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Book Reviews
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| ISBN: 0316015849
Written: Monday June 8, 2009 - 6:07 PM
Author: Stephanie Meyer
Category: Young Adult
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| As both a writer and a reader, I try very hard not to say a book is crap. I’ve spent a great deal of my life fighting to uplift the value of genre fiction so it would be hypocritical of me to say that Twilight is a bad book because of its genre. It is a bad book, however, because of its author.
Reading Twilight reminded me of Paul Zindel, another young adult author whom I read during my teen years. At the time I thought that he was the greatest author I’d ever read, yet when I go back and read him now the writing is pitifully simple and the story, poorly constructed. But I’m getting way ahead of myself. Twilight revolves around Bella, a teenage girl who, after moving to Washington to live with her father, discovers a rather unusual group of students at her local high school. While everyone else in the school would just rather avoid the Cullins, Bella takes it upon herself to get to know Edward, the scary but attractive boy who doesn’t seem to be attached. Shortly thereafter she discovers that he is, in fact, a Vampire and his family is a coven living in Forks. What ensues is a tale of forbidden love as old as Romeo and Juliet.
Generally I’m not a fan of romance novels, but that isn’t the reason I disliked Twilight. In any given story you always want to identify with the main characters and enjoy watching them grow and survive through perils whether they be magical or real. The biggest problem with this book is that there isn’t any character growth. If one were to compare Bella and Edward in book 1 to Bella and Edward in book 4, you’d be hard pressed to find differences. But even that is a bit of a jump. Simply throughout the course of book 1 there isn’t any sense that these characters are doing anything other than gazing into each others eyes repeatedly. I became increasingly irritated when they would repeat actions, like Edward laughing at Bella for no apparent reason, or descriptions that label Edward as feeling like marble and nothing else. I found myself growing to despise the main characters rather than identify with them.
Another rather glaring fault in this book is a nearly complete lack of conflict. The driving force of any story is conflict. If a character goes through a normal day without anything happening, the reader is going to eventually get bored and stop reading. While the premise of falling in love with a vampire seems like it would breed conflict, the relationship between Bella and Edward managed to make the concept downright boring. In the end where there is the potential for a real threat from another vampire, it is glossed over by having the main character pass out and miss all the action. This was handled considerably better in the movie version, yet even the big screen couldn’t make the story much more interesting. The most intriguing character is Jacob and unfortunately he doesn’t get the face time he deserves throughout the series.
My girlfriend and I have a theory about why Twilight is the way it is. Early in the book Bella tries to convince the reader that she’s an outcast, one of those weirdoes who people avoid and call names. However it is clear, even within the book, that this isn’t the case. Weirdoes and outcasts don’t get invited to a dance by three different men. Weirdoes and outcasts don’t have friends just fall into their laps. Weirdoes and outcasts don’t lead lives where everything turns out great in the end. Clearly, Stephanie Meyer was not an outcast or a weirdo in high school. In fact, it stands to reason that she was one of the popular girls, one who had everything given to her outright. I’m not trying to point fingers or call her names, but only someone who has lived the life of an outcast could accurately portray one. It’s clear that the author wanted Bella to be awkward, but she failed miserably at making her that way. The image that then comes across is that Bella is stuck up and doesn’t give a crap about anyone.
Again, I’m not writing this review to shove people away from reading Twilight. If your teen is looking for a book to read, then it’s not a bad choice. However adults will find far less to love about this tale and hard working writers may be easily offended by Stephanie Meyer’s success. I must admit I’m a little upset by the frequent comparisons of Twilight to Harry Potter, a comparison that could be described as Janet Evanovich versus William Shakespeare. One is a masterpiece and the other is an afternoon read. This book, and the entire series, is recommended only to teens.
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