Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)

Rating: [rate 4.5]

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer 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 may be — that thirsted for my blood

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

I just finished reading this earlier, and I seriously have no idea where to start reviewing this. It’s been a long time since I finished a novel this thick (498 pages!) in two days. I read The Cubicle Next Door in 2 days as well, but it was 340 pages only, and it’s chicklit so it’s easier to digest. Anyway, when I finished reading this novel, all I could do was sigh, and be thankful that I found a paperback copy of New Moon, its sequel, so I can follow what happens with Edward and Bella. No paperback copies for Eclipse yet, but if I’m desperate enough, I’m really buying the next one on hardcover. :P

Onto the book. The basic story of the novel is this: Bella Swan is an ordinary 17-year old girl who moved to a small, always raining town called Forks. She meets Edward Cullen in her Biology class, and she is mesmerized by him…but he seemed to hate her the moment he saw her. Still, Edward intrigued her, especially when he was all friendly to her the next week. He saves her from an accident, and she eventually finds out that Edward is a vampire, and they fall in love. Edward and his family were the “nicer” kind of vampires who feed on animal blood instead of humans, but Bella’s humanity doesn’t change the fact that she is still prey for them, especially for Edward.

If I spill anything more, I’d be giving spoilers so I will stop there. Twilight is a young adult book that is quite different from all I have encountered before. It is dark, romantic, heart-stopping at times, and it even has some witty lines that would make the reader chuckle. Since it was written quite recently, the technological references aren’t hard to grasp – internet, cars that range from really old vintage ones to posh new ones which probably has car spoilers.

Two things I’d really like to stress on the book are the following: first is the characters, and second, is how they interpreted love and purity in the book.


First off, the characters. They blew me away. Each character that Stephenie put in the book had a distinct voice of their own — from the protagonists Bella and Edward, to Bella’s father Charlie, to Edward’s family, to Bella’s friends. The minor characters all played significant roles, and I don’t think any of them will be forgettable in my book.

My favorite characters in the novel would have to be Edward and Alice. Edward, mostly because I love the lines he delivered — some deep, some funny — and I love how he was described in the novel. Alice, for the reason that she’s the most lovable of all the Cullens (aside from Edward, of course), and I could imagine her easily like one of my characters in my NaNoWriMo projects.

Bella is a strong protagonist, although I really didn’t like how she was so…clingy to Edward (which is why the book gets only a 4.5). I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but her talk of “Don’t leave me!” with Edward sometimes gets into my nerves, but maybe it’s only because I haven’t experienced anything like that (not the being in love with a vampire, but just the being in love thing ;) ). I like her, though, but that part just kind of turned me off. ^^; I have to admit that she isn’t as self-absorbed as a 17-year-old usually is, especially when it comes to protecting her loved ones.

Now onto the second point. The thing about love in the novel felt a bit fast, but I have to remember that sometimes Edward disappears for a long time in the novel, so the love actually “developed” over time. It was a bit hard to believe at first, but if Edward is as perfect as the novel described him to be, then maybe it’s not so hard to believe. Did that make sense?

Anyway, I give a thumbs up to Stephenie Meyer for keeping the book clean. Well, cleaner than other young adult novels I read (and believe me, there are some that really kind of disturbed me, especially since it’s for younger people to read). Yes, there were quick kissing here and there (quick, because Bella has this weird reactions when Edward kisses her), and there was a bit of discussion regarding sex (without mentioning the word at all) but nothing happened. Overall, it’s a pretty clean book, which really means a lot to a reader like me.

Oh, and another note. I was particularly pleased when I read this paragraph on page 134:

The first I clicked on, the Danag, was a Filipino vampire supposedly responsible for planting taro on the islands long ago.

The last time I read of  a Filipino reference in a foreign novel was in Ted Dekker‘s Black. :)

As I mentioned, I’m giving the book a 4.5 only because of that peeve I had with Bella, but maybe in time, as I get to read through all the novels in the saga, I’d change this rating. But I loved this book. This is one of the books I’ll be raving about for the next couple of weeks for sure. I’d definitely recommend this to other people, and I am definitely a fan of the saga now. I can’t wait for the movie (as I imagined Robert Pattinson as Edward while I was reading the novel :D), and I can’t wait to get my hands on Eclipse, and for Breaking Dawn and Midnight Sun to be released. :)

12 thoughts on “Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)”

  1. Hey TINA,

    Speaking of books, have you read the first two (02) books in “The Lost Books” series? I read them both while I was back home for the Christmas holidays. (=- Anyway, I just ordered Dekker’s latest novel, “Adam”. The lost books are great! The first two (02) books (“Chosen” and “Infidel”) were put out last fall and the next two (02) books (“Renegade” and “Chaos”). Check the lost book series out. It’s back in the forest with the Forest Guard and it’s a whole new story. Good stuffage.

    (=-

    Ciao for now sis. *squeeze*

  2. XD but you have heard the anti-hype surrounding this book, right? I’m curious on how you would interpret it. Because my friends had been raving about Twilight at first, until they started to question some of its foundations. Just one of the many reasons I can’t seem to pick up the book. D:

    So far the biggest criticism I have heard about the book is that it’s basically a “Mary Sue self-insert”. Could you refute that?

  3. I too hate how Bella is so clingy!!!

    But then again, Edward is her first love. He’s the first guy who’s ever adored her, so I could understand later on how she could be that clingy.

    Yey for 4.5 stars!

  4. One of the best boks ever. I just couldn’t put it away.
    Oh! And also…I was particularly pleased too when I read about Danag in the book since I’m filipino :)

  5. hahaha… you’re quite right about that speedy love thingy in the novel…but you see, that’s what makes the story crunchy… and about Bella..she may be selfless and sometimes, yes, as you’ve pointed out, she’s so irrevocably in love with Edward which makes her some kind of ‘possessive’… uhm…for me, i think, that’s just because it’s her first (and last) love of her life…she had no experience of having a boyfriend or relationship to compare with… And, I’m recommending you to read eclipse..some say that it’s the second best saga of the four, next to twilight of course…and here, (sorry if this is kind of a spoiler) in breaking dawn, your ratings in the novel might decrease if you don’t like ‘liberated’ stuffs because Bella’s going to be preggy there… Well, overall, it’s damn excellent!

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