Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Release date: 2005
First line: “I’d never given much thought to how I would die — though I’d had reason enough in the last few months — but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.”
Synopsis: (from back cover) 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.
Review: I decided to read Twilight for two primary reasons. First, the title and author fill the pages of Yahoo Answers, a question and answer site that has provided me with my “teacher fix” this year. Anyone, though mostly adolescents, can ask questions about what books to read, how to develop a thesis, etc., and well-meaning folks try to help them out. Since most of the questions are on works I spent 15 years teaching, I enjoy guiding the students to the right answers (NOT doing their homework for them, however — there is quite a code of honor among most of the Yahoo Answerers). Again and again I would read “I loved the Twilight series, what should I read next?” Since I had never heard of Twilight or Meyer, I’ve been quite curious.
Second, I joined the Herding Cats challenge a few weeks ago and decided to only choose books outside of my normal genre and comfort zone. The Secret History was first — but wasn’t really outside my usual character-driven selections (I thought it was historical fiction when I chose it).
Twilight is my second selection and certainly was outside my usual predilection. Not because it is a Young Adult novel (as a teacher of 9th graders, I have a lot of experience with YA novels, although I do not usually read them for pleasure). No, believe it or not, I had no idea Twilight was about vampires! I try not to read the back of books (obviously, or I would have known!) and it took me quite a few pages to figure out the leading man was more comfortable during the Twilight hours, for a very good reason.
Now, I found Twilight to be a fast, fun read. A bit formulaic, like most YA fiction, but the writing was fine and I certainly knew the main characters very well by the end (unlike with The Secret History). It is long — 500 pages — but the pages flew by, as expected with YA fiction. I would have shortened the build up of the romance about 100 pages, at least, because the action of the story occurs in a rush at the end. But I think the romance aspect is why adolscent girls love this so much — and I’m not above reading the occasional Nora Roberts, so I can understand this!
I also enjoyed the focus on the setting — specifically the difference between the protagonist’s home town of Phoenix and her adopted home of Forks, Washington. Her love of the desert is palpable, but she learns to appreciate the advantages of the rainy Olympic peninsula (especially once she falls in love with a vampire). I am particularly sensitive to setting as a result of my on-going 50 States, 50 Books series and appreciated Meyer’s attention to how climate forms and influences identity. In fact, Meyer’s imagery was beautiful throughout the novel — from the setting to the physical appearance of the characters.
What didn’t engage me about the story was the whole vampire angle. I’m not a big fan of fantasy to begin with so I don’t understand the appeal of monsters in general. Too much of a realist, I guess. However, vampires have a HUGE following — not just regarding the Twilight series. Did you know that May is Vampire month? Who knew!? Just in the past week a couple of vampire related links appeared in my Reader and I couldn’t help but wonder: What’s up with vampires? Why are they appealing to so many?
If you have an opinion on this topic, I would love to hear it in my comments!
If you are a fan of Meyer’s work, here are a couple of other links from the past couple weeks:
- Meyer breaks into adult fiction
- Movie version coming soon
I loved this book, but then again I was a huge vampire fiction fan as a teen and pre-teen. In fact, I read a series that was quite similar to Twilight as a teen. The Vampire Diaries, by LJ Smith, remains a favorite series. Glad you enjoyed this one!
Thanks for the comment, Andi! What about vampires grabs you? Why do you think pre/teens find vampires fascinating?
I’m dying to read this book myself . . . thanks for the great review.
Totally in love with this series. I’ve read all three and will get the next on as soon as possible. Love, love, love this writer!
Great link answering my question about why we (and especially teenagers) are fascinated by vampires: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/05/the_vampire_novel_once_bitten.html
I used to loathe and despite all vampire-related fiction until I read Robin McKinley’s Sunshine… which I’m glad of, not just because it’s a fantastic book but because it cleared the way for me to read something like Twilight
I’ve seen this in the bookstore and it sounded very interesting. I am kind of fascinated by the way that vampires seem to symbolize all the gothy experimenty fascination with “darkness” that comes with adolescence. Now I want to check this out!
I haven’t heard of Sunshine! I must admit that I might not have read Twilight if I had known about the vampire element — but I’m really glad I did! Good point about vampires reflecting certain aspects of adolescence — I should have realized that after spending 15 years w/ them!
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