The Twilight Saga

Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (Official Series Site)
Genre: YA- Paranormal Romance

Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife -- between desire and danger.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

Title: Twilight
Series: Twilight, Book 1
Start & Finished: 11/10/08- 11/11/08
Published: 2005
Pages: 498 (paperback)

On June 2, 2003 a woman, not quite thirty-years-old had a dream “about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood” which inspired her to write a book that was later to be known as Twilight. Immediately recognized as a bestseller by an editor at Little, Brown and Company Publishing, this relatively unknown woman, named Stephenie Meyer who had hardly any writing experience at all was given a three-book contract. Her characters Edward and Bella finally made it into the world and they have been beloved by young adults and actual adults ever since.

"Vampires, while dark and icky, are attractive, sophisticated and intelligent. They're forever youthful, powerful—things people crave or envy," said Stephenie Meyer in an interview and I quite agree with her. Ever since I first heard about Twilight, I knew that I would like it as vampires have always been my favorite type of “monster.” However, I was still wary about reading a series that had such a huge following of mostly teenagers. J.K. Rowling on the other hand, I discovered when I was still a teenager myself a couple of years before the first movie adaptation was released so I jumped into that craze early. Once I learned that Twilight was going to get its own film adaptation I simply had to read the book first. It took me until about a week before the film was to be released but I finally did sit down and read them. Now all I can think is: what took me so long?!

There was just so much about this Twilight that I loved! I read a lot of vampire fiction yet I always find it fascinating how an author puts their own spin on the vampire legend and
Stephenie Meyer is no different… but her vampires are. They're captivating, charming, attractive, enthralling, mesmerizing, and of course interesting too. There is no bursting-into flames-in-sunlight here, instead they glitter in sunlight, don‘t sleep, are impossibly strong, and even enjoy playing baseball.

The instant I opened the book, the story and the characters simply came alive. I loved the little rainy town of Forks, Washington, loved Bella, and simply adored Edward. At its center, Twilight is simply a teenage love story- kind of like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Yet throw in some vampires, both good and bad and its little wonder that Ms. Meyer had such a major hit on her hands. Yes, the author’s religion did have a bit of an impact on the novel and true, not everyone enjoyed her story but personally, she’s created a world that I wouldn’t mind visiting again and again.

Links: Author Wikipedia, Series Wikipedia, Twilight Book Wikipedia,Twilight Wikia, List of Fan Sites,

Interview: BookPage, Cynsations, A Motley Vision,

Picture Explanations
Forest: Author's inspiration of Fork's woods
Lion and the Lamb: "And so the lion fell in love with the lamb...," he murmered.
Baseball: The Cullens can only play baseball when its raining and they really enjoy it.
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Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. The “star-crossed” lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire, and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy’s reigning royal family of vampires the Volturi.

Title: New Moon
Series: Twilight, Book 2
Start & Finished: 11/11/08- 11/12/08
Published: 2006
Pages: 563 (paperback)

Stephenie Meyer explored the world of love and vampires in her first book Twilight but in New Moon, the second book in the series, she begins to explore losing true love and werewolves. The author said she “pitched a fit” once she figured out exactly how her sequel would play out. She does reassure her readers that she isn’t crazy but that that she is “a character writer” that writes “stories because of [her] characters; they are the motivation and the reward. The difficulty with strong, defined characters, though, is that you can't make them do something that is out of character. They have to be who they are and, as a writer, they're often out of your control.”

Edward is one of these types of characters and when he decides to leave Forks behind without Bella, you truly feel her pain… or maybe the better word would be anguish. There was a bit more teenage angst than I was used to in New Moon, which was a little annoying at times, but I truly liked the direction the book took- I just wish Edward wouldn't have been gone so long. Bella’s friend Jacob Black helps keep the book from being totally depressing though since “Jacob was simply a perpetually happy person, and he carried that happiness with him like an aura, sharing it with whoever was near him. Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Jacob warmed them. It was natural, a part of who he was.”

Jacob becomes a bit more than what he was originally during the first novel, in fact because of the “cold ones” his entire tribe is changing and several members are becoming werewolves. Once Bella discovers this and stops her hysterics (“Wasn’t one myth enough for anyone, enough for a lifetime?”) he begins to help her heal the wound Edward left behind. The movie adaptation of New Moon is scheduled for release in the fall of this year and I’m thoroughly looking forward to it.

Ever since Jacob first appeared in the Twilight series, there have been strong feelings on both sides of the Edward/ Jacob camps (some do prefer to remain “Switzerland”) but while I like Jacob, I am still firmly entrenched in the Edward camp. This is a seriously dark part of the Twilight series but it’s also a very important part too. Jacob is not perfect, and actually “a bit of an underdog (no pun intended") but he’s an interesting character nonetheless. Many things happen that I did not particularly enjoy in this book but they were necessary and in the end made the story even better.

Links: New Moon Wikipedia, Real Quileute Nation, New Moon Fanpop

Interview: Entertainment Weekly, Book Stories,

Picture Explanations

LaPush: Real life place that is found in the book

Volterra: A real life small town found in Italy.

Yellow Porsche: Alice has no problem with grand theft auto...
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Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger.

In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob -- knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

Title: Eclipse
Series: Twilight, Book 3
Start & Finished: 11/13/08
Published: 2007
Pages: 629

The award-winning, bestselling, phenomenon that all started with a dream by Stephenie Meyer then known as the Twilight series, has finally reached the third part of the saga called Eclipse. This series has been translated into over twenty languages, and has established a fan following almost big enough to rival J.K. Rowling. However, instead of an epic grand adventure, the Twilight books are essentially a love story that eventually becomes a love triangle. Of course, there are many dangers that the main characters have to face throughout the books too. When your best friend is a werewolf and your boyfriend is a vampire, you know there's going to be trouble!

"Of the three novels, Eclipse was the most fun to write," said Stephenie Meyer. Too bad it wasn't the most fun to read! It was essential to the storyline, I enjoyed learning about Jasper and Rosalie's background (in their own words no less) (and I would be interested in maybe a novella that explores that more) but in my opinion, Eclipse is the least memorable of the Twilight saga despite the very cool battle at the end. I think this particular book suffered mainly because a lot of it seemed to drag by. Maybe the author was a little rushed when it came time to edit and maybe not. All I know is that I liked Twilight and New Moon a whole lot more.

However, the stories and the characters just transcend generations and I think it’s unfair to label them “young adult.” The author has pointed out on many occasions that she wrote the book for herself (with no intentions of publishing) when she was almost thirty and her story just appeals to women, young girls, and even some boys everywhere and of all ages… however, the teenage girls are still her main audience.

Stephenie Meyer even threw an Eclipse Prom at the Arizona State University as a promotion for this book, much in the spirit of the ones that Anne Rice used to throw for her vampires. Meyer’s just had a mostly younger crowd to cater to! Her books have inspired people the whole world over to write novels (and fan fiction), create music known as Twirock (similar to the Harry Potter inspired Wizard Rock), and of course read.

Links: Book Wikipedia,
Interview: Twilight Blogspot, Amazon Exclusive

Picture Explanations

Bonfire: A very necessary instrument in vampire battles

Volvo: Edward's car



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To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare, woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, she has endured a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife to reach the ultimate turning point.

Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fate of two tribes hangs.

Now Bella has made her decision, and a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating and unfathomable consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed...forever?

Title: Breaking Dawn
Series: Twilight, Book 4
Start & Finished: 11/13/08- 11/14/08
Published: 2008
Pages: 756

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga comes to a close with her fourth book Breaking Dawn ."It’s the end of Bella's story. She's not going to tell the story anymore but I don't know if I'm completely finished with the characters. There's a reason it had to end though. I think there's a natural arc to a story, if you prolong that unnaturally it doesn't read well. Its not a good story anymore," said the author soon after its release.

In my opinion, the fourth Twilight doesn't really mesh with the rest of the books. Of course, it's a logical conclusion the series and the author says she's had this ending in mind since the very beginning. I'm not even going to argue with her decisions as a good majority of the story was necessary, I just felt like this was less of a YA novel and much more adult. There was plenty to giggle over in the first two and half books but not so much with this one.

There haven’t been too many good things said about Breaking Dawn with many people in agreement that it was their least favorite book in the series and I’m afraid I have to agree. Ms. Meyers should have given the readers a little more time to process Bella’s new status but Meyers said that Bella “overcame the major obstacles in her path and fought her way to the place she wanted to be. I suppose I could try to prolong her story unnaturally, but it wouldn't be interesting enough to keep me writing. Stories need conflict, and the conflicts that are Bella-centric are resolved.”

That may be true but it still felt rushed to me and I miss the characters too. Just about everyone I know that had raved about this series the entire time it was being released was disappointed with the ending and many told me not even to waste my time with the book. Truthfully, it wasn’t that bad but I still felt oddly bereft when I had finished the story.

Links: Breaking Dawn Wikipedia, Book Fanpop, Twilight Cakes
Interviews: Borders from Twilight to Breaking Dawn

Picture Explanations

Esme's Island: Edward and Bella visit here.

Wolf: The werewolves make several important appearances.

The Twilight Saga
1. Twilight (2005)
2. New Moon (2006)
3. Eclipse (2007)
4. Breaking Dawn (2008)

~ Note: I won Breaking Dawn from J. Kaye's Book Blog. Thanks again!