I am glad I am not 15 reading these novels and I don't know how these can be for a younger audience. I don't see them as "trashy" or overly soap opera like as you would expect a Danielle Steel book to read. Instead the characters are engaging, their emotions feel real and before you know it you are reeled in for the long adventure. What I think is interesting is the author, Stephenie Meyer, compares the characters to "classical" characters that she has long since memorized such as in Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Romeo & Juliet, and Gone with the Wind. It was quite interesting to hear her take on comparing such classical characters to her new age approach. I guess character development is the same throughout the centuries, but I would have imagined it differently. Though I do understand the essence of what each character brings to the particular plot of the story and the significance they play in their role.
Very few books have impacted me the way these 2 books have. It has been YEARS (and I mean YEARS) since I have a read a book completely thoroughly like I have these books. I would even venture to read them again. I mostly skim books, and/or read 3/4 and grow tired of it. Something the author says, or the way the plot is moving, and I am done. Finished. Grown tired of. But not with these books.
Twilight series is more than the mythical reality of vampires that would excite most teenagers, mainly teenage girls. And I would venture to say it is more than the romance. You feel attached to these characters in some strange way, like you are right there living in Forks with them. It is an innate talent that Stephenie Meyer has to be able to write in such a manner that you are there with them, experiencing everything moment by moment; hurt with hurt; breathless as breathless. So it builds the anticipation of me reading her third book. However, I would advise to not have teenage girls read these books as it gives a distorted view of a high school romance, of "true love" at the mere age of 16-17, and plants the seed for questioning "mythical creatures" such as vampires and werewolves.
Taken all that into account, will the teenage girls that have the 8 copies out at the local library please return them so some of us "old people" can read them?! GEESH! I know when I was a teenager I had a lot of better things to do than read!
