Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

Amazon.com Review:
The book that started the phenomenon is now available in a deluxe collector's edition! Featuring a ribbon bookmark, cloth cover, ragged edges, new chapter opener designs, and a beautiful protective slipcase, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike. Bella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Bella, the person Edward holds most dear. Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

a true fan:
Twilight is about a young girl who we can all identify with, she is clumsy, doesnt think she is pretty, shes smart but tends to keep that to herself, shes terrible in sports. bella moves to a rainy damp place called forks to live with her dad and to finish high school, her dad and mom divorced whenshe was small and she is used to arizona, not the great north west and the near constant rain. her dad buys her an ugly old clunker of a truck, that back fires as she pulls up to the school. she sees these kids who are pale, and have unusual eyes and drive really cool cars, in the lunch room, they buy food but never eat it. one of them catches her eye, its edward, the veggie vampire, actually , he eats or drinks rather the blood of deer, bear, elk, bear and mountain lion. his eyes are topaz when hes full and black when hes hungry and they were red during the ten years that he did feed on humans, even then he picked on murderes, rapists and robbers, before returning to his creator/father and deciding to feed on animals only. he has done well but when bella shows up, shes like a demon to him, sent to test him, he tells her later that she is like a drug to him. her scent is stronger than anything he ever encountered before or even dreamed about, if he could in fact sleep or dream. in class he stops breathing so he wont kill her. he tells himself to stay away from her, he even tries to get out of the classes that they share.later he tries to be civil to her but he tells her that they shouldnt be friends. but he cant stay away from her and the bond is sealed when he saved her from certain death, then from rape, he is frustrated that he cant touch her for fear of losing control and killing her and he cant read her mind, he can read everyone elses but not hers. he even tells her that hes never tried to keep any one person alive before and that it was harder than he thought it would be, that she seemed to attract trouble. later bella realizes that edward is a vampire, he shows herwhat his skin look like in the sunlight, like diamonds. but she tells him, much to his disbelief that she is not afriad of him, that she knows he wont hurt her. he tells her that his eyes, voice, skin, breath are designed to draw her in, to be his victim and even if she was afraid and ran away , like he kept expecting her to do, he tells her, you cant fight me, you can out run me. thats why im so dangerous. they start spending as much time together as possible, he even stays in her room at night and watches her sleep, she talks in her sleep, so he is stunned to hear her talk about him. then she wakes up and hes really there and he stays and talks to her until she falls asleep and he still stays there. she meets his family, they are all non related vampires from different decades. all like bella except rose and jasper. rose is jealous of her because rose wants to be human,not a vampire and she is mad that edward wants bella and not her and jasper is still weak for human blood. alice can see the future, jasper affects moods, emmett and just strong and he was saved by rose from a bear attack,esme is dr.cullen wife and dr.cullen is no longer botherd by blood, in face he works in a hospital. they decide to have bella come watch them play baseball. they only play when there is a thunderstorm to cover the sound of them hitting the ball so hard. but they attract the attention of three murderous vampires and the tracker in the group decides he wants to hunt down bella. so they hide her, but the tracker tricks her into meet him, he breaks bellas leg and films it,she gets her femoral artery cut in the ensuing fight. he wants to fight edward next, and james bites her, edward has to kill james, and then draw out the venom or let her turn, he doesnt want her to lose her human self but hes afriad he wont be able to stop and that he will kill her. but he is able to stop. they make up a story to cover her injuries. edward tells her that he will stay with her as long as it is best for her.... to be continued in the next book.

Read more than 1 review before you buy this!:
Book 1 in the Twilight Series. There have been a lot of extreme views stated about this book and the rest of the series. I think to some extent Ms Meyer got into trouble when this series became so very popular as it always brings out the critics. Some people love this series, some hate it. Don't just read one review and get put off as there have been some very negative comments made about this series, not all of which are true by a long shot. What is true is that this is a series about the lighter side of the paranormal world - there are vampires and werewolves and some special abilities. Reading this does NOT mean that you belive in any of this, but it shows you have an active imagination that can rise to new heights whilst recognising some of the feelings and thoughts of a teenager. The book deals with a lot of teenage problems - fitting in at a new school, romance, first date, the prom, dealing with a parental divorce etc. If reading a book with that material in puts you off then you probably want to avoid most teenage/young adult literature written nowadays. Ms Meyer has been described as the next JK Rowling (author of the Harry Potter books). She is in that she has tackled books for young adults, she has approached a topic in a new way, talks about real life and writes long books. She is not the next JK Rowling in that her writing is of a longer style, she explores the feelings and thoughts of her characters extensively rather than pushing forward with the action of the book. I am a fan of these books. I enjoy the paranormal fantasy - the idea that vampires and werewolves can exist alongside us in our reality without being known. I love the idea that the people from the reserve have inherited such potential. I enjoyed the wide variety of possible vampires (detailed when Bella does her initial research on cold ones). I own all 4 books and have reread them several times. However, I have not recommended them to members of my family who are more sensitive to such issues as stated above. I have also not recommended them to my friends who just enjoy reading a fast easy paced book. Ms Meyer does make you work a little bit - sometimes the described feelings can overwhelm you or encourage you to read ahead. BUT I still love them. The film does not do the book justice although they have tried their best. Read the book first and be aware that it is a series so not everything is going to be answered at the end of book 1. Try it and see. Remember that not everybody shares the same tastes and that Ms Meyer has explored her view of this fantasy world here - if you don't like it then why not explore your own view.

Loved it!:
Alright. I was given this book. I was skeptical. I did not expect to like it. Well, to my slight embarrassment - I LOVED it! Sure, it's teens in love - but this a VAMPIRE and a teen in love! At times I felt silly at how much I enjoyed the syrupy sweet sentiments and over-the-top emotions. But not everything you read has to be WAR & PEACE. No, this book won't change your life but it will give you something fun to read (and now that it's paperback) for a very reasonable price. And yes, I have already ordered the 2nd book in the series. Live a little and add some Twilight to your life.

I loved this book:
So I am not into Vampire books or movies and so didn't read this book until after I saw the movie. I loved it soo much...I read all 4 of the books in a week and I read the first 12 chapters of Midnight Sun. I love Edward Cullen. If you like love stories, then you have to read Twilight.

Bad writing, so why can't I put it down?:
Okay - I am picky about good writing, and this is not it. But somehow, it's a real page turner. I read this because I have a 13yo son, and all the kids are talking about the books and reading them. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did! The storyline is very teenage-angst. But it's fun for this mom to imagine myself as Bella. Too bad there was no cute vampire admiring my awkwardness back in the day.