I know I’m the last person on earth to read the Twilight books and all there is to be said about it has probably already been said a million times.
I also know that I’ll probably piss off a lot of people with what I have to say. There seem to be an infinite number of fans that come off as pretty serious about their beloved Twilight saga and may resort to violence if you don’t agree with them…
But I’m writing it anyway. Feel free to bash me *puts on helmet*
A while ago I started reading the Twilight series. I read book 1-3 and about 7 chapters into the 4th book and then… I just couldn’t take it any more. I decided not to waste any more time when it’s only making me irritated. I do know how it ends, I skimmed the last two chapters and read the plot summary on Wikipedia, and that was more than enough *shudders*
BOOK 1
The love story is pretty cute. I like her father.
It’s a bit repetitive and not much action, but I guess I can’t expect outstanding brilliance when it’s just a youth novel.
And sparkling vampires = epic fail. Just saying.BOOK 2
I like that there’s werewolves involved. Bella is really starting to annoy me. Most of the characters annoy me actually. I’m glad Edward is out of the pic… oh wait. He came back…BOOK 3
Meh. Meh again. Tripple meh. Page by page I’m losing ALL interest in the whole thing. Jacob and Charlie are the only ones I have ANY kind of interest in, and that interest is fading fast.BOOK 4
Pregnant…? She’s pregnant!? With the DEAD guy?. . .
*throws book in trashcan* *picks up Silmarillion by Tolkien*
Aaaah, home again…
The “heroine” is driving me crazy. She’s supposed to be the main character, the one I should be rooting for and hope will do well. But she has no personality, no charisma, no fucking backbone. She’s just following Edward like a mindless puppy, oblivious to anything else around her. That’s not love, sweetheart – that’s abusive addiction. And you should probably see someone about it.
And the “hero” is so beautiful and god-like and oh, so unselfish and good and loyal and I just wanna throw up all over his perfect face :sick:
It’s painfully obvious that Stephanie Meyer is so in love with her own character she can’t stop boasting him. I was tempted to count every time the lines “topaz eyes” and “marble skin” appear, but realised it would just depress me.
This article have some good points and pretty much covers how I feel about it all.
The villains are unbelievably bleak. It’s like they’re only there so that Edward will have something to save Bella from and save the day. There are no real background stories, no valid explanations or reasons. Please, not that I don’t want her dead too – but give me something more than “just because”. Because that’s what it feels like – it’s not enough plot and not enough story around the bad guys.
I do understand why the books became so popular though…
Everyone loves a love story, throw in a little magic (vampires are all the rage now) and a little danger and the kids are all over it. And “perfect” Edward gives the girls someone to swoon over. I can see the appeal, but this time I’m not falling for it I’m afraid.
Hev said on Twitter that the movies are better. I sure hope so, but I don’t think I’ll watch them.
And for those who compare it to Harry Potter: for the love of all that is holy just stop it :doh:
J.K. Rowling has built a whole universe, a highly detailed, complex and original world full off complex, original characters. Stephanie Meyer took a vampire, painted him with glitter and gave him an obsessed teenage girl to play with.
I think this quote by Andrew Futral sums it up pretty good:
“Harry Potter is all about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity… Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend.”
-Andrew Futral
But it’s… the ultimate fictional scenario! I mean the loser girl of the school ends up with the guy she stalks and makes fluttery eyes at. LOL. I’d never pick up the books, but I’d probably watch the movies with some buddies, either drunk or high on candy. :P
I appreciate your review. I read the books and I loved the first 3 (not so much on the last one) but I can see your point-of-view. Bella was never one of my favorite characters. I never really felt that ‘swoon’ for Edward Cullen. In fact, I’m Team Jacob. :P
There were lots of things about the books that I would have changed…I agree that the bad guys simply didn’t have enough character and the action scenes always left me wanting more. But the reason I like the books so much is because of the feeling I get when reading them. Although the writing isn’t that great, I do think the author conveys the way the characters are feeling very clearly. For example, I feel so sad for Jacob when reading those books!
My favorite of the series was Eclipse – who doesn’t enjoy a good love triangle? :heart:
I actually liked the series until the fourth book – then, I couldn’t read or watch anything about the series without seeing how garbage it all is. Bella is probably the most annoying heroine in all of fiction. Twilight pretty much teaches you that if your boyfriend leaves you, you should become a hermit or commit suicide. Ah, words of wisdom right there.
I agree about how you feel about the books. I really enjoyed the first book. I loved the love story. The second book was alright, but I missed Edward. The third book I liked more than the second one because Edward was back and I liked seeing the relationship between him and Jacob grow.But then with the final book I had a very hard time getting into it. I found it pretty boring. I liked getting to know Bella’s baby, but other than that, wasn’t too interested it in. I wouldn’t want to read that one again.
I disagree about the movies. I think that they are worse than the books. If you didn’t enjoy the books, I would advise you not to watch the movies.
I actually like the series, my favourite being Eclipse… But I can’t stand Bella with Edward! I love the character of Jacob and his pack and Charlie, they’re what kept me interested in the books.
I stopped reading after the second book, mainly because people on the internet gave the story away (not you, this was over a year ago) but I’m glad, because it saved me the time of reading a book that I would find idiotic. I can’t get over the fact that he gets her pregnant. :crazy: I don’t think I need to explain how ridiculous that is, given he’s a vampire and all. A male vampire can get someone pregnant but a female vampire can’t get pregnant? How convenient.
The only reason I go to see the movies is because werewolves are rad. :yay:
I couldn’t agree with you more. All Twilight teaches young girls is that they must find a perfect hot boy, and once they do, their life is complete and nothing else matters. And UGH, I hate all of the comparisons to Harry Potter! There IS no comparison. Harry Potter is full of depth and Twilight is extremely shallow. I read the first two books and got through half of the third before I just couldn’t take it anymore. From what I’ve heard, what happens in the fourth book is beyond ridiculous. He almost kills her while having sex with her, gets her pregnant, the baby almost kills her, and then the werewolf boy falls in love with the newborn infant. ….WHAT?!?! I can’t even begin to wrap my head around that. This article about the plot of the fourth book had me laughing hysterically.
I liked the first couple of books more, like you. I think the whole thing with Jacob got a bit ridiculous – Stephanie Meyer is a bit obsessed with love triangles I think!
Most of my friends are geeks, so they hate Twilight :P
I totally agree with you. I HATE Twilight.
Not to mention that Bella’s lack of personality/backbone/etc is so that every girl can “identify” with her and pretend she is her. Because if Bella is totally void of any personality then a mindless teen girl can be like “OMG BELLA IS JUST LIKE ME!” and give Bella the much-needed personality.
Well, in my opinion the movies are better. But Bella annoys the hell out of me. I just want to shake her & make her get some backbone. He ain’t worth all that, lol.
I actually just saw the third movie last night. I’m not sure why, as I haven’t had even the smallest desire to read the books, I skipped the second film, and I’m not particularly drawn to any of the cast members.
It was, as expected, terrible. I’m uncertain how an empire has been built around such a sexist and pointless story.