[Book Review] Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

About three things I was absolutely positive.

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

In the first book of the Twilight Saga, internationally bestselling author Stephenie Meyer introduces Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, a pair of star-crossed lovers whose forbidden relationship ripens against the backdrop of small-town suspicion and a mysterious coven of vampires. This is a love story with bite.

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It has been at least over eight years (but honestly, probably more) years since I've read these books. I loved them in high school and loved going to the theaters to watch the movies. My fiancé (boyfriend at the time) had our first date where we went to see New Moon together. He didn't have much of an idea about the books or movies and although I wouldn't call him a fan of the Twilight franchise he tolerated them enough to see them with me and occasionally re-watch them with me. I have always been a really big fan of Twilight, it opened me up to books that weren't just  Harry Potter (I basically re-read them on a continuous cycle for years and years) and I am honestly super grateful to this series. 

"Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved."

Look, people can say whatever they want about Isabella "Bella" Swan, but I really don't think she fully deserves the hate she gets as a character. She's flawed and makes pretty stupid decisions but she's also a teenager who has found out that the"mysterious" boy she has a crush on is actually a vampire. I like that she sticks to her guns, she knows what she wants, and she is determined. Being a new girl in a town with such a small population the boys in high school see her as a shiny new toy. They're sick of trying to date the same girls they've grown up with and a lot of them flock to her asking if they could go to two dances with her and she turns them down, even before really connecting with Edward. She thinks about her friends and is a really good wing man for Jessica, even if Jessica is often not the best friend to Bella. After she learns that Edward is a vampire and their romance starts taking off (it's a bit insta-lovey and they throw out the word love pretty quickly) she is determined for someone in the Cullen family to turn her into a vampire. Whether or not you agree with her wanting to be a vampire (it's a big decision for a sixteen/seventeen year old with a lot of components she isn't considering because she's blinded by her infatuation with Edward) I do like that she is stubborn and determined. I think Edward is used to getting what he wants when it comes to humans because he can read their minds, and it's nice to see him be frustrated that not only can he not read her mind but she isn't going to back down because he wants her to. I like the way her and Charlie (her dad) use small acts of service to show their love. She takes care of him by feeding him and he buys her a car, gets her snow tires, gives her the space she needs to grow and figure herself out. I honestly don't really understand the hate for Bella. 

Edward is the character I often find myself having problems with. When he's with Bella, for the most part he's okay. The dialogue is a bit stiff in this book (more on that later) but I think their dialogue is often cute and witty when it's just the two of them. My biggest issue with Edward is the over protectiveness and possessiveness towards Bella. And honestly from what I remember from the other books in this series I know it gets worse, so I am not stoked about that. Like I said earlier, Edward not being able to read Bella's mind and Bella being stubborn about what she wants and how she wants to live her life are often frustrations for Edward. He sees it as being protective, but he doesn't come off caring he often comes off as demanding and abusive. It's in those moments I find myself not only frustrated with Edward but annoyed with Bella because sure, she gives him a lot of push back, but she also will soften and see it as acts of love. Which isn't the best message to give out to a bunch of young readers. But I also don't hate them together, I think they have good moments and that honestly makes me wish there were more of those good moments. Especially in the beginning because boy do they go from kind of flirting to "I love you" really quickly.

The plot is a fairly slow one, we get some action in the last 50-70 pages or so but a lot of the book is build up. I didn't mind the slower pace, mostly because I was having an entertaining time reading. It's a lot of laying out who the characters are and I think by the end of the book the reader gets a fairly good idea of each character besides maybe Emmett and Rosalie because they are not in a lot of this first book. However, if someone expects more of a action packed story this isn't one for them. Not much really happens in terms of excitement until the last act of the book.

My biggest problem with Twilight, other than Edwards lack of self awareness when it comes to his manipulation, is the writing. It's pretty bad and although I do not fault my 13ish year old self for not picking up on how bad the writing is, my 27 year old self couldn't let it slide. I do not think the writing is the worst thing I've read and honestly there are moments where the dialogue succeeded in making me laugh or the prose had me feeling the urgency of the situation. But a lot of the times the dialogue is stiff and it's obvious that a grown woman is writing dialogue for teenagers. I know it's been over ten years since the release of this book and it's obviously made so much money in book sales but I am surprised they didn't think to maybe put it through another rounds of edits to make it a bit more polished. 

"I love you more than anything in the world combined."

Honestly, I had a lot of fun re-reading this. It was a nice trip down memory lane and it does make me really excited to start New Moon soon. I really enjoyed myself. I think because this book series has been out for so long and people already have their feelings about the story it makes it easy to read this for fun and not as critically. I do think that if I read it more critically I'd have a lot of issues to talk about in terms of the way Edward treats Bella at times (and how it's seen as romantic and not creepy/manipulative/sometimes abusive). But at the end of the day those discussions and conversations have been explored by people who are better at that kind of thing than I am. It is obviously concerning that a lot of teenagers saw this couple as something to strive for in their own lives but I feel like most teenagers now-a-days aren't reading Twilight, so it's probably mostly people my age or in my generation who had unrealistic vampire/werewolf relationship goals. 

Overall, I recommend reading this if you are in the mood for a re-read or want to find out what the series is about if you haven't already. I think the movies are also a lot of fun and I plan on re-watching them after each book. I had a lot of fun and these books are pretty easy to fly through. 

Thanks for reading!