"Twilight" leaves me thirsting for more vampire romance

A slow start

Vampires, werewolves, and romance — and a heap of teen angst. A couple of my friends recommended Twilight to me last fall, and one even loaned me her copy of the book. I started reading it in October, but never got very far. It seemed slow, and too “young adult fiction” for me. It didn’t grab me like the Harry Potter stories had, so I set it aside.

Remember what it felt like to be seventeen?

Well, in April, I was convinced to try it again. I made it through the relatively slow first couple of chapters, getting to know the characters, and becoming accustomed to Stephenie Meyer’s writing style. Little by little, I became emotionally attached to the main character, Bella Swan, because Meyer does an excellent job of reminding me what it felt like to be seventeen. The self-consciousness, anxiety, emotion, and will-he-notice-me-today butterflies…

Impossibly in love

As Bella became entwined in the mysterious life of her crush, Edward Cullen (an irresistibly beautiful, and dangerous vampire), so did I. By the halfway point in Twilight, I was completely hooked on the story, and I couldn’t put the book down. Once the action started, it was genuinely exciting, and it didn’t stop until the end. It was like the first half had been a long, slow ascent on a roller coaster, and the second half was the screaming fast, twisty-loopy part. As soon as I was done, I wanted to go again! So I went right out and bought New Moon, the second book.

New Moon seemed to follow the same slow-start-fast-finish pattern that Twilight had. I finished that off in about a week, and I’m waiting for my favorite Man In Brown to deliver Eclipse today. I’m completely in love with Edward, the powerful, gentle, protective, beautiful vampire. And the way Meyer describes him, it seems to make perfect sense that Bella would want to be with him forever, no matter what…

The fourth and final book, Breaking Dawn, will be released in August, and I have already pre-ordered it.

Waiting impatiently for the movie

Twilight, the movie, will be released in December 2008, and I am so excited! I can hardly wait to see the amazing story of vampires, werewolves, legend, and magic, come to life on the screen. This photo is of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who play Edward (vampire) and Bella (human). Aren’t they gorgeous?!

You have all summer to get caught up if you start reading now… Cheers!