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A review by luciaartworld
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
“Twilight, again. Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end.”
I don’t know what prompted my decision to reread this book after twelve years, but I can safely say that my twenty-four years old self has a completely different opinion to my twelve years old self.
I used to love this book, I mean I used to be a fan of it, but re-reading it now made me realized how problematic it truly is.
Let’s start with our main character, Bella. I despise her. She is really boring, unhealthily dependent on Edward, shallow and incredibly insufferable. I feel like she only thinks about two things throughout the book: how beautiful Edward is and how rainy and green Forks is. We get Edward is hot; don’t think about it so often. Her thoughts are just obsessive. The way she just accepts Edward being a vampire is not believable. I would have expected her to be scared and slowly start falling in love with him as she realizes that he is not going to hurt her, but no, she simply doesn't care. On that note, it takes Bella a week to fall in love with this guy she just met and all I can think about is this:
Now let’s talk about Edward. I used to think he was the perfect boyfriend but in this read I realized that what I thought was romantic is actually manipulative and controlling behaviour. I truly believe he has a multiple personality disorder. One minute he is smiling and laughing and the next he is angry and growling, and that happens on the same page only two lines apart. Let’s not even get started on watching Bella sleep at night, that’s just creepy. He is also a stalker. Following Bella around to “make sure she is safe” is not normal, and Bella’s behaviour of just accepting this and feeling flattered because he is following her is even less normal. The good thing about him is that he actually admits to being a monster, even if he says it because he is a vampire and not because of his repulsive behaviour.
The Cullens, Edward’s family, were just decor. Whenever you felt you were finally going to get to know them something happened, and they left, or Bella left, the scene. I know we get their backstories in future books, but I wish we could have seen more of them in this one. I never thought I would say this but, forget Team Jacob and Team Edward, I’m team Jasper and Alice. They were the only characters that truly interested me.
The book itself is an easy read and quite predictable. The first half is just Bella complaining and going through her everyday life, the second half, could have been better. It’s underdeveloped. I had to take a break from it more than once since all I wanted to do was slap Bella to see if she could use her brain a bit more. The word building has potential, it really does, but you never really get to explore it, and the few bits you see are clouded by Bella’s complaints. I really like Forks and I wish Bella had taken some time to explore it more.
I can appreciate Twilight for the good it did during my teenage years, it got me friends that I still have, and it got me into reading, but it is a forgettable book.
I don’t know what prompted my decision to reread this book after twelve years, but I can safely say that my twenty-four years old self has a completely different opinion to my twelve years old self.
I used to love this book, I mean I used to be a fan of it, but re-reading it now made me realized how problematic it truly is.
Let’s start with our main character, Bella. I despise her. She is really boring, unhealthily dependent on Edward, shallow and incredibly insufferable. I feel like she only thinks about two things throughout the book: how beautiful Edward is and how rainy and green Forks is. We get Edward is hot; don’t think about it so often. Her thoughts are just obsessive. The way she just accepts Edward being a vampire is not believable. I would have expected her to be scared and slowly start falling in love with him as she realizes that he is not going to hurt her, but no, she simply doesn't care. On that note, it takes Bella a week to fall in love with this guy she just met and all I can think about is this:
Now let’s talk about Edward. I used to think he was the perfect boyfriend but in this read I realized that what I thought was romantic is actually manipulative and controlling behaviour. I truly believe he has a multiple personality disorder. One minute he is smiling and laughing and the next he is angry and growling, and that happens on the same page only two lines apart. Let’s not even get started on watching Bella sleep at night, that’s just creepy. He is also a stalker. Following Bella around to “make sure she is safe” is not normal, and Bella’s behaviour of just accepting this and feeling flattered because he is following her is even less normal. The good thing about him is that he actually admits to being a monster, even if he says it because he is a vampire and not because of his repulsive behaviour.
The Cullens, Edward’s family, were just decor. Whenever you felt you were finally going to get to know them something happened, and they left, or Bella left, the scene. I know we get their backstories in future books, but I wish we could have seen more of them in this one. I never thought I would say this but, forget Team Jacob and Team Edward, I’m team Jasper and Alice. They were the only characters that truly interested me.
The book itself is an easy read and quite predictable. The first half is just Bella complaining and going through her everyday life, the second half, could have been better. It’s underdeveloped. I had to take a break from it more than once since all I wanted to do was slap Bella to see if she could use her brain a bit more. The word building has potential, it really does, but you never really get to explore it, and the few bits you see are clouded by Bella’s complaints. I really like Forks and I wish Bella had taken some time to explore it more.
I can appreciate Twilight for the good it did during my teenage years, it got me friends that I still have, and it got me into reading, but it is a forgettable book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Stalking
Moderate: Death and Blood