Bella Swann, for reasons that sound more
author-driven than really organic to the character, moves from her mother's
house in sunny Phoenix to her father's house in grey and dreary Forks, a
small town near Seattle.
Bella is dreading her first day of school -
because it's such a small town and everyone will have known each other
forever and she will be the outcast and unpopular like she was in her school
in Phoenix. But, lucky Bella, being the new girl seems to pay off! Everyone
wants to know her and be her friend! And, best of all, boys - who had never
really paid much attention to her in Phoenix - are suddenly all over her.
Almost all the boys in town! Except one, Edward Cullen. Which of course
means that Bella is bordering on obsessed with Edward. Plus he's hot!
But then Edward starts talking to her, making
Bella wonder if she imagined his earlier dislike. Suddenly he wants to get
to know her, when he isn't telling her that she should stay away from him
for her own safety - mixed messages much. But instead of doing the sensible
thing and taking him at his word that he is bad news for her, this only
makes Bella want to know him more.
Curious, Bella asks more and more questions,
piecing together what she knows about him, until she reaches the
unbelievable conclusion: Edward is a vampire.
Instead of fearing for her life, Bella worries
are simpler: will Edward's vampire family accept her? Can she protect his
family from suspicion should something happen to her while they are dating?
Yes, that's right. Bella's not worried that Edward might do something to her,
but that he might be blamed should he do something to her. Disturbing.
Worse, a nomadic band of vampires have arrived
in Forks. And, of course, the head vamp is also enraptured with Bella. Now
Bella can worry about nobly sacrificing herself so that Edward won't die
trying to protect her.
Yeah, this is completely not my type of book.
Kind of getting to be a cliché now, but the
character of Bella was a Mary Sue from head to toe. Small difference in that
here she's clumsy and bad at everything instead of being perfect at anything
she tries, but it's still unrealistic. Every guy still wanted her, even the
bad one, the only people who didn't want to be her friends were the villains
or the weird Cullen sister that people ignored.
Edward and Bella's romance was not that
romantic. It was more creepy. Someone who watches you in you sleep - without
your permission and who you don't know is there - is not romantic. It's at
the very least creepy, bordering on obsessive and stalkerish. Vampire or
not, that should have sent Bella running far and fast away from Edward.
Onto the vampire thing. Now, while there really
isn't a realistic way of acting when someone tells you they're a vampire,
Bella's reaction rang particularly false. I much preferred Elena's reaction
on
Vampire Diaries: scared, nervous to be alone in the woods with her
vampire boyfriend Stefan, and needing some time apart to process it all.
Lastly, the sparkling vampire thing was just a
little too corny for me.
I probably won't be reading the rest of the
series. Of course, I also said that I would never read this book, but some
friends kept bugging me so I gave in. Thanks friends!
