Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I gave in and read "Twilight" this last week. Normally I stay away from things that are crazy popular. I'm weird in that I don't like going with the crowd. If a crowd goes right, I'll turn left. And this trait of mine goes into every aspect of my life.

With that said, we did watch the movie. I enjoyed it, it was a good story. I thought "Eh, maybe I'll go ahead and read the books."

So I did.

Let me say, this is not on the same level as some of the other classical authors. Stephanie Meyer is no Brontte or Dickenson. I spent the first 250 pages of the book wishing she had a larger vocabulary. She used the same phrases over and over until I began to wonder if I'd be able to finish the book. I didn't really need repeated for 250 pages that the heroine was going trip when she walked, faint or that she admired the hero's crooked smile. Got it. Covered it, lets move on.

What I would really like to know - is if the author sat the book down at this point. The writing style was distinctively different from the time Edward and Bella spent the day in the forest clearing. I enjoyed the last part of the book much more than the first.

I'll be interested to see what the next book is like.

There was only one part of the book that really gave me anything to discuss. At one point, Bella is surprised to discover that Carisle is the son of a minister, who apparently found some vampires and was bitten. They discussed briefly this and where vampires came from, comparing vampires and humans to lions and lambs. The discussion led to the thought that God created vampires.

Let me just say I understand vampires aren't real. But lets pretend they are...just a for a moment.

I believe God created all living things. So if vampires were to exist, then I'd also believe they were created by God. If He is the beginning and the end, the creator of all things as the Bible claims He is, then this would follow that He would have created vampires. Even if you took the theory from "I Am Legend"...knowledge also comes from God. So anyway you look at it - He created 'em. Why you might ask? Well if you can explain why He created mosquitoes you might have your answer.

I just thought it was neat that was even mentioned. Seeing as they aren't real, I've never really given much thought to where they came from. I also like the fact Ms. Meyer has put a "good" twist on something that is typically depicted as being very evil. Just something a little different from your average vampire story.

Overall, this is an OK book. I thought the movie did a fairly good job covering the book. There were some things not covered very well, but simply because movies can't go into the details a book can. The movie did not discuss Bella's clumsiness whatsoever. If it had, the audience would have understood that the "Bella fell down the stairs" story was actually something very like Bella.

The movie also did not really discuss Edward's struggle with his desires for Bella, or the evolution of his desires. In fact, the very end when Edward is celebrating his choices, the movie has him kicking himself. I suspect this was the movies attempt at going into that a little more.

I do recommend the movie and book...at least for a light fun read.