As readers of my blog have noticed, I’ve been on a YA dystopian binge but I figured I should also pay tribute to one of the books that forever changed the landscape of the YA and vampire genres- Twilight.

Yep, I never read the books though with its renowned popularity, I have a good grasp of the plot. I also saw the last movie mainly for the vampire vs werewolf fight which was epic.

So to quickly sum it up, the book is vaguely inspired by Wuthering Heights and centers around new girl, Bella Swan who despairs of the monotony and boredom that is living in Forks, WA until she sees the inhumanly beautiful Edward Cullen. Gorgeous and annoyingly moody, Edward warns Bella that he’s dangerous but can’t stay away from her. Soon his big (yet clearly obvious) secret is revealed, Edward and his family are vampires and soon Bella is thrown into danger.

Now Twilight has its fair share of lovers and haters, and I’ll admit I was swayed more by its detractors that Bella was a weak heroine, Edward is toxic, the plot drags on so I hadn’t bothered reading it till now. Plus I was just being contrary with how overhyped it was that it made me want to see it less, you know.

Anyway, some of that criticism feels a bit exaggerated. Bella does have some personality, being a reader who enjoys Pride and Prejudice, she cares a lot for her parents even if she doesn’t show it that much, she tries to fight back when Edward is being pushy and aggressive, has some funny sarcastic moments and is independent even if it veers into lack of self-preservation. Though I do see a bit of the “chosen one” trope with Bella being the only one whom Edward can’t mind-read. I honestly believe if she wasn’t, Edward wouldn’t have held back from eating her or being intrigued enough to fall in love.

Edward is. . . I can see the criticism as his mood swings are super annoying and he can whine about his “monsterous form” so much. I mean seriously, he glows in the sun, its not horrifying. His predatory abilities are but again, Bella has no sense of self-preservation so the only thing in the way of their love is his own angst. The man (or boy I suppose with the eternal seventeen) has had decades to accept being a vampire, why hasn’t he accepted it yet?

As for the other characters, they’re pretty one-dimensional as Edward’s good vampire family, Bella’s superficial classmates, and Bella’s kind parents. Though Alice, Emmet, Jacob and Charlie have quickly rose to being my favorites.

Now I’ll admit, if it weren’t for the fact I knew the vampire twist, I wouldn’t have kept reading the beginning. The first two hundred pages really drag on as Meyer is committed to depicting each and every mundanity of mortal life in a small town. I could feel time creep by and like I said, Edward’s mood swings annoyed me so I wouldn’t have stuck around if he was a regular mortal guy. It is only when Meyer moves past the dance around Edward’s secret and starts delivering vampire lore that the plot begins to pick up and I was fully invested in Bella’s escape from James and Victoria.

I actually liked James as a clever and menancingly friendly antagonist and wished he had appeared for most of the book to give Twilight some excitment as he had delivered in the climax.

I can understand why Twilight intrigued readers and introduced a new way of viewing vampires, but I sincerely hope the next book picks up the action. Bella was right in that the vampires are more interesting than the humans (so much so that I really don’t see why Edward would be interested in Bella who is a burden with how fragile she is compared to their superhuman strength) and I hope the rest of the books focus on them. I also hope Meyer isn’t trying to treat the werewolf pack as a big secret as the vampires because it’s obvious. It’s really obvious.

Life and Death was the 10th anniversary special where Meyer reverses everyone’s genders. As such, a lot of it is copying and pasting from the original novel with minor tweaks and one big plot twist that was surprisingly moving to me.

She did this novel partly to push back against critics that said Bella was a weak female protagonist, arguing it wasn’t because she was female but because she was mortal among humans. I understand her arguements and I can see what she’s trying to accomplish and in doing so, brought some interesting points. With Beau and Edyth, they act in the same way as Bella and Edward but their relationship does feel less toxic and overdramatic than the original.

When Bella faints and constantly trips over her feet, it’s anoying but when Beau does so, it was adorkable and charmng. For some reason, I kept picturing him as Milo Thatch from the Atlantis movie. Edyth in turn seems less threatening which can be contributed to how Beau muses that her deceptive small size, and goddess-looks make it hard to believe that she could hurt him like a vicious animal. More like a femme fatal but still. It brings about some interesting thoughts on how readers and critics hold female characters to a higher standard to be representative of everything while also underestimated in their capabilities of heinousness.

Just some food for thought about how the addition of gender changes perception and contexts in relationships.