The Twilight Saga Collection by Stephenie Meyer
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Book Reviews of The Twilight Saga Collection
Book Review: Still not sure why I bought it, but I'm glad I did
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm still not sure what possessed me to buy the boxed set of the Twilight Saga over a year ago. Typically I prefer to stay out of the really popular trends in reading (especially if they cross age groups as this series did so easily) but there was just some thing about what I heard about this book-good and bad, obsessive and hateful-that interested me.
Of course I still ignored it on my shelf for a year and a half.
And then I picked it up. And I was shocked because I liked it. I really did like it.
I'm not going to waste time with plot descriptions here. Everyone knows it already. If you don't: vampires, forbidden and dangerous love. There, that's the story.
A couple of things made me love this series. First of all, the narrator (Bella) is so natural in what her voice comes off as. She changes her mind, thinks she's stupid, is insecure, admits embarrassing things to herself...she's about as close to a real person as I've ever seen a narrator get. And that makes it impossible not to want to know what happens next to her.
The same thing applies to the dialog. It's just so real! People say things they never should have said are painfully stupid and rude and cruel at times and frequently change their minds in minutes-just like in real life. There is no attempt in this series to make big, memorable dramatic moments in every conversation. They do happen, it's true, but most often the dialog comes across as so natural.
And then there's the Edward/Bella love story. There is something so sweet about a romance that isn't based at all on physical affection, but at the same time isn't sappy or demeaning to the woman involved. Romance with no pressure for more than you're ready for-romance with safety and respect and mutual friendship implied in it. It's a wonderful concept and it's not hard to see the appeal of it (even if you're not sure would would like it yourself.) Modern chivalry and (I hesitate to use this word because it denotes an opposite connotation to everything else) pure love.
And of course, there are the plots. Each of the four books in the saga has an excellent plot line which features a lot of action, adventure, romance and angst. All of these books move at breakneck speed through increasingly interesting and dangerous adventures that threaten to tear our characters apart. Once I started reading "Twilight" I couldn't put the series down until I'd finished all four books in four days. And I'm no young adult. In fact, as far as I can see the only real young adult thing about these books is no bad language and no sex scenes.
I'll never be the kind of Twilight fan who waits in line for the movies or names their pets after characters. And I don't rate these books amongst the best of all time. But these books had some amazing elements and took my mind off everything else in the world for four days. That earns them five stars.
Book Review: The Twilight Saga Collection
Summary: 5 Stars
I am, none the less, one of your newest fans and truly a young "at heart" adventurer. Needless to say after more than twenty years of hibernation I finally broke down and started reading again, of course, brought back to "life" by the new wave of vampires, werewolves and mortals (did you guess ?? that would be the Twilight series).
I was born in Bucharest, Romania and as you know Europe still has first place in romantic places, legends and lore and YES ... the vampirian Transylvania that is my birth place.
I declare, I am a loyal Borders customer but the prices sometimes are outside my 'book' budget left over after my teen 'vampires' suck me dry. But none the less they ought to make me use a time card and get on their payroll as often as I visit that store and spent more money than any woman my age should ... on youth books.
I watched the Twilight movie with my teen daughter, loved it and the sound track, and started to buy the books for my friends teens before I even read them. As skeptical as a woman my age can be about teen books, I purchased the first volume, with my coupon, allowing me a $20.00 budget and telling myself that it would not be such a bad investment if I don't like it. I can always passed it down to my "young adults".
I cracked the book open and ... it took me one week and "almost like heroin" withdrawal when I finished the first one and craved for more, wondering how could I "not like" books with such cool cover graphics that have a special meaning. All read eyed, sweaty palms and shivering from the adventure that sucked me in and left me drained of energy at the end. Had to go for a walk on the bike path and regroup my thoughts listening to the Twilight sound track and wishing that a New Moon movie open soon, very soon ...
My daughter thought I was possesed, she kept on passing my bedroom door staring at me while I was reading motionless on the covers of my bed. I barely lifted my eyes from the books and gave her an inquisitive glance. 'Mom' she said 'I didn't know you read books' ... I was a little dissapointed in myself, since my daughter is 17 and YES, she never saw me reading a book in 'her' life. I used to read four at a time but when my children came into my life ... all of my needs and wants were forgotten. So, for all the mom's out there, young at heart and tired of 'romance' books ... try teen adventure books (I also recommend The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare) it would bring new vibrations to your heart.
Book Review: Gorgeous keepsake collection of all four books in the Twilight series!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a value buy for those who are contemplating sinking their teeth [pun intended] into Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series as it not only offers all four books, i.e. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn for a great price, they all come housed in a gorgeous keepsake box. I have all four of the books in hardcover, but I purchased them individually as they were released, and am seriously contemplating getting this boxed set which I can keep as a souvenir, and then use the other books as my reading copies.
Well, for those who are new to the series, the books are in the following order:
Twilight - Bella Swan moves to a small town near Seattle called Forks and meets Edward Cullen, an enigmatic student at her high school who turns out to be a vampire and lives with his clan in a magnificent mansion. As the romance between Bella and Edward blossom, they have to face obstacles such as the physical 'constraints' of being in a mortal-vampire relationship, facing objections from their respective families, and threats from other more vicious vampires.
New Moon - Edward and Bella are parted and Bella is so heartbroken that her life becomes empty and without direction. Enter Jacob Black, the tall, dark and handsome friend from the reservation, La Push who provides Bella with not only friendship but someone she can trust and rely on during a desperate time. Of course, nothing in Bella Swan's life is ever quite so simple and complications crop up once again.
Eclipse - Edward and Bella are back together, much to the disappointment and disgust of Jacob Black, himself now an other-worldly being. Will he convince Bella that he is more worthy of her love or will Edward prevail?
Breaking Dawn - the final instalment in the series. Edward, Bella and Jacob feature prominently here, with the most pivotal question - will Bella sacrifice her mortality for an immortal life with Edward? If so, what are the repercussions?
All in all, the Twilight series makes for an interesting and fun reading experience and this beautiful boxed set for the price offered here on Amazon is definitely a keepsake for fans and new readers alike!
Book Review: Best Vampire saga out there
Summary: 5 Stars
The twilight saga is very enjoyable from every point of view -- romance, action, suspense, thrill, and horror. Even though the main character "Bella" is only 17 in the first book its easy to relate to her mature point of view. I read the first book in 24 hours, could not put it down. Meyer's does not beat around the bush about the Vampires in town and gets right down to it, I like that. Her writing is fluid and easy. You find yourself floating thru the book with out any confusion, there are only a few moments where you question the route she took, but all and all you can't help but pick up the next one. Edward the main Vampire character is so horribly likable you find yourself falling for him even though he is fictional. New Moon starts out depressing and frustrating because Edward leaves, but its great how she writes this, you yourself feel the sadness Bella feels in his absence. Its at this point that Bella develops a relationship with Jacob a Native American who lives on a near by reservation, he just happens to be a Werewolve. When Edward comes back into the picture the story makes a drastic turn and is thrilling. Eclipse puts Edward and Bella back together and develops their love all the while developing a coming battle between another clan of Vampires. The last part of this book is also nail biting excitement, not to mention the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob which is overwhelmingly aggravating in a good way. The last Book "Breaking Dawn" finally turns Bella into a Vampire, but not with out a few horrendous complications and a potential battle with one of the strongest Vampire clans there is (all the while trying to hold a treaty with the local Werewolves). I only hope Meyer writes another one. I talked 7 of my close friends into reading the first book and like me they finished all 4 -- great saga and highly enjoyable. I know most Vampire novels are heavy on the erotic and even though there is a serious Romanic relationship between Edward and Bella there is no details past heavy kissing and then fade to black, so for some of my friends (me included) that was bit frustrating:-) But its not the point of the book and the saga has a huge teen base.Book Review: I'm hooked!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read all four books in the series, so I chose to review the box-set to cover all of them.
I am definitely not someone who normally reads this genre. I typically stick to historical fiction and mystery (Patricia Cornwell, Clive Cussler, etc). However, my 11-year-old daughter (MM) had been showing interest in this stuff lately and I was asking some of my friends that have read the series about it. I was considering whether it was okay for MM to read this series. I know it's aimed toward a slightly older age, but she is definitely advanced in her reading and I was trying to figure out if her maturity level was far enough along for this. My mother ended up making the decision for me when she went out and bought her the first book, after taking her to the movie. If it hadn't been for that, I probably never would have read the books, seen the movie, or even allowed MM to read/see it based on my friends' reviews of the appriopriateness.
At any rate, over the Christmas holiday last week, I had nothing else to do, so I picked them up. OY!!! Before I even finished the first, I was just too anxious to get out the door to see the movie. After that, I couldn't put them down. This is the first series, in a long time that has left me kind of sad when I finished because there's no more to read and it's going to be painful just waiting for the next installment to come to theatres!
The vampire history/legend in the series is not too Bela Lugosi-ish, making me roll my eyes at every turn. Instead, it turns it around and explains it in a "logical" way. Yes, you do have to suspend your belief in reality just to read the books, but I did not at all find them outlandish. There was just enough of all elements in the series to keep me turning the pages - romance, mystery, suspense, drama, comedy (not slapstick, but more sarcastic - just my kind!), etc.
Also, even though it was written so that it was simple enough for younger minds to comprehend and enjoy, it was by no means "simple". I would compare it to the Harry Potter series, in that sense.
I am very happy that I read it and now have a new genre to explore!