The Twilight Saga (novels, not movies)

Well, I figured since half the discussion in the two movie review threads are actually about the books, somebody might as well make a thread to discuss them.
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I'll start by saying that I first read Twilight during the time where it was starting to get popular, but wasn't a household name. And such is the madness of the series that I actually really liked it. The poor writing (especially the cringeworthy descriptions of Edward's "perfection", the mostly unlikeable characters, the basically non-existent story-line: none of these mattered.

But eventually, I escaped from Meyer's clutches with most of my sanity intact.

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So, anyone who's a lover or a hater, c'mon in and discuss. How did you hear about the series first? Have a favorite or least favorite book? Favorite and least favorite characters? Do you think the movies were good adaptions? And so on.

 

Eh, spoilers, since I forgot to mention 'em in the title of the thread.

What really irked me was the incredibly easy time she has as a newborn vampire. Newborn vampires in this series (and in general, it seems) are supposed to pretty much only care about satisying their thirst. But freaking Bella is able to stop mid-hunt after she smells some humans and run away in the opposite direction. What the hell? Then she's able to sit in a room with Charlie with very little discomfort. In the name of realism, there should've been some human slaughter in there somewhere. v_v And I could pass this off as her special talent if she didn't already have one (which, by the way, is WAY too powerful. More evidence of the Sueness).

Then comes the demon that destroyed any potential Breaking Dawn had, Renesmee. Really, this child is the creepiest thing I have ever heard of. Not to mention, how the hell is it possible for a vamp to impregnate a human, anyhow? Meyer's reasoning is pretty stupid.

It's not even about the lack of big words for me, it was the overall structure and the "feel" of the writing. It read like a mediocre (at best) fanfic. Not to mention, Meyer uses the same freakin' adjectives (particularly when describing Edward) repeatedly. It got annoying really quickly for me.

This is what happened to me. What annoys me is that none of these fangirls have good reasons for liking the books. It's usually something along the lines of "OMG! Edward (or insert any other Twilight male here) is SOOO hot!!!" It's not, "Meyer really knows how to tell a compelling story" or "Bella is really a character I can relate to", or anything remotely intelligent.

 

Apparently, some venomous fluid took the place of blood, and every other bodily fluid, and still retains characteristics of the original, and that's how Edward was able to get Bella pregnant, according to the word of Meyer. It's idiotic, not only for the fact that she was asked point blank before BD if vampires could have babies and she said no.

 

It gets on my nerves when people try to compare Twilight and Harry Potter (by saying Twilight is as good or better). HP is well written, with likable characters who develop throughout the story. Twilight is not nearly as polished and the characters are not intriguing, and it feels like much less thought was put into the plot.

Though, the final books of both series were rather disappointing. So they have that in common. v_v

I thought the first one was good at the time, but after going home and thinking about it, it really wasn't that great. I still haven't seen the second one. I will say that the first one wasn't a bad book-to-movie adaptation. The problem was that the book it was based on was none too special to begin with, so the movie never really had a chance.

 

Hell, no. Spoilers down below.

The end of the Twilight Saga is the most anti-climactic bullshit ever. There are chapters of build-up to a dramatic, final fight that would have the potential to wipe out the Volturi and the Cullen clan (and their allies), and the freaking characters just end up calmly discussing the situation instead of kicking ass.

I seriously wanted to hurl my book across the room in rage and disappointment.

Off topic, sort of, but it didn't bug me necessarily that people died in HP 7, it was the randomness of it. Beloved (by some, anyway) characters were killed offscreen with hardly a mention, and characters like Hedwig and Dobby seemed to have no good reason for their deaths. Yes, death is like that, but still. HP 7 felt to me like one huge fanfic- not a terribly written one, but a fanfic all the same. I was not pleased with it.

 

See, with the exception of most of New Moon, I would never say that the books are boring. They have a quality where they just sort of suck you in and make you want to see them through to the very end, whether you like it or not. The main problem for me wasn't a lack of action, it was the unlikablilty of almost all of the main characters. Charlie, Carlisle, and Alice were about the only ones I could stand.

 

^ As long as the post starts a discussion, I don't see why it wouldn't be safe, even if it were over the two month line.

And lol, I read that yesterday. Twilight fangirls are just a scary bunch. It's hard to believe some people are so ignorant.

What's just as disturbing is one of the comments that refers to Taylor Lautner as "Taycob". Wow. That kid will never land any good roles if people start refering to him as a hybrid with Jacob Black.