Twilight - Stephenie Meyer

Twilight is the story of Bella Swan who in an effort to give her newly remarried mother a little privacy moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the small town of Fork, Washington to live with her sheriff father. She struggles living in a small dark place but is mesmerized at school by the aloof Cullens family, especially their son Edward who spends significant amounts of time trying to stay away from Bella. Soon she discovers he is really a vampire who is madly in love with her scent and even though she is risking her very mortality she cannot keep herself away from him.

I should preface this by saying I've never really been a fan of romance in books. It always feels contrived. I like when people fall in love I just get uncomfortable about the gritties.

On the Four Star Scale

Sap Factor (***) - Teenage love. Lots of statements of unending love. Need I say more.

Naughty Bits (*) - This book is marketed to the ninth grade crowd although it would be perfectly acceptable reading material and level for junior high. Edward does sneak into Bella's room. I guess if Grace was in sixth grade I would be hesitant about that part but it is mainly just all good stalker fun. Some kissing and a little gore although considering it is a book about vampires really not that much.

Frustration Factor (***) - You know when you were reading the fifth Harry Potter book and he makes all these mistakes because he is an idiot teenager and you want to rip his head off or put the book down because you were a teenager once and you really don't feel like reliving the moment (only a little more dramatic because for crying out loud it was dramatic but not that dramatic) but you keep reading because you are invested in the story and you need to know who dies but you really want Snape to turn out good because that would stick it to Harry. Well that is how I felt about Bella. Only I wasn't invested so I was going nuts.

Readability (***) - 544 pages but the type set is large and they go by fast.

Final notes (**) - So it was inevitable. Most of the women I know have read this book. Only one didn't like it. Almost everyone else loved it, some to the point of obsession (Flo and Nikita I'm talking about you). What to do, what to do. Originally I decided I was not going to read it. Then I was at the library walking the shelves and I saw it on the corner. I figured it was fate so I brought it home. It was a quick read so that was nice. Otherwise though I was disappointed. Maybe it had just been built up to high for me. Maybe I just really hate high school. Maybe I'm just going through a funk right now about women's ideals but I just couldn't get it to it. At one point Meyer mentions Pride and Prejudice and the truth is I had some of those feelings. Edward spends a lot of the book being a complete jerk because he is so wrong for Bella and he is trying to deny his feelings and protect her and his family and everything else. Felt familiar to me. Don't get me wrong. I love Pride and Prejudice but Darcy is such a jerk. Yes he loves her but I swear that sometimes I find the fact that Elizabeth Bennett falls so madly in love with him well just maddening. This is not an ideal way to start a relationship. Could it possible last past a year in our time period. Who knows? Sometimes I wonder if ideas like this become part of the general cultural knowledge, the general psyche or are the ideas just there and so they are written. Like in Twilight dangerous man, love, well I guess we can just love past the whole dangerous part. Or maybe I'm just looking too much into it and it is purely for entertainment value. Anyway it reads nice and lot of other people liked it so feel free to take your chance.