Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Book: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer 
Series: The Twilight Saga, #1
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Release Date: September 6^th 2006

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.

 

I find it so hard to rate this book! This book and series rekindled my love for reading and I was a complete Twihard during the height of this series’ success. So there's this huge nostalgia feel that's a big influence toward this rating, and then there's the actual book itself. I've matured a lot as a reader since my Twilight days at 16 and I've read a lot of great books since then. So how does Twilight fare compared to the huge number of YA books that have been released since 2006? Let's find out.

Everyone knows the basic story: girl moves to new town, starts at new school where she instantly becomes popular because she's new and shiny. Immediately she becomes obsessed with this unusual but beautiful boy who's hiding a dark secret: he's actually a VAMPIRE!!

The first major problem I found in this book is that for the first ¾’s of it, basically nothing happens. It's Bella going to school, complaining about the weather, and slowly but surely becoming more and more obsessed with Edward Cullen. It's not until the last five or six chapters that something remotely exciting happens. The only reason I could get through it was because I'd read it before and because of that nostalgic feeling towards it. If I'd read this for the first time, there's no way I would've been able to get through it and this review would be a ramble of how terrible this book is!

Second major problem: Bella as a character. I remember I related to her so much when I first read this book, and kept waiting for my own Edward Cullen to appear when I turned 17. Now I know better, and realize that Bella is a shell for every single insecure teenager to latch onto and pretend they were Bella. I think that's a big reason why these books sold so much too. While most main characters have a depth and personality to them, Bella's personality is her clumsiness and her ordinariness, something every teenager with low self-esteem can relate to. No wonder we all related to her so much! I can't find any other words to describe her or make her stand out as this unique character.

Finally, Edward. My first love, my obsession, and the man Meyer has made so flawlessly perfect... or so she thinks. I will always love Edward because he was my first love, my first official book boyfriend. But despite how "perfect” Bella thinks he is, Edward has got flaws, as he is, technically, human. I think what I found most irritating about this book is that Bella thinks he's completely perfect, as well as the fact that she's deigned to be with him forever despite the fact she's known him only a handful of weeks.

Meyer is a good writer, I'm not going to fault her that. There is something ridiculously addicting about this story, so that, despite its (many) flaws, I still found it impossible to put down. I just wish she'd written a story with more depth and made Bella a more interesting character with more personality than simply clumsy and ordinary looking. 

Would I recommend it? No. Would I say it's a guilty pleasure? Hell yes.