Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" Series Book Review

I have recently just finished Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” young adult series of books about a teenage girl “Isabella” and a forever teenage vampire boy “Edward” and stamped it “NOT for anyone under 17”. You might be asking, why I am reading books geared for teens. Because I have two daughters, one is thirteen and an avid reader of just about anything she can get her hands on. Specifically she prefers fantasy and mythological fiction. But I am a parent who insists on reading anything and everything that might even slightly be considered controversial before the books end up in my children’s hands.

So after hearing the hoopla about the final book in this series that is taking teens by storm (or so the reports said), I set out to see what the stir was. If you do not want to know what is in these books, stop reading now.
The first book in the series is called “Twilight”. In this book we are introduced to Isabella who moves to live with her father in Washington State. As soon as vampire Edward lays eyes on her he has to fight off the almost overpowering urge to drink her blood and kill her. Of course Isabella doesn’t know this, but she’s a smart cookie and begins to put things together and finally figures out he’s a vampire, but she doesn’t care because she has already fallen for his pale flawless good looks. Edward can’t seem to stay away from her either even though he puts up a few verbal protests and warns her about him not being safe. She learns that Edward and his coven (family) have learned to live with people by drinking the blood of animals in the woods and not humans. This accounts for the vampires all having golden eyes, instead of the blood red of the other vampires who drink human blood. Edward isn’t like most vampires, he has an added gift of being able to read every ones mind- everyone but Isabella, which causes him much frustration. But not to worry, when he can’t locate her with his mind, he can sniff her out because her scent is so strong and desirable to him. Because Edward is a vampire he never sleeps. Instead he sneaks into Isabella’s bedroom each night to lay in bed with her and watch her sleep. Isabella wants to have an intimate relationship with Edward, but he refuses telling her he could kill her if he did because of the immense strength vampires have and how fragile humans are against them. Isabella also wants Edward to make her a vampire, but he refuses. He wants her to have a human life and experience all the things he never got to. This battle of wills goes on through all the books in the series (‘Twilight’, ‘New Moon’, ‘Eclipse’ and ‘Breaking Dawn’).
In the second book of the series ‘New Moon’, Edward is so worried about killing Isabella or her being killed because of him, that he dumps her and leaves the area so she can’t find him. This sends her spiraling into a very deep depression that lasts for months. At her father’s insistence she strengthens a friendship with Jacob, a family friend who ends up falling in love with Isabella. The problem with Jacob is, he’s a werewolf and Isabella figures it out (in the last book, we are told he’s not a werewolf but a shape-shifter). Can she pick them or what?
The next two books in the series “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn” are the most graphic and offensive of the four in my opinion. Here we find Isabella constantly after Edward for sex and to turn her into a vampire. He finally says he will turn her into a vampire, but not yet. Not till she’s older and has lived as a human more. She doesn’t accept this and tries to get another vampire to turn her. While this is happening there are other ‘bad’ vampires whom Edward and his coven have to deal with, along with Jacob the Wolf and his pack of wolf friends who are the enemies of vampires and protectors of humans. In the final book, vampire Edward marries human Isabella and they finally have vampire/human sex. Edward’s strength doesn’t kill her but she is roughed up during the honeymoon. She very quickly ends up pregnant with a mutant hybrid vampire/human baby that is growing at a rapid pace inside her and slowly killing her. The monster baby is killing Isabella slowly and painfully, while Edward is frantic to get rid of it- he wants it aborted. She refuses. Edward even goes so far as to go to Jacob, his jealous rival and ask Jacob if he will father a new child with Edward’s wife Isabella and talk her out of giving birth to the monster vampire/human baby. He will do anything to keep Isabella alive, even if it means giving his wife to someone else to father a child with. This doesn’t happen because Isabella begins to drink blood even though she’s still a human, but this satisfies the monster baby and helps Isabella regain some of her strength. The moment of the child’s birth, is graphic and horrid, it’s also the moment Isabella dies and Edward injects her with his vampire venom to turn her into a vampire. Isabella is now an undead and thirsty for blood. She has to be kept away from her part human baby because she could go into a blood thirsty feeding frenzy and kill it.
Of course there is much more to this four book series, but let me warn parents out there, PLEASE read this before you hand it over to your child to read. This has a lot of intense sexual situations, killing, blood and graphic scenes that in my opinion are not appropriate for young teens. The first book is the mildest of the four; each subsequent book grows more graphic. So be warned and know what your kids are reading.

Updated Second Review: Connecticut Catholic Corner: More on "Twilight"