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A review by dembury
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
4.0
NOTE: about halfway through reading Twilight (this is my first time, as mentioned below), I saw a few tweets that expressed disinterest in the recent Twilight revival because of Stephanie Meyer's attitude towards/treatment of the Quileute tribe. I didn't know about this discourse until then, so at this point I'm not well-informed enough on that to have an opinion. I'm not sure if the problem people have with her treatment applies to this first book, since we don't see much of the Quileute aside from Jacob telling Bella the myth, but I'm going forwards trying to learn what I can about this from the people it involves.
Okay, so first of all, here's the thing: before April/May of 2020, I never in my life read or watched any Twilight content. When they first came out I wasn't allowed to read them, and then as time went on I simply failed to gain any interest in them? Obviously I saw the memes, the Team Edward/Jacob debates, and just by being someone who engages in pop culture I heard major plot points: like I know who eventually becomes a vampire, the ugly CGI baby and Jacob's imprinting, the sparkling skin...okay, actually that was all I knew.
But then I watched the first Twilight movie and honestly? I thought it was super entertaining, very goofy, and plain and simple a fun time. So, I decided to finally read then book, and BAM! The internet went crazy as Stephanie Meyer hinted at a new book, the Twilight fandom was fully reborn (lol vampire jokes) when Pomegranate Twilight was announced, and I found myself in the middle of the 2020 Twilight Renaissance. Lowkey I was pretty excited because, as someone who was never part of the OG Twlight Craze, I thought it could be fun to participate this time around.
That's my Twilight story, and I just felt like putting that out there because, going into reading this, I had literally no nostalgia or emotional attachment to anything Twilight - so I was a bit surprised when I ended up enjoying the book as much as I did.
From my passive hearing about Twilight up until now, a lot of what I heard complained about was Bella being dumb/too clumsy/silly and I really disagree with that. I thought Bella was smart, relatable, and exactly like a sixteen-year old girl would normally act (aside from knowing a vampire lol). She knows what she wants and likes and isn't afraid to go after those things, she speaks up when she wants to know something or voice her opinion, and yeah, she's super clumsy - so what? Maybe it's part of the awkwardness of being sixteen and a girl, a feeling I know I personally had, so it's not like it's unrealistic.
Edward was hit or miss for me. On one hand, him doing things like watching Bella sleep were WAY CREEPY and I definitely didn't like that. It's actually a major part of what brought my rating down; I can't condone that on any level. He also made comments when mad along the lines of "Talk to me so I don't get more angry" etc. I think those scenes could have gone badly if Bella was written as passively accepting his anger or scared of him, but the thing is, she asked questions, was interested in him, and said when she wasn't happy. They ended up communicating pretty well, especially for a 16 year old and a 17 year old who never fully matured.
Then there were parts when Edward was truly a lot of fun. He and Bella had fun banter and times together, and I that they both value family, blood or found, and respect each others family.
I'm superrrrr interested in learning more about the vampires/Cullen family. Alice might just be my favorite character (she was in the movie) and their unique abilities and viewpoints on only eating animals was a cool touch.
At points the plot felt a bit forced; everything following the vampire baseball game suddenly accelerated and I didn't quite buy it, like Charlie just letting his teenage daughter fly off to another state. I also got confused when Tracker Vamp (James?) gave his little speech about Alice...not sure where that came from, and it felt a bit random.
In the end: I had fun reading this, and genuinely want to know what the rest of the series is like. Maybe it's my COVID-19 quarantine brain talking, but I don't think this book deserves all the dismissal it gets. Sure, it's flawed at times, but as a YA book aimed at teens - I get why this was so hyped up. If I had been allowed to read these as a teen, I probs would have been out there wearing a #TeamAlice shirt to the movie premieres.
Okay, so first of all, here's the thing: before April/May of 2020, I never in my life read or watched any Twilight content. When they first came out I wasn't allowed to read them, and then as time went on I simply failed to gain any interest in them? Obviously I saw the memes, the Team Edward/Jacob debates, and just by being someone who engages in pop culture I heard major plot points: like I know who eventually becomes a vampire, the ugly CGI baby and Jacob's imprinting, the sparkling skin...okay, actually that was all I knew.
But then I watched the first Twilight movie and honestly? I thought it was super entertaining, very goofy, and plain and simple a fun time. So, I decided to finally read then book, and BAM! The internet went crazy as Stephanie Meyer hinted at a new book, the Twilight fandom was fully reborn (lol vampire jokes) when Pomegranate Twilight was announced, and I found myself in the middle of the 2020 Twilight Renaissance. Lowkey I was pretty excited because, as someone who was never part of the OG Twlight Craze, I thought it could be fun to participate this time around.
That's my Twilight story, and I just felt like putting that out there because, going into reading this, I had literally no nostalgia or emotional attachment to anything Twilight - so I was a bit surprised when I ended up enjoying the book as much as I did.
From my passive hearing about Twilight up until now, a lot of what I heard complained about was Bella being dumb/too clumsy/silly and I really disagree with that. I thought Bella was smart, relatable, and exactly like a sixteen-year old girl would normally act (aside from knowing a vampire lol). She knows what she wants and likes and isn't afraid to go after those things, she speaks up when she wants to know something or voice her opinion, and yeah, she's super clumsy - so what? Maybe it's part of the awkwardness of being sixteen and a girl, a feeling I know I personally had, so it's not like it's unrealistic.
Edward was hit or miss for me. On one hand, him doing things like watching Bella sleep were WAY CREEPY and I definitely didn't like that. It's actually a major part of what brought my rating down; I can't condone that on any level. He also made comments when mad along the lines of "Talk to me so I don't get more angry" etc. I think those scenes could have gone badly if Bella was written as passively accepting his anger or scared of him, but the thing is, she asked questions, was interested in him, and said when she wasn't happy. They ended up communicating pretty well, especially for a 16 year old and a 17 year old who never fully matured.
Then there were parts when Edward was truly a lot of fun. He and Bella had fun banter and times together, and I that they both value family, blood or found, and respect each others family.
I'm superrrrr interested in learning more about the vampires/Cullen family. Alice might just be my favorite character (she was in the movie) and their unique abilities and viewpoints on only eating animals was a cool touch.
At points the plot felt a bit forced; everything following the vampire baseball game suddenly accelerated and I didn't quite buy it, like Charlie just letting his teenage daughter fly off to another state. I also got confused when Tracker Vamp (James?) gave his little speech about Alice...not sure where that came from, and it felt a bit random.
In the end: I had fun reading this, and genuinely want to know what the rest of the series is like. Maybe it's my COVID-19 quarantine brain talking, but I don't think this book deserves all the dismissal it gets. Sure, it's flawed at times, but as a YA book aimed at teens - I get why this was so hyped up. If I had been allowed to read these as a teen, I probs would have been out there wearing a #TeamAlice shirt to the movie premieres.