Hey, what's wrong with gothic romances? They may not be your cup of tea — honestly, they aren't mine either — but they have too long a history and are too popular to be called "something that only exists as a worthwhile genre inside Stephenie Meyer's mind," in my opinion.
Not to mention that Twilight isn't one by any classic definition of the genre.
Reviewer Response: What I was trying to get across was that Meyer has failed to echo previous works because there are no previous works in her style to echo. I'll edit it to make more sense, thanks.
Blue Penguin, I believe that the OP quite clearly mean that if it is a gothic romance that Meyer set to write, she utterly failed at it.
Made me chuckle there Harry. kudos!
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It does not deserve all the hype. It's a good series for it target audience. I didn't care for Twilight, but enjoyed the other three books. I was fascinated by the werewolf and vampire evolving relationship. That was well done. Stop fussing about Meyers stealing classic styles. All authors do that. Bella's not quite the everygirl people make her out to be. She has an Ironic voice. Where'd gothic romance come from? I see Twilight as a romance, pure and simple. The existance of vampires and Werewolfes is backgroud to the plot and characters. That said, Edward is something of a cliche'd "Handsome with a tragic backstory"
Edward is a creepy, obsessive stalker/abuser and Mary Sue Bella loves that about him. It's teaching girls that its okay to be that kind of relationship.
It's a "family unfriendly aesop" all around.
I've read the first book of Twilight, and while Meyer did capture the feeling of crushing on someone (especially the part where your IQ drops by about 50 points) I never quite got that there was any actual depth to those feelings beyond one teenager finding another teenager attractive and mysterious. From what I've read, your review was spot on.
I also enjoyed reading it to myself in a Yahtzee Crowshaw style voice. It works.
This lurker would like to thank the above poster for the mentioning of Yahtzee, because he is now imagining Yahtzee narrating the review as he reads it, which makes it absolutely hilarious and even funnier. Kudos to both of you.
(slow clap) I agree with you. I mean, don't get me wrong, I HATE the whole "women are better than men and women who act feminine should be mocked" ideaology, but Bella is a whining, mean, manipulative and still some how a moron bitch.
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Tripe.
Reading the book Twilight was an experience akin to physically eating the book Twilight. It leaves a disgusting taste that reminds you that not only does Meyer fail to achieve the genre she was intending completely, but she also used bad-tasting ink. The genre supposedly is a kind of gothic romance epic. I'd go as far as to say she's tried to emulate another story and just done it badly, but to my knowledge there isn't a gothic romance epic quite like this, so it feels like a bad emulation of something that doesn't even exist yet, which would be quite an achievement if it wasn't an absolute trial to read. She has at least tried to spew forth her ideas, and either those ideas were vomit to begin with, or they were lost while being translated to fourteen-year-old-girl.
None of the characters have realistic emotions or reactions to anything, especially the main couple. Edward is meant to come across as a grim cynic, but when compared to other vampires and his reasoning for this he appears more as a moron who wishes he understood how to act like a living being, something I believe he has in common with his author. Bella I can forgive. It is perhaps possible Meyer was intentionally making her dull and mindless to turn her into the "Everyman," a placeholder for the reader to experience her story. This was also a failure however, considering how the driving plot thread features this badly-written person.
I'm not going to complain about how the Vampire Mythos has been butchered, even though it has. Stephanie Meyer has attempted to create her own spin on them, but the unfortunate part of this equation is that she is Stephanie Meyer.
Did I mention the Purple Prose? Well, there's plenty of it, and it's not done well. If you've read Lovecraft before reading this, you'll understand the pain one feels seeing someone ruin it in the most pretentious way possible. I can put that down to Meyer not realising that the style of writing she has purloined is not the ultimate style that all writers strive for, rather an elegant strategy only those who know their stuff can pull off right.
Bottom line: Bad story, poor writing, undeserved fame.