Just like junk food

My older sister is a librarian, and for Christmas and my birthday she often gives me a stack of "good books" - the ones she's heard good things about, or would recommend. A couple years ago, Twilight was part of the stack. She was insistent that I should give it a try, even if I am not a fan of vampire stories. I am a middle- and high school teacher, so I figured I really ought to know what my students are squealing about. I read it over three days, and determined that it is definitely a junk food novel - it tastes good while you're scarfing it up, but isn't satisfying for long, and often leaves you with a sick feeling.

The story is more than a little trite. The characters are very flat - I always imagined Bella speaking in a monotone (which, amazingly, is not far from Kristen Stewart's monotone in the movie). The writing is decent - there are some moments where Meyer really shines in her descriptive writing, but then she falls right back into triteness. There are lots of questions left unanswered, particularly regarding Bella's relationship with her parents, and her father's history. More remarkably (and what drove me the most crazy), Meyer does not once touch on in any meaningful way what I see as the overriding theme of the novel - why Bella and Edward are so drawn towards one another, and the phenomenon of wanting something that is very bad for you. Instead, we get chapter long descriptions of Edward playing the piano, and Bella mooning over him. It always panders.

Add onto all that the fact that it romanticizes a very twisted relationship.  If Meyer had dealt with the squicky factor more sensibly, I probably would have accepted the book. If she would have opened up a dialogue about the difference between love and obsession, and the unhealthiness of the relationship between Bella and Edward, I would have like this book a whole lot more. Instead, Edward is presented as the knight in shining armor, come to rescue Bella. The flatness of the themes make it trite at best, and disturbing at worst.

All that being said, it's an entertaining enough read, and definitely sucks you in. I wouldn't waste much time on it though - save it for reading on the beach this summer, and then pass it along to your girlfriends.