The Twilight Saga, Books and Movies

A while back, probably at the end of October I had  nothing to do, our son was in bed, Todd was out for the night at a gig, and I had cleaned everything I could. So what should I do? I was flipping through the channels and came across FX which had just started playing Twilight, the first movie. I quickly texted my sister in California to tell her it was on so we could watch it together. She was in love with the Twilight series, and I, on the other hand, was not a fan, nor had I given it a chance. I was so bored I decided to try it out because there was NOTHING on. So for the next hour or two (with commercials) I watched Twilight. I had never read the books so I was kind of lost in some of the details of what happened, but as the movie progressed I realized I was actually getting into it, which was a surprise to me, as I was never interested in it in the first place. Once the movie ended I wanted to read the books, so I quickly went online to the library and started requesting the books, there was a wait for some of them so it was going to take me a while to get them and that meant I probably wouldn’t get them in order.

So while I waited for my requests to be filled at the library, my sister told me that there was a book or half of a book online called Midnight Sun, which was the same as the first book with the exception of it being in Edward’s, the lead male in the books, point of view. I was fascinated with it, I enjoyed it, I found myself immersed in the life of this character, I couldn’t wait to get the books so that I could read the full story since Midnight Sun abruptly ends or stops on page 264. Apparently, Stephanie Meyer, had this book leaked online back in 2008, and has since not finished the book, and feels done with the entire series, but I’ll give more to that later.

So let me give you my assessment on the first book.

Twilight:

The first book is good, kind of drags for a bit there in the beginning giving details that I couldn’t care about, but it helped add to the description/vision of the places I saw in my head. Even after seeing the movies first I had a different vision based on the description. The story if about a girl, Isabella “Bella” Marie Swan, who moves to Forks, Washington after living in Phoenix Arizona. What I like about this particular book is that the description of the emotions is FANTASTIC. When I read I feel like I am part of the book, no matter what I read, this is how I feel, so to have a book with extremely well thought out words to describe faces, eyes, as well as the emotions to those faces made the book very enjoyable to read. I could feel exactly how Bella was feeling, I could see exactly why she loves Edward.

This book is, I think the slowest of all the books though because it’s Bella coming back to Forks and everything needs to set up the scenery such as describing the school, trees, etc. It takes up a lot of time to describe all of the houses, school, people etc, but it helps us know all this information for the later books so we don’t spend our time rereading all of this info later.

Quality of book: 4/5
Easy Read: 5/5 (very easy)
Interesting to read: 5/5
Enjoyable: 4/5

New Moon:
This book is the saddest of all of the books, but it has the most raw emotion. The emotion in this book alone is so powerful, you can feel exactly how and why Bella feels the way she does. The person she loves the most has left, though she doesn’t know it, to protect her, to give her the life she should have.

It takes place with Bella’s 18th birthday.  Alice decides to throw her a birthday party, which Bella doesn’t want because she doesn’t like being the center of attention. The party is at the Cullen’s house and is all done up in Alice like fashion of course. Bella’s presents are wrapped, and all the vampires are excited to celebrate her birthday. As Bella is opening her presents she ends up getting a paper cut which sends Jasper into a frenzy toward her. Edward pushes Bella out of the way and she flies into some of the vases behind her and slices her arm. Carlisle has to stitch her up and they talk about why Edward won’t change her. Edward is clearly upset by the events of the party and doesn’t end up going to Bella’s room like he has every night since they have been together. The next day he isn’t there at school, and Bella is upset about that. Edward ends up being at her house when she gets home from school and asks to go for a walk on the path near her house. This is where he tells her that him and his family are leaving, and that she should move on with her life. Bella goes into a deep depression and heart break, she has abandonment nightmares as well. Eventually she pulls herself together and starts coming out of her depression one main reason is because she has found a trigger in herself to “see” Edward again. Anything dangerous and risky brings an apparition of him to her with Edward telling her to not do whatever it is she is trying to do. So Bella sees some motorcycles for sale that need to be fixed up so she takes them to Jacob. Bella starts hanging out with Jacob more and more, almost on a daily basis. They go out one night to the movies with Mike Newton and that is the last night when things were simple for Bella and Jacob. He ends up not calling or hanging out with her for a few weeks, finally Bella shows up at Jacob’s house and finds him outside with his shirt off and his hair cut. Eventually Bella finds out what Jacob was keeping from her, he’s a werewolf. Turns out Victoria has come back for Bella as her revenge for Edward killing James and she wants Bella to pay for it. The wolves begin protecting Bella, Jacob continues to show his affection to Bella, but she’s just not ready yet. One day after seeing Sam and a bunch of the pack (before she or Jacob knew about them) Bella decides to cliff jump so she can see Edward again, she couldn’t find the lower cliff so she jumped from the top after seeing Edward again. Bella gets swept up in the current and starts drowning. As she’s drowning she sees Edward and is with him again, but suddenly she is hot, and feels warmth it’s Jacob giving her CPR. On their way home Jacob tries to tell her again his feelings, but she isn’t ready still. As she opens her door Jacob quickly closes it and starts her truck and turns it around, because he smells a vampire. Bella then sees Carlisle’s car and gets excited and demands Jacob to take her back. Jacob thinks it’s a trap, and asks her to come with him so he can protect her, she refuses. She goes inside and turns on the light and runs into Alice, Bella is ecstatic to see her, not seeming to piece together why Alice is there. Alice is there because she saw a vision of Bella jumping off the cliff thinking she was committing suicide, which isn’t what happened. A day or so passes with Alice staying at Bella’s house and Alice talks to Charlie about how bad it actually got with Bella’s depression. He explains that she was vacant, not living, unhappy, and wouldn’t eat or drink for the first week. This is the first time we see an outsiders POV on how Bella was, and it’s also the first time that Bella realized that Charlie was more receptive to her than she thought. Then Jacob is at her house to check on her, about to lean in for a kiss, this was before Bella had decided which way she was going to go, he’s about to kiss her when the phone rings. Jacob answers the phone the person asks for Charlie, but he says that he isn’t here and that he’s planning a funeral and hangs up. He thought it was Carlisle, but it was Edward calling, which we find out when Alice rushes in and says that Rosalie told Edward why she was here and how Edward now thought she was dead. He is going to go to Italy and go ask for the Volturi to kill him. Alice and her rush out to catch a flight to Italy too so she can save him one last time. She feels that Edward was doing this out of guilt.

I won’t give more away 😉 But this book is incredible, has tones of emotions in it, tons of feelings. While this isn’t my favorite book, I can still appreciate it because I think it brings Bella and Edward closer.

Quality of book: 4/5
Easy Read: 3/5 this one was a bit more difficult to read, only because Edward wasn’t around as much.
Interesting to read: 5/5
Enjoyable: 3/5 same reason as Easy Read

Eclipse:

I love Eclipse so much because of the obvious, well duh Edward’s back!! This book I think has a lot of action since there are a lot of things going on that we, the reader, are unaware of. Although it’s quite obvious to the reader about what is going on in the background, we are plagued by Jacob’s feelings for Bella and him incessantly trying to shove it down her throat (and ours). I do get where Jacob is coming from, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe that it’s always been Edward and Bella, not Bella and Jacob. Anyways Victoria is back trying to kill Bella once again, and Bella is on probation aka grounded by Charlie for leaving for 3 days without telling him about it. Edward and Bella discuss marriage and Bella is completely opposed to the entire idea, for some reason it bothers her, which I don’t get since she loves him so much what’s the big deal? Some parts of this book make me giggle or chuckle to myself because they are kind of funny. Especially when Bella punches Jacob in the jaw, and Edward’s reaction. It’s what I expected of Edward, how I wanted him to react. I honestly can’t believe the amount of restraint he has when it comes to Jacob and Bella. While I don’t mind them being friends, since Edward knows what Jacob is thinking, I think it would be rather difficult for me knowing the other persons thoughts to let my beloved go hang out with said person. He is completely honorable and just heart melting!! I especially love the emotions that go through Bella’s head, how she wants to approach the subject of being completely with Edward, how much she loves him and him her. I especially love how Edward proposes to her, how much excitement you can see clearly on his features and in his eyes. He is so happy to be hearing her accept his proposal. So excited.

Quality of book: 5/5
Easy Read: 4/5
Interesting to read: 5/5
Enjoyable: 4/5

Breaking Dawn:

I like this book, it’s the largest of the series and has 3 “parts”, in the first section we’re reading from Bella’s POV. Bella and Edward are getting married and going on a Honeymoon. Bella is upset with how things were left with Jacob last, but she quickly closes that part of her heart and brain off so that she can enjoy her time with Edward. She is shocked and awed at how easy and how absurd her vision of marriage was. She couldn’t be happier to be with Edward. The second part of the book is in Jacob’s POV when Bella comes because from the honeymoon “sick”. He thinks that she’s turned into a vampire and wrestles with how to treat the situation how to deal with it and what he wants to do with Edward when he sees him. Jacob rushes off to see Bella, to find out what is going on, Jacob is shocked at how sick Bella does look, and even more shocked when he finds out that she is pregnant with Edward’s child. In this point of view we get to see Edward through Jacob’s eyes, and find out truly how much Edward loves Bella. Edward having to watch Bella slowly die is slowly killing him too, and Jacob notices. This book conveys so many emotions through Bella, Edward, and finally their families. This entire “problem” affects all of the familes, Bella’s family (with her parents), the Cullen’s, and the Quiluetes. Each family is affected each family has to do things to help right this “wrong”. The third part of the book is back to Bella’s POV when she becomes a vampire and how much change she goes through. How much she finally feels like she fits in, how she’s become a mother and a wife, and how she wasn’t as thirsty, or blood crazed as they once thought. Of course that isn’t the entire story, there is more, with regards to their new child, and the Volturi. So much happens with that part of the story, so much that while you’re reading the book you’re buzzed on an eternal high, you feel exactly how happy Bella is, that is until Alice leaves, then you spiral down for a bit.

Quality of book: 4/5
Easy Read: 3/5 some of it is boring, so it can become difficult to read.
Interesting to read: 4/5
Enjoyable: 4/5

Midnight Sun:
This “book” is not finished you can find it online via Stephanie Meyer’s website to read it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this “book”, I love knowing how Edward thinks, what goes through his mind, how he can hear others, how he slowly realizes that he is in love with Bella. How he has conversations, out loud and internally, wanting desperately to get Bella to realize he is dangerous, while ALSO wanting her to trust him, to even love him like he loves her. The deep emotions swirling in Edward’s mind is amazing, and captivating. I even read this “book” more than once, and then I just recently read it while re-reading Twilight at the same time. Let me tell you it’s quite interesting, in some aspects it’s nice to see that Edward and Bella have the same thoughts when it comes to their love for each other on another level though I feel like Stephanie Meyer just recycled some of what Bella said and made it be what Edward was thinking, I felt this on the surface but didn’t really truly think it. I love it, and then I abruptly had to stop reading it, not because I couldn’t take it but because it is incomplete!

Quality of book: 5/5
Easy Read: 5/5 some of it is boring, so it can become difficult to read.
Interesting to read: 5/5
Enjoyable: 5/5

My opinions:
What I dislike about Midnight Sun is the fact that it’s been what? 3-5 years since it was leaked? I feel like Stephanie is just wallowing, out of spite she isn’t finishing it because she is still butt hurt over her close friend leaking it out to the internet. That’s too bad, it happens ALL the time, with music, and movies, and bands and in general, it happens. But you don’t see those people sitting around not finishing what they started. I understand writers block believe me, this entire post has taken me well past 4 days to write, but I think she could do better, I think she should write this book, complete it finish it. I know she says she’s told Bella and Edward’s Story, but I don’t think she has, I don’t think it is finished, and I as a fan DO want more.

What I, personally, would like to see come of the books is obviously MORE. I want more, I don’t think Bella and Edward’s story is finished, I don’t think the entire thing has been told. I would like to know if Bella goes to college, how that works out for her, Edward and Renesme. I want to see if Bella still doesn’t realize how much different she is, how beautiful she is. I would love love love love to see the rest of the series in Edward’s POV, just like Midnight Sun. I want to know how much it effected Edward to leave in New Moon, how he came to this conclusion, what HE did while he was gone, how he coped. How he felt when he heard she died, how he felt when the Volturi told him no, when he saw Bella that first time again in Italy. What it felt like for him to see her again, for us the reader to hear Aro and the guard’s thoughts (in New Moon). I would love to see Edward’s POV in Eclipse as well, to see how he felt hiding the truth from Bella, how he felt when Bella ran off with Jacob, how he felt when he realized someone came to Bella’s room. When he finally realized that Victoria was after Bella. There is just so much of Edward, that I want to learn about that through Bella’s eyes we don’t get to see. I want to know how Edward felt when he married Bella, when they went on their honeymoon, when he found out she was pregnant, when he was frozen in fear what his thoughts were. When Edward worked and worked and worked on Bella to get the venom to spread to save her. All of that, so you see there is still so much more Stephanie Meyer can write about. I’m sure she’s bored of writing them, but seriously, the fans want more, the books are well written and I don’t think we’ve spent enough time exploring Bella as a vampire as well as Edward’s POV. I would also love to see Alice’s POV from Breaking Dawn, how she coped with finding the nomads, and leaving the Cullens to believe that she’d abandoned them, as well as leaving clues for Bella to find.

As a fan I would like more.

On a side note, I recently came to find out that Stephanie Meyer went to the same High School I did, (a different graduating class, mine was 06) and that Ms. Goff the Spanish teacher in the book, I believe to be my actual Spanish teacher from my high school. Same name and everything, it didn’t occur to me until I read Midnight Sun, how interesting it is to me. I had never known that she went to the same high school I did!

Movies:

Overall I love the books, more than I like the movies. While I understand that the movies can’t completely mirror the books I feel like sometimes they leave out too much important info. Naturally Bella in the book and Bella in the movies aren’t completely the same. Bella in the books is much much more emotional, much much more clutzy too and even more passionately in love with Edward.

Twilight the Movie:

In this movie it’s kind of poorly written and I attribute this to  the movie only taking 46 days to record. There are many many errors in the movie, with camera word, outfits etc. Not only that, but I watched this movie first before EVER reading the books, so I was completely lost in some parts as to why certain situations happened. The acting could have been better but I think it just comes with practice, I think if the production took longer it would have could have been a better movie. For the most part it conveys the point. I do have some interesting things in wondering, like Jasper, in this movie he is there when Bella is bleeding all over the place in the dance studio, and yet he doesn’t react. Why is this? Is his mind so focused on holding and killing James that he isn’t wanting blood? Or, wouldn’t the sense of smell trigger the same reaction as it does in New Moon, I mean there is much much more blood here? Other than that I love it the movies got me interested in the books.

New Moon the Movie:

I am starting to like this movie the more I watch it. While it is incredibly sad that Edward leaves, it has one of the best soundtracks of all the movies. The soundtracks really help me move past the no Edward factor and really helps me feel the movie. I love the emotions in this movie as well, and the actors definitely do much better than Twilight. I love the reunion in the movie, when Bella finally sees Edward under the clock tower. I just like this movie.

Eclipse the Movie:

This is one of the best movies as far as acting goes. It’s the best out of them all, has the most action and the best written. Though it doesn’t completely match the book I still enjoy it. I love the passion that is conveyed between Edward and Bella in this movie. I love how Charlie is actually kind of funny especially when he finds out that there are 2 airline tickets to Jacksonville and when he and Bella have the sex talk when he says to himself how he is starting to like Edward more.

Breaking Dawn Pt. 1:

I think this movie could have been better, while it was cool, it was very difficult to hear the wolves speaking when they were in wolf form. The music was too loud to hear what they were saying, it seemed kind of rushed, and not as great as the previous films have been. That being said I can’t wait to see pt 2 since it should spend a majority of the time on Bella as a vampire.

I would recommend the series to anyone. Even if you don’t think you’d like it, or if you think it’s too high school it is actually pretty good. I was never into it until the day I saw the movie, and I was instantly hooked. I do recommend reading the books before seeing the movies, and if you’ve only seen the movies to read the book, they are so much more detailed than the movies!!