Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
Book Review: Worrisome that so many think favorably of Bella and these books....
Summary: 1 Stars
That this book and series is being read by young woman and a majority of them see Bella as a strong, healthy, young woman with desirable traits and characteristics is worrisome to me. I dislike the lead female character Bella in this series, and I'm only up to the third book now and it doesn't seem to get any better. In fact it seems to get worse. Putting that aside for the moment I will say that the author Meyer can certainly tell a good tale, but the writing needs a severe editor, and it suffers from "MaryJane fan fiction" problems. The biggest problem however is Meyer's version of a heroine, which is more than disturbing to say the least.
Bella's character spends most of her time being cared for like a child, she is infantised, constantly needing to be looked after. She is always falling down, being picked up and carried around, and put to bed and even sung lullabies. It's disconcerting that this behavior is considered and accepted as normal by the characters in the book and fans of the book, and more frightening that it's accepted as the behavior of "being in love".
When anyone breaks into your room, watches while you sleep, invades your home and privacy, picks you up or blocks your way, makes unilateral decisions for you or "for your own good", even uses their strength against you---that's not "love" that's a psychotic stalker and an abusive relationship. And the fact that such behavior is being accepted as normal and the epitome of "real" "true" "love" is beyond disturbing. Perhaps even more insidious is the other through-line in books one and two, that Bella and the other human woman-the werewolf's wife, need to be wary of setting the males tempers off, thereby making the women responsible for the males temper. That's an abusive relationship based on control and domination. It's not romantic and it certainly isn't "Love".
Bella is supposed to be smart-but we never see her excel in her own interests, hobbies or even academia. She has no interests other than obsessive self-destructive behavior to gain the attention of the male she so-called "loves". Bella always needs to be rescued by the stronger, wiser, male. Even her human friendship was unequal. The soon-to-be-werewolf, knows all about cars and motorcycles and Bella just sits there watching him while he actively does....she just sits and watches. Too bad only in passing are Bella's own supposed capabilities mentioned, I never get to see them in action in any real sense. But that's the author's fault, as Meyer purposely put Bella in a situation where she is inferior to even someone "younger" than herself. There's even a whole conversation that his skills make him actually older than Bella. And of course Bella needs the human/werewolf to build her a motorcycle, to guide her through the woods etc.
Bella never seems to use the smarts we're told she has. Walking alone in an unfamiliar place---she "somehow" winds up in the worst part of town...twice!! The first she's almost raped, and the second she lucked out that those men weren't rapists. She walks in the woods, knowing she'll get lost and all too often seems to become weak to the point of being immobile. It's really rather tiresome to read. Bella didn't even have the smarts to put together, using the clues given by the other Vampire with the visions she had seen, that her mother was not with the bad vampire. Nope, she doesn't even ponder why the vampire is watching videos, she doesn't think about anything...once again she's weak to the point of immobility. Until she runs away without a real plan or thought except to let the vampire kill her in hope that he then won't kill her mom. And of course it's really just a set up for her vampire to come and save her... again.
It's not only her vampire boyfriend who protects her though. Her human male friend also protects and guides her-it seems nothing Bella decides to do she can actually accomplish on her own without the assistance of the more-capable male, or if she goes off on her own, then needing to be rescued by said males. The only thing that seems to motivate Bella-that in the book I hear her talking about being good at, is cooking. She has to get home to get Charlie's dinner on. She's a good cook apparently, but she doesn't cook for herself or for the enjoyment of the doing of cooking. It's just something she does... or rather what human women are supposed to do as the werewolf's wife's main job seems to be cooking for all the boys and being motherly. Which is fine in the context of a well-rounded person but women in this series are hardly seen as well-rounded full fledged human beings with talents and interests outside of caring for their superior males. They're inferior to their males and behave as such. And while some defend it as a "choice" I see it as a sad commentary on the author's part of what young women have to accept to be "loved" and "accepted" by those they find attractive. Also, the superficiality of that attractiveness and "love" is nothing but vapid shallowness, altogether another major problem with Bella in the book. And after all that, there is still no character growth and development from book one to book two at all.
Book Review: Completely Breathtaking
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book in 5 hours flat. Could not put it down! I was wondering what all the hype was about and now I know. Loved it, loved it, loved it.Book Review: Amazing Read!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am an avid reader. I usually read books by Dean Koontz, John Saul and Stephen King. I have to say this is the ONLY book (or shall I say series) that actually sucked me into it. I read the entire sage (4 books) in one week. I usually do not read like that. I finished these books last night and I am actually thinking of starting over again today. They are amazing. I am not a teenager. I am a married mother of 2 elementary aged boys. So I am not on the "teenage rampage". I honestly hope that the author can come up with another set of books like this. The characters are awesome in this story. The humor is great. I would actually catch myself smiling and laughing and I even cried. I can't say enough.Book Review: Captivating. These characters will steal your heart.
Summary: 5 Stars
I cannot remember being so compelled. I simply couldn't put it down. I read the nearly 500 pages in just 3 days, and was thinking about the characters every minute until I could reunite with them again.
The emotion and tension of the characters' relationships is palpable. It physically grips you. The characters become so real that everytime I closed the book, I had to take deep breaths and remind myself, it's not real, it's only a book.
I am about to finish the second book, New Moon. I could have easily finished this one in 2 days, but I am pacing myself, because I know there are only 2 more books left, and I don't want to say goodbye to these characters!
Book Review: CAPTIVATING BOOK
Summary: 5 Stars
From the first page of Twilight, i was totally captivated and could NOT put this book down ! I heard about the book from a friend whose grand daughter was reading it; being about vampires, i had to check it out; read deep into the night and lost sleep because i could NOT find a chapter with which to end; i would totally recommend this book (also the other three, which i read in TWO weeks !!