Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Description: 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:

While this is an easy read and I admire the way Meyer blends the realistic with the fantastical so seamlessly, Twilight ultimately falls flat. A major part of this is due to the pacing. The writing style draws you in to the suspense, but it is stretched out to the point where the narrative becomes slow and seems plotless. This may be because it concentrates so heavily on Bella and Edward’s romantic relationship. I have nothing wrong with romances, but they generally have a larger plot peppered throughout it as well, not squeezed into the last portion of the book, making it feel forced and uncharacteristic to the novel’s earlier tone.

The characters are also another quibble of mine. Meyer does have the ability to create fleshed-out, relatable characters -- at least, where Jacob and Charlie are concerned. They both had quirks and flaws that made the story more tangible and enjoyable. Other characters show some these things in their personality as well, but not enough to make me fully care about them. Bella and Edward are the two characters that turned me off the most. (And, sadly, the major characters in the book.) I liked Bella in the beginning, but she soon turned out to be nothing but a plot device as she was placed in certain dangerous situations. Her obsession with Edward is also appalling, for she constantly refers to him as someone who is perfect and flawless which ends up diminishing any self-confidence she might have had. Edward is, in fact, perfect and flawless, at least in context, and that’s where I start to really have issues. He may be a vampire and privy to certain abilities, but the core of his character shouldn’t be perfect as well. Perfect is boring and unreal, making me unsympathetic of his character. He’s virtually a cardboard cut-out, and who wants to read about cardboard?

Twilight does have its good moments, with a flowing pose, original vampire mythos, witty comments, and glimpses of some very endearing characters, but its flaws outweigh the good. In fact, there were several times where I felt compelled to stop, and for a majority of the book I would not have had regretted that decision. Nothing about it drove me to find out what happened next, and that’s a bad trait for a book to have.