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This is going to be a short Friday Confession. Doing two memes in two days sucked me dry. Too many topics to cover for someone who doesn’t know how to be brief. I’m exhausted.
But I do have to confess that I have finally fallen prey to the Twilight obsession currently sweeping the country. I had heard of the books, and have now seen all of the hype surrounding the movie. And it inevitably sucked me in. The vampires beckoned, and I’ll be damned (yes – that was supposed to be a vampire joke). I couldn’t put Twilight down. I read it in two days.
Now, I’m not saying that it’s the best book I’ve ever read. Far from it. The writing is pretty bad and melodrama is at an all time high – but there is just something about the story… My aunt put it best when she said, “you just want to know what happens next.” It’s true – I had to keep reading.
There were two things about the book that kind of bothered me though. One was an ongoing theme and the other was a specific scene. The theme that tended to get under my skin was the way that Bella acted SO SUPERIOR. I know that she was riddled with teenage angst and dealing with a daily forecast for rain. But really – it’s like she’s SO much better than all of those shallow townies. She fit in much better with the aloof vampires than sickeningly wholesome Todd and Jessica. I also thought her moodiness got a little tedious. Of course, I probably just described myself as a teenager, minus the vampire friends. Maybe that’s why she got on my nerves.
The specific scene that struck me as entirely unbelievable (you know – out of all of the believable scenes in the book) was the beach party. Two large cars full of teenagers arrive at the beach, build a bonfire and….explore tide pools. I don’t know what high school you went to, but in my experience, a group of unsupervised teenagers is just a roundabout way of saying “keg party.” Now I understand that the author is Mormon, and Mormons don’t drink. But she didn’t say anything about her characters being Mormon or religious or abstaining from alcohol in any way. So when Bella walks back to the bonfire and finds her friends “passing around food,” I became skeptical. More like a bong I would think. Anyway – as someone who didn’t drink in high school but did go to all of the parties, I have a very clear memory of what teenagers do unsupervised. And I’m not buying the absence of drugs or alcohol.
In general, I’m an easy audience where an engaging story is involved, so I’m sure I’ll read the rest of the series. I’ll also see the movie as soon as it’s available on Netflix. But if Bella is in college by book four, and goes to frat parties where the brothers pass around “food” to their guests – then I’m officially labeling the series a vampire fairytale.
Thanks for the review!
I never even heard of this book until 2 months ago and have now been swept up in it…
I think the only reason I haven’t read it yet is because on top of all the usual holiday duties – my son’s birthday is less than 2 weeks away :)
I haven’t read it yet. I am not a fan of vampires. I also have so many other great books sitting on my night stand.
LOL!!!
exactly what i was thinking/picturing as i was reading that part. not the kind of high school party that i was at.
do you remember or did you watch that WB series “angel” about the vampire (buffy the vampire slayers boy)?
that’s when my secret vampire obseesion first took flight. yummy and delish…so that is what i was picturing as “my vampire”.
the books are a million times better than the movie…or at least that’s what i thought :)
I agree with your review. At times I really didn’t like Bella very much, yet I couldn’t stop reading and really enjoyed the books.
Stephenie did say in an interview that she wrote about the characters from her experience as a teenager so maybe her experience was somewhat like mine, I grew up in an area largely populated by LDS people (no not Utah) and then went to BYU so I truly don’t have one memory of a party with kegs (not that they don’t exist in those areas, I guess I just never got invited) So in her defense, if I had written this book I think I would have had them going to the beach passing around food!
Also, as a mom with daughters 11 and 13 who have voraciously read these books I am kinda glad they are sex and alcohol free, but you are right maybe not so realistic.
But it ‘is’ a vampire fairytale…and there might have been people like that in my high school, but I didn’t hang out with them and I still had non-keg beach parties that I went to. It’s possible. (and I’m not Mormon)
That said, I agree with you about Bella..she got on my nerves alot, and yet I couldn’t put the books down. Just wait til you read the rest of them.
As you know….I live in Utah and I imagine that when she returned to the bonfire, they were passing around a Jello Salad.
I feel so sad for my kids. They are going to grow up without proper bonfires. LOL!
I haven’t read the book and I probably won’t.
I loved the books, and my husband finally gave in, and admits he ‘enjoys’ them also. Both of us complain about the moodiness of Bella. Stephenie Meyers began writing Twilight from Edwards perspective and was half way through, then a confident posted a rough draft on the internet. So she put the incomplete copy on her website (www.stepheniemeyer.com). I LOVED this much more than the original. Because it leaves out her girly emotions. You should give it a try.
You’re hilarious! I agree completely. Same thing happened to me. I flew through Twilight even though I wasn’t really that absorbed, I just had to see what would happen.
I also didn’t like how it jumped so quickly from love story to psycho thriller with James being on the prowl, but I guess the author needed to throw in some excitement other than the possibility of Edward biting Bella :)
The movie is HORRIBLE – in my humble opinion.
And to answer your question about how I have time these days for things like Moms Rock. Well. I have a very patient and hands-on husband who puts up with my blogging addiction and hangs with the kids while I hand with the computer every now and again. And then there’s always nap time :)
Good to catch up with you, lady.
I thouroughly enjoyed the books. I have a personality conflict with Bella, but still loved them. I think the most unbelievable part is that Edward would want anything to do with her! Anyway, the movie missed the mark for me. I tried to enjoy it as “just a movie” but I was still dissappointed. “They” say if I’ll see it again I’ll enjoy it more.
As for the parties, the book describes exactly the kind of party I went to in highschool. Although I am Mormon, many of my friends weren’t. I think it’s great to believe there are still kids out there who aren’t “getting into trouble”. (LDS or not)
Thanks for your review!
I’ve never been tempted by vampire books, even the Ann Rice ones, butsince everyone is talking about this one I picked it up at the Grocery store the other day and slammed through it in one day. I couldn’t put it down. Then when I had finished it, I couldn’t figure out what had been so compelling! Really, Who cares who goes to the prom with whom? and Bella is really annoying. Give her a break though. Her childhood was pretty bad and her mother was/is pretty much a fruitcake.
It’s on my book to read next list. Or collecting dust on my night stand however you choose to look at it.
Passing food around, huh?
keep reading! book 4 is the best! it’s funny, i’ve been watching true blood on demand b/c my hubby and mom are junkies but i wanted to wait until after i saw twilight to keep the 2 seperate. they are complete polar opposites! but i’m really digging the show…on episode 7, this is the way to watch a series!
I am with you on this one. I fought the hype for as long as I could and then I gave in. I am now debating buying the second one for myself today or asking for it as a Christmas gift from my husband. With the economy the way it is, how great would it be to get a gift for under $20 that you absolutely freak out over?
I could not put the thing down…you are right…you just have to know whats next!
Of course you know I fell prey to the Twilight series, too. I don’t know what it is that makes you want to know what happens next. Even after the 4th, I wanted more, so I had to force myself to read other books just to get the story out of my head.
I’ve been debating getting in on this too. I don’t know if I’m totally convinced yet. It’s the bandwagon…I’m afraid of the bandwagon.
I appreciate your review though and rather than just saying it was perfection you had some ‘issues’ with it. I like that.
My daughter has read the first book an is now on the second one..she loves it. I took her this past weekend to see the movie. I was surprised I liked the movie to…I did not read the book..but I see what you are saying on the acting like the other people were meaningless…I thought that was a little weird myself..