I was killing some time on Facebook last month by sending an inordinate number of Flair to everyone I knew. Who knows why. I actually had a few moments to myself, and instead of doing something constructive such as, oh cleaning a bathroom that hadn’t seen a sponge in at least 2 weeks, I decided to peruse the vast selection of fake buttons. Along the way, I kept running into Edward and Bella. Feeling totally in the dark, I Googled the names. Twilight…hmmm. Sounded interesting, and now that I thought about it, I had seen a HUGE display at the local bookstore announcing an upcoming book release.
(Note to self – check out these books next time you’re at Barnes & Noble.)
Well, we headed off on vacation, and I brought along Miss Meyer’s bestseller for a little light reading. (Cause let’s face it – War and Peace is not appropriate beach reading when you are trying to keep track of your sand sharks precious little beach-combers amongst hundreds of half-naked bodies.)
So I read the book in a day. Wow! No…that’s not a wow as in ‘that book was phenomenal.’ That’s wow as in ‘how in the world did these become so popular?’
While Miss Meyer did produce an interesting enough storyline (at first) to make me want to know what happened to her main character, the unbelievably clutzy Bella, I was really surprised at how poorly written these books were. Now granted, I have since read that Stephanie Meyers does not consider herself a writer, but a storyteller. I believe that’s why there are people who make a living at editing.
Seriously, did anyone else become ill after reading, for the 10th time, how PERFECT Edward’s face was (and I think that was just a few chapters in). And how everytime Bella looked at it, she was a.) breathless (b.) swooning (c.) distracted or (d.) in absolute awe??? COME ON! I know this is supposed to be teen lit., but can’t we give the readers a little more credit? I was rolling my eyes so often, the hubby thought I was having seizures.
I guess what really left me wanting was the relationship between Edward and Bella. Sure, what young girl didn’t dream of having a boyfriend that was totally consumed with her? Realistic expectations, eh? Edward was slightly perfect (good looking, filthy rich, constantly coming to her rescue, and abstaining from blood sucking the life out of his tasty smelling girlfriend.) But what else was there? Melancholy, indecisive, controlling and, oh yeah, un-dead. The trade-off to having this amazingly good-looking boyfriend was for Bella to be told where she could go, who she could be friends with, and to deceive her father as a rule.
My question was, aside from their obvious and slightly disturbing physical attraction, what else kept them together? Bella seemed to have so much more fun with her pal, Jacob. Even if he is a bit of an ass, (oops, I mean jerk, mom) in Eclipse, the third book in the series.
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s the reality that comes with being married over a decade that makes me say, give me someone who will make me laugh and has similar interests, not just a pretty face who picks me up everytime I fall or will take me for fast rides (even if half of them are on his back…).
I don’t know why I’m so bothered by this series, but I am. I will concede that there are actually a few redeeming qualities. There is no premarital sex, no drugs, and the language is pretty clean. But to see a young girl who drops all of her friends, goes into a catatonic state over a lost boyfriend and has a bit of a death wish, I don’t see that being a positive role model at all. While entertaining at points, it left me feeling a bit empty.
I haven’t been able to bring myself to purchase the last book in the series, Breaking Dawn. The plotline sounds so implausible and disgusting, frankly, that I’m choosing to not spend my money on it. Instead, I’ll be content to be entertained by the vast number of teens on YouTube who are in utter anguish over the letdown that came with the final Twilight chapter. Apparantly, there are quite a few Twilight fans who also don’t believe in the shallowness that Bella has succumbed to.
Miss Meyer, your audience is smarter than you think.
