Twilight
No. 1 in the Twilight series
by Stephenie Meyer
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Little, Brown and Company (New York): 5 October 2005. Hardcover: 512 pages. ISBN-10: 0-316-16017-2 Suggested retail price: $17.99 (US) Tags: baseball; high schools; Horror; Phoenix; Romance; vampires; Washington (state); Young Adult Tactical strength: [8/10] |
My fifteen-year-old son read Twilight some time last year, and when Stephanie Meyer came to Salt Lake City promoting New Moon, my son insisted on going to her reading and book signing. When I got to the event, my son was one of two boys in the audience (not counting parents). I talked with a few people while my son waited in the book signing line, and almost everyone categorized Twilight as a "vampire romance novel." Yes, the book does have a strong teen romance as part of the major plot line, but you shouldn't think of Twilight in the same category as, say, Harlequin's romance novels. So for any guys reading this report, don't let the "romance" part make you think of Twilight as a "girls" novel. Meyer has written one of the most interesting stories I have read in quite a while. I literally didn't want to put the book down and then felt sorry that the story had ended so quickly.
In Twilight, seventeen-year-old Bella has agreed to leave her home in Phoenix with her mother to live in Forks, Washington, with her father, the local police chief. She switches in the middle of her junior year, and Meyer does an excellent job portraying Bella's anxiety about the change. Forks and Phoenix function as polar opposites: wet and muggy versus dry and hot; small, rural town versus sprawling metropolis. Bella also finds that her popularity makes a dramatic shift. In Forks, Bella finds that the boys find her attractive. No less that four different boys vie for Bella's attention. Bella quickly notices a group of kids that stand out from the crowd: the Cullen family. The five teenagers all have incredibly pale skin, dress impeccably, and drive expensive cars. The Cullens generally remain aloof, but one morning Edward Cullen saves Bella from getting crushed in the icy school parking lot. Bella doesn't know how Edward could have saved her, since just before the accident, she saw him several cars away. Bella relentlessly questions Edward about the rescue, and she applies Edward's answers, her own keen observations, and a local Native American legend to conclude that Edward and his family are vampires.
Meyer's vampires have much the same characteristics as most vampires -- super strength, speed, and senses -- but they can endure direct sunlight and do not sleep in coffins, in fact they don't sleep at all. For most of the novel, the plot explores how a human and a vampire might have a romantic relationship. Because Edward must constantly suppress his desire to drink Bella's blood, he often seems moody and unresponsive. This moodiness does get a little tedious, but only mildly. Usually the unique situations -- such as meeting the vampire parents -- provide enough alternate entertainment to offset the tedium of Edward's moodiness. Meyer does an excellent job at building the tension to a nerve-splitting peak, and her exposition about her vampires never gets boring or preachy. If you like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, you will like Meyer's Twilight.
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