Sparkle?

There's been NOTHING to read around the house... I had some jewelry books late at the library, so I couldn't go there to get new books. I've been rubbing my pennies together, and stacking books to turn in at the local used book store for credit...

So, I decided to find something in Beth's shelves. I found the Stephanie Meyer Twilight books.

I've read 2 and 1/2 so far. They're not as bad as I thought they'd be, but they are not as good as they should be. When so many people are raving about a series, it should be fantastic.

These books are not fantastic.

I apologize to any fans. I'm not intending to step on your toes. But if you think this is what 'real love' is all about, you are in for a world of hurt. I do not like these books promoted as the 'answer to love' for teen age girls. Cuz this is not love. It's creepy. And not the vampire bit. The vampires really aren't creepy, which is too bad. I think vampires should be kind of creepy.

The writing is mediocre. Imagine Romeo & Juliet, except the two families want the lovers together. Plus, he can read her mind. Perfection, yes?

Except there's no real drive or drama, no great characterizations. Oh, yeah. I forgot. Edward can 'sparkle'. And his eyes change color. That's characterization. Right?

And Bella's big flaw is that she doesn't believe that he could possibly ever love her. 'Cuz she's human. And clumsy.

There's a lot of over-the-top drama stuff. And over-the-top emotion stuff, which could be good. But it's not...

Love is AMAZING. I'm in love. Love can be good (again, think Romeo & Juliet), but it's just not that good. The first story gets interesting about two thirds of the way in, when the Cullen family (read 'GOOD vampires') is playing baseball (I kid you not), and three other non-Cullen (read 'BAD guys') vampires join them. They smell Bella and decide that they must have her as a light snack. And suddenly there's some action and interest.

The second one has werewolves. I LOVE werewolves. Who can go wrong with a good werewolf story??? I admit it was better than the first story, but that's just not saying much...

I'm currently in the middle of the third, which is kind of a "good-vampires meets bad-vampires meets werewolves" kind of tale. It's also better than the first, but again, that's just not saying much...