I’ve been encouraged by at least fifteen people to read “Twilight,” and decided I’d better give it a try if for no other reason than to stop the hoards of recommendations. I’m just really not in to vampire books, to be honest, and I didn’t think I was going to like it.
So how’d I do with it? Let’s see – it’s nearly 500 pages, I started it last night and finished it just now. 500 pages in 24 hours isn’t too shabby. Truth is, I was practically glued to it the whole time. Too bad for the need to sleep and all that, which took away from precious reading time.
Bella Swan is a seventeen-year-old high school student who has come to live with her father Charlie in Forks, Washington, while her mother and new husband are traveling. Bella is used to her old life in Phoenix and while she has memories of a childhood in Forks, she’s not sure she’s going to fit in. Adding to this feeling of being unwanted is the way Edward, one of her fellow students reacts when he sees her – he stares at her with absolute hatred, and then doesn’t return to school for several days. Bella isn’t sure what she did to spark such strong feelings in him, but when he does return, he’s friendlier and they strike up a friendship.
One day the parking lot is covered with a sheen of black ice. Bella is standing by her car, getting ready to climb in, when a van belonging to a fellow student hits a patch of ice, slides out of control, and heads straight for Bella. With no time to react, she’s sure she’s going to be hit, but suddenly Edward is at her side. He pushes the van out of the way and saves Bella from the impact. He tries to tell her that she bumped her head and didn’t see anything, but she knows differently – he moved that van with one hand and saved her life. Is he a superhero?
As she and Edward spend more time together, she finds herself drawn to him. A warning from an old family friend spins her thoughts in a new direction and she begins to wonder – is Edward a vampire? Hitting the Internet, she finds a lot of facts and myths about the legendary creatures, but it’s not until she hears it from Edward himself that she’s fully prepared to believe it.
The climax of the book comes in a heart-stopping man hunt. A vampire from another coven has taken an interest in Bella, and Edward and his family must save her. But can Edward overcome his own impulses in order to keep Bella from becoming a victim herself?
I really liked this novel. It wasn’t Satanic, like I thought it might be. It was sensual, but not sexual. I actually found myself wanting to learn more about these vampire people, something I never thought I’d say. This was a well-done novel of romance and suspense, and not at all the cheesy, gratuitous story I’d been fearing.
(This book was published in 2005 by Little, Brown and Company.)
Blogs that are somewhat related (we haven’t blogged a lot about vampires):
Bela Lugosi: The King of the Vampires