Stephenie Meyer
Who is author ?
I wanted to try this series out after hearing it and the author likened to J.K. Rowling-- in that with her 4 books, Stephenie Meyer had cultivated a media storm of sales very quickly, comparable (but not nearly on the same level) to the Harry Potter series.  That got my attention, so I went out and bought the first book in the series, Twilight.The book starts and already we know a few things:  The main character, Bella Swan, is seemingly apathetic about everything in her life. She is leaving Phoenix, where she was living with her mother, to go stay in rainy little Forks, Washington where her father Charlie works and resides.  Bella refers to her parents, Charlie and Renee, by their first names rather than Mom and Dad. This isn't particularly significant, but just annoys me for some reason.  It's also a glimpse into the family dynamics of the characters. You get the impression off the bat that they are this modern, laid back family...but it doesn't take long for the author to reverse that and put Bella back into her place as far as women's "roles" and "duties".  She is 16, 17, but doing the cooking and grocery shopping for her police chief father and herself. Ok, whatever.  She breezes indifferently through school, brushing off kids her own age because she has to "cook dinner for Charlie", making it sound like she's an old married maid rather than a highschool teenager.Fast forward- things start to change for Bella one day when she sees a pale and mysterious boy that she can only describe as "gorgeous and perfect." He is Edward, of the elusive Cullen clan of Forks.  Her first day seeing him, she thinks he hates and despises her because he clenches his fists and leans away at the sight of her. Later, accident prone Bella gets in a near death accident but Edward swiftly and mysteriously swoops in and saves her.  Turns out he doesn't hate her, its just that he's a vampire and no one has ever smelled that good to him before.  And then its all history from there. They know very little about eachother, just that *he* is 'gorgeous' and immaculately put together, and *she* has an irresistable scent and is clumsy so he's inclined to protect her.  The book is melodramatic in the way that only naive teenagers can be, as the two profess their undying and eternal love for eachother.Overall there is just little character development, a general lack of imagination, and it's just unrealistic.  Yes we are all well-aware its a fan-fic, but in terms of Bella and Edward's relationship-- they are two strangers who are madly (key word mad) in love with eachother. What kind of love is that?  She's the first human who's mind he can't read, and she smells "mouthwatering", so automatically she's the love of his immortal life?  And he is pale and marble-like and has icy skin and is gorgeous. Bella shuns all her friends and admiring boys from her school because she's so enamored with Icy Edward. Because he is 'gorgeous'. That's about all you get as far as the character depth goes.  I think it kind of speaks volumes when a book of this subject matter is actually boring.  Meyer's writing is flat and boring and has all the creativity of a fire ant.I can see how these books became popular- it kind of reminds me of how R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" series was really popular when I was younger. These are similar in that they have an alluring and interesting subject matter, but ultimately (if you know better) you lose interest because Meyer's just kind of misses the mark.  It is unlike the Harry Potter series, in that J.K. Rowling does an amazing job at completely capturing your attention and taking you to this whole other imaginary realm of wizards and witchcraft, etc.  Her details are exquisite, very clever, and Harry Potter really can be enjoyed by adults as well as younger readers.  Whereas the twilight series really stands out as young-adult and not much else.  The premise of this whole series, while not original by any stretch of the imagination, wasn't a bad idea... it just would have been better by leaps and bounds had the author fleshed out the details a little better, and gave us more substance to work with. I also kept waiting for the "mystery and suspense" as described on the back cover, but that never came either.  This author's idea of suspense and intrigue really just made me yawn. I read the book as if someone had already told me everything that was going to happen- that's how predictable the plot turns were. I like a good love story as much as anybody else. And a love story mingled with the occult? I'm all for it. But this story is just full of so many holes and breadth in general that I found it hard to stay interested. Twilight is shallow and dull and for the life of me I can't comprehend why people are ranting and raving about it.  It just seems like one of those 'latest fads' type thing. Right now this is all the rage, but when the novelty wears off...Twilight is very forgettable.Christina McColl,  2008-29-09 