I had never heard of the Twilight series until the middle of last year when I noticed the books all over the place. People were reading them on airplanes, in restaurants, everywhere. It seemed like it came out of nowhere.
When I checked into it a little, I found that the books were initially marketed to young adult girls but it had morphed into a hit for women. I didn’t know of any guys that were reading it.
I was reading that this was the next Harry Potter series. That really perked my attention since I love the Harry Potter books.
The thing that puzzled me though was when I asked women if they thought a guy would like it, I never got an answer. Not once. Strange. Sweetie told me that I wouldn’t “get it.”
I couldn’t resist, especially if the series is the next Harry Potter series.
I read it. I liked it. The writing just sucks you in. Not much happens for the first 335 pages. The female protagonist, Isabella (“Bella”) and Edward Cullen engage in endless conversations that establish the relationship and sets up the yin and yang of attraction and danger that drives the plot. I saw this a being in a tunnel, all Bella and Edward see is each other and the rest of the world doesn’t really exist.
Finally they are deeply in love and meet each others parents and then stuff start happening. Meyer engages in a little too much “deus ex machina” rescues for me but given the target market of teenage girls the mechanism is needed to avoid too much blood. Given that, there is enough drama and tension in the last part of the book for anybody. However, a little more description and detail of what happened in the final crucial rescue scene would be much appreciated.
There are lots of plot holes in the book and I could enumerate them but they don’t really matter. What matters is the relationship between Edward and Bella, how it began and how it develops.
The ending leaves me wanting to read more and I will.
Did I “get it?” Nope, not entirely. Why Bella was attracted to Edward mystifies me. Did I like it? Yep. Is it the next Harry Potter series? Not even close, but it wasn’t meant to be. “Twilight” is its own thing. Will guys like it? If they have patience to get through the first 2/3 of the book, sure they will like it.
I give the book three stars out of four.
There is a Stephenie Meyer reading challenge out there. I’ll post about it soon.
I have not read “Twilight” and probably will not, unless it is required of me by one of my reading clubs. My 16-year-old granddaughter devoured each of the books and saw the movie. She is a reader, so I don’t worry about her choice of material or how much she reads. But, she is not typical of her peers. So, anything that gets teens reading, I appreciate.
Good for you Yogi. I read the books last year. I had not heard of them until I saw everyone on the book blogs reading them. I know of couple guys that read them and enjoyed them.
Glad you liked it. You are wrong about not getting an answer. I remember telling you that you might like it and you should read it! My father-in-law just read the first one and I think he shares your opinion.
Thanks for your review. It’s nice to hear from a guy who has read it.
I totally agree – it’s completely about relationships. Had it been only about vampires I never would have read it.
I’m glad you liked it. 🙂 Now, I’ll be curious to hear what you think of the next three books.
I love these books! After I read it I saw the movie, listened to the audiobook and watched the movie again online. I can’t wait for the movie to come out on dvd!!