twilight reviews

Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel written by author Stephenie Meyer. It was originally published in 2005 in hardback. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The novel is followed by New Moon , Eclipse and Breaking Dawn . To date, Twilight has been translated into 20 different languages.

Plot summary

Isabella "Bella" Swan moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, while her mother, Renée, travels with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, a minor league baseball player. Bella attracts much attention at her new school and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys compete for shy Bella's attention.

When Bella is seated next to Edward Cullen in class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. He disappears for a few days, but warms up to Bella upon his return; their newfound relationship reaches a climax when Bella is nearly run over by a fellow classmate's van in the school parking lot. Seemingly defying the laws of physics, Edward saves her life when he instantaneously appears next to her and stops the van with his bare hands.

Bella becomes hellbent on figuring out how Edward saved her life, and constantly pesters him with questions. After tricking a family friend, Jacob Black, into telling her local tribal legends, Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires who drink animal blood rather than human. Edward confesses that he initially avoided Bella because the scent of her blood was so desirable to him. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love.

Their relationship is thrown into chaos when another vampire coven sweeps into Forks. James, a tracker vampire who is intrigued by the Cullens' relationship with a human, wants to hunt Bella for sport. The Cullens attempt to distract the tracker by splitting up Bella and Edward, and Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix. There, Bella receives a phone call from James, who claims he is holding her mother captive. When Bella surrenders herself, James attacks her, but Edward, along with the other Cullens, rescues Bella and destroys James. Once they realize that James has bitten Bella's hand, Edward sucks the venom from her system before it can spread and transform her into a vampire, and she is then sent to a hospital. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their school prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, which Edward refuses.

Cover

Stephenie Meyer has stated that the apple on the cover represents the forbidden fruit from the Book of Genesis. It symbolizes Bella and Edward's love, which is forbidden, similar to the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as is implied by the quote from Genesis 2:17 that is quoted at the beginning of the book. It also represents Bella's knowledge of what good and evil are, and the choice that she has in partaking of the "forbidden fruit", Edward, or choosing not to see him.

Awards and nominations

Twilight gained recognition and won numerous honors, including:

New York Times Editor's Choice
One of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2005
American Library Association "Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults" and "Top Ten Books for Reluctant Readers"
New York Times Best Seller
The best selling book of 2008 according to USA Today

Critical reception

Since Twilight's initial publication, the book received mainly positive reviews from critics. The Times praised the book for capturing "perfectly the teenage feeling of sexual tension and alienation", and Amazon.com hailed the book as "eeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful". Hillias J. Martin of School Library Journal stated, "Realistic, subtle, succinct, and easy to follow, Twilight will have readers dying to sink their teeth into it", and Norah Piehl of TeenReads wrote, " Twilight is a gripping blend of romance and horror". Publishers Weekly' s starred review described Bella's "infatuation with outsider Edward", their risky relationship, and "Edward's inner struggle" as a metaphor for sexual frustration accompanying adolescence. Booklist wrote, "There are some flaws here–a plot that could have been tightened, an over reliance on adjectives and adverbs to bolster dialogue–but this dark romance seeps into the soul." However, Kirkus wrote, " is far from perfect: Edward's portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist."

Film adaptation

Main article: Twilight (2008 film)

Twilight was adapted into a film by Summit Entertainment. The film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as protagonists Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, respectively. The screenplay was adapted by Melissa Rosenberg. The movie was released in theaters in the United States on November 21, 2008, and on DVD on March 21, 2009. The DVD was released in Australia on April 22, 2009.

References

^ "Twilight (Hardcover)". Amazon.ca . http://www.amazon.ca/Twilight-Stephenie-Meyer/dp/0316160172/ref=pd_bowtega_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215465512&sr=1-2 . Retrieved on 2008-07-23 .
^ "Twilight (Paperback)". Amazon.ca . http://www.amazon.ca/Twilight-Stephenie-Meyer/dp/0316015849 . Retrieved on 2008-07-23 .
^ Gregory Kirschling (2007-08-02). "Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' Zone". Entertainment Weekly . http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20049578,00.html . Retrieved on 2009-04-12 .
^ Mike Russell (2008-05-11). "'Twilight' taps teen-vampire romance". Los Angeles Times . http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-ca-twilight11-2008may11,0,5524758.story . Retrieved on 2009-04-12 .
^ "Stephenie Meyer's Official Website". StephenieMeyer.com . http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ . Retrieved on 2008-07-23 .
^ "What's with the apple?". StephenieMeyer.com . http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_faq.html#apple . Retrieved on 2008-02-08 .
^ ^a ^b Larry Carroll (2008-05-09). "Official ‘Twilight’ Synopsis Sadly Lacking In 'OME!' Exclamations". MTV . http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/05/09/official-twilight-synopsis-sadly-lacking-in-ome-exclamations/ . Retrieved on 2009-06-11 .

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4.07.09 / 8am

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