Twilight

This is my first post here. As you will see when I write my book reviews, I don't follow the alphabet. Perhaps there will be some kind of disclaimer each time I write. Perhaps "Review by Jettboy" will work.

Reading Young Adult novels is hard for me. When it is mixed with romance, reading can become next to unbearable. I am happy this wasn't the case with the well-written "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. My interest in reading the book was the combination of critically acclaimed, Vampires, and the author has a similar background as myself.

The story is about a high school girl, Bella, who moves to a new town and falls in love with Edward. He ends up a Vampire and the two try to reconcile their differences. The tortured love affair is palpable. It is easy to feel the constant danger created by a human and vampire wanting to get close, but realizing he might end up doing something horrible to her. The reader is constantly, and with well-crafted scenes, reminded of how close death is from love.

Edward belongs to a Vampire family who has given up on living off of human blood. Bella's visits to the house are among the most interesting parts of the novel. It is here that the author's imagination runs wild with all kinds of new definitions of what it means to be a vampire. The characters are likable and twisted enough to make them stand out from other angst teenagers. I gradually grew fond of the two and hoped they could get together. Among the least interesting sections of the novel where when Bella describes her normal life. It is filled with the usual navel-gazing, parental disassociation, and peer group pressure commentary of the Young Adult genre. Fine, if you like that sort of thing.

Things pick up to a fast pace once the more immediate danger arrives. A group of human blood drinking vampires show up during a vampire family get together. Bella is present and the family must protect her against them. More than that, they must protect the town and still keep the secret of their identity. Slowly the action builds toward a rather violent confrontation. The second half of the book is much better once we are introduced to horrors that are much worse than falling in love as a teenager. Everyone, and not just Bella and Edward, is in danger.

It is not hard to see the book is about keeping our desires in check. Giving in could bring about consequences beyond our control, even death. Falling in love, especially as a teenager, is a constant battle between what we want to do and what we ought to do. Those most worthy of love are the ones who recognize the danger and work hard to control themselves. It will be interesting to see if the next book continues this theme.

Book Rating: 3 stars