Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I'm about halfway through this at the moment and something's bugging me.

I don't know (yet) exactly how old Edward is, but the author expects us to believe he can fall in love with a sixteen year old girl. Why? That'd be like your great-great-great grandfather in a teen's body falling in love with a child. What would an old vampire see in a young kid? Why is he still going to school?

And I don't get WHY he loves her. Their exchanges have, up to this point, been nothing more than Edward saving Bella's life a couple of times and while this can lead to an emotional connection between people, you'd think it would be HER becoming dependent on him. I just can't accept this instant love-at-first-sight nonsense. How could he possibly love her when he didn't know her personality? Sure, he spent a few days asking her all about herself but that was more like a game of truths rather than really getting to know her.

Can vampires really fall irrevocably in love with someone after speed-dating?

It reads as far too contrived for my liking. Sure, I like vampire stories but I certainly don't think this book's all it's cracked up to be.

Maybe my gripes will be explained later on in the novel.

Yup, some of them will be explained later on, including why he's attracted to Bella.

Don't get me started on the third book. I hated it as much as I loved the first.

I just get cooties at the thought of love at first sight.

When someone says they love their partner, I want to ask, "Why? What is it about them? What admirable qualities do they possess?"

And a 104-yr-old who's seen the world falling in love with a 16,17-yr-old...yeah, right. Sorry, my suspension of disbelief just flew out the window with that one.

Well, at least it's helped me figure out something that's always bugged me about vampire novels. Why does the female MC always have to fall in love with one? I guess it's easy to understand on her part - the glamour of the undead and all that...but why does the vampire always have to fall in love with the female MC?

"You're my life now." Oh, right. You're 104 years old and you've known her five minutes. Oh-kay. That's believable.

I *heart* that author!

I was introduced to her work via my students. I'm a High School teacher who teaches Language Arts and I always like to inquire about which books are currently holding my kids' interest.

Well, they were floored by Twilight and after I read the novel (myself) I can certainly see why. They've even created all these websites in honor of her characters and the imaginative world she has built.

BTW, she has quite a few helpful links for writers trying to get published on her website. It's really rather neat. I find her very humbling in the way she speaks of her successes. She's certainly on my dream list of authors I'd like to meet should my own work ever see publication. LoL

aadams73 said:

Yup, some of them will be explained later on, including why he's attracted to Bella.

Don't get me started on the third book. I hated it as much as I loved the first.

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What didn't you like about the third book? I thought it was a lot better than the second, which had a lot of dragging in the middle, IMHO...

scarletpeaches said:

And a 104-yr-old who's seen the world falling in love with a 16,17-yr-old...yeah, right. Sorry, my suspension of disbelief just flew out the window with that one.

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Have you finished the book? It explains why he loves her like he does. It doesn't really explain why she loves him, but it becomes clearer in the next books.

And, from what I can tell, even though he's lived for a long time, it's not like he's actually that old within himself. As in, it seems like whatever age you become a vampire, you kind of stick to the age, even when you learn more, experience more, etc.

But maybe I'm just making excuses...

reenkam said:

What didn't you like about the third book? I thought it was a lot better than the second, which had a lot of dragging in the middle, IMHO...

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Highlight to reveal spoilers:

I really hated the love triangle, even though I could see it coming. I hated that Bella became so Too Stupid To Live and whiny. And I hated that Edward became a caricature of himself, when he was so much more well developed and likable in the first two.

aadams73 said:

Highlight to reveal spoilers:

[which I had to delete because they become visible...]

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Highlight to reveal spoilers here, too...

Oh, yeah, I do agree with you. I couldn't stand the love triangle, actually. I kind of hoped Jacob would die, but he didn't. And you're right about Bella, too. I don't really enjoy her as a main character. I don't really like Edward so much, either. I really just read for Alice...

"I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be willing to take a bet against you, Alice, but it has arrived.” — Bella Swan

Honestly, I didn't really like Twilight that much...it was okay, but when I thought about it afterwards...it just bugged me. It seems like this huge wish-fulfillment novel that happens to fulfill the wishes of a lot of teenage girls, too.

What I couldn't stomach were the pages and pages Meyer spent describing the beautiful vampires. It just went on and on. And the suspense at the end...seemed a little tacked-on because, well, it came out of nowhere.

Oh for god's sake.

I just read the part where Edward wipes away Bella's tears and tastes one.

This makes me want to hurt someone.

Well yeah. That's why I'm not reading the others.

As my roommate and I discussed, the first book suffered from adverb hell a lot. The second and third got a lot better in this regard, but I wasn't as huge a fan of the third as I was of the first two.

I'm a bit of a Magnus Magnusson when it comes to books. If I start one, I'll finish it.

Because it's vampirey, I'll keep an eye out for the sequels but let's just say I'll check with the library first, before buying.

Also, I'm learning more and more about why my trunk novel remains a trunk novel. But...I have to confess, it annoys me to think other writers have filled their vampire books chock-full of cliches and they get published and I don't!

Well, finished it yesterday. Maybe it was what brought on my migraine, heh heh.

Seriously, though, it was okay. Not the best vampire book out there, but entertaining. I still don't get why 104-year-old Edward would fall in love with 17-year-old Bella, though, no matter how 'interesting' she smells. That's a bugbear of mine the novel doesn't explain.

And not just this one, but most other vampire novels that have a centuries-old vampire falling in love with a mortal, young woman.

It's the ultimate in age-difference relationships I just don't get, and a sin I committed in my trunk novel. I think this very issue is the main reason my first completed book was so very, very bad. One of the reasons, anyway.

(Apologies to Maprilynne, but I gotta share this)

I did an experiment with Twilight at around page 250.

I opened the book to eight random pages (I didn't hit any pages after 250 because I didn't want to spoil anything I hadn't read), and checked to see if there was a reference on them as to how incredibly good looking Edward is.

The result: on 6 of those 8 pages there was at least some reference to his beauty. On one of those 6 there were actually two such references.

The constant reminders of Edward's extraordinary good looks were very jarring to me. He's a babe. I get it. Move on.

Now, having said that, I did enjoy Meyers' writing, and the descriptions of Forks were well done. But when it comes down to it, Twilight really isn't much of a book for a 34 year old man, although I can see why so many teenage girls (which are the book's intended market, after all) adore it.

Good writing, but just not for me.

scarletpeaches said:

I still don't get why 104-year-old Edward would fall in love with 17-year-old Bella...

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Because that places the book in YA, which is crucial for that particular series.

I know it's YA. But the 104-year-old falling in love with a 17-year-old makes no sense. What could he possibly see in her? It just doesn't wash. It'd work better if Bella was older and the book wasn't YA in my opinion. And why would a vampire go to school?

scarletpeaches said:

I know it's YA. But the 104-year-old falling in love with a 17-year-old makes no sense. What could he possibly see in her? It just doesn't wash. It'd work better if Bella was older and the book wasn't YA in my opinion. And why would a vampire go to school?

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Would it sell if it weren't YA?

Who knows? But it'd be slightly more believable.

I've got to agree with scarletpeaches. It was one of the few things that bothered me about Buffy also.

It's one of those things that's just accepted in the YA market though.

I'm about fifty pages in, and I've stopped to read some other stuff. Why? Edward bugs me. I hate those all-knowing vampire types. I would have personally smacked that boy upside the head a long, long time ago.

Aww, David, you don't have to apologize to me. It's my friend's book, not mine and I would never begrudge anyone their opinion. (However, her name is spelled StephEnie, not StephAnie.)

I really enjoyed Twilight and I personally think Eclipse is the best int he series. I'm not a huge fan of New Moon in comparison. I do think it drags in the middle. However, that is because I don't love Jacob. (Stephenie loves Jacob though . . . obviously.) I remember there was a review at one time that referred to Stephenie's writing as immature and Stephenie agreed. She was like, sure, It's my first book. Sp yes, there are a lot of adverbs and non "traditional writing." But the thing that has really made it sell is that teenage girls can relate to it. And what teenage girl doesn't want this perfect hot guy to come sweep then off their feet.

It's not a perfect series by any stretch of the imagination and it is not "literary." But it has that spark, that je ne sais qua and I certainly don't resent her success.

Or her recommendation of me to her fabulous agent . . . now my fabulous agent. *Big Grin*

<.<
>.>
I absolutely adore
the entire series.

Book 3 is sad. Some parts of it made me sick.

Bleh.=[