Stephanie Meyer - Twilight

Reviewed by Lydia Birch on show 9th april 09
Twilight is by Stephenie Meyer, and is the first in a saga of 4 books, all of her books are in the top ten, Twilight being at no 5.

its aim is teenagers, but i think like the JK Rowling books its good for all ages,
i was on St Agnes the other day and a family sitting on the beach were reading them. the book is different from the film and i think younger people will appreciate the film more.

the book started from her dream, it was so vivid that she wrote it down in every minute detail, and chapter 13 in Twilight is her dream,
and she then wrote round it.
she had done a bit of writing before but nothing special & only for fun.

every bit of the book is exceptionally well researched, the town of Forks where it is set is a real place, and is the most rainiest place in the Washington.

it grips you from page one until you turn the last page and makes you want to keep reading the rest of the books.
each one explaining a bit more of the characters as you go along.

on the back of the book the synopsis', says -
when Isabella swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious & alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn, with his porcelain, golden eyes, mesmerising voice & supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible & impenetrable, up until now he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.
What Bella doesn't realise is the closer she gets to him the more she is putting her self and those around he at risk, and it might be to late to turn back....
deeply seductive & interestingly compelling , Twilight is an extraordinary love story that will stay with you long after you have turned the final page.

The Times said:
'her story recounted in hypnotic, dreamy pose, encapsulates perfectly the teenage feeling of sexual tension and alienation',which is exactly as it is. as you get in to the book you can feel the fear, the tension and the sexuality hitting you as you read.
i also love the way that she's given vampires new life, they are not the usual can't go out in the daytime, angel, buffy type evil monsters,
the Cullen's are different from others of their kind, they are are vegetarians (not really but they don't eat humans!) whereas the other vampires do, almost a good and bad type thing and you can feel that they are different. They live in amongst the humans and are not allowed to get too close in case things should go wrong and then it would be bad for all the family, but they can go out in sunlight, they sparkle in the sunshine like diamonds. (its almost trying to make the vampires sexy!).
Really it starts off as a really lovely love story, but when she discovers that Edwards a vampire it all changes, but their love shines through all the challenges that are in the way and even when she crosses the lines and puts the Cullens in as much danger as herself and her family, Edward and his family are there to save her and rescue her from evil.

as you read it the pictures in your mind are just so vivid that you do feel like you have transported to forks, and you need to know about all the characters,
in the 2nd book new moon, she explains some of the characters more, and particulally Jacob one of Bellas friends from when she was a child, however there are very harrowing bits in the second book and it is as well written as the first and i did find it hard in places as it was very emonitional, also the third book elipse which i have just finished had some very grafic scenes of rape which was very hard to read and i think that it would be harder to younger children to understand that perhaps.

All in all i loved it and am now itching to get on to book 4 in the saga Breaking Dawn. You do need to read these books in order tho as you might get lost in the plot and charcters if not.
i would recommend this book to anyone, its a fun and exciting read and there is something in it for everyone.

But the film does miss bits out so dont be disapointed as it is a bit different.