Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite...
After binge watching the Twilight movies whilst working from home one day, I suddenly found myself in a world I didn’t want to leave. Having not read the books since I was a teen, I bought the entire box set and got to reading! Here is my full review.
The Plot, Characters and Story Progression
Admittedly, I really wasn’t much of a Twilight fan growing up. I didn’t understand the hype or obsession everyone else seemed to have and I really don’t know what it was in particular that possessed me to click on the movie whilst scrolling through Disney plus but here we are…
Firstly I want to talk about Bella as a character. At first I could see why so many people disliked her as a person. She has all these guys drooling after her (Can’t relate) and her behaviour is often extremely impulsive and reckless. As a teen I wasn’t that girl, the boys thought I was fat and ugly and I was the most sensible girl going. Reading Bella again in my late 20s was an entirely different experience.
“Facing my pallid reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn’t just physically that I’d never fit in. And if I couldn’t find a niche in a school with three thousand people, what were my chances here?
I didn’t relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn’t relate well to people, period. Even my mother, who I was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with me, never on exactly the same page. Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.” – p. 9-10
I don’t think I’ve ever read words on a page that resonated with me more.
Edward on the other hand always struck me as being quite controlling and of course the gas-lighting isn’t great. Back when this was written gas-lighting wasn’t even a term we had coined yet and that kind of behavior was often portrayed in the media as being acts of love and being “protective”. Nowadays much less so. I did however like his desire to uphold his traditional vampires of being married and waiting for marriage. I somewhat miss when love and companionship was considered sacred like this and I liked that he wanted to wait to do the ‘deed’.
Jacob in the book… well honestly Jacob who!? He barely plays a part and when he does he is simply spinning webs of lies and twisting stories in Bella’s head. Very manipulative and quite childish, though he is much younger in the book!
World Building, Atmosphere and Setting
The atmosphere in the Twilight books is the epitome of a cozy rainy day by the fire. You can really put yourself in Bella’s shoes in this rainy little town out in the sticks, away from everything she knows.
I found this strangely comforting considering I chose to pick it up in the midst of summer. This book felt like a nostalgic warm hug on the days when my mental health took a dive. Never did I think I’d find myself turning to Twilight of all things!
The Verdict
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this again as an adult. It changed my entire perspective on the story and gave me a whole new appreciation for the series. I’m very much looking forward to delving into New Moon next and seeing how it compares to the movie.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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