Twilight Saga Mania

Stephenie Meyer’s life changed dramatically on June 2, 2003.

The stay-at-home mother of three young sons woke-up from a dream featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head.  “Though I had a million things to do (i.e. making breakfast for hungry children, dressing and changing the diapers of said children, finding the swimsuits that no one ever puts away in the right place), I stayed in bed, thinking about the dream. Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the back burner and sat down at the computer to write—something I hadn’t done in so long that I wondered why I was bothering.”  Meyer invented the plot during the day through swim lessons and potty training, then writing it out late at night when the house was quiet.  Three months later she finished her first novel, Twilight.

Twilight was one of 2005’s most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list.  Among its many accolades, Twilight was named an “ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults,” an Amazon.com “Best Book of the Decade&So Far”, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.  The movie version of Twilight was released by Summit Entertainment nationwide on November 21, 2008, starring Kristen Stewart (“Into The Wild”) and Robert Pattinson (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”).

The highly-anticipated sequel, New Moon, was released in September 2006 and spent 31 weeks at the #1 position on The New York Times bestseller list.  Eclipse, the third book in Meyer’s Twilight saga, was released on August 7, 2007 and sold 150,000 copies its first day on-sale.  The book debuted at #1 bestseller lists across the country, including USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.   The fourth and final book in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, was published on August 2, 2008, with a first printing of 3.2 million copies – the largest first printing in the publisher’s history.   Breaking Dawn sold 1.3 million copies its first day on-sale rocketing the title to #1 on bestseller lists nationwide.

Meyer’s highly-anticipated debut for novel adults, The Host, was released by Little, Brown and Company in May 2008 and debuted at #1 on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

Stephenie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English Literature.  She lives in Arizona with her husband and sons.

This is the fourth and final book in the Twilight Saga.

A lot of people seem to be unhappy with it, according to the reviews on Amazon – yet half of the reviewers still gave the book five stars.

One reviewer wrote, “People…it is a fairy tale….it’s about werewolves and vampires…things that go bump in the night. It is not meant to be realistic. It is not meant to convey some deep, meaningful message. It is a STORY…meant to entertain and thrill. It did just that for me. I get so wrapped up in Bella and Edward and their lives that I can’t put the book down. And now that it’s over and I have moved onto my next book, I keep wishing it was still Bella and Edward I was reading about.”

So if you’re a Twilight fan, and like happy endings, go for it!

What did YOU think about Breaking Dawn? Please leave a comment and let us know!

The legions of readers who are hooked on the romantic struggles of Bella and the vampire Edward will ecstatically devour this third installment of the story begun in Twilight, but it’s unlikely to win over any newcomers.

Jake, the werewolf met in New Moon, pursues Bella with renewed vigilance. However, when repercussions from an episode in Twilight place Bella in the mortal danger that series fans have come to expect, Jake and Edward forge an uneasy alliance.

The plot patterns have begun to show here, but Meyer’s other strengths remain intact. The supernatural elements accentuate the ordinary human dramas of growing up. Jake and Edward’s competition for Bella feels particularly authentic, especially in their apparent desire to best each other as much as to win Bella.

Once again the author presents teenage love as an almost inhuman force: “[He] would have been my soul mate still,” says Bella, “if his claim had not been overshadowed by something stronger, something so strong that it could not exist in a rational world.”

- Publishers Weekly

What did YOU think about Eclipse? Please leave a comment and let us know!

“Which is tempting you more, my blood or my body?”

Things are heating up between Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, in this sequel to the immensely popular Twilight (2005).

Then Bella is injured at her birthday party, and the Cullens’ reaction to her blood sends Edward’s family packing.

Bella is inconsolable until she discovers that reckless behavior allows her to hear Edward’s warning voice in her head. To keep him close, she decides to live as dangerously as possible, acquiring two motorcycles and developing a close friendship with Jacob, who helps her rebuild them.

Romantics will miss Edward’s presence, but the suspense created by a pack of werewolves bent on protecting Bella from a vindictive vampire will keep them occupied until the lovers can be reunited.

The writing is a bit melodramatic, but readers won’t care. Bella’s dismay at being ordinary (after all, she’s only human) will strike a chord even among girls who have no desire to be immortal, and like the vampires who watch Bella bleed with “fevered eyes”, teens will relish this new adventure and hunger for more.

- Booklist

What did YOU think about New Moon? Please leave a comment and let us know!

When Bella Swan moves from sunny Phoenix to Forks, Washington, a damp and dreary town known for the most rainfall in the United States, to live with her dad, she isn’t expecting to like it. But the level of hostility displayed by her standoffish high school biology lab partner, Edward Cullen, surprises her.

After several strange interactions, his preternatural beauty, strength, and speed have her intrigued. Edward is just as fascinated with Bella, and their attraction to one another grows.

As Bella discovers more about Edwards nature and his family, she is thrown headlong into a dangerous adventure that has her making a desperate sacrifice to save her one true love.

One of the more original vampire constructs around, this is Stephenie Meyers debut novel. It is the infinitely romantic tale of star-crossed lovers and resonates with a bittersweet edge.

Although Edward and Bellas romance and subsequent danger develops slowly, the pacing is appropriate for teens who want learn all the details in this suspenseful tale.

What did YOU think of Twilight? Please leave a comment and let us know!