Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

I just finished reading Twilight this morning. I'm still not 100% sure about how I feel about it. I've always liked vampire myth. I have several books on the subject. When talk started building up about Twilight, about how it was the next Harry Potter, I gave in and bought a copy.

Since it's geared toward a pre-teen audience, I have to agree with JJ that the writing is a little elementary. Still, I gave it a chance and read the book all the way through. I'm not exactly sure if it's the writing that bothers me or the slow pace of the book. More than half of the book is dedicated to the budding romance between Edward and Bella. I guess it's fine if you're a gushing teenager but I think the book could've still worked if half of it was thrown out.

Another thing that bothered me about the book is the fact that Bella is such a damsel in distress that it's bordering on annoying. And she seems pretty slow too. If anything irks me more, it's a weak female character. So much for feminism in Meyer's books.

Lastly, and I'm sure this is the worst offense (at least in my opinion), the sub-par plot complication of the tracker vampire, James. I guess I've read too many vampire fiction that I was totally expecting a kick-ass fight scene. Nope. The fight scene probably lasted a half a page. Wait, the fight scene was an afterthought. It was merely mentioned and not even described. What took it's place? Poor Bella and her near-death experience. Give me a break.

To say the very least, I was underwhelmed and extremely disappointed. But because I'm such a sucker, I bought the second book as well. It's turning out to be a teeny bit better than Twilight but I'm only halfway through.


**Note: I'm extremely disappointed in the casting choices for the movie. The vampires described in the book are gorgeous and perfect. The actors cast for the parts...not so much. Especially Esme.