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Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

Article summary

"Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. ''Be very still,'' he whispered, as if I wasn''t already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat. " As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because--he''s a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward''s sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. The precision and delicacy of Meyer''s writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up)

"Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. 'Be very still,' he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat."

As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because--he's a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.

Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward's sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. The precision and delicacy of Meyer's writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell

10 Second Interview: A Few Words with Stephenie Meyer

Q: Were you a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Angel? What are you watching now that those shows are off the air?
A: I have never seen an entire episode of Buffy or Angel. While I was writing Twilight, I let my older sister read along chapter by chapter. She's a huge Buffy fan and she kept trying to get me to watch, but I was afraid it would mess up my vision of the vampire world so I never did.

I don't have a ton of time for TV, and my kids get rowdy when I have on "mommy shows," but I do have a secret fondness for reality shows (the good ones, at least in my opinion). I always TiVo Survivor, The Amazing Race, and America's Next Top Model.

Q: What inspired you to write Twilight? Is this the beginning of a series? Why write for teens?
A: Twilight was inspired by a very vivid dream, which is fairly faithfully transcribed as chapter thirteen of the book. There are sequels on the way--I'm hard at work editing book two (tentatively titled New Moon) right now, and book three is waiting in line for its turn.
I didn't mean to write for teens--I didn't mean to write for anyone but myself, so I had an audience of one twenty-nine year old (and later one thirty-one year old when my sister started reading). I think the reason that I ended up with a book for teens is because high school is such a compelling time period--it gives you some of your worst scars and some of your most exhilarating memories. It's a fascinating place: old enough to feel truly adult, old enough to make decisions that affect the rest of your life, old enough to fall in love, yet, at the same time too young (in most cases) to be free to make a lot of those decisions without someone else's approval. There's a lot of scope for a novel in that.

Q: What is your favorite vampire story? Fave vampire movie?
A: I guess my favorite vampire story would be The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice, simply because it's one of the only ones I've ever read. I keep meaning to pick up Bram Stoker's Dracula, because I get asked this question so often and I should probably start with the classics, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Again, I'm afraid to read other vampire books now, for fear of finding things either too similar, or too different from my own vampire world.

Ack! I can't even answer the movie question. I can't remember ever seeing a single vampire movie, outside of clips from Bela Lugosi movies on TV. I don't like true horror movies--my favorite scary movies are all Hitchcock's.

Q: What other young adult authors do you read?
A: My favorite young adult author is L.M. Montgomery I also enjoy J.K. Rowling (but who doesn't?), and Ann Brashares. As a teen, I skipped straight to adult books (lots of sci-fi and Jane Austen), so I'm rediscovering the world of teen literature now.

Stephenie Meyer's List of Books You Should Read

Anne of Green Gables

Romeo and Juliet

Dragonflight

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Princess Bride

See more recommendations from Stephenie Meyer

Q&A with Stephanie Meyer

Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: The book with the most significant impact on my life is The Book of Mormon. The book with the most significant impact on my life as a writer is probably Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card, with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier coming in as a close second.

Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: The CD is easy: Absolution by Muse, hands down. It's harder to give myself just one movie, but the one I watch most frequently is Sense and Sensibility--the one with the screenplay by Emma Thompson. One book is impossible. I'd have to have Pride and Prejudice, but I couldn't live without something by Orson Scott Card and a nice, thick Maeve Binchy, too.

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: My lies are all very, very boring: "No, you really look great in hot pink!" "My children only watch one hour of TV a day." "I didn't eat the last Swiss Cake Roll--it must have been one of the kids." That's the best I've got.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: It's late at night and the house is silent, but I'm still (miraculously) full of energy. I have my headphones in and I'm listened to a mix of Muse, Coldplay, Travis, My Chemical Romance, and The All-American Rejects. Beside me is a fabulous, and yet mysteriously low in calorie, cheesecake....

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: I'd like it to say that I really tried at the important things. I was never perfect at any of them, but I honestly tried to be a great mom, a loving wife, a good daughter, and a true friend. Under that, I'd want a list of my favorite Simpsons quotes.

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: I'd love to have a chance to talk to Orson Scott Card--I have a million questions for him. Mostly things like, "How do you come up with this stuff?!" But, if he wasn't available, I'd settle for Matthew Bellamy (lead singer of Muse).

Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: I'd want something offensive, rather than defensive. Like shooting fireballs from my hands. That way, you're really open to going either way--hero or villain. I like to have choices.

Customer's review

Mysteriously enjoyable

Finally tired of feeling left out of the next big thing in young adult literature, I conquered my embarrassment and borrowed Twilight from a friend. Though not usually a fan of romance, happy ending, or even horror stories, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this story of teenage love and vampirism.

I had read many a review maligning the main character, Bella, as a spineless anti-feminist mockery of a role-model for teen girls, and I was thusly expecting to be exasperated by her throughout the novel. Again I was surprised. In my eyes Bella is actually quite mature, insightful enough to see her parent's faults but loving enough to forgive them. I think most parents of teens would be thrilled if their children would take responsibility for planning and cooking dinner, manage their school work, and work part-time all with very little drama or parental guidance, as Bella does. Then this eminently reasonable girl has to fall in love with a vampire. Not very logical, and yet love so rarely is.

Turns out Bella is strangely attractive to an aloof young man at her new school, and she quickly uncovers the secret of his strange behavior. Bella is not particularly prone to flights of fancy, as well as obstinately head-strong once she has made a decision, and the reality of vampires is not enough to deter her from pursuing a relationship. Again criticism is leveled at this section of the book as not being a good model for teenage relationships. While it is true that Edward is a little physically and intellectually domineering, it helps to remember that he is both immensely strong and very old, and thus has some pretty valid excuses for thinking he knows best. Proximity to vampires eventually leads Bella into danger, and I think she comports herself quite well for a mere human up against immortals.

In summary, Twilight is a surprisingly well-written and enjoyable soppy love story, with a few vampires thrown in for good measure. I probably would never have touched this book as a teenager, but I've since learned to temper my cynicism with a dose of humor. Concerns about helpless females and abusive boyfriends are utterly unfounded, and actually appear to me to be rooted in a kind of reactive sexism. Why do we never hear this type of "role-model" concern for novels targeted at young men? I think I'll just assume that most teenage girls are smart enough not to base their relationships on the fictional exploits of a vampire, and continue to enjoy this harmless escapism.

Pleasantly surprised

This book caught me by surprise from the first page to the last. I didn't buy it expecting more than a decent read of young adult fiction, but I couldn't help being emotionally involved with Edward and Bella from their first meeting to the end of this book. The first person point of view was written by Stephenie Meyer in such a unique way that I was really able to understand Bella and how she thought, whether or not I "agreed" with everything she thought, said and did (which is NOT the point of reading a work of fiction by the way). That, to me, involved me in something more than just a "tragic mortal girl loves tortured vampire guy" story. It made me feel the things that Bella was feeling because I could grasp it from the emotions displayed on the page and move along with her train of thought, and her opinions on events as they happened, and I could even sympathize with her mistakes like I would with a friend who was telling me her story. A lot of authors who write in the first person can't seem to manage portraying that kind of one person-ness to a character and maintain it throughout successfully. That's part of what makes this tale such a point of obsession for me.
Something else I wanted to note was that I noticed right away that I felt the same way about Edward and Bella as I did about Max and Liz from the 3 seasons of "Roswell" (TV show from the late 90s in case anyone is too young to remember); the parallels between the two stories being very apparent to anyone who knows them. Just in case there are others out there who noticed too. Maybe Stephenie Meyer saw the show back in the day...hmmm? If not, she should check it out...

All Fluff, No Substance

If you love Twilight, have an open mind.
If you don't, WOW - we're a rare breed.
If you haven't read it, I suggest you don't. Here's why:

At the start of the summer, I bought into the hype and ordered my copy of Twilight from Amazon. I figured if this much people love it, how bad can it be?

Very bad, apparently.

The premise is a teenage girl, Bella Swan, who moves to a new town where she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. It really had the potential to be good, or at least decent. But it is at the plot and character development where Meyer failed - big time.

The heroine, Bella, is completely one-dimensional. Everything about her seems highly unrealistic. I know this is fiction, but fiction writers are supposed to make things more interesting - not the other way around. She is unbelievably clumsy, describes herself as plain-looking, and unbearably dull. Her favourite activities include glaring and grimacing. Yet somehow, she inexplicably attracts several boys at her new school, including Edward.

When Bella first sees Edward, she is struck by how beautiful he is. After a series of damsel-in-distress and hero-to-the-rescue mishaps, she falls in love with him. When Edward reciprocates her affection, despite his attempt not to, they engage in verboten romance.

Unfortunately, Meyer spent way too much time dwelling on Edward's impossibly good looks and Bella's boring life that it just didn't work.

Eventually, after seventeen chapters of mushy stuff, the plot finally picked up. The action was highly predictable, though admittedly exciting. But it died quickly, and we're back to where we started from - Bella and Edward, the star-crossed lovers and their forbidden love.

My biggest complaint about the book is Bella's total dependence on Edward. She is completely helpless as a person, and needs a boy to validate her worth. Not to mention superficial. Would she have even fallen in love with Edward in the first place if it weren't for his looks? Probably not.

Meyer could be a good romance novelist. Certainly, her long-winded descriptions are impeccable. But as YA fiction writer, her debut novel is mediocre at best.

Twilight is Awesome!!!

The Twilight book is absolutely awesome. It is one of the best books I have ever read. This book tells the tale of a wonderful love story but also has the element of suprise and danger that makes the story very inticing. I loved it and am currently on the second book of the series. I give it two tumbs up. Twilight is a MUST read.

resistant at first, glad I read it.

This book was a true delight to read. It had me breathless at moments, at the edge of my seat, and the writing is descriptive and interesting. While I didn't expect to like a "vampire" book this surprise and delighted me.

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

Article summary

Customer's review

Mysteriously enjoyable

Pleasantly surprised

All Fluff, No Substance

Twilight is Awesome!!!

resistant at first, glad I read it.

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Marked (House of Night, Book 1)

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, Book 1)

Betrayed (House of Night, Book 2)

Chosen (House of Night, Book 3)

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