Twilight by Stephenie MeyerMy review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book has been touted as the best supernatural romance for teens....possibly ever. It has inspired dozens (potentially hundreds) of imitators. It certainly isn't the first story of its kind. In reality there is in my mind a striking similarity between this book and Dracula. Dracula was the story of the evil vampire bent on the destruction of both the lives and virtue of two Victoria Women. One theme that ran through the novel though was the the very real obsession that Mina Harker felt toward Dracula. She knew he was bad for her and would destroy her but she couldn't turn away from him. With that as a background it could be argued that Twilight is really Dracula from Mina's perspective. Although Edward is arguably less vicious than the evil Count of Transylvania.
Additional to the homage to Dracula there was a unique tension throughout the book. Edward first avoided Bella because he recognized his great desire for her. A desire that while couched in terms of his desire for her blood, could certainly be read as a subtle substitution for his sexual desire for her. He tries to avoid her to avoid corrupting himself. All through the books this them comes back. Bella would be more than happy to give in to her desire for Edward, both intimately and by allowing him to turn her into the vampire. Edward is the one who refuses to fall, refuses to give in to the desire to harm her. This substitution of sexual desire for his desire for her blood was in evidence in the evening conversations between Bella and Edward where you could easily replace any normal boy who doesn't want to allow himself to go to far with a girl. Edward's internal but verbalized dialogue about barely being able to control himself is a dialogue easily imagined between two teens who both want to become intimate and know that they aren't ready for it.
The detail with which Stephenie Meyer describes this dynamic in a teen relationship is truly astounding.
You may notice that I recommend this to LDS Readers, that is because the author is LDS and from a trivia/interest standpoint it is fun to read authors with our same background. If you are not LDS don't let that cause you to be shy. This book has no overt (or even subtle) LDS doctrine or perspectives in it other than an aversion to depictions of intimacy before marriage and an aversion to wanton murder.
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