Twilight begins slowly. Stephanie Meyer builds her characters nicely and describes the setting vividly. My only problem was– her grammar– she seems to write sentances– that have many odd pauses. I almost considered putting the book down because it began to bother me. Does she not know how to use commas? Eventually I grew used to the weird pauses her narration took as I got more into the story.

I began to bond with Isabella, the main character, after a period of time. Although the novel and the weird relationship she formed with the vampire, Edward, seemed to come straight out of some Mary Sue fanfiction. It wasn’t the construction of the characters, it was the way they reacted to one another. Isabella and Edward fell in head over heels passionate love. They confessed to each other all the time. By the eighteenth time, I began to get bored with the storyline. I will say that Isabella was a very likable character. I truly identified with her. She had all of my tastes in literature and men.

The story itself is sweet. It reminds me of a slightly twisted Sarah Dressen novel. If you haven’t read Dressen, she’s good for one thing: making you wish you had a boyfriend. Though it read like a drawn out, tawdry day dream in many parts. The struggle seemed to center Isabella and her own inability to “see how wonderful she was”. Even though she was told by like, a billion vampires. By the end of the story, I wanted to beat her over the head with the book.

Meyer did a good job at keeping me guessing about the final conflict. She focused (maybe a little too much) on Edward and Isabella’s relationship. There were many routes she could have gone that would have made this story an old cliche, instead, she took a totally new perspective. It’s refreshing to read about vampires in a new way. Mayer introduced a sneak peek into an eccentric vampire clan that loved to play baseball.

I would have to say this was a good book. I was mostly hooked after the second half, although still disgusted with the frilly romantics that would have high school girls swooning. I don’t know what planet they’re from, but a vampire version of a Ken doll isn’t that fascinating. I was also unsatisfied with the ending. It seemed too juvenile and overly sweet. Edward and Isabella had gone through so much, just to end up at… prom? Despite all these ridiculous idiosyncrasies, I’m looking forward to reading the next two in the trilogy, as well as seeing the movie. I’ve researched it and the cast looks pretty good!