Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Saga: Book 1)

8/10

After seeing and enjoying the movie Twilight, I had to get the book.  If I was less of a glutton for punishment I probably would have heeded the warning signs. Every teenage girl I knew of swooning over the book and the Romeo of the story, Edward Cullen. I even had a 24 year old friend update her status with something along the lines of “After Edward Cullen I can never again want a human male.”

Also, I know I can be obsessive and with the exception of a small few, once I read the first book in a series, I have to read the whole series whether I really want to or not. I don’t like unfinished stories. Did I really want to subject myself to at least 4 (which was the length of the saga when I bought Twilight and I hadn’t researched whether or not it would get longer) teen love books? I didn’t do much thinking when I spotted the book for £4, knowing how much I enjoyed the movie; I willingly handed over my money in order to be Bella and Edwards’s voyeur.

The book begins with Isabella “Bella” Swann moving from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to live with her dad, the local police Chief, Charlie Swann, in wet and dismal Forks, Washington. Almost immediately, it is obvious that Bella wishes she still had an option to live in Phoenix, which only increases when she meets Edward Cullen in class. Edward looks at and treats Bella as if she is something dark and sticky on the underside of his shoe, with a hostility Bella has never felt before.

“The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for his tight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as I'd thought.
It couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.
I peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through my mind.”
An extract from Twilight

Edward continues to treat Bella this way until she is almost killed by a car in the school car park. One of her fellow students comes careening towards Bella after losing control of his car and is almost about to sandwich Bella between it and Bella’s 1950’s truck. In steps Edward Cullen from the other side of the school car park to stop the car from almost certainly killing the girl he has so openly disliked.

So begins Bella and Edwards forbidden romance, with revelations aplenty coming out about Edward until Jacob Black, the son of Chief Swann’s best friend, tells Bella about the ancient legends surrounding his tribe including those of “the cold ones.” Bella finds out about the true nature of the Cullen’s being vampires. A romance book which ends with a fantastic, high-octane finale, I’m sure most readers will find something they like about Stephenie Meyer’s first novel.

One of the influences that Meyer lists for her writing is Romeo and Juliet. This is clearly evident throughout the book as hardly anyone believes they should be together, Bella’s friends obviously don’t agree with it, and Rosie Cullen seems to hate Bella with the hate she believed Edward once had for her.

The book is full of romance, but is padded with enough action and vampirism to keep most fantasy readers from putting the book down. A kind of Harry Potter meets Shakespeare, the book is a fine read with plenty of talking points that I’d better leave out of the review for fear of ruining the twists and turns for would-be readers of the book.

Overall, I believe Twilight deserves a 7.5/10. A Shakespearean love story with monsters and myth.

Review by

10 positive reader review(s) for Twilight

Stephenie Meyer biography

Twilight Saga

Twilight reader reviews

from Australia

The book Twilight is about a seventeen year old girl named Bella who moves to a small rainy town called Forks, to live with her dad. Bella’s life is pretty ordinary, gloomy, but still ordinary, until she meets a strange boy named Edward. Later in the book she creates a theory that Edward is a vampire, which turns out to be true. Soon she finds out that there’s a dangerous side of her discovery. I particularly like the plot line in the story, because the author, Stephenie Meyer uses several writing techniques to build up suspense and tension along the plot line, I also find the plot line unpredictable. The only fault I find with Twilight is that at the beginning and several parts during the book may be slightly disengaging for readers as there is no action for some time and many people would stop reading. Twilight is categoriesed as a romance fantasy book. Which is rated for 13+ by parents and 11+ by children and teens. I would rate the first book of Twilight for 11+ however, it also depends on how mature the reader is. I give the book 9 stars because the plot is very intriguing, even though it has faults.
9/10 ()

from United states

The book Twilight was about Bella moving away from Phoenix to go live with her dad for a while because her mom wanted to travel with phil. As soon as she got to forks Washington she got a truck from her dad who got it from Billy Black. She got to meet Jacob Black and was a werewolf. When she got to school she made some friends and met the Cullen Family. She fell in love with Edward the first time she saw him. Over time she got closer and closer to Edward's big secret of being a vampire. The time when she found out she was not afraid of him she was afraid of losing him. I would love to have a love connection like they do but I think Bella made a big mistake for falling in love with Edward. I am a Jacob fan myself and I always wanted to see what they would do about the whole Vampire war problem. I absolutly loved this book but if she fell in love with Jacob it would be even better.
10/10 ()

from India

This book is the best... I love it
10/10 ()

from Morocco

I completely love the book how's it's full of love and romance something that we don't see these days some people saying that bella is an independent figure i completely disagree with them bella was depending on Edward because what she been through wasn't human it was supernatural what are you expecting to throw her life to a complete end that's such a rubbish i love the sweetness of the story it's kinda better sweet it might get slightly boring in the middle but it gets better and in my opinion i think that the book is better than the movie i think that Emma Stewart isn't good for bella's swan character while Robert Pattinson was perfect for the role in few words twilight is a delightful book can't wait to read the rest
10/10 ()

from United States

THE BEST BOOK EVER
10/10 ()

from United States

Reasons to read this book: 1) you are newcomer to vampires or 2) are between the ages of 12-17. Twilight is to vampire lore as fairytales are to Grimm's tales. Far from the real, abet mythological, truth. This is a land not far away from our reality, where vampire's roam about not dying in the sun, but sparkle like a diamond. They live among us hiding in plain sight, avoiding bright spots? The main protagonists of the books are smitten in awkward teenage love. One confused about the other's strange behavior. The other worried about prohibited interspecies co-mingling and associated other issues. This book devolves into an emotionally abusive rollercoaster. Unless you really like drama, the following books are better for newcomers to vampire lore: Robin McKinley's Sunshine, PC Cast's Marked, or Darren Shaw's Cirque de Freak. Overall, when I was a teenager, I read this and never thought about it again. I'll give it a 6 for some creativity about the lore, but only a 6 because of the plot line.
6/10 ()

from Heaven

This is a really good book u should read it I m waiting for another series.
10/10 ()

from New Jersey

I love this book
10/10 ()

from USA

I love this book.
9/10 ()

from India

Stephenie Meyer, India wants to read beyond Breaking Dawn part 2... we are crazy about the story... it's the single story which we think should never stop... plzzzzzzzz, we the readers want more series of Twilight... just break all the barriers of Twilight and go on writing about the mesmerizing love story of Bella and Edward... waitng for another series of Twilight...
10/10 ()

from England

SERIOUSLY GOOD BOOK, it's got so much detail and is very romantic, but I love the way at every moment there relationship was hanging on an edge. I was always turning the page expecting to find out if their fragile relationship would survive but I never got an answer, all the haters have just got to stop being so rude, and I know everyone's entitled to there own opinion but at least try to say it nicely. People keep saying it gives young girls the wrong message, but as I young girl myself it honestly doesn't and I know that having a boyfriend isn't the most important thing, and so many adults think us young girls believe that the way Bella stays with Edward even though he could hurt her and is dangerous makes us believe that abuse is alright but it's nothing like that and we are not that stupid to think that it is ok. Plus Edward hardly abuses Bella and when he does hurt her he doesn't mean to and when he stops her going places it's only because he is so worried about losing her. Anyway,I loved the book and how it made me feel excited and anxious. So I recommend it to years 12 plus.
10/10 ()

from India

I just love it .
9/10 ()

from Reading

The books are reasonably well written given that they are for teenagers, New Moon was extremely whiny though. These are overall enjoyable books and I would recommend them to any teenager. I particularly enjoyed Breaking Dawn after Bella was turned as there is more humour and fun involved.
7/10 ()

from Georgia

THE best book.
10/10 ()

9.2/10 from 15 reviews

All Stephenie Meyer Reviews