Review of "Twilight"

"What if I'm the bad guy?"

     In Stephanie Meyer's YA novel Twilight, no one is what they seem--and trust is as dangerous as a charging bull. When seventeen-year-old Isabella Swan leaves sunny Arizona to live with her quiet dad in Forks, Washington, she is confident her life is about to become miserable. After all, she hates Forks--has hated it since she spent summers there as a little girl. Still, she's determined to keep her chin up, a task made easier when her dad gifts her with a truck and she makes friends at school. When a mysterious, beautiful boy shoots her disgusted looks throughout her first week of classes, Bella can't stop wondering what she's done to offend him. As she digs ever deeper into the life of this walking contradiction, Bella must put aside everything she thought she knew about the world she lives in. Humans are not the only creatures who roam this earth. And not every supernatural creature is friendly.

     Meyer has taken a unique perspective on the classic vampire story. Edward Cullen and his family aren't harmed by sunlight or garlic, and don't sleep in dusty old coffins. Nor do they hunt humans, though there are times when restraining those instincts takes incredible willpower. In this version, the vampires try to be good, a task made all the more difficult when one of their number begins spending an unhealthy amount of time with the new girl. This family of undead is charming, despite their diet, and genuinely likeable. That is, when they aren't insisting Bella avoid them while simultaneously attempting to befriend her. But that's mostly Edward's flaw.

     Bella changes dramatically over the course of her time with Edward. She begins her stay in Forks a quiet introvert just trying to survive her self-inflicted exile, and ends up a different person entirely. While it's not an entirely marvelous change, it isn't completely bad either. Bella is human, a fact that comes laden with all sorts of complexity. Her companions, on the other hand, tend to be rather one-dimensional. They possess a set variety of characteristics that define them throughout the novel, and evolve very little. Although this is somewhat disappointing, it makes the plot simple and easy to follow, which is a plus.

     The downside, sadly, is a fundamental piece of the romance itself. Before two weeks have passed, Bella is practically obsessed with the alluring vampire who thirsts for her lifeblood. She is content to live in Edward's shadow, practically worshiping him with every thought. The boy is hardly ever mentioned without a reference to his beauty, grace, or build, so there are moments when it seems as if Bella is more in love with his looks than who he is. Add in the quickness with which she falls in love with him, and the realism slowly begins to chip away.

     Insta-love aside, however, there's surprisingly little warning-worthy content between Twilight's covers. As our heroes learn to walk the fine line between passion and Bella's safety, they have in-depth discussions about what consequences their relationship might have--on each other, on the town, and in the world of vampires. Despite their mutual yearnings, things never progress beyond kissing. At one point, a surprise encounter with a few less-than-friendly travelers ends in violence and injury. This is narrated in full, and is just gruesome enough to get the point across without making readers queasy. Swearing is rare and pretty clean.

     I would recommend this book to teenaged girls who desire a romance with a twist. Bella Swan is an intriguing protagonist who is more complex than she cares to admit, and she faces a predicament that will carry heavier consequences than she could ever anticipate. Her love interest, Edward, is mysterious, alluring, and deadly. While it's nice to see a tale where the non-human side of things is thoroughly thought out, the primary relationship strays dangerously close to insta-love and is borderline unhealthy obsession. The side characters are barely colored in, let alone fleshed out and rounded, making things slightly less than believable. Still, the plot is fairly good and the Cullen clan is generally likeable, so all is not lost. Stephanie Meyer's Twilight is a good, solid read deserving three stars.