Twilight
There are two reasons for this review. First, because the captain asked for it.Before we begin: do not judge this book as a piece of high literature, because that is not what the author intended. Stephenie Meyer has no pretensions like that at all.
The second reason for this review is that I wanted to know what all the fuss is about Twilight. What's with this book and how come it's got all the youngsters going ga-ga over it? And how come I've never heard of Twilight before the movie? And after reading the book, I found out the answer to that question: I've never heard of it because I'm too old.
Okay, age is no excuse not to be updated with pop culture, and like it or not, Twilight has become part of the popular culture of this decade. So everyone who thought the book sucked can stop whining, as this book was not written for you. This was written for a specific target audience, namely those who hit puberty at the turn of the millennium.
Basically, Twilight is a teeny-bopper romance (I'm just inventing genres here), kind of like the Sweet Valley novels, with a slight twist. You still have all the mushy stuff, like crushes and first kisses and high school dances, and the twist is all the good-looking guys are out to suck your blood. For those who didn't get it, all the hunks are vampires.
For those familiar with vampires, it would be best to stop comparing the Twilight vampires with those of Anne Rice's chronicles, as they are totally different. Stephenie Meyer created a different type of vampire; Edward Cullen is no monster like Lestat. If anything, Meyer's vampire seems to be a troubled teen cursed with immortality. That's it. Not much killing and slaughter---in fact, I don't think the author ever showed Edward Cullen taking a life in the book. Just mentioned. Never showed.
Twilight is actually an easy read, one that you could breeze through in a week or less. If you're not into adolescent romance, expect to throw up at some very cheesy lines; if you're a hopeless romantic, expect to be starting on the next book (yes, there is a second one) as soon as you get to the last page.
Rating: Seven out of ten.
8 comments :
i'm so flattered!! excellent review! and very true. yes this is a YA novel, yes it's a romance mostly, and a very easy read. like water. 7/10 is a good result and i do hope you'll see the film if you can stand the signing swooning teen girls (and their older counterparts like yours truly!)
Haha. Oh my gosh, you're a girl??
I always thought you were a guy. LOL :-)
oh i know...sorry about that...i must update my profile!
wow. you're quite kind in this review... afraid people will think you're old? ^^
i wanted to check the book out myself, but i made the mistake (or had the good fortune?) of reading some scathing reviews first... one of them included some particularly cheesy excerpts. XP (sparkling vampires. seriously.) maybe the rest of the book isn't quite so bad, but i've got this really low cheese threshold, so i figured, nah. never mind. ^^
i *did* get to read a teenybopper vampire romance when i was in high school... (i've seen some stacks of them in secondhand bookstores; apparently there really is a subgenre. ^^) it had a similar premise to twilight; there's this girl who falls in love with her brooding and sexy best friend, who happens to be a vampire. it turns out she has a terminal illness, so the vampire dude decides to make her a vampire to save her life. incidentally, the dude doesn't feed on humans...just not his thing, i guess. ^^ it was one of those easy reads, yeah, but it wasn't quite as cheesy as the twilight excerpts i've seen.
*runs away from outraged twilight fans*
oh yeah, when did you start using ten stars? does that make you a more discerning reviewer, or something? ^^
@tina
lol. the "outraged twilight fans" are out to suck your blood :))
the ten-star system is something new i tried out for the new year. you can read about it in the first post of january 2009.
I've read the book and I've seen the movie. What kills me is the predictability of both. Not much twists, if at all. Good review, not malingering on any weak point or glorifying much on the better points.
@Menaya Garces
Thank you. :-)
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