How the hell did this get published?

[aebhel]

Okay. Finished Twilight. Well. I finished skimming it, because it became clear about a chapter in that this wasn't a book I really wanted to absorb in any particular depth.

When I heard about the series I thought, you know, give it a chance. Plenty of people hate Stephen King because he's too mainstream, and he's one of my favorite writers. I

Comments

[tailoredshirt]

Yes to all of the above. I got through about 2/3 of the first book and couldn't finish. I didn't think it was that awful (I read a lot of teen fiction, and a lot of it is awful, so this wasn't anything brand new), but when people started going on and on about it I started getting angry. For me, it's mostly just that Stephenie Meyer takes herself so seriously. If it was cheesy and melodramatic, I could handle that. But it's cheesy and melodramatic, and you can tell from the writing that she thinks she's written the world's greatest love story, and that I can't handle.

Also, I don't get everyone's obsession with Edward. He's not a very well-written character, and I don't see what's particularly interesting about him.

But to bring up the topic from your last post...I keep hearing about how Twilight is the next Harry Potter, and I keep wondering what on earth gives people this idea. Because it's a popular fantasy series for children/teens? That's pretty much where the similarities end, in terms of content and quality. Not to mention the fact that Harry Potter has acheived fame, recognition and acclaim that we're unlikely to see again any time soon, and JKR is richer than Stephenie Meyer can even dream of being.

[aebhel]

I don't even know why I bothered finishing it; I pretty much knew one page in that it wasn't going to be worth reading.

I actually do read a lot of teen fiction, but this was even below my standards for that. Most if it's just...not that original or whatever. But I honestly cannot understand how this book got published.

Everyone's obsessed with Edward because he's perfect! And beautiful, and handsome, and powerful, and flawless, and did I mention perfect? Despite having no personality. Seriously, the books I would compare these to are the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, rather than Harry Potter, but even those are better. They're cheesy and over the top, but they have a sense of fun. And the romance works because the characters actually get to know each other before they fall madly in love.