Vampires, Werewolves, and Courtney......OH MY!!~

I finally convinced my girl Courtney to read the Twilight series.

Success!!! If YOU haven't read them...you're next on my list.

She finished the books....and what do you know....has a strong opinion about them. :-)

She is an incredible writer and here is her take on the series.

I've always enjoyed going against the grain a little. In my younger years, I often thought that following the popular trends was a waste of time. I found my own ways to be unique, different, odd~ and it got me nowhere. It was as if I was fighting the masses without a cause (and honestly, it's just no fun!) Every once and awhile I find myself rebelling against a certain popular phenomenon without reasoning, and I have to talk myself down off my soap box long enough to remember that there really wasn't a point to boycotting this public agenda in the first place.

Upon moving to NYC and spending hours a day on a subway I revived my love for reading, which lead me to finally give into the popular Harry Potter series. I immediately fell in love with the boy wizard and only regret not getting to the novels sooner. Harry Potter and his friends will be a huge part of my existence for the rest of my life (and yes, that includes forcing my future children to read and love them as well).

There was, however, a secret boycott going on inside my head against anything that had to do with Twilight. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I am a 26 year old female who is still morbidly afraid of vampires; or maybe the cause of my immediate hatred was the result of extreme single/loneliness. I didn't want my being lonely to result in falling head over heals in love for a fictional vampire named Edward. The last thing I needed in my life was to be lying awake dreaming of men that don't even exist. Regardless, I eventually gave in. My friend Ashley put up a very good fight in convincing me to read the Twilight series. Her main point struck me as sincerely true: "How do I know what my opinion is, if I haven't even read the books?" However, more than anything, I felt that I owed Ashley. She had read the Harry Potter books due to my begging, didn't I owe her the same effort?

There are 4 books in the series: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn; and none of the books are under 500 pages long.

I had the unique opportunity to read the books while living in Seattle, Washington (which is about 3 hours from where the books take place in Forks, WA) which definitely helped set the proper rainy mood! I tried to begin reading with an open mind, a willing heart, and here is what I found:

Also, the point of view is that of a 17 year old girl named Bella, and let's just say that I didn't particularly enjoy reading the musings of a teenager falling in love for the first time.

Although the books have somewhat of an intriguing storyline, they are drastically too long to have kept my attention. The plot that weaves in and out of the 4 books could have easily fit into 2 well written and precise books, without sacrificing any of the story.

The character of Bella is not appealing to men like Edward and Jacob are appealing to women. It's as if the author knew her story would only be marketable to women, which comes to my next point. Stephanie Myer's writing leaves much to be desired. She isn't a master storyteller like one would hope, and it's quite a shame because I do believe she had an interesting idea on her hands. It was as if the whole series was sold short of it's true potential (but that's me as an artist speaking, not as someone trying to market a 'hit'). As an author, Stephanie Myer takes a lot of 'cheap shots' to draw the reader in with her first book, and fails to find much new in the latter books to keep hold of the reader.

Edward is a brooding, sensual and intriguing gentleman who seems to be able to look past all of Bella's faults to instantly fall madly in love with her. WHAT WOMAN WOULN'DT WANT THAT? Then on the other hand you have Jacob, who is a little more immature, never wears a shirt, is constantly fighting valiantly for the love and attention of the plain and clumsy Bella. He appeals to the other half of the women that aren't (for whatever weird reason) attached to Edward. Stephanie Myer basically writes three novels of foreplay that leave women practically dreaming of vampire/werewolf men coming to their rescue;

while contintuing the hollywood tradition of creating an extremely unrealistic view of real-life love. Furthermore, Bella is a poor example to women everywhere. She's like the Sandy from Grease of our generation. She betrays everything she is, everything she was, and everyone she loves because the greek- God-looking vampire Edward is her soul mate.

There is no truth in saying that I hated these books. Overall they were decent, and at times quite page turning!

I like to think of the Twilight series as the 'Britney Spears' of books. If you like something a little provocative, extremely auto tuned, not really talented but quite enjoyable ( or brain candy as my cousin calls it), disappointing yet addicting, and a little embarrassing to admit to liking~ then the four books are certainly worth your time!

If nothing else i'm truly glad that I read them. Not only do I now understand what the differences between 'Team Edward' versus 'Team Jacob' are, but I can also say that I learned a valuble lesson in all of this. Before forming such a biased opinion about any subject, it's important to do your research. Reading a popular book series didn't kill me; I enjoyed myself, had much to talk with my girlfriends about, and now have a rightful opinion on the whole series.

P.S. For those of you who are wondering, i'm definitely 'team Jacob' :)

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Thanks Court!!!

I do love me some Twilight, but have to agree with everything Courtney said.

Especially the TEAM JACOB part.

So go on and get your Team Jacob pins ready for next week!!!~