Book Review
Title: Twilight (Twilight #1)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: YA/Paranormal/Romance
Rating: ****
Review: As many of you will know I have been working my through the series I either started and never finished as a child or those that I never read. Twilight is a series I never read when it was at the height of its popularity but I haven’t watched all the movies and liked them well enough. I am curious about this series as there are some people that say the books aren’t that much different to the movie and there are others who say the movies don’t encompass as much as the books and they definitely need to be read, so here I go. We are introduced to Isabella “Bella” Swan as she is moving from Phoenix to Forks to living with her father as things at home with her mother and step-father are complicated. Not because she doesn’t get along with them but because her step-father, Phil travels a lot and it makes her mother unhappy when she can’t go with him. For the first week Bella is sure that Forks isn’t going to a place where she can be happy and everything from the weather to the people seems to prove this to her at first until she catches sight of the Cullen family one afternoon. She and the ‘youngest’ boy Edward seem to get off to a bad start before they have even spoken to one another but he does speak to her another day after being off school for a while which surprises Bella. As it begins to snow in Forks, ice has piled up on the roads which is how Bella found herself staring down a truck that was going to crush her when Edward pulls her out of the way. Bella knows that Edward was no where near her despite him saying the opposite and she knows she saw him lift the van but Edward is correct when he tells Bella that no one will believe her even if it was the truth. All Bella’s reservations about staying in Forks have vanished as she becomes obsessed with solving the mystery that Edward Cullen is turning out to be. So far, the opening of Twilight has been quite enjoyable and we have also met one of my favourite characters in Doctor Carlisle Cullen.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Bella is angry with Edward after leaving the hospital because he refuses to explain why she should stay away from him and why he seems so angry with her all the time. She even goes as far as to say in the coming days that he regretted saving her life from Tyler’s van which only makes him angrier and sullener and for a time the pair don’t see or speak to each other if they can avoid it. However, as time passes both become more and more curious about the other and are once more drawn together. This time Edward is making more of a effort to be nice to Bella and when she questions this he explains that he is fed of leaving her alone and is giving up being the good one no matter what that means for him. While most of this goes right over Bella’s head, he does give her some clues as when she mentions that something like radioactive spiders might explain his unnatural speed although he still denies this, he mentions that he might not be the superhero but the villain of the story instead. This only further confuses Bella and it shows in her behaviour, however, when she suffers from a fainting spell during a blood typing lesson, Edward comes to the rescue and takes her to the nurse where we can see something like friendship blossoming between the pair as they are both sarcastic and in possession of masses of dry wit. After this Edward invites her to come to Seattle with him as he overheard her telling Mike and Eric that she would be in Seattle at the time of the school dance and Bella agrees despite still being quire angry with him and in return she offers an invitation for him to come to the beach at La Push with them but Edward refuses.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Bella, and the other go to La Push where she meets some of the reservation children including the 15 year old, Jacob Black. Unlike the movie Bella and Jacob don’t know each other that well as she is older than him and knows more about Jacob’s older sisters than him. However, it is Jacob that tells Bella of the ancient legends concerning the werewolves and vampires and it immediately resonates with her as Edward is in possession of many key characteristics of a vampire i.e., speed, strength etc. but none of the legends exactly fit what she sees in him and dismisses it but the thought constantly lingers in the back of her mind especially when she realises that Edward and the rest of the Cullen’s are absent on very sunny days. As more and more time passes Bella spends more time trying to figure what Edward is as she is completely sure now, he isn’t human but the more time he is absent from school the more depressed Bella becomes and people like her mother are beginning to notice this even though she blames it on the weather. In order to get her mind off Edward she agrees to go shopping with Angela and Jessica who are shopping for dresses for the school dance which Bella isn’t attending but if this section of the book follows the movie then Edward will be appearing very soon and telling Bella a lot more about himself than he probably should if he really wants her to stay away from him. It does seem at this point that the signs of what Edward is are shockingly clear but Bella’s logical mind is overriding what she believes to be impossible. We can also clearly see that even when Bella and Edward are angry with one another they are constantly drawn back together almost like it is impossible for them to stay away from each other.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Bella foes shopping with Angela and Jessica but as they finish earlier than planning and have time before dinner, Bella heads off alone in search of a bookshop. However, she soon finds herself lost and being followed by some unsavoury men; she realises a little too late that these men have been herding her somewhere private where they can be seen. Rather than trying to run because her sense of balance is terrible at the best of time, she is preparing to fight the men if she can when Edward arrives once again to save the day. He is furious and Bella tries her best to distract him and when he returns her to Angela and Jessica, he offers to take her dinner which she accepts. There they discuss the hypothetical situation where he was a vampire and she can ask all the questions that have been burning in her mind. While Edward hasn’t said it out loud, he is basically confirming Bella’s theory and after this we see a real friendship forming between the pair as she doesn’t care what Edward is because she likes who he is even though Edward himself struggles with this very dilemma quite often. However, during this time we can see the friendship is building toward something more but they are both holding back from it for now but Bella is excited to see Edward in the sun on the weekend and he has to take her alone, somewhere private because it would be bad if other see. One afternoon when he drives her home from school and they sit talking on the porch, Edward senses something which he calls a complication. However, when Billy and Jacob Black arrive home with her dad, Bella suddenly realises that Billy believes in the old legends of the werewolves and vampires and might just know what Edward is, which is going to cause a lot of complications later on. One thing I did notice is that the Edward in the book is very different to the Edward in the movies, in the movies he is dark and brooding and often comes off as quite a toxic person to be around whereas book Edward is pleasant, funny and is honest and open with Bella about what he is after he gets her initial reaction to the news that he is a vampire.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, I actually found myself really enjoying Twilight and I was eager to see how the rest of this book and the others would play out in comparison to the movies. As the pair get closer and talk more openly between themselves, we can see that both Edward and Bella are fascinated with the other but it comes with added frustration for Edward as he is so used to reading people’s mind and Bella’s is closed off to him. However, they do arrange for the Saturday Bella was supposed to be going to Seattle for them to go somewhere else instead so he can show her more about what it means to be a vampire without being around other people and she agrees. Both she and Edward know this is a huge deal as him being alone with her in the woods could go horribly wrong not just for them but for Edward’s family as well. Despite their fears everything goes to plan as Edward explains what being around her is like for him and why he finds it so hard and yet Bella is afraid of him in the way she should be. While his sudden movements do scare her and his subtle personality shifts unnerve her, she stills finds herself feeling safe around him and wanting to be closer to him and yet both are also aware that she can’t be with him in that way because he wouldn’t be able to control himself in the way he needs to so they are walking a very fine line. On their way back down through the forest, Bella gets another taste of what it means to be a vampire when Edward carries her down in minutes when it took them hours to hike at her speed. While she can’t appreciate this at the time because she is feeling rather sick, we can see it has had a profound impact on Edward who is more open and relaxed with Bella than we have ever seen him. These scenes are playing out really differently from the films but I can’t wait for Bella to meet the rest of the Cullen family because we meet some of my favourite characters like Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Bella gets to meet the Cullen’s and also informs Charlie that she is has a boyfriend although she is reluctant to do it because she knows Charlie is going to be overprotective. She manages to meet and survive Carlisle, Esme, Jasper and Alice although Alice gives the others cause for concern because she is quite hyperactive and energetic and most probably believe that she might hurt Bella without realising it but this isn’t an issue. Here we get some really important backstory that we don’t get in the movies, we learn that Carlisle was the son of a pastor in the 17th century when they carried out witch hunts. After his father retired and appointed Carlisle has was disappointed as his son wasn’t as quick to judge as he was but Carlisle found real vampires and was leading a mob to them when he was attacked. Knowing he would be killed Carlisle hid and remained silent for the three days of his change, afterwards he hated himself so much he tried to die before he realises that there was still so much more he could do with his life. He worked hard at various school and eventually learned to control his thirst so he could pursue his career as a doctor without pain. However, Carlisle’s need for a companion never wavered and eventually he turned Edward after both his parent died in an influenza outbreak and he was on the verge of dying himself. It is not only Carlisle we get backstory on we also get Esme’s and we learn that she lost of baby at only a few days old and tried to commit suicide where she was found and changed by Carlisle and because of this she sees Edward as her own son despite the fact in some way he is older than her. The family after going to play baseball that afternoon and Bella comes to watch and everything seems to be going fine but some other vampires are coming to them. Alice’s vision was wrong her but she insists they are only curious and not hungry which Edward confirms but all are concerned for Bella as these other vampires don’t hunt from animals like the Cullen’s which means her life could be at risk.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we meet the three vampires, Laurent, James and Victoria who don’t share the Cullen’s way of life. Upon realising that Bella is human, James moves to attack but is stopped by Emmett and Edward protecting her which only makes the situation worse. Edward learns that James is a tracker and the hunt is his favourite game and he now has his eyes firmly set on Bella. It takes some convincing from Alice and Bella just to let Edward return Bella home to get her things. Bella comes up with plan on returning to Phoenix so Charlie can be safe guarded by Esme but James is smarter than they first believed. He heads to Phoenix and makes Bella believe that he has her mother and forces her to come to him which she does willing after giving Jasper and Alice the slip although I am 100% sure Alice knew about Bella’s plan the second she decided to go to James. Once there she learns he never had her mother and was disappointed with how easily she came to him and he proceeds to torture her before finally moving in to kill her. Bella is gravely injured with a fractured skull, heavy bleeding and a broken leg and while Carlisle is treating her she manages to mention the fact her hand is on fire which is when they realise that she has been bitten. During this time Jasper and Emmett have been destroying James but Edward has to suck the venom out of Bella or allow the change to happen. Edward doesn’t want Bella to sacrifice her human life so he attempts to suck the venom out even though he isn’t sure if he will be able to stop. Thankfully he does and together the Cullen’s get Bella to a hospital where they come up with a cover story for how she was injured. Her mother is there and she takes a liking to Edward but she is sad when Bella tells her that she will be returning to Forks despite everything that has happened. We also see towards the end of this novel that Bella is clinging to Edward as she doesn’t want to lose him and tends to panic when he mentions leaving but he reassures her he isn’t going anyway. The ending of the novel was interesting as we see Bella and Edward return to their former relationship although it has changed slightly now as Edward is aware of Bella’s desire to be a vampire as she explains when she thought he was going to turn her when he was actually taking her to prom. Overall, I actually really enjoyed Twilight, there were a few little elements of possessive behaviour that I didn’t enjoy but my enjoyment far outweighed that as there was tons of information in here that we don’t get in the movies which I loved.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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