Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

So I read Twilight. It was a gift from Brother #3 last Christmas (along with the two other books), and I admit that I have been pretty lax with my reading habit because I've been so tired all the time from work and everything else. I used to read four books a week - that has dwindled to maybe two to three books in a year. In fact, I've started on around six books since last year and I haven't finished any of them. Which is quite sad, really.

Now, about Twilight. I didn't watch the movie because it seems so overhyped and everyone thought the main actor was so handsome and swoon-worthy when I thought he wasn't that much of a looker. I hate his eyes; he always look half-asleep. And so I didn't get around watching it since it's not as important to me as other movies were at that time.

And the book. I struggled to read past the first couple of chapters because I get really annoyed with the protagonist, Bella. God, she's such a whiny brat, I can really strangle her. But I suppose I'm judging her too harshly - she is, after all, a teenager and most teenagers have such problems. I probably was quite a whinger at her age (seventeen). But that doesn't make me like her any more, and not relating to the protagonist makes it difficult to read the whole book because you know you're not going to get any relief from herfor the next 400+ pages. There's no other point of view.

Once I got past the whole being-annoyed-at-the-protagonist stage, the book itself was pretty readable. I liked the plot even if it is terribly unoriginal (but most chick lit are pretty unoriginal anyway), it's decent brainless stuff to read if you like those kind of things. Just don't expect anything to surprise you or any new revelations or mystery or anything that will make you think. I still don't like Bella, and I cannot immerse myself into the book as I normally would due to my dislike for her, so reading it just feels like... reading it. I'm outside of the book, watching. I'm not feeling the book. I'm not lost it in, unable to put it down.

And I think that's disappointing.

It's a book for pre-teens and teens and it is written in that manner. Read it if you have nothing else more interesting to do, but honestly, I think there are other books out there that are more memorable, more interesting, more fun, more worthy of your time. I mean, Harry Potter series was originally written for children, and I think that's more engaging than Twilight.

Conclusion? Borrow it.