Not since I was a primal teen anxiously waiting for whatever beautiful face that lit my fire at that moment to release a CD or movie have I felt such excitement towards a phenomenon quite like this. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't have prepared myself for the whoosh of ecstasy that would come when my small interest in a book captured my complete attention for over a month. Of course I'm talking about Twilight, the new movie and the book saga by the author Stephanie Meyer. I may be a little late to the party since this is nothing too new, but in reality my timing couldn't be more perfect. Since I devoured the first novel, Twilight, nearly 4 weeks ago, I haven't been able to turn on my TV without seeing TV spots for the movie, interviews or gossip (especially revolving around the irresistible Robert Pattinson who play Edward the vampire). The buzz of the media and fan frenzy around this phenom has turned me into a ravenous Vampire devotee, or Twilighter. The time that I haven't spent running through the remaining novels was easily supplemented. Vampires seem to be coming out of their shadows more and more so I picked some other vamps like HBO's show True Blood or the campy vamps from Christopher Moore's "You Suck," another novel, to break up the monotony of our love sick Edward Cullen and Bella Swan in my 2,000 some paged journey through Twilight. About an hour ago I read the last line of the last book of the series, Breaking Dawn. Surprisingly I feel closure already from the simple two words "The End." It's as if a string has been cut, but I don't want to go anywhere. Why the hell would I?! The much anticipated movie comes out in 4 days and I'm still squealing with delight whenever I find some photoshot with the cast or watch the trailer again on my iPod.
I'll admit that I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading the pages of Twilight, but I felt compelled to give it a try. From the second that our heronie, Isabella Swan (or just Bella as she prefers), describes a mysterious group of beautiful teens that we find out to be secret vampires sitting at a lunch table admist an otherwise normal high school, I was in it. It's like the characters dazzeled me right from the pages. This was a fun ride to watch as the human Bella befriends and falls in love with one of them by the name Edward, while he tries his best to avoid her temptation while watching her like a guardian angel. The perils of a human/vampire love story, he wants to suck her blood! Love is hard leap for either character to take when their relationship seems to be a dead end in every direction (but one - turning her into a vampire too!), but they try to overcome it by constantly reminding the reader that they love each other, over and over and over. Meyer sets up her love story to liken a timeless love story like Romeo and Juliet. I can't see it being taught in a high school classroom, but the reader can't help but wonder - could they overcome the odds? If I didn't know something more exciting would come with these "other" vampires that I saw in the trailer, I don't know if I would have made it to the end. The climax was short, but worth it.When I started New Moon, the second book, things seemed like more of the same, that is... until... Edward leaves. Gasp! Commence the most frustrating chapters of the saga when Bella turns into a complete zombie, completely numb and insociable without her other half (great role model for teen girls). I nearly wanted to reach into the book in shake her, or just skip ahead, he had to come back at some point.... right? This noticeable void in the book without Edward was challenged with the appearnce of an old friend, Jacob Black. We met him in Twilight as an awkward teen who informed Bella of the Cullen's history. I have to admit I felt bad for him, having an adorable case of puppy love for Bella (no pun intented as he soon becomes a Werewolf). I'll admit that Jacob is a good break from Edward, His werewolfiness almost as cool as being a vampire, almost. The end of the book brought both relief and panic as Edwards reappears in the near end. But their reunion is short lived when they have to stand before the odd and old Volturi vampires from Italy, to be judged. As flamboyant as they are, they left something to be desired, leaving us with a flat ending, but still drooling for the third.
Eclipse is the pleateau of the series. We feel the strain of Bella as she's torn between mortal status and wanting to join her beloved as immortal. She goes through heartache over Jacob as expected as he paces along side her like a friend through thick and thin, even though he never really had a chance at being her mate. Standard operations are in place now. Of course Bella's life is threatened because of her mortality and her involvement in the supernatural, frenzy ensues, something will happen, of course. All the meanwhile she's preparing for graduation, married life, vampire life, college life and having to leave her family and friends soon. Sounds like she's got a lot on her plate. The one aspect of this book and the others that keeps me interested is the rest of the Cullen family. Throughout the previous books and this one, we're introduced slowly to the clan. First of course there is Carlisle, the father, the maker, a compassionate vampire who encourages his family to be "vegetarian" by feeding on animals instead of humans. Then there's Esme, the mother; Alice, the psychic; Jasper, the mood changer; Rosalie, the beauty; and Emmett, the muscle. Each member has their moments in the books offering a brief break from modern times to flash to their "changing" moment, the start of their new life. My favorite "change" of course being Edward's in book 1. The fact the he was from Chicago, no less in the exciting early 1900s, I can't help but feel attached... insert *swoon...* Edward... The challenge comes when unwanted old friends return, with new friends. This would all be so simple if Bella was just a vampire already!
Then there was Breaking Dawn, the final installment of the long saga. Bigger than the rest in size, promising plenty of resolved story lines. It's hardly a secret these days, so I don't feel like I'm giving anything away, but in the early pages of the book our two lovers finally tie the knot. Too bad for team Jacob, but seriously, he's a big boy... The two newlyweds take an exotic honeymoon which commences the second most anticipated moment of the series... yada yada yada... you fill the blanks. That's pretty much all Meyer gave us; more for the imagination I suppose. For the first time in the series the book switches between the narration of Bella and Jacob. Getting to see things from the innocent Jacob's point of view was a relief, I could only imagine the horrific drama that would be meticulously detailed if that section was indeed in Bella's voice. It's only too bad for this book that Meyer decided to do her worst and completely jump the shark about halfway through. There's a "birth" scene that begins with someone vomiting "a fountain of blood." The morbid turn of events left some readers, including myself, to liken it to something out of Rosemary's Baby instead of our peace loving Cullen Family. However, with just a couple more flips of the pages there's relief again and all the drama is suddently gone, leaving us high and dry for all but a moment. The rest of the book for some reason looked dramatically different in my head than the beginning (going all the way back to Twilight and up till now). The following scenes played out like some overly drawn out TV drama, in their 4th season, dying to cut the strings soon, contracts almost up. This includes handfuls of new characters and cheesy special effects. I can't say I didn't enjoy it, having our heros go through just one more life threatening event, for old times sake. I can tell that Meyer tried really hard to end things in decent taste and satisfying her bloodthirsty fans, but you can't please everyone. I put down my copy of the book after I fawned over the last moments I would get of Edward and Bella and sighed. It was over... It's over right? Like the drug that Edward was to Bella and vice versa, Twilight became my drug. Even if my supply was halted at the end of the fourth book until this Friday's release of the movie, there has to be more to read. I scowered the blogs and came away with a new hit. Midnight Sun is the early version of Twilight that focuses on Edward's point of view. Although not an official release of the story, the half finished manuscript that once was safe in Meyers hands leaked onto the internet. Although artistic integrity should be given to Meyer, how could she think to withhold us of this delightful retelling of our favorite lovebirds! I don't like reading 175 pages of .pdf files on my computer, but apparently it's my only option. I like to think of it as Edward's Blog, he would have one instead of a romantic diary style book like Bella. It's the perfect ying to her yang, they complement each other (these stories). The drug sustains my desire to go out and buy the movie guide that I've been eyeing, embarrassingly, at the book stores. But the fourteen year-old in me remains by putting up a poster in my room and secretly wearing a Twilight shirt under my hoodie. Believe me, this girl is screaming with anticipation in my head and will not let up till I see the movie. I don't plan on going to the midnight show with the other teen girls, but Friday morning at the earliest screening I will be there in the theater ready to be dazzled.
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