirable, and, honestly, I would feel shame if I knew a person like Bella.
The book was literally overflowing with descriptions of Edward’s beauty, which, with the exception of something quickly tossed in near the end, stood in for the majority of the plot. It was constant; there was either something about his flawless face or model-like beauty every time Bella was in his presence. I was disturbed by her obsession with him, and this obsession only made her seem mentally unstable (cough separation anxiety). If the explanation that this is one badly written and characterized book were taken away, I would call her a psycho. Well, he’s a stalker and she’s crazy...And here I will add direct quotes from the story that really take the cake...
Edward grins at her and she goes, “I looked away before I could start hyperventilating”(219). No girl hyperventilates if a dude looks at her. That is just stupid...and kind of hilarious.
After being around him she was “Afraid I might stumble in my woozy state”(225). I laugh at the utter ridiculousness.
She sees Edward and the result, “I couldn’t imagine how an angel could be any more glorious”(241). I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...
“He was too perfect, I realized with a piercing stab of despair”(256). She then proceeds to mope.
“I tried to keep my eyes from his perfection as much as possible, but I slipped often. Each time, his beauty pierced through me with sadness”(257). Look, this one is almost identical to the previous pages’ moping. My response: I try to keep myself from hurling as much as possible. Also, I find this wildly hysterical. How can I possibly take such things seriously?
I did not make up a single quote. Each was really written by the author. Unbelievable? Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. My point is the entire book is like this, all 498 pages of it! I question how and why this book was ever published. How is this enjoyable? It is insulting to my intelligence, and it is also insulting to every reader, male or female, but especially to females, who, following Stephenie Meyer’s characterization of Bella, should wilt and wither and fall into abject despair if their man leaves for even five seconds. Seriously, if he leaves...just fall over dead. We should all worship such beauty, and any man who has a wonderful personality, who actually has a sense of humor, who isn’t insanely obsessed with us, and who isn’t absolute perfection...isn’t worth the time of day. (...Note the sarcasm)
Bella was also very dumb about the very real danger Edward posed. She never had a single qualm, just the usual, I must-be-with-you, I-would-kill-myself-before-I-ever-hurt-you, type of thing. Edward even likens having to abstain from feeding off of her to an alcoholic surrounded by alcohol or a heroin addict in a room of heroin. Again, Bella’s reaction: you’re beautiful...I don’t often say this, though I sometimes get an intense urge, but Bella was just TSTL (too stupid to live). Thank God she’s fictional...I also haven’t really brought up much about the writing, but...it’s terrible. It’s about as bad (or even worse) than the main characters.
And my opinion of this incredibly popular story: complete and utter garbage. The people who published this book should be ashamed for giving girls such a role model and for having such low standards. Here I was thinking it was only movies that had spiraled off into disaster. What does this say about the literary world? I read to find beautiful, wonderful, imaginative stories full of flawed, sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful, sometimes plain, but, always, fantastic, strong, and unusual main characters. I read to find wonderful, imaginative stories to get lost in. Why are these things becoming so hard to find? I would never, ever recommend this book to anyone. This is not quality. It is a mindless romance, devoid of certain elements so that it can masquerade as a book for teens. And while it is devoid of these things, it is also without substance or depth of any kind. What an incredibly shallow story, in all aspects. Even pointed out as what it really is, it insults romance. This isn’t love; it’s lustful obsession. I thought it was even less than a waste of time: it is a waste of words, a waste of money, and a waste of paper...Hopefully, this will save others from wasting their time as well. You deserve better, and so do I.
I tried watching Twilight. I nearly died of boredom. I had to walk out on it.