TITLE: Twilight
AUTHOR: Stephenie Meyer
SERIES: Twilight Saga, #1
RELEASED: October 5th, 2005; Little, Brown and Company
GENRE: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy
AGE RANGE: YASYNOPSIS: About three things I was absolutely positive.
First, Edward was a vampire.
Second, there was a part of him—and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood.
And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.
In the first book of the Twilight Saga, internationally bestselling author Stephenie Meyer introduces Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, a pair of star-crossed lovers whose forbidden relationship ripens against the backdrop of small-town suspicion and a mysterious coven of vampires. This is a love story with bite.
Oh, boy. I know this is probably not a review that most of you expected to see pop up on my blog, and honestly, I almost didn’t even review this, because there are a million and one reviews in the world for each book in this series, and this was at least my eighth or ninth time rereading this… however(!), it was my first time reading it in ten years and I had a lot of unexpected feelings about it, so here we are.
“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb…,” he murmured.
“What a stupid lamb,” I sighed.
“What a sick, masochistic lion.”
Okay, first of all, you guys, I gotta be honest—this book is still just as cringe-y as I remembered it being. The insta-love is so real, Bella has major not-like-other-girls syndrome, and some of Edward’s behaviors are downright terrifying. All of this is on top of how incredibly awkward most of the Cullens are, how ridiculously stereotypical some of the Native rep is, and the fact that the writing is just not up to par with what I’m used to reading these days.
“I decided as long as I’m going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.”
All of that aside… I had a freaking blast rereading this. I laughed my ass off at so many points, I “aww”ed over little cinnamon roll Jacob all over again (#TeamJacob for life, y’all), I rolled my eyes at 80% of Edward’s dialogue, and I grew seriously concerned for the level of “clumsiness” Bella withholds. I mean, if your claims to have fallen down TWO flights of stairs and through a window just sounds like an average Friday night to your family, well…
“What if I’m not a superhero? What if I’m the bad guy?”
This is where my struggle to rate this comes in, though: if I were reading this for the first time, right now, it’d probably be a 2-star read. It’s fun enough to be worth more than 1, but problematic and ridiculous enough not to warrant 3, either. As an OG Twihard rereading these just for the fun of it, at a point in my life where I no longer let people give me hell for the things I like? This was so much fun and I legitimately can’t wait to continue rereading the series. So… we’ll say a 2.5-star rating, rounded up, eh?
“Do I dazzle you?”
So, if you’re wondering if I recommend this title… it depends. If it’s going to be your first time reading the series, eh, you could probably live without it. If you were an oldschool fan, though? Go into this with a grain of salt the size of a Buick and understand that no, it’s not going to hold up to today’s YA literature, but yes, I think you’ll be happy you did it.
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danithebooknerd
July 13, 2018I confess, I loved these books when they first came out and I was about 15 years old. Several years later and I realized how problematic and poorly written they were. But…I still re-watch the movies every now and then because I need a fix but I don’t want to dedicate time to rereading them. xD
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
July 14, 2018Hahaha I’m not judging! I’m really not big on the films at all, sadly, but rereading this has made me a tiny bit tempted to re-watch!
journeyintobooks
July 13, 2018Great review ? like most people I loved this book when I was younger and would quite like to reread it to see exactly what I would think of it now ?
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
July 14, 2018Thank you! 😀 You totally should, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it now!
journeyintobooks
July 14, 2018You’re welcome ??
CJR The Brit
July 13, 2018Omg it’s been years since I have read and maybe it’s time for me to do a reread as well!!!!
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
July 14, 2018Haha yessss please! My aesthetic goal for 2018 is making people reread old faves hehehe. 😀
CJR The Brit
July 14, 2018I wonder what I will feel about it this time around!? I recently reread Harry Potter and fell back in love!
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
July 14, 2018I am hoping to reread those soon, too! I haven’t reread anything except the first 2 books since the 7th one released!
CJR The Brit
July 15, 2018Yes, reread!!!
yasminereads
July 13, 2018Awesome review–I’m looking forward to seeing what you write about the other books! I did a re-read of this a few years ago and it was SO fun. I was surprised by how easily I was able to put away my adult criticism and go back to my teenage fangirling! It definitely brought back some fun memories.
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
July 14, 2018Thank you so much! Yesss, exactly – I just forced myself to set aside the issues and just read it for what it is.
emmareadstoomuch
July 14, 2018omg i love this review. and now i want to reread twilight. (it was always my fav book out of the 4 anyway!)
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
July 14, 2018DOOOO IIIIIT. I would so love to hear your thoughts on it now (good or bad)
Ellyn
July 15, 2018I completely agree! Twilight is so much fun to re-read because of the nostalgia factor but honestly, Bella’s clumsiness is super concerning and omg Edward needs to find a hobby (other than stalking Bella).
Have you re-watched the movies since you re-read the book? It’s a total blast. So cringey but so so funny!
Destiny @ Howling Libraries
July 16, 2018Bahahaha Edward is legit a creep, I don’t even know why he was so popular for so long. I’ll never get it. But no, I haven’t! I should!