Twilight by Stephanie Meyer | Teen Ink

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

April 7, 2009
By Claire Nguyen BRONZE, Branchburg, New Jersey
Claire Nguyen BRONZE, Branchburg, New Jersey
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

When I read Twilight, I was expecting to like it. I had only heard good things from my friends, and the plot seemed to be one that I, as a fan of Gothic literature, would like.
Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed.
Writing is something that I always notice when I read. To me, the plot barely matters; what is really important is the writing. Twilight is, to put it bluntly, poorly written. The author relies heavily on cliches, is overly descriptive, and very repetitive. It seems that every other page tells how inhumanly good looking the main character's love interest, Edward, is.
None of the characters are particularly well developed. The narrator, Bella, is neither likable nor realistic. She says that she is a loner, but by the end of her first day at a new school, she is one of the most popular girls there and at least three boys have crushes on her. She is clearly the girl that the author wanted to be in high school. Edward is not even slightly believable and is certainly very annoying. The only thing that he seems to do is complain about being a vampire and look incredibly beautiful. Bella's friends and father have no personalities at all, merely appearing now and then to make us marvel at how wonderful Bella is.
The plot is thin at best. There is no real conflict until the very end. Before then, there is only Bella swooning over Edward and attempting to sound intellectual.
As if all this were not enough, Twilight sends a very disturbing message. I am not someone who really worries about whether or not books, movies, and music have "positive themes"--as a teenager myself, I know that we are much stronger and smarter than many adults believe us to be--but Twilight, unlike, say, Harry Potter, really could be dangerous. When Bella and Edward start dating, she gives up her entire being. She stops spending time with her friends or her father, preferring to spend all her time with Edward. He controls her completely. She cannot do anything for herself. The whole concept is terribly sexist, and terribly dangerous. Twilight is aimed at teenage girls. I know, at this time in our lives, no one is really confident about anything. Girls are already crazy over their boyfriends; books like Twilight just make it worse. If young girls take Bella as a role model, or think of Edward as a perfect boyfriend, then they will be more likely to be involved in abusive relationships. Bella justifies Edward's abuse--because that is what it really is, abuse--as him trying to protect her because he loves her. How many abuse victims have done the same? How many teenage girls could easily fall into this trap? Does anyone try to glorify their situation or call it a perfect romance?


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This article has 7 comments.


on May. 4 2009 at 2:01 am
hey_itskatelyn PLATINUM, Willis, Texas
21 articles 0 photos 217 comments

Favorite Quote:
“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honour. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything”

I also think that twilight has some positive elements. One really great one is abstinence. I think teen girls need that. So while it does have some bad examples, it has its share of good ones too. I think u are being WAY harsh. But u have good writing ability.

on May. 4 2009 at 1:50 am
hey_itskatelyn PLATINUM, Willis, Texas
21 articles 0 photos 217 comments

Favorite Quote:
“God, of your goodness, give me yourself; you are enough for me, and anything less that I could ask for would not do you full honour. And if I ask anything that is less, I shall always lack something, but in you alone I have everything”

While i think u are a good writer, i dont think it necessary to bash twilight, especially the author. I dont think Stephanie Meyer intended her books to send a bad message. I think she wrote for pure entertainment, and at that, she succeeded. Her success is incredible, and undeniable. Twilight is ENTERTAINMENT. Why should it be judged more harshly than the witchcraft and fantasy of harry potter??

snc947 GOLD said...
on Apr. 25 2009 at 5:57 pm
snc947 GOLD, Swansboro, North Carolina
15 articles 10 photos 40 comments
P.S. you spelled her name wrong. It's Stephenie not Stephanie. :P

snc947 GOLD said...
on Apr. 24 2009 at 9:26 pm
snc947 GOLD, Swansboro, North Carolina
15 articles 10 photos 40 comments
Umm. . . Not trying to sound like a major Twilight fan over here but have you noticed how you diss the whole book? Where you don't even include the good things that Stephenie Meyer has written? Parts of the book are really good and all I see here that you have written is somewhat rude to all people who like books like these. And not all girls are boy crazy, actually some of my friends shudder at the thought of having a boyfriend. The whole point of reading is to go to a different place to escape reality and enjoy what that person has written. If you don't like the book, then I'm sorry you were dissapointed. Although I do agree with a few of your points. Relationships like these could get you killed. That's why they should only be allowed in fictious stories such as these. Peace.

on Apr. 17 2009 at 11:21 pm
Evelyn Wang BRONZE, Palo Alto, California
2 articles 0 photos 2 comments
"Attempting to sound intellectual". Ha ha ha, nice way of putting it. There is that scene whee Bella starts spewing pretentious, pseudo-intellectual jargon about love when discussing Wuthering Heights with Edward. Blah. Some notable, actually commendable Gothic lit authors would be Caitlin R. Kiernan, Poppy Z. Brite, and Neil Gaiman (sometimes).

clyn12 GOLD said...
on Apr. 10 2009 at 6:41 pm
clyn12 GOLD, Troy, Michigan
12 articles 1 photo 9 comments
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! Finnally someone agrees that Twilight is over-cliched, overrated, and not nearly as good as people make it seem.

on Apr. 8 2009 at 8:46 pm
goldfish682 BRONZE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 6 comments
You are a wonderful, wonderful person. In all honesty, I love the Twilight books. They were really entertaining until Breaking Dawn, which was so bad I couldn't even justify it's bad message and bad writing with "entertaining". But I'm so glad other people can see what's wrong with this series. Meyer's basically spewing out Mormon propaganda and advocating abusive relationships. Did you notice that all Bella does when she's not with Edward is cook, clean, or do homework? If you didn't before, you did now. So, thanks for having a brain in your head. =D I appreciate it. GREAT review.