Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little Brown
Publication Date: Oct 2005
Classification: YA Novel
Challenge: 2012 Twilight Series Challenge

Summary from Goodreads:

Bella Swan’s move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

My Thoughts:

So I decided to re-read the Twilight series this year, that is why I started the 2012 challenge for myself and for anyone who wanted to join me. Now I haven’t re-read Twilight in a long time, probably 3 years ago. Sure I have picked it up from time to time to read my favorite quotes but I never sat down in the past few years to read the whole book. Now I got into Twilight when it had just released in paperback right before New Moon released so I would say I was a fan long before all of the hype about this series. Of course back then I was swept away but things have changed since this was published in 2005 and many people have very negative things to say about Twilight. So needless to say I was a bit scared to read this one.

Of course right from the start I found myself being surprised that I was not aggrivated by Bella! I know many people can’t stand her and what she goes through in this book but I really liked her and she was nothing like how Stewart plays her in the movie or how negative readers of this series view her. I had forgotten how real Bella seemed, I mean come on she is a geeky girl who would rather sit at home with a classic than go out to party, can’t we all relate with being the plain Jane girl! So I was instantly liking Bella but still had my reservations about this story…

As I turned each page I started to get more and more involved and found myself anticipating my favorite scenes, even saying some of the lines as I read them. I can’t believe I remembered so many of my favorite quotes after not touching this book for a while. All of my favorite scenes came back in perfect clarity though and I loved it. I loved watching Bella and Edward fall for each other and I loved reading the scenes because the movie just doesn’t do the book any justice. Whereas in the movies Edward is awkward as all hell in the book I remembered why I fell for him all those years ago. He is still a great male character and has far more depth than we give him credit for!

Overall, it was really fun to come back to Twilight after all the drama and hype and just let it all soak in again. I mean why should I give up on a series that I was once in love with just because people bash this now. I truly believe this was what started the paranormal romance genre in teen books and we have to respect it for what it really is. Was I completely in love like I was in the past, no I didn’t all out love it but I greatly enjoyed it. So this book gets 4.5 hearts from me for almost managing to captivate me as much as it did 7 years ago!

*Be sure to check out the Twilight Discussion I will be having in April!*