Stephenie Meyer
Twilight (2005)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Romance (Paranormal)
Plot Summary:
Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, as her mother, newly married, travels with her husband around the country looking to sign with a baseball team. This new atmosphere is very strange for Isabella, or Bella; coming from Arizona, her previous home, where it is hot and dry to Forks, where it is cold and wet, it is quite the change. But here in Forks, there is a different draw, the Cullens, a family of pale, graceful, smart, very good looking children. Edward Cullen, at 17, is probably the most handsome man she has ever met and as they are science partners and have see each other often, reluctantly a relationship grows. SPOILER: Edward and his family are actually vampires, which explains their pale skin and good looking features, but the fact that they are vampires puts Bella in a tough situation. She is forced to risk her life every time she is with Edward. As other vampires visit, Bella finds herself hunted for a nice feast. Luckily, the Cullens are right behind to save the day, and she recovers from the attack. Now, she has to decide if being human is worth it, or is should just give over and turn into a Vampire herself.
Geographical Setting: Washington, USA
Time Period: Present Day
Series: Twilight, Book 1
Appeal Characteristics:
Twilight is extremely character driven. You feel close to not only the main character, but also the side characters. Meyer helps build the romance in the book, by making the reader feel the plight of the characters. She also keeps the tone light at times with jokes and lack of real physical danger. Towards the end, when Bella is being hunted, the tone turns a little darker, but because the reader knows that the Cullens, being "vegetarian" and not drinking human blood, would not attack the main character the book is still fairly light. The frame of the book is interesting, because it effects the tone with it's depressing unmatched love story. The characters are not supposed to fall for each other and they have to work through this conflict, but the impending answer of it will not work out is always over their heads, which makes the mood a little sad and slightly dark through the book. Meyer's language is fairly simple, nothing too complex, and very linear. This makes the book easy to follow and with the pace being relatively fast, taking into account the high level of characterization, the book can be finished in a short amount of time.
Read-alikes: If you liked the dark tones and fast paced aspects of Twilight, you might be interested in a few other books featuring Vampires, such as The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause in which Zoe, whose mom is dying of cancer, meets Simon, a vampire, who is trying to avenge his own mother's death 300 years previous. As their friendship deepens so does the danger. The author used simple language for it to be easy to read and yet still fast paced and a little dark. Another Vampire story of interest might be Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz. This story retains some of the elements of Twilight in that it has the suspense and mood that danger is always around the corner. Keeping the pace fast and the storyline clean Cruz illustrates the story of several teens fighting in a vampire to vampire war, the blue bloods vs. the silver bloods. As these teens in high school fight for their lives the reader gets pulled into their story and feel their drama. If perhaps you are not set on reading about cold blooded humans and are looking for a romantic story similar to Twilight you might be interested in one of these two titles. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a story of a girl that is not exceptionally pretty and is not exceptionally loved. She finds herself in a boarding school and then in a home of a reserved quiet man as a governess for his young ward. As their friendship develops, dark secrets come to surface from his past. This book is similar to Twilight in its dark tone and clean romance. The reader also becomes drawn into the characters as Bronte's very literary style highly develops almost all the characters. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder is a more fantastical romance, with magic and adventure. Set in far off kingdom, Yelena escapes execution by accepting the job as the Commander's Food taster. This new job puts Yelena's life on the line as people try to kill the commander. But as she studies and works with the commander, her mentor, Valek, takes on a new meaning in her life. The character based fast paced clean novel will have everyone on the edge of their seats wanting to know more about the life of Yelena. And for the readers that perhaps want a more adult story that is still clean, check out Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara. The book brings in the same darker tone that Twilight has, as well as the same fast based pace. You connect with the characters as Sagara weaves a tale of adventure through the streets of Nightshade. Kaylin, the main character, comes back to her home city of Nightshade after educating herself and becoming a Hawk to fight off the dark that is infiltrating.
Red Flags: One curse word, a little violence
|top|
|
