Love at first sight- if it only happened to everyone.
Don’t let this 434-page novel daunt you; it’s a really easy read. This book is meant for all kinds of readers, because the story line is not directed to one specific genre. It offers romance, fantasy, and fiction with a good balance. Clearly, the underlying force of the romance is based upon a ‘you want what you can’t have’ kind of scheme. If that’s the kind of romance entertainment you seek, this is the book for you.
In a nutshell, seventeen-year-old Bella Swan has found the love of her life. The only problem is that he is a vampire. Bella is allured to the mysterious and divinely beautiful Edward. Other than that, the story moves really slowly. Every event is drawn out, leaving the reader in suspense. I suppose this is a good thing, but I was usually disappointed with the resolution of the conflicts. Regardless, you will be compelled to read the whole series to know how Bella and Edward end up. You want to know if Bella will eventually become a vampire and spend eternity with her soul mate.
Personally, I don’t see what the whole hype is about- the book is poorly written. While the author does a great job of elaborating on details and creating a picture for the reader, she is unable to set a proper mood. You can imagine the characters and the scenery, but you are unable to grasp the emotion of the moment. I feel like there are many moments between Bella and Edward that are intended to be passionate or extremely angry, but i am unable to obtain that kind of sense. This is probably due to the fact that the book is written from Bella’s perspective, and we never know what is going on in any of the other character’s minds. Moreover, Edward is a difficult character to read, which leaves the reader in doubt about his intentions.
If there was more dialogue, then perhaps readers could get a better idea of what the moment is like. Perhaps the movie, slated for release on November 21 of this year, will take care of this problem. The previews have been impressive and its because of them that I picked up the book. I hope the movie is heavily based on the book so I can have a better image of how the characters felt at certain key points throughout the story.
Some have compared Twilight’s popularity to Harry Potter. I would say Harry Potter is more enjoyable to read because of his zany adventures and unbelievable epiphanies. Some of the conflicts in Twilight seem easily avoidable and carelessly caused by the characters. For example, there was one part where Bella was wandering in the outskirts of a town all alone, deliberately away from where her friends were. She was simply asking for trouble, and before long, four men approached her. Miraculously, Edward was there to save her, but that’s aside from the point. There was no valid reason for Bella to be wandering where she was, and it was a sappy forced way for Edward to look like a hero. It’s almost like Meyer had to place in these types of scenes to enforce the love between Edward and Bella. She never used lustful dialogue, but relied on unrealistic catastrophes to illustrate the point that Edward and Bella were in love.
The greatest conflict in the story came out of nowhere. There was a clan of human-feeding vampires that were hunting and they made it their goal to hunt Bella. Why? I have no idea. There really wasn’t any special or legitimate reason to hunt her except for the fact that they ‘saw her as a challenge.’ Of course it had to happen to her for after all she was the protagonist of the book. That’s why everything happened to her. Meyer just needed to give more reasons why.
‘Twilight’ is written by Stephenie Meyer and published by Little, Brown and Company.
