Twilight--Stephanie Meyer

Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Year Published: 2005
Pages: 498
Rating: 3.5/5

I'd never given much thought to how I would die--thought I'd has reason enough in the last few months--but evenif I had, I would not have imagined it like this.

Now this book I expected to dislike. I thought it would be sickeningly mindless, prattering teenage prose. I figured the over-romanticized vampire icon would make my stomach turn and my eyes roll. I'd read most of Anne Rice's Vampire chronicles back in high school, and while I loved them then I can't deal with them at all now. Overdramatic, flowery prose, stereotypical characters, predictable plots--ugh.
Well, this book had most of that--sans the flowery prose--and yet I loved it. I'm almost embarrassed at how much I enjoyed this book. I read it within 24 hours, even borrowing a students' copy because I had left mine at home.

I'm not sure what made me like it so much. Part of it is the narrator's voice--she is so real, so assured, that I found myself relating to her without meaning to. Part of it is the fast-paced plot, which unfolds like a smooth spiral staircase bringing you to it's inevitable climax. Part of it is the flowery teenage romance. There's that affinity with the timeless story of falling for the "bad boy"--the one who even warns you to stay away from him yet loves you too much to let it happen. I've had plenty of those in my day, though my stories usually ended poorly. There is a passage in the book that reminds me uncannily of a short story I wrote in high school that deals with the theme of the woman surrendering herself for love--even dangerous love. Which is exactly what the narrator does, and as much as I want to shake her for it, I can't help but sigh and nod my head. And of course the love interest, Edward Cullen the vampire, is everyone's dream man--strong, beautiful, invincible, intelligent, playful, and in love with you and only you. The story behind the vampires is interesting too--the different groups, the "vegetarians" (who don't eat humans) versus "non-vegetarians", the ways they all became vampires. What is the American fascination with vampires anyway? Is it sexual? Is it the immortality thing? Whatever it is, this was a quick, easy and fun read, and I will probably read the rest of the series as well.

Book a week # 48
Challenges: RIP IV
Date Read: 10/27/09