My .02 on Twilight
WARNING: CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS! You've been warned.
Before I begin, I will say this: I haven't read all the books. Nor do I intend to. Sometimes, I get so frustrated with a series that I will give up on it, and just look up the summary on Wikipedia. (I did the same thing to Animorphs back in the day.)
I was entertained by the first book. I admit, there were a couple characters the intrigued me, and I was curious to see where the romance between Bella and Edward would lead. The second book, though rather depressing at points, was still a bit likeable. I couldn't get through the third book, I gave it up halfway. And I refuse to read the fourth.
I have several major problems with the series. Aside from the raging horde of fangirls, that is. First and foremost, the main characters just...really don't have a lot of depth to them. They're extremely shallow, and I wanted to smack all three of them at one point or another. Bella especially does not seem to have much of a personality of her own outside of when she's with her man. And Bella and Edward are the quintessential Mary Sue and Gary Stu. Yes, they might make some bad decisions, but on further examination...
"Hello, my name is Isabella Cullen, or Bella for short. I'm a vampire. Being a vampire, I am god-like in my beauty, and I have super strength and speed, as well as I personally can create a shield to protect everyone from harm. Did I mention that I also sparkle in the sun, like glittering diamonds on my marble skin? Oh, and I have a baby! I was pregnant with her before I became a vampire, though we still don't know how that happened, since my drop-dead gorgeous husband is a vampire too! I never have to truly sacrifice anything, I get everything I wanted in a nice big bow at the end! Even my dad and mom are okay with their daughter being immortal and undead!"
"I'm Edward Cullen. I am a god-like figure, as my wife says. I'm practically Adonis. I have super speed and strength and sparkle, and I can read minds! Except for Bella's, naturally. It's supposed to be physically impossible for me to reproduce, but I did it anyways! I'm also really angsty and broody about turning Bella into a vampire, because I did not wish this on myself. I'm a proper gentleman, through and through. Oh, did I mention my entire family is beautiful like me? We're always beautiful, super strong and speedy. And some of us have awesome other powers!"
*sigh* Aside from issues with the two main characters, the writing style, to me seems like a 16 year old girl wrote the books. Yes, they are told from her perspective. But there are ways to write from the mind of a teenager without actually sounding like a teenager wrote it. I find Meyer's style immature, just a tad above most romance novels. Phrases like "sparkling like billions of diamonds on his skin" and "Adonis-like beauty" get really old really fast after 50 thousand times of them being said.
And...wish fulfillment. Throughout the whole series, it is emphasized that a person gives up a lot when they become a vampire. Rosalie could not have beautiful babies, like she wanted. There's having to fight the urge to kill humans every day. Vampires cannot be close to their human family, they must cut ties. But with Bella? Let's see...she gets a baby, she marries her boyfriend, she somehow overcomes the urges in record time, she gets to see her dad, she gets...everything. There is no sacrifice for her. What is the point here? Maybe this is typical of fairy tales, but to emphasize the choices the other characters had to make and then have Bella not have to make anything...blech. Oh! And the werewolf and vampire mortal enemies thing? Well, her werewolf pal imprints on her daughter, so everyone's a big happy family. *insert facedesking*
I realize that some of you are Twilight fans, and I am not by any means saying you shouldn't read them. I'm just speaking my own opinion about the series. And as you know, opinions are like armpits. Everyone has a couple and they both stink. =P
I think I'm done rambling now.
Before I begin, I will say this: I haven't read all the books. Nor do I intend to. Sometimes, I get so frustrated with a series that I will give up on it, and just look up the summary on Wikipedia. (I did the same thing to Animorphs back in the day.)
I was entertained by the first book. I admit, there were a couple characters the intrigued me, and I was curious to see where the romance between Bella and Edward would lead. The second book, though rather depressing at points, was still a bit likeable. I couldn't get through the third book, I gave it up halfway. And I refuse to read the fourth.
I have several major problems with the series. Aside from the raging horde of fangirls, that is. First and foremost, the main characters just...really don't have a lot of depth to them. They're extremely shallow, and I wanted to smack all three of them at one point or another. Bella especially does not seem to have much of a personality of her own outside of when she's with her man. And Bella and Edward are the quintessential Mary Sue and Gary Stu. Yes, they might make some bad decisions, but on further examination...
"Hello, my name is Isabella Cullen, or Bella for short. I'm a vampire. Being a vampire, I am god-like in my beauty, and I have super strength and speed, as well as I personally can create a shield to protect everyone from harm. Did I mention that I also sparkle in the sun, like glittering diamonds on my marble skin? Oh, and I have a baby! I was pregnant with her before I became a vampire, though we still don't know how that happened, since my drop-dead gorgeous husband is a vampire too! I never have to truly sacrifice anything, I get everything I wanted in a nice big bow at the end! Even my dad and mom are okay with their daughter being immortal and undead!"
"I'm Edward Cullen. I am a god-like figure, as my wife says. I'm practically Adonis. I have super speed and strength and sparkle, and I can read minds! Except for Bella's, naturally. It's supposed to be physically impossible for me to reproduce, but I did it anyways! I'm also really angsty and broody about turning Bella into a vampire, because I did not wish this on myself. I'm a proper gentleman, through and through. Oh, did I mention my entire family is beautiful like me? We're always beautiful, super strong and speedy. And some of us have awesome other powers!"
*sigh* Aside from issues with the two main characters, the writing style, to me seems like a 16 year old girl wrote the books. Yes, they are told from her perspective. But there are ways to write from the mind of a teenager without actually sounding like a teenager wrote it. I find Meyer's style immature, just a tad above most romance novels. Phrases like "sparkling like billions of diamonds on his skin" and "Adonis-like beauty" get really old really fast after 50 thousand times of them being said.
And...wish fulfillment. Throughout the whole series, it is emphasized that a person gives up a lot when they become a vampire. Rosalie could not have beautiful babies, like she wanted. There's having to fight the urge to kill humans every day. Vampires cannot be close to their human family, they must cut ties. But with Bella? Let's see...she gets a baby, she marries her boyfriend, she somehow overcomes the urges in record time, she gets to see her dad, she gets...everything. There is no sacrifice for her. What is the point here? Maybe this is typical of fairy tales, but to emphasize the choices the other characters had to make and then have Bella not have to make anything...blech. Oh! And the werewolf and vampire mortal enemies thing? Well, her werewolf pal imprints on her daughter, so everyone's a big happy family. *insert facedesking*
I realize that some of you are Twilight fans, and I am not by any means saying you shouldn't read them. I'm just speaking my own opinion about the series. And as you know, opinions are like armpits. Everyone has a couple and they both stink. =P
I think I'm done rambling now.