T – Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

Meyer's 2006 Twilight Saga Book 1 (Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer)
Loved: Uh huh, yup, I brought it out into the open. The never-ending Twilight debate (and I’m not talking about Edward v. Jacob). I loved this story! Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s engaging and different (at least, it was to me at the time)*. It was a quick, light-hearted read, and I really enjoyed it! I remember shouting out loud when I got to the point where James uses the tape of Bella’s mom to lure her to the dance studio. It was so deliciously mean! My roommate thought I was nuts.

Learned: Honestly, I think I’ve learned more from the aftermath of this one than from the book itself. With all the controversies and debates surrounding Meyer's writing skill and the perhaps oversaturated YA vampire market, Twilight has become a kind of measuring stick for the pulse of the latest trends (or non-trends) in publishing.

*For the record...the movies...no, just no.


16 comments:

  1. I never read the book because the movies so put me off. Perhaps I should give it a chance?

    J.C. Martin
    A to Z Blogger

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's an interesting comment, that you've learned more from the conversation after the book came out. It was a rough debate that got ugly a lot of the time, but there's no denying her success. She did something very right with that book.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello, Nicole! I'm not a fan of the Twilight series, but I do think Stephenie Meyer created a unique vampire story. The series helped encourage enthusiastic reading among teenagers (and other ages), and I'm all for more people getting excited about books and reading!! So that's a great thing. :)

    Hope you have a terrific week and happy A to Z!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Two words: Sparkling vampires. Wrong. Just Wrong...
    But, she did get some things right. The story made me want to keep flipping the pages :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I haven't seen the films or read the books but probably should before forming my viewpoint on this debate. The sparkling vampires theme doesn't seem right personally but Meyer won't care given how well her work has done.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I refused to read this series for the longest time. When I finally gave in, I couldn't put them down! And I agree, the movies don't even begin to capture the story

    ReplyDelete
  7. This post made me smile, Nicole - a friend of mine had the books and I was adamant I was not going to read them...next thing you know I was devouring them...easy reads and highly entertaining.

    Then...my daughter got a hold of them - loved them too. When the movies started coming out I thought NO WAY...well, suffice it to say I succumbed and must say was pleasantly surprised. Usually if I read a book I never take in the movie...oh well, never say never I guess.

    Great post!

    Jenny @ Pearson Report
    Co-Host of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great story of how you discovered the books!

      Delete
  8. Yeah, I read them all in a row and can't admit that to too many people...haha. I was more inspired by Stephenie Myer's story, like J.K. Rowling, and used her as inspiration to pursue my dream of writing. The other similarity to Harry Potter is it made young adult books more mainstream, especially with adults. As far as the books themselves, I found a lot of similarities to The Vampire Diaries and The Sookie Stackhouse Series, both published earlier.

    ReplyDelete
  9. When a book becomes something everyone's talking about, I usually give it a shot because I want to know what's drawing so many people to it. I must confess I didn't make it past the first chapter of this one. But I definitely admire what Stephenie Meyer has accomplished!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I loved this book. The romance sucked me right in. Great post!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I loved it, too. It's not something I talk about often...not because I'm embarrassed (which I know a lot of people are), but because I don't like having to justify my reasons lol. I read it before I became a book blogger and started looking at books objectively, so I can't say how I'd feel about it now (which is actually why I'd like to reread it), but I know I loved it at the time. And the funny thing is, there were tons of other people who did, too. I belonged to forums dedicated entirely to Twilight fangirls. In all honesty, I think it was the movies that ruined it for a lot of people. I've seen all the movies, and have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with them, but I'm definitely in the camp who prefers the books.

    ReplyDelete