Laura, an old friend of mine, was the first person who introduced me to this book. It was way before the movie came out, but she raved on and on about it for so long that I was finally compelled to pick up a copy of the series and start reading. Why the movie became so outrageously popular goes beyond my comprehension because, even after seeing it, I still wasn't impressed with it. I mean, I'll be honest here and share the apparently unpopular opinion that the books were way better than the movies, but that honestly isn't saying much. 
 Twilight and it's successors were all an easy, quick read that I managed to get through in just a couple of days and while the concept was interesting, blending together myths and legends and deeming them to be very much a real thing, there were things I couldn't wrap my mind around. For example, how Bella became so aggressively obsessed with Edward, and his irresistible breath and white, pale skin - that was a bit off-putting. I never even got that weirdly obsessive with Jonathan Taylor Thomas back in the day - or The Backstreet Boys! 
 Am I showing my age? 
 Also, and I asked this again when I saw the movie, but why the hell were the vampires all sparkly in the sunlight? No, Stephanie. Vampires are not supposed to be akin to a glittery kindergarten art project. They're supposed to be ruthless blood-suckers, and you've turned them into the vampire equivalent of My Little Pony. No bueno.