Saturday, May 2, 2009

*TWILIGHT* by Stephenie Meyer


In a style reminiscent of Anne Rice, Meyer brings the macabre to a small Washington town in a novel combining mystery, romance, fantasy, and sensuality. Isabella Swan has moved to her father's house in tiny Forks, Washington, a twilight town where perpetual rain and mist stand in stark contrast to her mother's home in Phoenix. Isabella is the new girl who discovers that small town life is pretty slow-paced, and small town people are pretty friendly. She settles in quickly, and finds the most intriguing thing about her new school to be the Cullen family, a group of four amazingly beautiful young people who keep to themselves in school. Edward Cullen is Isabella's lab partner, and he avoids interacting with her or even looking at her. However, when an accident almost ends her life, Isabella finds out the truth about Edward and his family, a group of benevolent vampires who have chosen the misty city so that they can blend in and live among humans without discovery. Isabella and Edward begin a courtship dance in which they are drawn closer and closer, knowing the danger of their being together. Isabella soon discovers that not all vampires are kind, and the book shifts into suspense mode with Isabella running for her life. Meyer's description of the lovers' emotions is palpable, and readers will be drawn into the couple's spiraling dance, feeling the intense longing that comes from being a hair's breadth away from the thing you want most in the world.
*****Rate 5/5. I must admit that I was extremelly hesitant to even begin this series of books about vampires, even though I love books about vampires! My heavens, I adored The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I was not finding many books to sink my teeth into and decided to pick this up and read it just because everyone raved about the series. Well, it literally 'grabs you by the throat' the very first chapter. This author has a way of snatching her reader's interest immediately. I am now looking forward to the second book "New Moon" in the series of 4. Even though each novel is around 450-500 pages, it is fast and suspenseful reading.

1 comment:

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

LOL, last month on my trip to Washington state we stopped in Forks for lunch and to fill up the gas tank. GOt to admit, I was tempted to pick this one up.