Thoughts on New Moon and the Twilight Phenomenon

I’m going to attempt to keep any spoilers out of this because I’m the kind of person who likes to experience a story without anyone else’s opinions. But I just felt like weighing in on the whole Twilight rage with my own random, ridiculous perspective on life.

I want to start by saying that I like the Twilight books.

I didn’t think I would because I’m not a romantic type of person–not really. Maybe somewhere deep down inside I am, but generally speaking I don’t like fluff and mush. The first person who told me to read them was one of the students I used to work with (she’s in college now . . . yikes . . . ), and my first thought was, “Yeah, right. I’m going to read a vampire romance novel. No way.”

But then, the second person who told me I needed to read them was a coworker who loves action movies, comedies, and other things. So I thought, “Well, maybe there’s something to it.”

So I read Twilight, and I fell in love with it. Fortunately for me, New Moon and Eclipse were both already out, and it was jut a short wait before Breaking Dawn was released.

I’m not going to spend any time defending why I think they’re good books because I know too many people who either, a) love them already, b) dislike them for their own reasons, or c) hate them even though they’ve never read them. I like them because they’re a beautiful picture of what sacrificial love in a relationship looks like–loving someone else more than yourself.

I’m not posting this to start a discussion. I’m just putting this out because I enjoy the stories, the characters, and the world that Stephenie Meyer has created.

Maybe I’m also posting it to make myself feel better for so thoroughly enjoying something girly. . . . even though it’s about the most non-girly girly series out there (that’s probably a post for another time . . . wondering why I feel guilty for enjoying romantic stories . . .)

In any case, it’s all good. I really liked New Moon the movie (there were a few issues I don’t think they handled as well as they could have, but overall, they did a wonderful job). It was my least favorite book out of the series, but it was still brilliant becuase it really demonstrated the flaws and weaknesses in all the characters (as well as the reprecussions of what can happen to your heart when you make your whole happiness dependant on another person).

But that’s just my opinion. You’re free to agree or disagree . . . or to make fun of me if you like. =)