Twilight

Plot Summary:

            Isabella “Bella” Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her dad from Phoenix, Arizona because her mother gets married, and she wants to give the newlyweds some freedom. She goes to school in Forks and is instantly struck by a group of odd and beautiful people, the Cullens. She is particularly intrigued by Edward Cullen, he lab partner, but he does not seem to like her. One day he saves her from being hit by a car, and she eventually figures out that he is a vampire. They fall in love and that is great until a group of rogue vampires see Bella and one of them, James, decides to hunt her. The Cullens try to protect Bella, but James sets a trap and she falls into his hands anyway. The Cullens kill James, but he has already bitten Bella. Edward, who has always had to be extra careful around her because her blood is all but irresistible to him, has to suck out the venom in order to save her from becoming a vampire.

Personal Reaction:            

            In my opinion, this book is the best of the Twilight Series. It is a real page turner. I buy the romance between Bella and Edward and I totally cried through the second book where he leaves her. Meyer does an excellent job at building the suspense and tension between the two lovers and making it feel realistic. One concern that I have is that the character Edward has a tendency to be quite controlling of Bella. I am not certain that that is a great influence on the book’s target audience, teenage girls. However, I do have all of the books in the series in my classroom collection, so it is not such an issue that I would censor or anything.

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Co.