Rereading Twilight as an adult

Twilight

Stephenie Meyer

Total pages 498

My rating 4 stars

So quick disclaimer this is not my first dive into twilight. I actually got swept up in the twilight craze when the movie came out and after watching it, I ended up diving into the series. Twilight holds a special place in my heart, mostly because it opened my eyes to literature and made me want to read more books.

However, after I got to high school, I got slapped in the face with Twilight hate so I distanced myself from the series. Wasn’t too hard to do since by then I was a Wattpad addict.

But now I’m in my last year in college and I like to think I have come to block out the pressure from others. I mean I love YA books but I’m always reading classic literature for school because that is what is considered scholarly. But I don’t really care now a days if I’m seen clutching a YA novel while walking around campus. So, after seeing a fellow instagrammer talked about wanting to reread Twilight I dmed her and said we should buddy read it. So here we are.

So, my initial thoughts after the first chapter were: I’m so bored. I don’t remember these books being so boring.

But since I like to torture myself, I decided to keep reading and chapter 2 was a lot better and so was the chapter 3 and before you know it, I was hooked.

Now one of the big questions I had about diving into Twilight was whether I was still on Team Edward. I loved Edward because he was polite and mature. However, I noticed that Edward is initially really moody and although that is because he is trying to keep Bella at a distance, Bella is super persistent and manages to worm her way into Edward’s life. However, as their relationship progressed, I noticed that Edward was still a bit of a shit head. And by that, I mean he’s kind of arrogant.

“Drunk?” I objected.

“You’re intoxicated by my very presence.”

Plus, there’s that whole scene where they kiss for the first time and Edward gets pissed off at Bella because she was too into their kiss. Although Edward claims he’s not mad at her but rather himself. I was put off by this scene because Bella is just trying to have a normal teenage relationship.

So, am I still Team Edward? After this first book definitely not. I think I’m more on Bella’s side because like Bella, I was also mad at Edward when he was being super confusing.

As for their Love story. I really wasn’t feeling it. I don’t know if I am used to slow burns and angst fictions now. But for me it felt like Bella and Edward fell in love very fast. I felt what they really had for each other was a fascination. Edward is intrigued that Bella’s blood entices him and that she’s overall an old soul. And Bella is intrigued by Edward because he is mysterious and handsome.

But their love story itself, felt a bit rushed. Right from the beginning we know that Bella is infatuated with Edward especially after he disappears and heads to Alaska for a bit. It was weird because after he came back, they started flirting a bit and snapping at each other. Then once Bella finds out that Edward’s a vampire they start dating soon after. So that felt a bit fast for me.

Now here are some things that hit me sideways while rereading. First, Lauren. I know right who is she? I don’t remember a Lauren in the movies. Well, she’s not in the movie. Lauren is the mean girl in Bella’s friend group. I think Lauren is meant to represent another Rosalie type character or as a foil to Jessica. But other than that, I’m not sure what her purpose in this first book was. She is kind of a background character. Second, Jacob Black has sisters. Two older twin sisters who do not live in Washington. Whoa, right? I wonder what his sister would think about the Cullens. The third and last thing that kind of blew my mind during this reread was Bella’s topic about her Shakespeare paper.

“Wednesday?” He frowned. “That’s not good…What are you writing yours on?”

“Whether Shakespeare’s treatment of the female character is misogynistic?”

So, this blew my mind because I didn’t expect this from Bella. However, I think I should have since although she’s in charge of cooking for her and Charlie it’s mainly because she refuses to eat the junk food that Charlie has been eating, she’s not afraid to talk back to Edward or Jacob’s dad, Billy, when he tries to persuade her to drop Edward. Even towards the end when Edward is so focused on getting Bella to leave Washington so that James doesn’t find her, she convinces Edward that his plan sucks and hers is better. So, what I’m saying is Bella does have some agency even though a lot of people argue she’s fulfilling a traditional women’s role in this series. I guess I’ll have to read the rest of the books again to find out. But for now, I think I might try to tackle my tbr pile for the rest of the year.

UPDATE: I read New Moon and Midnight Sun and just decided to stop my reread. It’s clear to me that I don’t enjoy these novels as much as I did. And for the sake of my happiness, I am moving on.