Twilight
Stephenie Meyer
Little, Brown Young Readers
$10.99
Review by Lori Eads
My first introduction to the Young Adult Twilight book (and series) by Stephenie Meyer occurred the day my twelve-year-old daughter brought home a copy she had borrowed from a girlfriend. The excitement in her voice was thrilling – what bookworm mother can’t help but smile when she sees one of her children so eager to read a book?
Her eyes were shining as she told me which friend owned the book and which friends had already read it – and then listed the friends that were waiting impatiently to read it. And it was a long list. Even boys were on it. Hmmm …
Then I discovered that my mother-in-law was reading a copy also – it was apparently being passed around the women in her office, and they were all raving about it.
So, I logged on to our library’s website and requested a copy … and found out there were eighty other anxious readers ahead of me. Many days later, I got an email letting me know that my copy of Twilight was finally available. I was at the library to pick it up within an hour, and raced back home to begin reading it immediately.
We meet Isabella “Bella” Swan, our story’s heroine, as she moves from her home in hot, sunny Phoenix, Arizona to the foggy, rainy small town of Forks, Washington. Bella is a 17 year girl who has lived with her mother most of her life, only visiting her father in Forks on occasion. But now that her mother wants to travel with her new husband, a minor league baseball player, Bella is going to live with her father full-time.
Bella has a self-depreciating, grounded and still humorous view of her life and the world around her. She’s a bit of a klutz, and her mishaps made me laugh out loud many times.
As Bella tries to adjust to life in Washington, she attends her first day at her new school and discovers that while she was average and ordinary in her large school in Phoenix – she has the exotic air of the “new girl” in the small town. After being a wallflower for most of her school years – the attention is uncomfortable for her.
On that first memorable day, she’s sitting in the cafeteria and notices a group of ethereal, beautiful students across the room. She asks a new friend about them and learns they are siblings. She is most mesmerized by the one called Edward – and he seems as affected by her as she is with him. However, the deep, searching gazes from across the room change when she is seated next to him in Biology. His reaction seems to be one of repulsion; he literally flees the room and then is absent for a few days afterward.
Her first real interaction with him comes after a shocking event in the school parking lot one morning – Edward saves her life. Little by little, and day by day they begin to talk and grow closer. Bella learns more about Edward gradually, and the truth of his vampirism finally becomes clear after a talk with Jacob, a childhood friend of hers. There are many more surprises and twists to the plot, but I don’t want to spoil the experience for you.
Stephenie’s characters are well-developed and likeable. Given Bella’s love for Wuthering Heights, and the admiration the Bronte’ sisters had for Lord Byron’s work - which is evidenced in the character of Heathcliff – it is not at all surprising that Edward is often seen as a Byronic hero.
The prose is welcoming and easy to slip into – I’ve heard that many people (including myself) read it in one day. Even into the late night and wee hours of the morning, it’s very easy to bargain with oneself to read “just one more chapter” before going to bed and still be engrossed hours later.
And once I had finished the first book I was eager to begin the next. It’s a compelling saga that I was surprised to find myself quickly captivated by.
I will admit that I have a slight preference for Lynsay Sand’s series of adult vampire-romance novels of the Argeneau family. I couldn’t quite relate to the teenage angst of the main characters of Twilight, at times I got a little impatient with it. Also, I am more used to and comfortable with the mythology of the world created by Lynsay Sands … vampires aren’t dead, know they aren’t cursed, and have warm skin. Aside from that – even though they are vampires I can better understand the 30-something angst of Lynsay’s characters.
But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate and enjoy the Twilight novel and two additional novels in the series. I read each book in one day – over three consecutive days in one weekend. I was engrossed and I did care what happened to the characters.
Better still - it made a connection with countless middle-school and high-school age kids and caused them to curl up with a book for while. And, it gave me fodder for interesting literature discussions with my daughter.
For me – that’s the sign of a good book.
Lori Eads is a native of the Las Vegas valley. She won her first writing contest in fifth grade and knew that writing was going to be an important part of her life. From then on, even during her 18 year career as an ophthalmic technician and surgical assistant, she has dreamt of writing for a living.
She left ophthalmology in 2007 to work full-time on her first novel, take writing classes, start a blog, and write freelance articles. She spends her free time haunting the shelves of her neighborhood library, or curled up at home – lost in a book.
Lori, her husband and their two kids, two cats, two birds and spoiled rotten dog still live in Las Vegas, close to grandparents and her favorite used book stores. Visit her blog at Serendipity and Rain.
