Rate: 5/5
Medium: Audiobook
Overview (No Spoilers):
Twilight nostalgia is contagious. Just a few months ago one of my employees was talking about how Twilight was her go to comfort movie. I hadn’t even thought of this series in years. Then a week or so later I’m on a flight, debating on a movie to watch when what movie do I stumble across? You guessed it. Twilight. After being entertained and having flashbacks to late high school and early college, I decided to give this series a much overdue reread to see how the story had aged. I’m not the least hesitant to add that I enjoyed it just as much the second time around.
The characters are as dramatic as I’d remembered, though reading this book right after Onyx Storm there is one aspect of Bella and Edward’s relationship, at least early on, that stands out. Bella is ok with never touching Edward so she doesn’t compromise his control. She just wants to be near him and get to know him. The concerning relationship that drove me crazy is Bella’s mom, Renee’s selfishness. She left Bella to follow around her new minor league husband. And she went home when Bella told her to go home and get some sleep after Bella woke up at the hospital. What kind of Mom leaves her 17 year old (maybe 18) at the hospital alone? Come on Renee!
I’d also forgotten how young Jacob Black is when we first meet him. Really in this first Twilight book, it is his Dad who takes the center stage for the Black Family. As for Carlisle and his family, they are just as intriguing the second time around. I find myself with so many questions this time. My main one was why didn’t Edward and his siblings fake it through college? Have they tried? What a waste of their endless time to just keep going through high school.
Meyer weaves a story of love and danger, mixed with myth made real in Twilight. By centering this story in small town high school she sets the stage for wide swings of emotions. As Bella gets drawn into the Cullen’s world reluctantly by the family loathed to give up their secrets, the risks become palpable. Even though I already knew the big twists and turns, I was hanging on every word as Bella had to fight for her life. It has been so long since I read Twilight I had forgotten some of the details that drove the story, making me that much more engaged in the story.
Overall, no wonder Twilight is having a small resurgence. While the series became a source for mocking over the past two decades, there is a reason I so enjoyed this read the first time, and a reread twenty years later helped me remember why I’d found it so entertaining.
Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):
- What happened at the airport after Bella went missing?
- I find I keep mixing up Twilight with the story line from Discovery of Witches.
- I wonder what the internal conversations at the Cullens were like leading up to Edward giving in to his desire to be around Bella?
The Critiquing Chemist 
Oh my goodness, I remember that series. I don’t remember the story lines or characters AT ALL! I will have to check it out!
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When the initial hype was at its zenith, I checked out the audiobooks from my library and listened to all of them. I recall really liking the first installment for the first half of the novel as Bella tries to figure out who Edward is. Then, the second half comes into play and it feels like Bella subsumes much of her personality to Edward and the novel is more instalove tropes than anything else. And I checked out. But I listened to the others because I got to book two and was hours into them and wanted to see how much more Meyer could pile on in these books.
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