A critique/review:

Unlike most people who have read Stephanie Meyers’ books, I do not have a glowing statement or view of her work. She is, to me, a writer just starting out on her craft only with a different take on the vampiric world. I feel that she could have done much better in her work, but I am not her publisher or editor. All I can do is share my thoughts.

I chose Twilight because it has an impact on teens today. It may not be the type of book that people most likely assume to affect teens or young adults, but it does have an affect. This is shown in its popularity… so here are my thoughts:

For a first novel, the book Twilight was both exhilarating and disappointing. Stephanie Meyers has a way with words, but needs to learn to discipline her writing.

The story is about a girl named Bella who leaves everything that she has known her entire life to go live with an estranged father in Washington. Already feeling out of loop with the real world, she finds herself the center of attention in the new town. As events progress, she meets a boy named Edward. They become mutually attracted though his behavior toward her is confusing.

I loved the way that Stephanie Meyer reminded me of what it was like to be at a new school; to be the object of curiosity. The fact that she was so clearly able to define the events that happened the first day of class was amazing. I felt like I was right there, sharing the experience with Bella, who really didn’t want the attention that she garnered.

The prologue of the book sounded forced as if the thoughts heard were not Bella’s. Those thoughts really did not go in accordance with her thoughts from the rest of the book. This became especially noticeable at the point in the story when the prologue is supposed to take place. The gap in quality between the prologue and the rest of the story is noticeable.

The settings and descriptions were detailed to the point that I could almost see them. Bella took me with her as she rode to her new home in her father’s squad car. When Bella sees all the green and vibrant vegetation, I could almost see it, too. When she gets to her father’s house, Bella recalls simple things that pulled me into the house with her. The school photos that adorn the walls and the yellow painted cupboards created a scene that I could relate to.

As I read the mid-section of the book, I felt as though Stephanie Meyer was trying to put anything and everything into the middle of the book. Though the plot was good, it was haphazard and ill defined. Not every scene seemed to be crafted to have a bearing on the overall plot of the story. Several scenes even took away from the plot instead of building on it. Several times, I had to reread a part of the book because a scene would lead me astray.

The characters almost leapt out of the book at me. Throughout the story, I had the sense of a detailed background on each character. It was easy to understand why Bella, her father, and the other characters reacted the way that they did. I could understand the reasons that Bella and her mother left and how her father had suffered from it. There was a cause-and-effect with every character in the book.

However, the characters commonly did things that seemed wrong for them. Even after his treatment of her and the complication of his unusual secret, Bella wants to be around Edward. When compared to Bella’s previous thoughts and behaviors, the psychology does not fit well. She may have been drawn to him, but she was too accepting of him. I felt that there should have been a reason for Bella to want to be around Edward. By the end of the book, I realized that there was no reason such reason. Being drawn to someone is not enough to just accept the type of treatment Edward displayed. I began to notice other discrepancies where the characters were concerned, after that I have a feeling I missed some points that the author was trying to make because I was too busy thinking, “What in the world made him/her do that?”

I believe that Stephanie Meyers did a good job for a first book. There is a possibility that she was rushing to get her story written. However, a rewrite would have informed her of the more consistent problems. I feel that the writer should slow down and take the time to feel out the scenes that she wants to construct for her characters. Also if she spent more time working with her characters, she would realize that the way she wants to go isn’t necessarily the way the character should go. That, in turn, would make her books more memorable.

This “blog” is published on Helium.com.

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