Last spring I saw all this stuff (okay, Flair if you must know) about being in love with a vampire, how awesome Edward is, blah-dee-blah. Whaa...t? So, I found my good friend Google, figured out some book named "Twilight" was all the rage with the young women, left it at that. Little did I know that within a few short months my daughter would be clamoring to read it, the movie would come out, and all my friends would know about Edward and Bella, as well.
I am usually one to run the other way when I see a bandwagon, and ANYTHING that someone tells me I HAVE!! TO!! READ!!! BECAUSE IT IS SO!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!! I generally stay away from, or at least approach with great trepidation (think "The Shack").
So, I could have lived the rest of my life without reading Twilight, but felt that as much as my daughter has enjoyed it (all 4 books -- is it 4? -- and went to the movie with the middle school 'book club' that discussed it) I felt I should be a bit in the know.
If you have lived under a rock for the past 4 months, let me tell you the basic premise: Bella (human) falls in love with Edward (vampire). The end. Well, obviously, there are problems because Bella needs to eat and sleep, unlike Edward, and Edward needs to eat -- Bella's blood. But he refrains, evidently making him the s*xiest main character ever, according to most females I've heard from.
As far as the moral implications -- I actually kind of like it. There is a GREAT discussion in there about refraining from what your natural urges are if they urge you to do something that is wrong. The s*x aspect is non-existent -- a few stolen kisses here and there, as it should be for a 17 year old (Edward is, of course, about 112 or something, but appears to be 17).
I didn't think the vampire aspect was scary. Creepy, yes, but not scary. I think any middle school kid would be fine with it. I let Ashley read it before I had read it because someone I trust allowed her 9 year old daughter to read it. Now that I've read it, I'm not sure I would allow a 9 year old to read it.
I've read it. Check. I may or may not hunt down the 2nd one to read, too, simply because I'm curious about what happens, but you won't catch me buying a Twilight t-shirt/ notebook/ pencil case/ tattoo any time soon. It isn't a book that I would want to demand back the time I spent reading it, but I'm not as big of a fan as others appear to be. Not a bad way to spend a few hours reading.
P.S. I don't think any males would care for it at all. A little too much teenage angst and drama, and Bella is just ... whiny? demanding? unrelenting? teenager-y? I don't know, but I can't think of any males who would enjoy her behavior.
