Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Synopsis:
When 17 year old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town. But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella. Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility makes her feel almost physically ill. He seems determined to push her away until, that is, he saves her life from an out of control car. Bella will soon discover that there is a very good reason for Edward’s coldness. He, and his family, are vampires and he knows how dangerous it is for others to get too close.
I was nervous to read this book due to the fame surrounding it, but actually, I loved it. I was gripped from the start. All the characters affected me. It took me little more than a day to read it. The story was exciting and breath-taking. I loved how Meyer went against the grain of traditional vampire characteristics, and there were no coffins or garlic in the book. The writing was fluid and gripping. The story is easy to follow and engaging.
The story follows Bella as she moves to Forks to live with her Dad. Not the most popular girl in Phoenix, she is surprised by the reaction she gets in this new town. Except, there is one family who avoid her, the Cullins. Yet they are the most intriguing, especially Edward, who is Bella’s lab partner. He stays away from her, making her think he only has feelings of hate for her, until a van skids on ice and nearly kills her. He saves her and then disappears. She doesn’t understand, so takes up her own investigation into Edward and his family. This leads her into a world of love, fear, blood, fantasy and excitement.
I really connected with Bella; her hate for gym and her clumsiness, and of course her intrigue. It was genuine and easy to believe. And I think I fell in love with Edward too. He was gorgeous, and his love and protection of Bella was beautiful. Hard not to be drawn into that world.
Although essentially a vampire story, it is also a high school love story, and actually believable. This is a book aimed at young people, but I recommend everyone to read it. I don’t have a bad word against it. This is the first in a four-part series, and I can’t wait for the next installment. One of the best books I have read so far this year.
10/10
Like you, I loved TWILIGHT, Katie. I really wasn’t expecting to as I didn’t think vampires were my thing, but my daughter bought it for me so I thought I’d try it and I was pleasantly surprised. But I was so disappointed with the 2nd volume in the series I didn’t bother with the next book (which I gather is better than book 2.) IMHO the main thing wrong with book 2 was there wasn’t nearly enough Edward! – sigh –
I shall be interested to hear what you think of the rest of the series.