I know what you're thinking, "Come on, another one?!?!"
Yes, it is another one--but this time it is in the Christian perspective, and is going to be shown from all angles.
Quote: "Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something."
Summery: Bella leaves warm, sunny Arizona to go live with her dad (Charlie) in Forks, Washington, so that her mom (Renee) can travel with her minor-league husband to his baseball games. Bella's open to it, but. . .
She's entering the eleventh grade and doesn't know anyone.
She likes hot, dry, weather--not the cold and rain of Forks.
To be honest, she feels really awkward around her dad. But she doesn't lose hope. No, instead, she went to school, made friends. . .and saw something mysterious.
The Cullen Clan. The five beautiful, pale "teenagers", the foster children of Carlisle, a doctor, and his wife that has the whole high school in wonder: Emmet and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice, and Edward.
Bella notices that Edward is the only one without a mate, and whether she wants to admit it or not, she wants to be the solution to that. She can't stop staring at him; she also can't get over his attributes: his extreme intelligence, strength and speed, but she doesn't know how she feels about the way he loks at her. . .it's as if he's holding something back. She begins to dream about him, to have feelings for him.
Especially after he stops a car from crashing into her.
A normal girl would be enchanted over a handsome guy saving her life and leave it at that, no questions asked--but Bella wasn't ever normal. She noticed that when Edward was on the other side of the school parking lot only seconds before the crash, and the huge dent Edward's hand had left on the van that came centimeters away from killing her. With the help of Jacob, a fifteen year old, she figures out the truth.
Edward, and his family, are vampires.
It turns out that the reason for his behavior around her was due to the fact that he is hungry. . .for her blood. Apparently the Cullens are "vegetarians", they drink animal blood as opposed to sucking the life out of humans.
They start seeing each other, sometimes even sneaking out of school to do it.Then Edward meets Charlie, and asks him if he can take Bella to play baseball with his family. Charlie laughs do to Bella's poor athletic abilities, and allows her to go with him. Bella basically just sits and watches with amazement, filled with awe over their insane skills. Things went great. . .Until they showed up.
James, his mate Victoria, and their friend Laraunt step onto the field. Like the Cullens, they were vampires; unlike the Cullens, they weren't vegetarians. Soon enough they detected that Bella wasn't one of them, and though Victoria and Laraunt were willing to let it go, James was a tracker.
Laraunt warned the Cullens that night that James and Victoria would begin hunting down Bella immediately. Edward makes Bella get into a big fight with Charlie, saying the same things that Renee had said when she left all those years ago.
That got Charlie to let her go.
Bella then goes to Arizona with Jasper and Alice.
Don't worry, I won't give away the ending for all of you who are currently reading it/about to read it.
Violence/Romance: In the first half of the book, Bella gets stalked down a street by rapists, and gets saved by Edward at the last second. Just because the stalkers intentions did happen doesn't mean that part is completely clean. There's a lot of violence, especially in the second half of the book. Someone, I won't give it away, gets burned alive towards the end of the book. There's also a lot of romance, although this book probably has the least of it out of the whole series. There's many kissing scenes, and Bella is willing to give up everything, purity included, for Edward. Fortunately, Edward sets standards.
Spirituality: Both Bella and her parents come across as not being Christians. Them going to Church isn't mentioned. Bella seems to not care about religion one way or another. Charlie spends Sunday's fishing, and it is says that Renee tried church for a couple weeks, but, like everything else, got side tracked and moved onto something else. The only Cullen that seems to be a devout Christian is Carlisle. There are a handful of d--n's and d----t's in the book, and I'm pretty sure I can remember some H--l's and uses of the Lord's name in vain. I believe it must be mentioned that Stephenie Meyer is a mormon.
What I liked: I must admit that SM is an excellent writer. Her descriptions are flawless, and she truly gets you to fall in love with the characters. I enjoyed Carlisle's references to Christianity, and I like Edward's integrity. Charlie comes across as a pretty good dad, not like the not-so-involved dads that pollute today's TV and books. Bella and many of the other characters genuinely care about those around them.
What I didn't like: Obviously SM's mormonism bothers me, and if I knew that before I read Twilight I wouldn't have ever picked it up. I'm not fond of Bella's. . .oh, how shall I say this?. . ."willingness", not only to give up her purity but also to become a vampire--she doesn't care that she would hardly be able to see her friends and family, not in the least. I suppose to some that may seem "incredibly romantic", but it's also selfish and irresponsible. To be honest, Twilight is a little cheesy and predictable. Bella calls her father Charlie half the time, and there were many meetings between Bella and Edward that Charlie didn't even know about.
Rating:
I recommend not getting hooked on this series (This is the type of series that you have to read the next book as soon as you're done with the last one.), because the series gets more and more inappropriate the further you go.~Elizabeth
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