Twilight

Alright my literary friends, please don't kill me over this selection. I've been sick for a little while and needed a non-thinking book. So, I just finished reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

The non-thinking part backfired however. I will confess, I got adsorbed into the hype of Twilight when it first came out...not the book, but the movie. After I saw the movie with friends, I went and read the saga in a week. The writing was far from great, but it did jump start me back into reading years ago, so I will give it that.

Now that I have immersed myself into books with wonderful writing and superb plots, Twilight really can't compare. When reading this book, I did more thinking then I usually do, mainly nitpicking the writing and the annoying plot. There is so much to this story that bugs me now. There are so many wonderful, strong, smart and classy female characters out there, and it is safe to say, Bella Swan is not one of them.

We open up to a story of a sixteen year old girl, leaving her home city to go live with her dad so her mom can go be married to a young guy. Bella is a girl who sees herself as an adult and her mom is the child. She believes she is in charge. She has to take care of her mom, but she is giving that over to her mom's new husband. Bella says her mom is her best friend. Strike one for the book. Kids and parents shouldn't be best friends. They are no equals.

Bella leaves and is all angst-y about her travels to a place she hates. She is the poor, quiet suffering teenager, who know one understands. An average looking girl, who is pale, and a klutz. After a while of the whoa is me, Bella makes friends and is all of sudden shifted from the outsider to the hot new girl that all guys fawn over. Ok....She then notices a loner guy who is the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. She is intrigued and has found her reason to stay in this small town!

We're introduced to Edward. We are constantly reminded of his hot factor since it is always compared to Bella's inferiority complex and low self esteem issues. Strike 2 for the book. More angst from Bella in why no way a guy like Edward would ever like her. Edward shows his anger to her, and instead of turning from him, she is drawn even more to him. He is already displaying an anger management issue, red flag!

As the story progresses, Bella starts to become more enthralled with Edward, to the point that she alone in this whole town figures out he is a vampire...a whole town can't think of this, only she can? Edward confirms is. more red flags of Edwards temperament come up. manipulation and also stalker! Yes, this is the first book I ever read where stalking is ok...no, it isn't people! It is a major red flag.

Let us tally up red flag now:
1. Anger Issues
2. Manipulation
3. Stalker
4. Jealousy

There are not enduring traits for a boyfriend, but yet, Bella keeps plugging away after it. She does her best to keep it too. She starts lying to her dad about who is with and where she is going. If my daughter acted like this, I would be furious, yet, there is no parenting in this book. Bella's dad just lets her do what ever.

In the end, Bella is on the run with her new vampire friends from another group of vampires. She flees from her house after saying hurtful things to her dad and all she cares about is the safety of vampires who are nearly indestructible. She can die in a moments notice, yet she doesn't care. Bella's thoughts are not healthy.

That doesn't even begin to cover the writing style. Oh, my. The descriptions used. You can only stand so much statue and godlike as reference for a character before you start skipping parts of paragraphs.

All in all, if you want a book that you don't want to think about and you don't care about writing styles...to read. But really it's a not to read! Bella is a horrible role model.