Pre-Blog Reads: Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

Read in: March 2008
Read for: Leisure/procrastinating academic reading
Average Rating: 4.2

Twilight
Rating: 4.3
I was really surprised that a vampire love saga could be so compelling. The relationship between Bella and Edward is the most believable in this first book (as believable as a vampire-human romantic relationship can be) even though I find myself questioning why exactly Edward is so attracted to Bella in the first place--what exactly does she have to offer? Despite that, the characters are the most likeable in this book, in my opinion. One thing I noticed about Meyer's writing: She has a repertoire of about ten adverbs that she uses when describing how her characters speak. Her favorite is "grimaced." So, Bella might say something and then it is followed by "["insert what Bella says here"], I grimaced." Small writing habits like that were only semi-annoying, and probably only to me. The plot in this book has been the best so far, although I disliked how soon Bella wanted to become a vampire in order to be with Edward. I feel that Meyer is writing herself into a corner.

New Moon
Rating: 4
The second book in the series focuses on the relationship that Bella forms with Jacob when Edward leaves her. I am going to be completely biased here and state that I LOVE Jacob. Ever since the evolution of his and Bella's relationship, I have been rooting for him instead of Edward. Jacob was only a minor character in the first book, which is why I didn't develop this loyalty earlier. And of course, this goes against the grain of most Twilight fans: they all love Edward. I don't think there is anything wrong with Edward per se, I just like Jacob better. My main complaint about Edward is that you can tell it is a woman writing his character. He is too much the macho-yet-sensitive-always-says-the-right-thing type that all women dream of. This book, although he isn't in it as much, is when I started to doubt the believability of his character. Jacob, on the other hand, has more flaws but I believe in him more as a man.

My main qualm about this book is Edward's reason for leaving. It sucks. And I hate that Bella takes him back. Again, I feel that Meyer is writing herself into a corner.

Eclipse
Rating: 3
Still compelling, but definitely my least favorite of the three. Edward is back and he and Jacob are fighting over Bella the whole time. And unfortunately, the character of Bella becomes super annoying. All of her reasoning for the decisions that she makes are very stretched--you can understand why she would feel that way, but you can't understand why the heck she acts on her stupidity. I feel that the reason for this is Meyer's plot. As I mentioned, I feel that Meyer gets in the habit of writing herself into a corner. Unfortunately, the only way that she can get herself out of a plot corner, then, is to have one of the characters make a stupid decision to change the course of events. This task usually falls to Bella, which is frustrating.

What I dislike about this book is how quickly the relationship between Edward and Bella moves towards marriage. I feel that Meyer should explore other options before this one. A marriage is a cheap way to tie off a sitcom that is being cancelled, and it feels that the Twilight series is reaching this point.


Prediction for Book 4: Since Bella is the only one is actually choosing the vegetarian vampire life, and she dislikes the smell/sight of blood in her human life, will this carry over to her vampire state? Will she be the first naturally vegetarian vampire?