Two book reviews in one day, you must think I’m crazy…

I just finished reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. After hearing all the hype about it I really wanted to check it out, especially since I have been wanting to read a vampire novel.

I have to say I am a little disappointed. Maybe it was all the hype or maybe it really just wasn’t that wonderful, but I had several problems with the book.

The first and most glaring problem was how quickly Bella became infatuated with a vampire, without ever really going through any stage of disbelief. As a human firmly planted in a human world I can tell you that it would take a long time for me to go from thinking someone was a lunatic to actually thinking they were a vampire. Bella seems to go from zero to vampire in record time, requiring nothing more than a few suggestions and a 33.6k connection to determine that Edward could be a vampire and that she is “ok” with that. Then she instantly falls in love with Edward and he for her.

His gold eyes grew very soft. “You said you loved me.”
“You knew that already,” I reminded him, ducking my head.
“It was nice to hear, just the same.”
I hid my face against his shoulder.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“You are my life now,” he answered simply. 

This takes about a week as best I can tell. Granted, it is the first relationship for both of them, but puhlease?

Once you move past that part of the story it does get better though. The last third of the novel is where all the action is and honestly I would have been perfectly happy if the first two thirds were compressed to a chapter or two since they did a poor job anyway and the last bits lengthened and elaborated on.

I do think that Meyer has a bit of a problem with the word “incredulous.” Your mileage may vary but this is a word that I have rarely heard or seen used and Meyer uses it eleven times throughout the book. “…incredulous eyes…” “His face was incredulous.” “‘Incredulous, for the most part.’” “I shook my head, incredulous…” “The inning continued before my incredulous eyes.” “…incredulous as he took an involuntary step…” Holy crap – and those quotes don’t include “incredulously”. It was to the point where I actually highlighted a section and noted “author uses the word incredulously too often.”

I will admit to this, though, I think I am in love with the man I have conjured up in my head as Edward Cullen. And he does not look like Robert Pattinson.

In the end, my recommendation is move on and find something else to read. I’ll probably end up reading the second book at this point though since I’ve spent so much time on the first, I’m hoping the series gets better.