Stephenie Meyer - Twilight

At the beginning of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, Isabella Swan has just moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington, one of the rainiest places in the country, in order to give her mother more time with her new husband. Bella knows that life with her tranquil father, Forks Sheriff Charlie Swan, will be different than what she's used to, but she is in no way prepared for just how different it will be.

Bella's new high school is much smaller than her old one, and it doesn t take long to meet most the other students but she finds herself most interested in the four adopted Cullen kids, who stick to themselves, and are all unnaturally beautiful and intelligent. Edward Cullen appears to despise Bella, even before meeting her, and she overhears him begging to have his schedule changed after being partnered with her in biology class. He shows conflicting attitudes, however, when he does things like saving her from being hit by a van. With his bare hands.

During a conversation with childhood friend Jacob Black of the neighboring Quileute tribe, Bella learns of a story about a treaty between the tribe and the Cullens, who the tribal elders believe to be vampires. Though Jacob doesn't believe the stories, Bella knows that nothing else could explain the things she knows about Edward.

Despite the obvious differences, Bella and Edward are drawn to each other. The majority of this Young Adult novel focuses on their slowly evolving relationship. Bella is a very accident prone girl, and Edward has to save her numerous times. To make things even more difficult, Bella's scent is particularly enticing to Edward, putting her in even more danger when they're alone together.

Twilight is written from Bella s first person point of view, and until the end, the book feels like a lot of character setup and very little action. Stephenie Meyer knew from the beginning that this was going to be a trilogy, and so character setup is to be expected. To a point. Unfortunately, the pacing of this was just too slow until close to the end she finally introduces another vampire coven who doesn't live by the same rules the Cullen family has adopted.

Even with the pacing issues, however, I enjoyed Twilight quite a bit. The characters were well- (if slightly over-) developed, and very interesting. Though there wasn't a whole lot of new vampire mythology (some choose not to give into their bloodlust, eternal life and beauty, etc.), Meyer did make it so her vampires are not killed in the sunlight, but rather they sparkle in it, hence the reason the Cullens reside in Forks. When Bella first sees Edward in the sunlight she describes him like this:

Edward in the sunlight was shocking... His skin, white despite the faint flush from yesterday's hunting trip, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface... his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest... A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal.

I've read a lot of paranormal novels, and recently I've been on a YA kick, and I have to say that Twilight stands out in my mind as being better than the majority of both. I've already finished the second book, New Moon and will buy the third book Eclipse when it comes out in August 2007. Of course, these books aren't for everyone, but for those who already enjoy this genre, you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't check them out.


The Bella Swan Trilogy:

Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse

Oops... as of August 2008 it's the Twilight Saga, not a Trilogy:

Breaking Dawn