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?