I've heard that this book appeals to both middle-school girls and middle-aged moms. I'm neither, but I used to be a schoolgirl so I gave it a whirl and tried to get back into that adolescent frame of mind again. (It's been a few years.) Couldn't do it. Even back then, I wanted characterization and intelligence and this book offered neither. However, as a manual of "how not to write", it is extremely valuable - i.e., making your character persistently, stupidly clumsy does not give them personality. Nor does wringing the thesaurus for every synonym for "attractive" when describing your vampire hero make him good-looking. Not when his actions loudly proclaim "schizophrenic, pent-up control freak."
This book was...blah. Just...blah. It reads fast, and the only taste that lingers after a few days is the realization of all the junk filler that padded out this puppy into doorstopper size. I mean, when the motions of eating ravioli and looking at the mushrooms on the plate are painstakingly dragged out, as well as the simple motions of putting a CD into a player, it screams for an editor's red pen. It reads like something off a vanity press. But, the Sims are hugely popular and 60% of that game is, what?, making sure you sleep, eat, and shower? Thrilling.
Although for the most part it's forgettable (and the urge to read Book 2 is non-existent), one thing did linger with me. Her dad put snow chains on her truck and she didn't realize it until she got to school??? What is she?? DEAF???? It was dumb crap like that that really made it clear Meyer was writing her own personal fantasy where logic and quality need not intrude. And didn't.
This book was...blah. Just...blah. It reads fast, and the only taste that lingers after a few days is the realization of all the junk filler that padded out this puppy into doorstopper size. I mean, when the motions of eating ravioli and looking at the mushrooms on the plate are painstakingly dragged out, as well as the simple motions of putting a CD into a player, it screams for an editor's red pen. It reads like something off a vanity press. But, the Sims are hugely popular and 60% of that game is, what?, making sure you sleep, eat, and shower? Thrilling.
Although for the most part it's forgettable (and the urge to read Book 2 is non-existent), one thing did linger with me. Her dad put snow chains on her truck and she didn't realize it until she got to school??? What is she?? DEAF???? It was dumb crap like that that really made it clear Meyer was writing her own personal fantasy where logic and quality need not intrude. And didn't.
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