couldn't finish "Twilight" book..anyone else?

[xoprincessmomxo]

I can agree that these series are liked by teen girls but then again, couldn't the author at least made Bella a teenager that wasn't dependent on Edward and pratically let him run her life. No teenage girl should go through that. If the book was written for teens, Meyer could of at least made Bella a person to look up to, not a girl whose value seemed to be wrapped into a guy.

Not trying to defend Twilight as being a great book (it is NOT), but there seems to be a lot of criticism about Bella's character. Yes, Meyer's could have written her as a strong/ independent woman, but that wasn't Bella. Bella is not someone to look up to. But, not all characters in books, even ones written for teenagers, have to be. Gosh, quite a few of the Disney Princesses self worth seems to be based on a guy, too. It gets a little too censorship-y when we start thinking that the characters in teenage books should only be strong and inependent with a good head on their shoulders. If that were the case, we could kiss Holden Caulfield good bye. Or Tom Sawyer and his shenanigans. Oh, that's right. Some schools have!

Go ahead and hate Bella for all of her idiotic/ heroine in distress ways. But, to think she should have written Bella differently because she wrote the book for teenagers would have changed the dynamics of the story, kwim.

 

[JenM]

ITA. ;-)

My Twilight review:

When I first read this book, I was sick, on isolation, and cut off from human contact other than my mother and my doctor. Needless to say, I devoured it.

Then, once back in society, I reread it. And saw it for the horrible rubbish it truly is.

For starters, Bella is a whiner. She complains about her parents, the climate, her new town that she decided to live in, excetera. She is horribly rude to her father who took her in, even after he buys her a car. She gripes about her new house, the scenery, ad nauseum.

50 pages of this, and she arrives at school. Of course, this special snowflake doesn't associate herself with "common people"! She snubs any possibly new friends, instead focusing attention on the emo-acting supermodels in the corner. Thus implying that looks trump personality.

Skip the next 50 or so pages to see that the emo boy she watched is a "zomgvamp" named Edward who wants to suck her blood because she's just so tasty. New-age Romeo & Juliet without the lyrical prose, they fall in love with just 3 conversations. Add sparkling, baseball, and hunter-vampires, and you've got the book. Original? Possibly. Anti-feminist? Hell yes. Breaking every vampire rule in the book? Amen to that.

That is the best review of Twilight I've ever read.

(my other favorite was one that compared Edward's problem with falling in love with a juicy cheeseburger)

My boss loaned me the books a few months ago and I was excited to read them. I love paranormal stuff and I thought it sounded like a great idea for a story.

Then I read them. I've read at least 6 other books since then trying to make me forget I've ever read it.

I'm convinced the only reason Breaking Dawn is over 700 pages long is so you can take it and beat yourself over the head with it for wasting any time of your life reading it.

My sister and I watched the movie recently. She wound up liking the movie and couldn't believe I was hating on the books so bad. Now she's reading the first book and has that same shocked, glazed over I-can't-believe-how-bad-this is look I had while I read them.

Bella has to be one of the single worst characters I've ever read. It's like the kid has everything, then tosses it away to spend eternity with a cute boy. Seriously, I was rooting for Charlie to get fed up with it and kick him out for good.

Stephanie Meyer also can't write an action sequence to save herself. Eclipse set up a whole Victoria/Newborn vampire army vs. Cullens/werewolves. Which sounded cool.

What did we get? Edward giving a play-by-play from miles away while he and Jacob argued over who loved Bella more. Really??? Oy vey.

The final showdown at the end of Breaking Dawn was a joke. Volturi vs. Vampires who've suddenly developed X-Men powers...who meet in a field, talk it over...and go home.

And don't get me started on the walking-talking baby.

They are just bad books.

 

[Jennasis]

Ihave found that even among the uber-fans, VERY few people would list Bella as their favorite character or even the driving force behind their desire to read the books. I believe it's mostly about Edward (and to a lesser extent, Jacob). THAT makes me sadder than thinking about Bella and her wussiness. BOTH guys are controlling, and manipulative. Jacob started to become like an obsessive abusive ex-boyfriend in Eclipse.

Not cool.

 

[JenM]

Ihave found that even among the uber-fans, VERY few people would list Bella as their favorite character or even the driving force behind their desire to read the books. I believe it's mostly about Edward (and to a lesser extent, Jacob). THAT makes me sadder than thinking about Bella and her wussiness. BOTH guys are controlling, and manipulative. Jacob started to become like an obsessive abusive ex-boyfriend in Eclipse.

Not cool.

Very much so. The Cullens were practically holding her hostage in Eclipse. And I hated her attitude like she could never be good enough for him. Why not? There was a lot unnecessary self-deprecation going on in all of the books.

And I actually liked Jacob at the beginning of New Moon. He just seemed like a normal kid, and he was much better for Bella. Then he turned into a werewolf, and for some inexplicable reason werewolf=obnoxious teenage boy. After that he was just a brat.

 

[alexandria674]

Not trying to defend Twilight as being a great book (it is NOT), but there seems to be a lot of criticism about Bella's character. Yes, Meyer's could have written her as a strong/ independent woman, but that wasn't Bella. Bella is not someone to look up to. But, not all characters in books, even ones written for teenagers, have to be. Gosh, quite a few of the Disney Princesses self worth seems to be based on a guy, too. It gets a little too censorship-y when we start thinking that the characters in teenage books should only be strong and inependent with a good head on their shoulders. If that were the case, we could kiss Holden Caulfield good bye. Or Tom Sawyer and his shenanigans. Oh, that's right. Some schools have!

Go ahead and hate Bella for all of her idiotic/ heroine in distress ways. But, to think she should have written Bella differently because she wrote the book for teenagers would have changed the dynamics of the story, kwim.

In some terms I agree with you, but on other terms I just couldn't find that much to redeem Bella. I just wish, while reading the books, that she would stand up for herself once, at least Tom Sawyer and Holden did, at least when something was bothering them or there was something going on that shouldn't, they said something. Bella just seems to follow what Edward says. Just because the book was written for teenagers doesn't mean that it was ok that Edward treated her the way he did. I am not saying censor the characters who don't endear themselves but I am saying that every character should be read with a grain of salt.

 

[JenM]

In some terms I agree with you, but on other terms I just couldn't find that much to redeem Bella. I just wish, while reading the books, that she would stand up for herself once, at least Tom Sawyer and Holden did, at least when something was bothering them or there was something going on that shouldn't, they said something. Bella just seems to follow what Edward says. Just because the book was written for teenagers doesn't mean that it was ok that Edward treated her the way he did. I am not saying censor the characters who don't endear themselves but I am saying that every character should be read with a grain of salt.

Exactly. Any book would be boring if the main character always did the right thing and was just set up to be some sort of role model. The problem with Twilight was that Bella just wasn't a good character, regardless of who the intended audience was.

I'm reading Harry Potter again right now. He makes a lot of mistakes as a character too. But Harry went from a kid who was raised being unloved and unwanted who found friends and family and was willing to sacrifice himself to save them.

Bella? She's a kid with parents who despite their flaws want the best for her, with friends who want her around, and she had the smarts for a successful life past high school. In the end, she tossed that all away to spend eternity with a cute boy.

 

[Chipmunk89]

I am a Twilight fan, but I do know many that are not. DH hated the series, but he did read them for me.

Alot of posters seemed interested in the vamp themes, just turned off by Meyers writing.

A good alternative would be the Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. HBO now has a show, called True Blood, "based" on the books. However, these books are definitely an adult read.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So not into the genre, so I will not be in that club nor suffer the Twilight series.

But every time I read this...

Frankly, the "vampires" aren't really vampires either. Unless you have FANGS and burst into flames in the sun and are violently allergic to garlic and crosses you are NOT a vampire...you're just an emo-superhero with special dietary needs.

sparkling in the sun...BAH!

I keep thinking of this:

 

[catycatcat4]

I hate the books and i mean I HATE twlight it should be banned from school for being stupid.

All my friends like twilight but im also the only on that actualy reads book i couldnt get past the first few chapters i returned it the day i got it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am a Twilight fan, but I do know many that are not. DH hated the series, but he did read them for me.

Alot of posters seemed interested in the vamp themes, just turned off by Meyers writing.

A good alternative would be the Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. HBO now has a show, called True Blood, "based" on the books. However, these books are definitely an adult read.

I am turned off at the direction she took the book, not to mention calling shapeshifters, "werewolves".

I will not read the series until they cancel "True Blood". I can't mix the two.

Oh and the latest vamp show is called "Being Human" on the BBC. Yes, the vamp lead is hot.

 

[jenrose66]

I will agree with the OP...the writing is horrible. It's cliched, and ackward...however, this is a pre teen book, it's not a literary classic. Plus romance novels are pretty cheesy themselves. Though I wouldn't necessarily say the writing in Twilight is cheesy...just painfully bad.

With that said, I loved the series. Once I got halfway thru the first book, I was invested and needed to see what would happen. I looked at the book as a guilty pleasure...they were easy reads...

I didn't care for the last book very much, but the ending to the series made it worth it to me.

 

[Jennasis]

I will agree with the OP...the writing is horrible. It's cliched, and ackward...however, this is a pre teen book, it's not a literary classic. Plus romance novels are pretty cheesy themselves. Though I wouldn't necessarily say the writing in Twilight is cheesy...just painfully bad.

With that said, I loved the series. Once I got halfway thru the first book, I was invested and needed to see what would happen. I looked at the book as a guilty pleasure...they were easy reads...

I didn't care for the last book very much, but the ending to the series made it worth it to me.

Are you referring to the "and they lived happily ever after" ending or the big meeting between the family and the Volturi at the end? Cause I hated everything about the big "showdown" (or letdown) ending.

 

[jenrose66]

Are you referring to the "and they lived happily ever after" ending or the big meeting between the family and the Volturi at the end? Cause I hated everything about the big "showdown" (or letdown) ending.

The Happily Ever After. The meeting to me was dumb. It's just that after reading the whole series, I'm happy that she decided to end it on a happy note.

I did not care for Bella's character and I hated that they made her pregnant in the last book. To me, seeing as how this was a book for teens...I don't know, I mean they were married, but I found the pregnancy to be too much.

Maybe it's because I have young children and they definately damper the romance in a relationship.

When I saw that Bella was having a baby I felt that it took some of the passion out of her relationship with Edward.

Anyway, in real life there is so much stress and heartache. These books were purely fiction...so to me, I think she ended them right by giving the characters their happily every after (whether they deserved it or not )

 

[jenrose66]

I also wanted to throw this into the discussion:

I felt like these books in some parts were a cheap anne rice rip off. I think for those of us that read the Anne Rice vampire books...I just kept comparing the two.

It's not like she ripped plot lines or anything, maybe just how she discussed some of the vampire things. When she talked of them not eating human blood, it made me think of louis eating rats in interview with the vampire.

There was so much lust and passion sexually between Edward and Bella (though not written about explicitly because this is a teen book)...but with Anne Rice vampires couldn't even have relationships like that...their parts didn't work that way.

Anne Rice just had such a great story with such great detail...Twilight couldn't even come close.

 

[lilybrooke14]

My issue with the books (first two, I couldn't go on) is that she described Bella one way, and her character behaved in a totally different way. She was supposed to be strong and selfless (leaving so her mother could enjoy time with her new stepfather) but she was the polar opposite of that. Her clumsiness was supposed to make her endearing, and it wound up just making her look weak. Her "strength" flew out the window as soon as she saw Edward. Then she whined for the rest of the book(s). That and the endless prose about Edward kind of made me sick. We get it. He's pale and cold. No really. We get it.

I generally love vampire stories. I loved Buffy and Angel. Blade, Hex, Interview with a Vampire, etc. But really. Sparkling? No. I sincerely wanted someone to bite Bella and end it already. I knew I was done reading when I was having fantasies that Spike from Buffy burst into the clearing and devoured the sparkling Edward. Mmmmmm....Spike. Now that was a vampire.

 

[JenM]

There were some huge examples of lazy writing in the series too.

First of all, Jacob "imprinting" on the baby. Not only creepy, but just a cheap out on a love triangle.

The biggest example was Bella's ability once she became a vampire. She's suddenly so strong that no obstacle gets in her way. So she doesn't have to struggle with anything after her tranformation. And that was boring.

Dealing with interacting with humans? No problem. Facing an army of evil vampires? Send out her giant force field that protects everyone from getting hurt and making it a completely anti-climatic confrontation at the end.

Then there was Alice and Jasper's departure before the Volturi showed up. Did anyone really think they weren't going to come back? And if they knew there were half-human/half-vampires out there, couldn't they have brought that up when Bella was pregnant and seemingly dying?

And I don't like this excuse of "well, it's for teens." That does not excuse just plain bad writing.

 

[miabellarose]

I also couldn't finish reading the 1st book. I think I got 1/3 of the way through and I couldn't read anymore. They were my DSIL's books, so I gave them all back to her after a month of them just sitting on my bookshelf. I think the problem with me was that I had watched the movie 1st and as I was reading the book, I kept "seeing" the movie again in my mind and remembering how it went in the movie. I thought the movie was "ok" and I liked the book even less.

 

[Scurvy]

This thread has reminded me of a shirt that I've been meaning to buy . . .
http://www.jinx.com/women/shirts/geek/buffy_staked_edward_womens.html?cs=6&csd=1494

Although I probably need to be careful who I am around when I wear it, because I know some people who might get violent because of it.

 

[Chipmunk89]

I am turned off at the direction she took the book, not to mention calling shapeshifters, "werewolves".


Oh and the latest vamp show is called "Being Human" on the BBC. Yes, the vamp lead is hot.

In Breaking Dawn, it comes to light that they are shapeshifters, not true werewolves.

"Being Human" is a really good show. And yes, Mitchell is hot!

I can't wait for the Vampire Diaries to start this fall.

When she talked of them not eating human blood, it made me think of louis eating rats in interview with the vampire.

Oh...but Louis moves past the whole animal thing and feeds on humans. He just feels really conflicted about it.

 

[MinnieMe87]

This thread has reminded me of a shirt that I've been meaning to buy . . .
http://www.jinx.com/women/shirts/geek/buffy_staked_edward_womens.html?cs=6&csd=1494

Although I probably need to be careful who I am around when I wear it, because I know some people who might get violent because of it.

I'm a big Twilight fan, but this cracks me up!!! I love it!