Over the last several months, I have read the acclaimed Twilight series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn -Little, Brown Young Readers). Many of you know the story….boy meets girl…boy is a vampire, girl is a human…. girl’s friends dislike her “freaky” boyfriend, girl’s dad dislikes him even more…an impossible love story begins to unfold. The first book of the series (reviewed 10/ 27/ 08) is ripe with angst and suspicion as high school students, Bella and Edward, fall for each other and Bella begins to realize what Edward really is. Spunky and unafriad, Bella pursues Edward and they attempt a normall teenage romance. But a normal love life is impossible for Bella when her boyfriend disappears for days to “feed” (he hunts animals, because he is a vegetarian vampire), her boyfriend is faster, stronger (and older) than anyone she has ever met, and she can’t tell anyone! However, Bella isn’t the only one in town who knows Edward’s secret. Family friend, Jake, knows all about Edward and his nomadic vampire family, for Jake has a secret of his own. And this foreshadowing drew me to book 2.
Like most middle books in a series, the second and third book lost a little of the verve which made book 1 so interesting. Despite that, I enjoyed the introduction of new characters, new relationships and new other worldly phenomenons. For all those readers who swooned over Edward in the first book, you probably aren’t going to like Book 2 as he is absent for most of it. He decides it is better to leave Bella because it’s too dangerous for her. Not only could he accidentally kill her at any moment, but her knowledge of the vampire world puts her at great risk. In her months of despair after their break up, she turns to Jake, who provides a shoulder to cry on and a platonic but complicated relationship begins. Jake, member of the Quilette tribe, confides in Bella that the legend of the werewolf runs deep in his tribe. So deep in fact that he was physically transforming into a werewolf /human . He’s no “full-moon werewolf” but more of a human who transforms into a werewolf in order to fight and protect. As Bella digests this information, Edward sees a distorted vision of Bella and believes she has died. He finds his life meaningless without her and plans to get himself killed by the Volturi, vampire royalty located in Italy. When she hears about this, Bella races to Italy to save Edward. Edward and Bella reunite, leaving Jake alone. Book 3 focuses on the strained realtionship between Bella and Jake. Despite their fighting, they must all work together as an army of newborn vampires are attacking the city. The vampire family and the werewolf pack must stand together in a fight against these relentless vampires.
The fourth installment of this series is probably the best, strictly for the reason that one section is written from Jake’s perspective. Books 1-3 were from Bella’s perspective and in the fourth book, we finally get a different point of view. Edward and Bella have a child which is half human, half vampire. Their life could not have been more blissful until a vampire friend of theirs, Irina, comes to town and spots their new child. But Irina does not see a beautiful young child; she thinks she sees an “immortal child.” The creation of an “immortal child” is against vampire law, punishable only be death. Irina convinces the Volutri to pay Edward and Bella a visit. With their life on the line, Edward and Bella begin to prepare for what could be a deathly battle. The confrontation between the two parties was a little anti-climatic but the visual scene depicted by author, Stephanie Meyer, was mystical and poetic.
Although at times the plotline hitches, I still very much enjoyed reading about her magical, unpredictable characters and I was always eager to know what was going to happen next. The Twilight series is a great summer read for teeangers and adults.
