Twilight (Twilight Saga) [Paperback]

When I was a kid there were kids and adults - 'young adults' didn't exist. And there were kids' books and adult books with nothing inbetween. Times have changed, and I think on the whole for the better, in that we now acknowledge that there is a transition period between childhood and adulthood, so it seems only fair that these young adults get their own books - and that the rest of us should be allowed to read them too.

I picked up Twilight partly to see what all the fuss was about, not having seen the movies, and partly to find out what young adult literature was like, and I'm happy to admit that I enjoyed it. Yes, Bella can be a whiney little so-and-so, and when she gets older she should read Women Who Love Too Much, but I remember being an angst-ridden seventeen year old myself so I could relate to her. And much as I cringe at the idea of Edward having spent the last century or so as an arrogant teenage prat, there's no denying he's just the kind of arrogant prat that many angst-ridden girls go for - so many of us were stupid enough to always go for the out-of-the-ordinary type, because nice, everyday boys were so 'boring'.

I never expected the book to be really great literature, and I think you're bound to be disappointed if you look at Twilight with too adult eyes, but it was an engaging, fun read. I'll take off one star because the long stretches of dialogue between Bella and Edward did get a bit tedious, but the story held my interest to the end - which many more literary books fail to do.

A great thing about getting older is that you can like what you like and not care what anyone else thinks of you because of it, so I'm happy to repeat that I enjoyed Twilight and plan the read the rest of the series. Congratulations to Stephenie Meyer; as other reviewers have said, she pulled it off and laughed all the way to the bank. Good for her!

This is YA fiction and I'm not even close to the target audience. It's been a lot of years since I belonged in the 'teen' category BUT... despite that, I loved this book! I think it might be because the 17 year old that I once was is still fresh in my mind, and if I squint when I look in the mirror I can still see her (she just got better looking over the last couple of decades *grin*).

A five star book for me is one that I have to tear myself away from and this has to be one of the better 5 star books I've read recently. I could not put it down, regardless of whether I fit in the target deomographic or not. I have no idea why I was so enamoured with this particular story but it just grabbed me, literally from the first chapter. It has it's flaws, and at times those flaws tried to pull me away from the pages while I wrestled with my beliefs but never did I feel like I couldn't go on. I'm actually mystified why this is such a great book, I wish I could put my finger on it but it escapes me. I am fond of a bit of vampire lit, it's true, but this goes beyond that....I think. I can't say the writing is superlative so it's not that.....but what is it? I wish I knew. Answers on a postcard, please.

Bella is a complete feminists' nightmare and I can see why that would put a lot of people off of her, but at 17 love is blind so I'm willing to forgive Bella on that score. Edward is so uber male that he fairly reeks testosterone and again, that may grate on some readers but lets put things in perspective, he's the ultimate predator and has had nearly a century of dominating his prey so on that score I'm willing to forgive him his overly masculine nature for now, this nurture/love thing is new for him too.....he'll get it right eventually I expect.

Ultimitely, lets not forget that this is a tale of vampire love which is aimed at teens/young adults and the usual complexities and concerns that come with real life won't apply here. I for one am glad to slip into Bella and Edward's world and remember what it was to be young and in the throes of first love. If you have an imagination and are willing to suspend your disbelief then you might enjoy this story. It's an enjoyable bit of fulff to while away a few hours/days but if your usual reading material tends to be the classics and nothing more, then you probably will feel the need to return here with you own 1 or 2 star review.

I have books 2, 3 and 4 lined up here, ready to devour and if they go as quickly as Twilight then I'll have completed all 4 in about 3 more days. I want to tell everyone to read this as I loved it so much, but I realise that everyone has different tastes so all I can recommend is that you read the reviews and make your own mind up from there.

ok, so im not what you would call the average reader of this kind of genre, ive certainly never read anything like it before! but i loved this book.
ok, i will admit i watch the movie before i read the books, total sin, i know! but i would never heard about twilight otherwise.
This story has many core themes running through it, love, good v evil the struggle between head and heart and many of the usual themes these "teenage books" often have, acceptance to fit in, first love, finding friends and the akward "coming of age" feelings.
However i would not simply class this as a book for teens, im an adult and i enjoyed this book immensely, bella's feelings are something we can all relate too and i dont think this book should be classed as anything to do with age.
ok, i will admit the writting isnt great, but i dont think that matters here, nobody is claiming meyer is the new austen or bronte, but unless you are reading this book from an academic perspective it makes little difference.
Meyer represents the average teen girls feelings of awkwardness and embarressment very well, and often Bella's feelings towards Edward can be a little overbearing, but isnt everyone a little over the top with their first love? as for Edward, well as a woman, need i say more? i think anyone would happily swap places with Bella here.
In summary, i loved this book, it kept me locked away for hours until i read it all, i literally couldnt put it down and i would recommend it to anyone, especially if it isnt usually your "type" of book.