Q: Which books have I read?
A: I read Twilight a couple weeks ago and just finished New Moon this morning.
Q: What took me so long to read Stephenie Meyer? Was I not interested?
A: Well, to be honest, I wasn't very interested when I first heard of these books last year. Amanda literally inhaled the first two books in the Twilight series in a couple of days and the third one as soon as she got her hands on it. I knew they were "vampire stories" which to be honest didn't really interest me at all. That's just not my kind of reading. I often only have time to read one novel each month for book club so the Twilight series was on my "read someday" list, just not a priority. I was also a little scared of becoming an overly-obsessed Twilight fan. One of those in our house is enough for right now : ).
Q: Why did I decide to read them now?
A: First of all, I finally had the time. I'm a little ahead on my book club reading. Secondly, I really wanted to be able to discuss the books with Erik and my daughters. I've heard from several people who have read the books that the intimacy is pretty intense and I wanted to read for myself what these book were all about. Everyone said that once you start you can't put them down and I wanted to make sure I had the time to get into them.
Q: What did I like most about the books I've read so far?
A: To be honest, I didn't love the books, but I think Stephenie is a very gifted writer and the story is compelling. I've never been a big reader of fantasy fiction, but the story did keep me interested enough to keep reading. It's definitely a good "page-turner" and it'll make a good movie. Both books were easy reads and I enjoy Young Adult fiction. These are definitely "discussion-worthy" and I look forward to talking with my girls about them. I'm sure I'll start Eclipse soon because it's hard to stop in the middle of a series, but I've neglected enough work around the house already this week.
Q: What did I dislike about the books?
I found it hard to relate to any of the characters in the story. I really had a a hard time "getting into" Bella and since she is not only the protagonist, but also the narrator it was hard to completely enjoy the story. Often the purpose of writing a story in the first person is to help readers really feel a part of the action but that just didn't happen for me. I was more repulsed by the Cullen clan than enamored or fascinated by them. And Jacob Black just didn't do anything for me either. Am I the only one?
For me the scariest part of these stories was definitely not the vampires and werewolves, but Bella and her parents. Bella's complete obsession with Edward was extremely frightening as was her utter disrespect for her parents. Nothing could be scarier for a mother to read. It's also frightening to think that there really are parents in this world who are just as uninvolved and clueless as Charlie and Renee. Renee was happy to move on without Bella and Charlie got a good cook and housekeeper. Did he not realize that his daughter needed serious professional help for her depression? Very disturbing, indeed. It'll be interesting to see what the next two books bring...
6 comments:
Love it. I totally agree. They are fun and fascinating, but I didn't connect either. I'm glad you felt that way- I feel less crazy now! And I agree about Bella's obsession being more disturbing than vampires and werewolves. Right on.
Now I'm wondering if you feel differently about your girls having read them and/or if it's brought up any discussions.
It really doesn't bother me that my girls have read them. I don't think that there was anything in there that they shouldn't read. Even though I feel like Bella toed the line a bit in getting physically too close to Edward, it's nothing that I'm not very comfortable talking with both of my girls about.
Agreed. I liked the books, but in a I-can't-believe-I'm-reading-a-teeniebopper-slash-vampire-romance-novel sort of way. There were definitely aspects of the story that I thought would be disturbing in real life, and I wondered if the teenage obsession with the books was sort of because teens often can't separate reality from fantasy -- meaning, I wondered if girls with out-of-touch parents would think Bella's behavior was normal and acceptable.
I liked the books, too, but didn't love them. We read the first for book club and I enjoyed it, but didn't read the rest. There are too many other books I REALLY want to read. Great insights with your review, by the way!
I'm the odd duck here. I love vampire stories! I have since I was younger and just find them romantic and creepy....a great combo in my opinion! I agree about the parents though. They drove me CRAZY! I'm looking forward to discussing these books in book club though.
Julie H. should be in bed right now ;-) I still say I liked "The Host" better then the Twilight Series. Though I did enjoy them and read them quickly...I agree with your observation about the clueless parents, though ;-)
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