Twilight

The book is phenomenal I looooooovvvveeeee Edward!!! Bella and him are very cute but like if he likes her enough….. never mind I only read the first one but iss amazing!!

I couldn’t put this book down. I loved the forbidden romance.

The experience of reading this series is such a strange contradiction. There are so many things I dislike about it… and yet, I want to keep reading.

First: if we cut out the number of times we’re told about Edward’s glorious perfection, I think the book would be 25% shorter. OKAY. WE GET IT.

Second, Bella seems to have two modes of operation: gushing over Edward, and pouting over one thing or another (which everyone around her seems to find endearing, for some reason. But I just find her whiny.)

Third, the first 75% of the book is just Bella and Edward meeting, the tension of her not knowing that he’s a vampire, her finding out he’s a vampire, and then them getting to know each other. The conflict is almost an afterthought… as if the author realized, ‘oh yeah, this isn’t really a book yet, it’s just a scenario. Better throw in some conflict.’ The actual conflict feels pretty flimsy, too. So many of the situations are just damsel-in-distress moments for Bella, so that Edward can swoop in and save the day.

Fourth, it’s slightly creepy that Edward, technically eighty-something years old, is completely obsessed with a seventeen year old girl. He might *look* like a seventeen year old himself, but surely that many decades of life experience should render him so mature that he’d have no patience with an actual teenager.

…And yet. Despite the fact that I rolled my eyes almost constantly, I still ripped through the book quickly, *and* this is the second time I’ve read it. The first time was years ago, when I was in a very different life stage; therefore at the time, I found it to be far more addictive and absorbing then than I did this time. But despite my exasperation, there’s something about it that not only kept me reading, but made me pick up the next book too.

What is that something? I feel like this book is a caricature of THE classic female fantasy. The main character is (in her own eyes at least) plain, clumsy, boring, weak, ordinary… not special or talented in any way. And yet, this perfect, god-like man is utterly and unconditionally obsessed with her. He’s protective, capable, and completely selfless, ready to die for her, commit suicide for her, kill for her, or let her go if any of the above are the best choice for her. And while this is a very human incarnation of the story, I think that this is so desirable because it’s an allegory of the gospel, intentionally or not. (“While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”… the perfect god-man, whom “we love because he first loved us,” who cares intimately about every detail of our lives and who came to give us “abundant life.”) That’s my theory, anyway.

Years ago, I think I stopped halfway through the third book in this series, perhaps because the story diverged so thoroughly from this core thread that the intrigue was gone for me, leaving nothing but pure exasperation in its place. We’ll see if I make it further this time.

I’m an unapologetic Twilight lover. I love Edward, love Bella, and I love their story. I love how well the characters are written, how you can parse out their thoughts and motivations between the lines because of how solidly Stephanie built each character. I REALLY appreciate how she gives each character in the books a distinctive voice. It drives me absolutely nuts when every character is written with the exact same voice, but Stephanie not only writes them uniquely but with solid backgrounds and motivations. I love the world building in these books too, how it’s not just “magic” to explain everything away but there’s science and reasons for the way things are.

I really, truly, with everything in me wish she would finish Midnight Sun, or at least up to the night they spend together after the meadow scene.

I can’t read this book seriously. I have to read it like it’s a melodrama (which makes this a hysterical read by the way). Because there’s a LOT of gas lighting. However, if you read it like a melodrama, it’s hilarious and keeps you reading until the end of the series. Just don’t take Bella and Edward seriously, and you’ll have the most comical book you’ve ever read.

This was a lot of fun to read! I knew what to expect going it but still enjoyed it. Great summer reading

Okay I’m going to admit it, and I’m not embarrassed to—okay, so only slightly embarrassed—I loved twilight when I was a kid!! I’ve read the series multiple times and most likely will read it again at some point in my life!! So, there! Man, It feels good to get that off my chest!

The book is like a door to another dimension that when you started reading it, you weren’t able to go back to the reality without finishing it

i think its a aswsome book and its a five star

I’m (seemingly) one of the few people in the world who didn’t read the Twilight series when it first came out. I think I would have absolutely loved it as a teen. As an adult, I can see the argument for Edward coming across as a bit creepy and controlling. But if I turn off the logical part of my brain and just enjoy this story for what it is, it’s hard to deny that it’s a fascinating premise and keeps your attention. It’s easy to see how this book started a phenomenon.