You must have seen this one coming. A Twilight review. With the latest film adaptation bracing to hit theatres, it was probably inevitable that someone would review Twilight.
I just never thought it would be me.
Before I begin I have a confession to make: before Twilight became popular, I was given the first book of the series as a gift. And after getting well over halfway through I gave up and did not finish it. I was bored with the slow pace and the pages that dragged on while the plot got no where, so I just put it away. Then the phenomenon began, and I read it again. I suppose I was caught up in the pandemonium, because I had deluded myself into thinking that I really liked the novels. Don't get me wrong, I do not hate them, its just that now that I look back I do not understand what all the fuss was about...
For anyone who has not yet read the books I shall provide a brief synopsis of the novels content using only five words:
Dazzling. Dazzling. Dazzling. Dazzling. Dazzling.
I do not understand Stephanie Meyer's fascination with this word. It seems to me that her approach to writing was to cram as many descriptive words as possible on to one page, without advancing the plot. And for that matter, she wasn't even describing the setting, which at least would make the story more intriguing. But no - it was all about Edward. Personally I think its disturbing how much Bella's life revolves around one person. It sets a poor example for young girls to focus all their attention on their relationship. In the second installment, Edward leaves Bella and she turns into a hollow shell; utterly depressed to the point where she seems almost suicidal. And I think no man (or a sexy vampire for that matter) is worth such devastation. Even if he sparkles (which was an unnecessary change from the traditional vampire). As for Bella, I found her to be monotonous and dull. She had no personality or enthusiasm for anything, making it excruciating to read from her point of view.
But even with all its flaws I can potentially see what I liked in the story. I liked the romance, and the danger behind such a forbidden love. And of course every girl would like to find her perfect man, its just that this man (or vampire) is not very realistic. So I'm sorry to all the crazy 'Twihards' but men cannot dart in front of an out of control van to save you in the nick of time. Please, escape your delusions and come to the sense that Edward is not real. (And the poor actor portraying him in the movies is not really Edward either.) And, while the thought crosses my mind: am I the ONLY one who thinks that it is incredibly disturbing that Edward breaks into Bella's house to watch her sleep? You know who else does that? Serial killers. So, please don't confuse having a creepy stalker obsession with true love.
So would I recommend the books? Possibly. I know that after I complained about it in this review, this probably was not the answer most would expect, but for it to become so popular Stephanie must be doing something right. After all, they were briefly my guilty pleasure. So if you like romance, give it a try. And as for Stephanie, stick to writing the Host. Its a far more intriguing and mature novel.
And lastly, I apologize for ranting about Twilight. It is not all bad. So, Twihards:
Please don't hate me.
I myself, am not a Twilight fan, but will be seeing the new film simply because the soundtrack is AMAZING.
ReplyDeleteANYWAYS.
I like this review because it has character as opposed to some reviews which seem like a robot wrote it. Sometimes reviews get too professional and worry too much about stepping on peoples toes that it's just so hard to actually get what the review is rating the film.
I liked your sarcasm the character infused with the review, so keep up your distinct review style in the future.
For future reference, an inconsistent reviewing style can become difficult to follow because sometimes it's hard to detect sarcasm and simply, it may not work as well as the one you consistently have been following.
So keep up your consistentcy!
I too had the first book given to me before the twilight craziness had started. I however, started reading and couldn't stop. I loved the books, I read all of them. After it got really popular and the movie came out, i was really annoyed with how ridiculous people were because half of them had only seen the movie, which I didn't like.
ReplyDeleteAs far as your actual review of Twilight goes, I think the angle you took on talking about this was a very open review that gave the reader a lot of different opinions in order to form their own. This is a nice change from the very strogn opinionated reviews that don't leave room for two different sides to things. This was really well done
I definitely agree with Taylor that even though you maintained a sort of opinion you also touched on both sides of the argument. Instead of saying 'THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE' you said 'This is what I believe...' making it much more readable and friendly. Particularly for people who are twilight fans.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note though, I am not a twilight fan, and I don't see what all the fuss is about either.
i liked the way you did touch on bothsides without swaying on your own opinion. Some reviews go back and forth and never really stick to one side, i liked how your views were never lost. Also how you reasoned with your audience.
ReplyDeletei was a twilight fan, and did get caught up in the fandemonium, but by comparison they are very poorly written
i love how this isn't an aggressive post at all! You offered your opinion, gave reasons why your thought had some sort of actual basis to it, and at the end, admitted that stephanie meyer had to have done 'something right' in order to have created such a successful series. These things were very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteyou do say sorry to the twihards a couple of times - i think you should stick to your opinion. your written work is not meant to be offensive, and i think that saying sorry takes a bit away from your strong(non-aggressive) voice. Just a thought!
i particularly enjoyed the 'dazzling.dazzling.dazzling.dazzling.dazzling.' portion. i was, at first a bit confused (as dazzling is a complimentary word, and didn't fit with the tone/opinion of your piece) but as soon as i read the next line, i understood. Nice flow!
on a personal note, I enjoyed the first and last books in the series; I found the middle two to be quite boring. I can't compliment stephanie meyer as a talented writer, but i can give her credit for her perspective and ability to capture the minds of the teenage population. I believe THE HOST was a much more mature novel, with her intoxicating (which is a good thing, by the way) plotline and characters.
Great tone!
ReplyDelete