My thoughts on popular YA literature
So I finally read Twilight, and to be honest, I think people are exaggerating how bad it is. It's not great literature - far from it - but I can't say I find the prose all that purple. Meyer's writing occasionally seems a bit amateurish, the story is somewhat unevenly paced, not to mention that the ending would have been a lot more climactic with some use of foreshadowing and planting. There are, however, plenty of published works out there that are far worse off than Twilight, I'd say.
As for the actual story, it's obviously not the most original thing written (I will, however, go against the mainstream opinion on the sparkliness and give Meyer kudos for the brave attempt at approaching the vampire mythos from a different angle), the romance is poorly developed, and the whole novel is shock-full of "show; don't tell" gone wrong. I've read people accuse Meyer of not attaching any personality whatsoever to her two main characters, which I don't quite see the basis for. While they both may suffer from glorification and self-insertion from Meyer's part, I'd say Edward in particular appears to have a perfectly distinct personality. Unfortunate, both parties of the lead couple come off more as self-entitled brats than anything else, and the only characters I found even remotely likeable were some of the supporting cast - none of which interested me enough to make me read the rest of the series, I don't think.
Next stop: Paolini's Eragon!
The Character Expression Meme
Character: Ashura
Journal: little_piggy @ IJ
RPG: Kiseki
happysadangryscared
disgustedsurprisedflirtysexual
confusedshyplayfulrage
hurtguiltyboredlaughing
sarcastictiredwtfpride
sympathyevilinnocentin love
YOURFOURFAVORITEICONS
Character: Kujaku
Journal: unholy_prophet @ IJ
RPG: Kiseki
happysadangryscared
disgustedsurprisedflirtysexual
confusedshyplayfulrage
hurtguiltyboredlaughing
sarcastictiredwtfpride
sympathyevilinnocentin love
YOURFOURFAVORITEICONS
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Snag yourself the coding here.
Mong Ryong will follow once I've coloured his icons.
EDIT: Oh, HTML, what have I ever done to make you hate me so?
As for the actual story, it's obviously not the most original thing written (I will, however, go against the mainstream opinion on the sparkliness and give Meyer kudos for the brave attempt at approaching the vampire mythos from a different angle), the romance is poorly developed, and the whole novel is shock-full of "show; don't tell" gone wrong. I've read people accuse Meyer of not attaching any personality whatsoever to her two main characters, which I don't quite see the basis for. While they both may suffer from glorification and self-insertion from Meyer's part, I'd say Edward in particular appears to have a perfectly distinct personality. Unfortunate, both parties of the lead couple come off more as self-entitled brats than anything else, and the only characters I found even remotely likeable were some of the supporting cast - none of which interested me enough to make me read the rest of the series, I don't think.
Next stop: Paolini's Eragon!
The Character Expression Meme
Character: Ashura
Journal: little_piggy @ IJ
RPG: Kiseki
happysadangryscared
disgustedsurprisedflirtysexual
confusedshyplayfulrage
hurtguiltyboredlaughing
sarcastictiredwtfpride
sympathyevilinnocentin love
YOURFOURFAVORITEICONS
Character: Kujaku
Journal: unholy_prophet @ IJ
RPG: Kiseki
happysadangryscared
disgustedsurprisedflirtysexual
confusedshyplayfulrage
hurtguiltyboredlaughing
sarcastictiredwtfpride
sympathyevilinnocentin love
YOURFOURFAVORITEICONS
WANT TO DO IT TOO?
Snag yourself the coding here.
Mong Ryong will follow once I've coloured his icons.
EDIT: Oh, HTML, what have I ever done to make you hate me so?