Book Review: Twilight

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I'm way behind the times on reading Twilight, but in my defense, I had been avoiding it because my 15 year old sister was (and still is) obsessed with the series, so I figured it couldn't possibly be worth reading. Boy was I wrong! I was given Twilight as part of a friend's blog giveaway that I won and couldn't put it down.

Despite the fact that I already knew Edward was a vampire, the story still included quite a bit of suspense by keeping you wondering if he would or would not harm Bella. It was very creatively written and the attention to detail helped to develop a story that roped you in as a friend of Bella's. I thought it was entertaining how Stephanie Meyer (the author) integrated all the 'myths' about vampires and had Edward disprove them. She succeeded in making vampires alluring and attractive, while at the same time maintaining your fear of the supernatural.

I was slightly disappointed by the movie. Yes, it was a 500 page book condensed into 2 hours, but the book included so many internal conversations that you just can't portray in a movie very successfully. Thankfully, the main plot and ending were the same as the book (I hate when movie change the ending, ie, My Sister's Keeper) but the road to the end was much shorter and less satisfying. Honestly, I had an Edward in my mind while reading the book and the Edward in the movie just didn't do it for me, either.

The hardest part of the book (and movie) for me to get past is the intense level of love that high schoolers can feel for each other in such a short period of time. Desperation really. Though it's a true to life representation of teenage love, teenage love is very rarely sustainable and lifelong, which is why I found myself rolling my eyes at many of Edward and Bella's conversations.

That aside, it really was a great book and I'm already excited to read the sequels. Who knows, maybe I'll finally give Harry Potter a chance too!