Ok, so I just recently finished reading this book that my sister had lent me (without my asking for it) and my friend Witchy had been referencing for some time now. For several weeks now, it had just been sitting on my desk. Last week, having nothing better to do, I decided to read it. I finished the book in 2 days. I also finished the second book, New Moon, in a couple of days as well.
Before I proceed, let me just say that I am not exactly the target market for this book. This is a YA (Young Adults) book, so since I am SO NOT a YA anymore (thank goodness), be advised already that I find the writing and the introspecting our heroine goes through a little too, um, shallow for me. On the other hand, I am a fan of science fiction and fantasy, and the bits that pertain to the vampires and the werewolves appealed to me, so maybe you could say I'm perhaps the secondary target market for it as well.
Ok, on with the review:
First off, Meyers writes well. Her words flow quite beautifully and are short and descriptive; no long-winding sentences for her. I didn't like her dialogues much (after being used to Joss Whedon-type snappy retorts, everything else is a let-down) but they are real, and believable. Her action sequences are also very exciting. While I zoomed through a lot of the pages in the first part of the book (I hate the heroine's whiny tone, and her self-revelations aren't that earth-shattering for me; sorry), I was compelled to read every word when things started to get exciting.
The mythology she created about werewolves and vampires is wonderful too. I've read a lot of vampire and werewolf stories, and watched too many movies/ TV shows about these creatures to know that each creator has fashioned their own myths about them. That sunlight thing, for instance, has a different effect on a Buffyverse vampire vs an Anne Rice vampire, and now, vs the Twilight series' vampires. Upon being exposed to the sun, vampires burst into flames on Buffy; in the Anne Rice novels, vampires develop a kind of immunity to sunlight as they age so that the thousand year old ones will probably just get a slight case of sunburn; while in this book, sunlight seems practically harmless to the bloodsuckers, except for the inhumanly illuminating effect it has on their skin. That's very interesting and a quite creative twist to explaining why vampires only come out at night.
Meyers is also very good at creating portraits of the people in the book. I have a very clear understanding of what Edward is like, of what Jacob is like, what Alice is like, etc. About the only person I didn't like in the book is the heroine. She kind of reminded me a bit of Ally McBeal -- a TV series I used to watch religiously for the first two seasons -- but again, her whiny side turned me off. Overall, I still liked that TV show, but I didn't like Ally. It's actually the same thing here -- overall, I like the Twilight series (I haven't read the 3rd book yet), except I don't like Bella. It could also be because I've grown impatient with female protagonists who are weak. She's clumsy, accident-prone, makes stupid decisions, and needs to be rescued by men a lot. Enough said.
I want strong female characters like Kinsey Millhone (Sue Grafton's detective in her Alphabet Series, A is for Alibi, etc.), Catherine Willows (CSI), Sarah Connor (Terminator), Hermione Granger (do I really need to explain who she is?), and even some characters from, believe it or not, Judith Krantz novels. And, of course, Joss Whedon-created female characters kick ass. Even sweet Fred from Angel is a strong female who can hold her own.
I'm also wondering why this show was picked up for a movie option when another series (about vampires and werewolves and other fantasy creatures as well) by the same publishing house did not. I'm referring to Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld Series. I think her stories trounce this series but I may be the only one comparing the two. Kelley Armstrong's original Otherworld novels AREN'T for Young Adults. She has, however, recently published the first book in her "The Darkest Powers" trilogy entitled The Summoning, which may be a fairer comparison with Twilight because that is specifically meant for YA. Once I read that, I'll post my thoughts on it on this blog as well.
Final rating (for Twilight AND New Moon): 3 out of 5 stars
So what do you think? Agree, disagree? Post your comments please. :-)
2 comments:
First, I haven't read Otherworld, like I said on Plurk (hihiagain), but I'd be willing to bet that Twilight was picked up for a movie because it has a rabid fanbase, made up of young women from the ages of 12-30... there's a LOT of disposable money in that demographic... believe me, I've seen replicas of jewels and stuff from the later books selling for upwards of $1,000. Ca-razy, I tell you :D
I'm not a Bella fan, and I find Jacob... childish, and Edward is a bit psycho-controlling... Alice, I love, but, outside of my personal spin I put on the characters, I find the books, at least the audio... to be fun, nothing too deep there, but something about it as a whole grabbed me, I think the differences in the vampires she's created, mostly are what drew me in, I'm a vamp girl from way back, so it's fun to find a new take on the whole genre :) (told you I was way talkative tonight )
Hi, there! :)
You are probably right about the reason for the movie. I can understand about being a rabid fan, except I can't understand being a rabid fan for THIS. Or maybe I sorta do. I am wondering if I would have been a fan if I'd been younger. LOL.
And hahaha, I guess there is a tendency towards those traits for those people. :) Hmm, maybe I should try listening to the audio books for the 3rd book; we'll see. :)
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