Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Aw yes, the oh so popular Twilight that we've all been hearing about!

I finally caved in after the peer-pressure of my friends and decided to give this popular series a try and see what all the fuss was about. Many of you know I'm a Christian, so the idea of reading a series on vampires didn't automatically appeal to me whatsoever, BUT I wasn't going to judge until I knew what exactly it was all about.

First of all, the book is geared towards young adults, so of course you can't expect the writing to be all spectacular and awe-inspiring. It does irritate me a bit that so many people criticize Stephenie Meyer's writing as amateur. HELLO!! It really wasn't intended for us adults in the first place people, get a grip!

Second, yes the book does center around vampires. But the interesting thing that I found, was that it wasn't about everyday people who had decided to join a cultic lifestyle and live their lives as vampires. As a matter of fact, the vampires in these stories are more mythical creatures than anything else. They are immortal beings who have been living for hundreds of years and trying to co-exist with humans peacefully by no longer partaking of human blood, but instead hunt animals. I actually thought of it as more of a fantasy/sci-fi story, like reading Lord of the Rings.

But the thing that I found the most fascinating was that the story very creatively conveys the struggle between the flesh (or soul) & the spirit. These vampires choose to deny themselves and their natural tendency to want to "sin" if you will, that they have gone so far as to set up boundaries and rules within their lifestyles in order to abstain. I know it may sound far-fetched to some of you, but I couldn't help but relate this to a Christian principle for my own life. We are all born into a sinful nature and a selfish way of living. But God gives us rules and boundaries to protect us, to live a life that doesn't harm one another but instead edifies. And yet as like the romance between Edward the vampire and Bella the human, we can flirt with sin, we can try to walk up as close to that line as possible thinking we're stronger than our natural tendencies and walk away unscathed but in reality, it will bring consequences to not only ourselves, but to those around us. There's a reason the cover of this book has an apple on the front - Bella is for Edward, the ultimate temptation.

I don't know about you all, but I was getting a lot more out of this book than just the story itself.

I very much recommend this book, I thought it was a very well crafted story and extremely easy to tear through. Shoot - I finished all 530 pages under 24 hours! You will not want to put it down once you've started! I'm definitely looking forward to reading the other three books in the series.

Those are just my two cents!!

Description: “I’D NEVER GIVEN MUCH THOUGHT TO HOW I WOULD DIE– I’d had reason enough in the last few months –but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. . . . Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of something else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.”When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret. What Bella doesn’t realize is the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And, it might be too late to turn back. . . .Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight will have readers riveted right until the very last page is turned.

Recommend: Yes, but if I had kids, I wouldn't let them read it unless they were at least 16 years or older.

Rating: ***** (to read a 530 page book in less than 24 hours, for me has to be worth 5 stars!)