Twilight

I'll say one thing about this book, it's got an incredibly shiny cover. The photo above is after I wrapped it up though, so I'm afraid you won't be able to experience its genuine and, eh, natural shine.

Spoilers are to be expected. Proceed with absolute caution.

So here I am, finished with the book that everyone's been so crazy about. And, well ... this was inevitable, but ... I'm a little disappointed. I expected a little more 'oomph', if you get me. I was thinking along the lines of all those other average fantasy novels - normal human introduced to other-worldly conditions, and the adventure that ensues.

I forgot a little that this is a love story.

The story is narrated by Bella Swan (when I first read her name, I kept confusing her with Elizabeth Swann ... heehee.), a seventeen year-old who has decided to live with he chief officer father in the wet and overcast Forks, Washington. She doesn't really want to be there, but it's better than being uprooted every time her mother's new husband, Phil, finds a new job.

The high school in Forks only has a population of 300 students - a very small number to her. Everyone pretty much knows everybody, which she expects will make her an outsider. But there's a family going to that very school who are even more out of place than she is - five of them, pale-skinned and breathtakingly beautiful. And this is where the story really starts.

Bella shares a class with Edward Cullen, the, ahem, youngest of the Cullen boys (Biology class, har har.). Their first time sitting next to each other is pretty much spoiled by Edward's incredibly angry features.

The dude was ... like really pissed off at something, that's for sure. xD

Well, months pass and that slight hiccup at their first meeting was explained later on (Bella's blood is apparently Edward's brand of heroin)... in a very long-winded info-dump, courtesy of Edward himself. I didn't like that scene. Too ... weird and dream-like, and they were both talking in weird bombastic English that made my head spin.

I just realised that I'm like, writing an essay here. Sorry everyone. xD I'll stop with the condensed book recreation. So, read the book yourself for the, uh, juicy details.

Now, first things first. Let's bring Edward up here. I'll say that I can understand the hype around this guy ... but I don't really get the attraction so many girls have to him. Could be the choice of words, the way we're always reminded that he looks like a real-life Guess advert and how he's always compared to statues.

I'm sorry, I don't find statues very attractive. It's weird. ^^;

I understand Bella with the whole klutzy thing she's got going on ... but other than that, I can't really feel the chemistry between the two. Despite the fact that they're both so ... clingy to each other.

The story itself starts off promising, but the climax came and went, and I felt strangely empty. I felt as if the climax was only there as a necessity. The characters are cut off from the actual storyline. Like passers-by in the wrong place.

And the ending? Fell a little flat on me, but was OK. The whole argument with Bella wanting to be a vampire and Edward flat-out refusing gets tedious after a while.

But if you're looking for some good epic romance complete with damsel-in-distress and fearless model-lookalike hero, Twilight's definitely for you.

I'm debating whether or not to read the second book ... because despite everything, my curiousity's been poked at, and I really want to know what happens to the both of them in the end. :)

Sara-who-now-needs-to-draw-to-get-the-book-out-of-her-system