Book Review: Twilight

It says a lot when I pick up a book and can't get it out of my head for two days straight. The characters become my friends, embedded in my brain as I try to figure out what will happen next. Work became torture as I only wish to be home finding out if everyone is okay. And so I easily stay up until 1:30 a.m. diligently devouring the last few pages, all to lead to a finalized and satisfied sigh. That's what reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer was like for me.

I have a penchant for young adult novels. Sadly, the currently popular ones have lost the innocence that I enjoy and traded it for sex and drugs. Thankfully, unlike those aforementioned novels, Twilight is a step back in the right direction with a relatively clean premise. I wouldn't be afraid to recommend it to anyone.

The story follows an average girl by the name of Bella. At 17, she just moved to a small town in Washington named Forks to live with her father. There, she meets and quickly falls in love with a beautiful and mysterious boy by the name of Edward. Problems arise when she learns that Edward is in fact...a vampire.

Straying from the typical idea of vampires like Dracula or Lestat, Edward and his family of like minded vampires are able to be in daylight and act and look like normal high school students. They go to class. They drive fancy cars. They hunt for animals on the weekend. Drinking the blood of animals rather than humans lets them stay close to people, however the desire is still present. And that's what interferes with Bella and Edward's possibly doomed love.

And I thought I had it bad.

I liked the story for many reasons. I liked that Bella is ordinary and not exceptionally beautiful. I like that the exceptionally beautiful Edward falls for her. I like the tenderness that surrounds them. And I like how, in true vampire fashion, there's a huge bloody showdown at the end. I said the book was without sex and drugs, not blood and violence. They are demons after all.

Bella's character annoyed me at some points. She was clingy and whiny. And then I remembered that she was 17. Rather than being annoyed, I was refreshed. Finally, a book with a 17 year old acting her age. I'm sure at 17 I would have been clingy to my vampire boyfriend as well, regardless of his desire for my blood.

The book is addictive from the start, with an opening passage that foreshadows the epic ending. The plot is simple, yet complex with intricate details that play important roles. The descriptions are remarkable as Forks feels like a place you've been to, a place you want to go to. And the last 200 pages or so, of this close to 500 page book, are so addictive with adventure, love, and danger that you can't help but follow them. You fall in love when Bella falls in love. You are worried when they meet the other vampires. It's a wild ride.

Meyer has an obvious talent for writing memorable and familiar characters. To think that writing the book and having it published took around six months is truly remarkable. I'm excited about reading the rest of the books in the series (reviews forthcoming!)

Due to the book's immense success, a movie is currently in production. For once I was actually thrilled with the casting. The characters look exactly how I imagined them.

With that, I absolutely adore this book and tentatively look forward to finishing the series. (I have a love hate relationship with finishing series. While I'm anxious to follow the characters along their paths and see what happens, I hate it when it all ends.) Since the final installment doesn't come out until August, I have enough time to read the next two and get to know the characters some more. I have a feeling that, just like Harry Potter and friends, they wont leave my mind quite so soon.