A Personal Review on Twilight franchise by Stephanie Meyers

[jaybird92]

Warning ahead : if you're a Twihard,I suggest you should stop reading this post because it would be hurtful. This is my opinion and thoughts about the novel and it can be subjective.

I am going to start with the story how I came across this mega disaster of a literature. First time, I heard of Twilight is through the film adaptation starring Robert Pattinson whom I had crush on since I was 14 when his Harry Potter movie came around. I was only 17, young and immature and didn't have an idea what stalking or toxic relationship would be like so I was moved when I saw the first Twilight movie. I only saw the intense attraction between two unlikely people and I thought it was love.

When the second movie came around, I was 19 and bit more mature. I felt something was wrong with the story, the dynamic of the heroine's relationship and her character. I felt the movie was depressing and made no sense at all, I mean there was nothing much to the story. I didn't want to judge the franchise so fast because I know most of the time the film adaptation of a novel might not as good as the book as it was for Harry Potter. I decided to give Twilight another chance and asked my classmate for a copy of the book. She warned me beforehand it's a waste of book, a red flag which I should have taken seriously because she was right. I didn't make it to the third chapter (or so I don't remember) once I stared to read it because I hated it. I will explaining why I didn't like the book. It's not a complete review as I didn't read the whole but I will be drawing out a few points on why I stopped reading the book.

So the story starts with Bella Swan moving to her father's leaving her mother with her new husband. I understand how hard moving can be, plus with the parent's divorce it can be tough. It's normal for teenagers to be upset about it. But from her parents' interaction, especially Charlie's, with her throughout, I thought it would disrespectful for her to moan about how lonely and misunderstood she was when both of them were clearly supporting her. It's understandable for Bella's distance with her mother as she remarried but Charlie didn't deserve it as he was constantly supporting her from the first moment she landed on Forks and to the end of the novel. I was almost annoyed when she decided to leave home to save her sparkling Adonis lover, not listening to her father who again deserved the truth about her boyfriend's nature. Again she hid the truth from Charlie, when she was turned to vampire and also had a half vampire child which she introduced as her "adopted niece" which was a major turn down for me. I don't understand why do Edward's family are so hush hush when it comes to Charlie, the father of their member, knows about their secret while they are fine when Bella learned they're vampire. Did Volturi had any problem with that? Do they think he wouldn't notice Bella not aging and just wearing brown contacts would hide their secret? Major plot hole, Meyers. I believe Charlie would understand in time, if he learns the truth. Despite Charlie's strong support and care for her, Bella chose Edward, a man she met in school to spill all of her secrets, attention and respect to. And Edward isn't the most ideal partner to my opinion which I will explain later. In short, Bella is not a good daughter.

Now, let's move on to Bella's life if she had any. Bella doesn't talk about her life in Phoenix except she loved the heat and she tried ballet as a child. She doesn't even talk about her friends from her previous school which probably meant she was a loner. But voila, when she landed at her new school, she became the most popular girl. The reason? She's a city girl. As a person who went to school and watch people a lot, I don't think boys would go gaga over a girl because she's from a cool place. Nor people would talk about it like it's a hot topic through the school. They might glance at her as she pass and speak a few words about it and that's it. The boys from her school were acting as if they never seen a girl before while Bella is around and laugh at her joke even though it isn't funny. It could be understandable if she was an awe struck attractive girl but in the book she was described as this plain girl and she didn't do anything worthwhile at school to redeem boy's attention. Like Charlie, she treated her friends like trash and they kept worshiping her which wouldn't happen in real life because the kids have better things to do than putting up with a brat. I am surprised they kept sticking to her even tough she acted weird after her boyfriend broke up with her and did dangerous things like riding bike with stranger. In real life, she would be that lonely girl at school who people dislike because she doesn't give a damn about any people other than her creepy boyfriend. Bella never did anything that would mean she actually cared about her friends. I know Meyers was going for this sad, lovable and misunderstood 'not like other girls' character that deserved her prince charming but I am sorry Mary Sues are just annoying.

If Meyers thinks her only flaw is her clumsiness, she's very wrong. If I read the story correctly, she isn't clumsy but a dangerous combination of stupidity and accident prone. I mean wherever she goes, she gets into trouble without trying. That's a very annoying trait of hers. I agree some of Bella's narrow escapes were made intentionally because Meyer wanted the story to be exciting and captures reader's attention. Honestly, I thought it was poorly written and not well thought because the story looked like the world was revolving around Bella, again, Mary Sue trait. I mean why would James be crazy about killing Bella? Why would Victoria calls a band of vampires kill a human? Why would Voturi call an army (if you call it an army) to get rid of a half vampire child? The last chapter of the Twilight doesn't make any sense as of how Irina take one look at Renesmee and declare she's vampire child without accessing the situation correctly. Instead of making a drama, Cullens could have directly went to Volturi and explain. I cannot understand Voturi, being an ancient vampire council, have no idea about half vampire breeds. I don't think vampire-human relationship won't be uncommon to their knowledge. I noticed everyone in the Twilight doesn't think twice before doing anything. Please, Meyers, do your research well.

Bella never had any hobbies, extra curricular activities or some kind of traits that would make her interesting. But no, she was this 'obedient' homemaker who came straight home from school and cooked for her father while complaining about everything and then do homework. That's it. I don't think that's a bad thing but as I read the book I find her character extremely boring. She needs to have her real friends, not creepy dudes who are love with her. Even introvert people have some kind of interaction with other people if not a very open one. She didn't invite her friends for a sleepover. All she had time for were Edward and vampires. I am surprised she was introduced as a straight A student because I didn't see being an ambitious person, someone interact with teachers or being involved in after school activities because all she did was hanging around with vampires. She doesn't seem a person with high intelligence either. The fact she didn't pursue higher education made the statement even more questionable. While Bella was on her depression, Meyers wrote she still did good in school which is still not believable. I remember I was in depression when I was at school and my grades fell. Nevertheless if all of it was true, Bella is still not the smartest person based on her decisions she made in the story. Again, Meyer was trying to make her someone deserving of Mary Sue persona here.

Before I talk about Bella's and Edward's relationship, let me say a few words about my understanding of love. Love is patient and doesn't always require physical presence nor it makes you take hasty decisions. You cannot fall in love with a person in a fortnight, it's a slow process. I admit, Bella and Edward has intense feelings for each other but it's not an ideal or even normal relationship. It's more like a teenage infatuation than love to me. As I already mentioned before Bella is not someone who can't keep her priorities straight. For such a person like her, the feelings she shows for Edward is more of an obsession than a real love whereas for Edward, he treats like his property than a person who have a life. Whenever she talks about Edward, she focuses on his pretty face and body and nothing about his character. I feel she likes him all because he's handsome and his mysterious bad boy vibes added to her obsession spree. Only teenagers (and maybe moms) get that appeal because it instills an adventurous feelings. Whereas for a 25+ year old woman like me, it spells trouble to me. Even from Edward's part, he's interested in her initially because of her smell. Meyer could have done better like creating better situations in and out of school where Edward isn't acting like a creep, pushing Bella away or stalking her that would help them to get to know each other on a personal level. Also, their relationship could have started at a slower pace than suddenly declare they're in love without knowing about each other.

Edward's whole demeanor sounds nothing but creepy. Of course, he's a vampire, wants to be close to Bella and he can't because of the Volturi. But any of those doesn't mean he can stalk her everywhere she goes or while she sleeps. None of it isn't romantic rather an obsession. The scene where Bella is saved by Edward from a group of men would be more plausible if he just passing by. I would try to get away from a man who tell he can't stay away from me. I had a feeling if Edward wasn't handsome, Bella wouldn't look twice at him and do the same thing as I mentioned before. For Bella's part, she is in a daze and misses the red flags when she's with Edward. She doesn't care Edward is following her around, treats her as if she's a child, invades her personal space, possessive and constantly tell her he wanted to drink her blood. She went so much as deserting her friends, lying to her father, get into danger so that she could hear her voice. throw away her future and uses Jacob to get more information about Edward. Granted Jacob isn't the best guy but he didn't deserve her ill treatment. If you don't have feelings for someone tell them, don't use them as your rebound. All of Bella's actions aren't love but obsessions. Love doesn't mean you have to isolate yourself to be with someone. That's an easy target for an abusive relationship. Even if you deeply love someone, you still want to pursue your dreams and future. But for Bella, she has no plans because Edward is her world and nothing else meant to her which is not a lesson you should teach young female readers.

Edward wasn't the best boyfriend, not even average. For starters, he takes her to forest where he reveals about his true nature and later breaking up and then abandons her. Yes, I already talked about stalking and then there's getting so mad when she talked to Jacob that he takes engine off from Bella's vehicle. Most of the time he doesn't let her have her own decisions, including wanting to have sex, to be vampire and to have a baby. In New Moon, he keeps talking about killing himself if something happens to Bella. You may think it's romantic but seriously it's not something I want to hear from my partner. Another thing I noticed that their whole marriage is based on a deal to have sex, not wanting to have a commitment. Edward isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. When he learns from Rosalie that Bella was dead, he could have went to Forks before foolishly going to Volturi. Not that suicide is the best decision he ever made. There were incidents he drove his car at dangerous speed in order to scare Bella. Not a wise move, Edward. Unfortunately, Edward isn't the only abusive here. Jacob kept pressurizing Bella into a relationship and tried to kiss her without her permission. Bella isn't innocent either by playing with his feelings once she got dumped by Edward and then throwing Jacob away when her ex resurfaces.

I get that not every character can be flawless but this simply encourages abusive relationship and not so acceptable morals especially to young females out there. In my opinion, Meyers should thought better plot and character traits to be more realistic and socially acceptable. I rank this book two out of five stars.

[dan4real06]

dangerous combination of stupidity and accident prone. I mean wherever she goes, she gets into trouble without trying. That's a very annoying trait of hers. I agree some of Bella's narrow escapes were made intentionally because Meyer wanted the story to be exciting and captures

[Grace Bela]

I've never read Twilight, so I really appreciate this review! Usually I just hear things like "it's the best" or "it's absolutely horrible" with no context. Your substantiation and thought on this topic has been great to read. I don't think I plan on reading this series in the future.

[Thea Frederick]

Thank you for this review! I am sorry that books like this are even written