Book Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

 

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

"But of the tree of the knowledge

of good and evil,thou shalt

not eat of it: for in the day that

thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Genesis 2:7

Okay yeah I realize that I am 10 years late on the “Typical White Girl” bandwagon with this one but anyway I thought that this would be interesting nonetheless.

So my family and I moved, back in November, into a parsonage. I had lived in a parsonage one other time in my life and the previous family had left nothing at all. Not even a single hair, the house was spotless but this time was a little different..  Anyway, the previous pastor and his wife left a couple of boxes behind in their move and me and my mom decided to be nosey and take a peek inside to see what had been unworthy of the trek to a new home. To my surprise/delight the boxes were filled with books! Of course, though. Every pastor has a crap ton of books. BUT among the pastoral selections there it was, in all of its used and unwanted glory, with its spine unbroken but the edges a little rough, and the cover oh so glossy and inviting, Twilight!

About a week ago I decided to officially hop on the “Typical White Girl” train. (Not like I wasn’t already there seeing as how I am infatuated with coffee and Instagram.) I went down to the grimy basement/dungeon-like room and rescued it from its cardboard prison.

Twilight, as you probably know by now, is about 17 year-old Bella Swan. She is a plain girl with major balance issues, even on flat surfaces. Bella’s mother, Renee, has just married Phil, a traveling ball player. Knowing that her mother will be away most of the time with her new husband, Bella reluctantly decides to move to Forks, Washington where her father lives. Forks is microscopic, cold, rainy and just plain boring. It is the epitome of everything Bella hates. She moves in with her somewhat reclusive father, Charlie, who has already enrolled her at the local high school. Bella is not at all excited. She is dreading living in Forks and going to a new tiny school. She meets a couple of seemingly friendly people the first day of school and then she sees him. Edward Cullen. Bella is immediately intrigued by him, his pale skin, his incredibly good looks and his color changing eyes. Edward glares at Bella and seems to hate her without even knowing her. Edward and his family are all stunningly gorgeous. They are also secluded and stick to themselves.  After meeting Jacob Black, the son of a family friend and hearing an old supposed legend about the Cullens and the Indians who live on a reservation nearby, Bella becomes suspicious of Edward and his family. She has suspicions that the story which Jacob told her may actually be true and she goes online looking for clues to figure it all out.

Bella and Edward interact but it is an aggravated like/hate type of situation for a time and Edward seemingly disappears for a while. Bella notices the way the Cullens never eat, the way Edward stopped a moving car with his bare hands, the way his skin is ice cold and she comes to the not so shocking conclusion. That Jacob’s story was a lot less legend and that Edward is in fact a vampire aanndd so is his whole pretend family. Duh! Cause we all know by now. Anyway, Edward finally comes back around and tells Bella that he has given up on avoiding her, that he is drawn to her and feels the need to protect her. He and she develop a relationship. Bella knows that his interest in her should scare her, terrify her even, but it doesn’t bother her at all as he and the rest of the Cullens don’t drink human blood.

As the story progresses Bella finds herself stuck in the middle of serious danger. Her affiliation with the family of vampires gets her into deep trouble when they cross paths with a rogue vampire, James, who wants to kill her more than anything. This forces them to leave Forks with Bella in order to try to protect her and her family from James. But when Bella hears that James has kidnapped her mother she throws all caution to the wind to save her. And being the accident magnet that Bella is, her act of bravery/idiocy to try and save her mom lands herself in the hospital.

Bella has come to want the life that Edward has. The immortality that vampires have is something Bella wants. She knows that the transformation will be excruciatingly painful but it is something she is willing to endure to be with Edward forever. It’s just a matter of time for Bella of when she will get her wish granted and finally be Edward’s for an eternity. 

So, there has been SO MUCH HYPE over the Twilight saga for 10 years now and honestly the book didn't disappoint…..don’t worry you can pick your jaw off of the floor. It didn't disappoint because my hopes were not high. The book had a real lack of emotion to it. The story was interesting, yes, but it was not gripping and didn't make me want to be Bella’s bff. I really expected more of Jacob Black in there to add to the famous love triangle but he was not really that prominent in the story and really not even vital to it at all. For a while it was just Bella constantly thinking about Edward with no real plot in sight. It wasn’t the worst book I've read but it was dull despite the attempt at the opposite with vampires being a focal point. The vampire strengths and weaknesses could have been emphasized more. I mean I would have LOVED for Edward to have just been like, “Wow, I’d really like to bite you and suck your blood.” Or “Bella, you make me want to be a typical vamp.” You know? I mean if he is really a vampire make him really voice that he wants to act on that. I guess that’s what Midnight Sun is for.

Recommended age:

13+

On to the ratings!

Stars..

0 = None 10 = Tons

THE FEELS:

Not too many really. The book was heavily deprived of emotion. Of course I did like instances where Bella and Edward were being cute and sappy but it wasn’t really getting to my feels.

3/10

Violence:

Bella gets herself into some trouble. She almost gets squashed by a car and gets herself some nasty injuries from the not so polite vamp, James. James and the Cullen’s fight to protect Bella.

4/10

Sexual content:

Bella and Edward kiss a few times. He has a hard time when she kisses back…supposing that’s because he wanted to suck her blood? That was never said though. Other than kissing and the normal hand holding there was no sexual content.

3/10

Crude language:

Little to none. Depending on whom you ask. One or two minor curse words were used.

2/10

Other elements/comments:

Of course there will always be the ones who say “Vampires are bad!” or “That’s just gross” or “That is sinful” but the book it really pretty G-PG rated. The "blood thirst" wasn’t a big factor in the book, it was more about Bella falling for a guy who was just different.

In the beginning of the book a Bible verse is quoted saying, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17

Overall:

Overall it wasn’t awful, terrible writing, gruesome, bloody or scary at all but could have used some pizazz. I personally enjoyed the book alright but the lack of emotion bothered me.

7/10

Xoxo

- Sarah