Twilight and New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
I don't normally make it a point to read "popular literature," especially the kind marketed to teens. But I ended up loving the Harry Potter series, so I thought I'd give Stephenie Meyer's books a go. Apparently her series gets compared to HP a lot. I can see that, given that both: were written by female authors; have characters, settings, and a plot; and appeal to teenagers.
I didn't go into the series thinking it would be like HP, so I wasn't disappointed in that respect. I actually wasn't disappointed with the two books, just frustrated with certain aspects. I'll start with the good parts first.
The idea of a family of vampires choosing to abstain from killing humans is a good one. Based on the first two books, it looks like there might be some discussion about morality and mortality (ie. what happens when vampires, who are technically already dead, are destroyed). I hope Meyer does explore these themes in the rest of the series.
The backstories of the Cullen family members are also very interesting. I think Alice is the most intriguing character in the series thus far, and I wish we could get a book written from her point of view.
It's interesting how the town of Forks seems to attract supernatural creatures. It would have been neat to see this turn into a teen book series about the paranormal.
Now onto the bad. I'll start with the dialogue and point of view. There would be nothing wrong with either if these books were written about adults and told from an adult's POV. However, they're not. The POV is that of 17 year old Bella Swan. Now, I'm willing to accept that she's intellectually ahead of her peers. Maybe that's why her language seems so formal. And I know the Cullens siblings talk the way that they do because they technically are older than the other students. The rest of the kids are another story. I really feel like Meyer thought to herself, "I don't really know how teenagers talk, and I don't want the dialogue to be like a cliche of teen speak, so I guess I'll just have to make everyone talk like the kids from Dawson's Creek." Meyer could have gotten some pointers from Laurie Halse Anderson, whose novel Speak was spot on in terms of teen dialogue and POV. Interestingly enough, Kristen Stewart starred in the film adaptations of both Speak and Twilight.
This brings us to the main shortcoming of these two books: the protagonist. I started reading the Harry Potter series right around the time the final book came out, and I can remember seeing a lot of debates online about whether or not Harry would die. Some people actually wanted him to be killed, but it seemed to be because they thought it would make the story better, or because it made the most sense based on what had happened in the first 6 books. It never appeared to be because they had a problem with Harry himself.
With the final book of Meyer's series, it seems like people wanted Bella to die because they hated her with every fiber of their being.
Now, I can't say (yet) that I want Bella to die. However, I do wish she'd start showing some common sense.
Bella: You're a vampire.
Edward: Yes. I'm really strong and fast, so you could basically never escape me. Guess what I drink?
Bella: Who cares? I'm already planning our wedding.
Edward: Blood. And I have to fight every second not to drink yours. Also, I climb into your room at night and watch you sleep. Scared yet?
Bella: Nope. But you can bet your glittery butt I'll be wearing my cute jammies to bed from now on!
I can understand loving someone in spite of their problems, but this girl doesn't even acknowledge the constant danger in a relationship like this. It's like the end of Hannibal when Clarice and Lecter hook up. Neat twist to the story and all, but I can never finish that book without asking myself how Clarice can sleep at night with an unrepentant cannibal lying beside her. Bella, on the other hand, would probably love Hannibal Lecter. And then he would eat her.
Also, Bella complains a lot about being an outsider at her old school, but we never really get examples or flashbacks of this. She's just like, "Oh, it was Arizona, and I'm pale, and I didn't fit in. The end." Um, ok. So did people just not talk to you, or was there bullying involved? Without examples to back up her claims, Bella ends up seeming like one of those people who like to pretend that their teen years were harder than they actually were.
In all fairness, I haven't finished the series yet. Maybe Bella will grow up, or the dialogue will get better. I'm willing to give the last two books a chance, if only because the paranormal aspect of the series is so intriguing. I'm also mildly interested to see what happens between Edward and Bella.
That's all for this book review. I think the next one will be about two fantastic mystery novels set in Ireland. Stay tuned!
~Jennifer~
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