Product Details
- Author: Stephenie Meyer
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- Binding: Paperback
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- EAN: 9780316015844
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- ISBN: 0316015849
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- Label: Little, Brown Young Readers
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- Language: English
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- Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
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- Number of Items: 1
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- Number of Pages: 544
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- Product Group: Book
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- Publication Date: 2006-09-06
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- Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
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- Reading Level: Young Adult
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- Studio: Little, Brown Young Readers
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- Title: Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
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Avg Customer Rating: 
Product Description: "Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. 'Be very still,' he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat." As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because--he's a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship. Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward's sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. The precision and delicacy of Meyer's writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up) --Patty Campbell
10 Second Interview: A Few Words with Stephenie Meyer
 Q: Were you a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Angel? What are you watching now that those shows are off the air?
A: I have never seen an entire episode of Buffy or Angel. While I was writing Twilight, I let my older sister read along chapter by chapter. She's a huge Buffy fan and she kept trying to get me to watch, but I was afraid it would mess up my vision of the vampire world so I never did. I don't have a ton of time for TV, and my kids get rowdy when I have on "mommy shows," but I do have a secret fondness for reality shows (the good ones, at least in my opinion). I always TiVo Survivor, The Amazing Race, and America's Next Top Model.
Q: What inspired you to write Twilight? Is this the beginning of a series? Why write for teens?
A: Twilight was inspired by a very vivid dream, which is fairly faithfully transcribed as chapter thirteen of the book. There are sequels on the way--I'm hard at work editing book two (tentatively titled New Moon) right now, and book three is waiting in line for its turn.
I didn't mean to write for teens--I didn't mean to write for anyone but myself, so I had an audience of one twenty-nine year old (and later one thirty-one year old when my sister started reading). I think the reason that I ended up with a book for teens is because high school is such a compelling time period--it gives you some of your worst scars and some of your most exhilarating memories. It's a fascinating place: old enough to feel truly adult, old enough to make decisions that affect the rest of your life, old enough to fall in love, yet, at the same time too young (in most cases) to be free to make a lot of those decisions without someone else's approval. There's a lot of scope for a novel in that.
Q: What is your favorite vampire story? Fave vampire movie?
A: I guess my favorite vampire story would be The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice, simply because it's one of the only ones I've ever read. I keep meaning to pick up Bram Stoker's Dracula, because I get asked this question so often and I should probably start with the classics, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Again, I'm afraid to read other vampire books now, for fear of finding things either too similar, or too different from my own vampire world. Ack! I can't even answer the movie question. I can't remember ever seeing a single vampire movie, outside of clips from Bela Lugosi movies on TV. I don't like true horror movies--my favorite scary movies are all Hitchcock's.
Q: What other young adult authors do you read?
A: My favorite young adult author is L.M. Montgomery I also enjoy J.K. Rowling (but who doesn't?), and Ann Brashares. As a teen, I skipped straight to adult books (lots of sci-fi and Jane Austen), so I'm rediscovering the world of teen literature now.
Stephenie Meyer's List of Books You Should Read 
Anne of Green Gables | 
Romeo and Juliet | 
Dragonflight | 
To Kill a Mockingbird | 
The Princess Bride |
See more recommendations from Stephenie Meyer
Q&A with Stephanie Meyer
Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: The book with the most significant impact on my life is The Book of Mormon. The book with the most significant impact on my life as a writer is probably Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card, with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier coming in as a close second.
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: The CD is easy: Absolution by Muse, hands down. It's harder to give myself just one movie, but the one I watch most frequently is Sense and Sensibility--the one with the screenplay by Emma Thompson. One book is impossible. I'd have to have Pride and Prejudice, but I couldn't live without something by Orson Scott Card and a nice, thick Maeve Binchy, too.
Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: My lies are all very, very boring: "No, you really look great in hot pink!" "My children only watch one hour of TV a day." "I didn't eat the last Swiss Cake Roll--it must have been one of the kids." That's the best I've got.
Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: It's late at night and the house is silent, but I'm still (miraculously) full of energy. I have my headphones in and I'm listened to a mix of Muse, Coldplay, Travis, My Chemical Romance, and The All-American Rejects. Beside me is a fabulous, and yet mysteriously low in calorie, cheesecake....
Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: I'd like it to say that I really tried at the important things. I was never perfect at any of them, but I honestly tried to be a great mom, a loving wife, a good daughter, and a true friend. Under that, I'd want a list of my favorite Simpsons quotes.
Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: I'd love to have a chance to talk to Orson Scott Card--I have a million questions for him. Mostly things like, "How do you come up with this stuff?!" But, if he wasn't available, I'd settle for Matthew Bellamy (lead singer of Muse).
Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: I'd want something offensive, rather than defensive. Like shooting fireballs from my hands. That way, you're really open to going either way--hero or villain. I like to have choices.
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Customer Reviews
Characters are compelling
I'm 30 and I started reading the series after 2 of my other adult friends recommended them. This isn't Harry Potter with all the wizards, magic, quidditch, and Lord Voldemort. But, it is a compelling young adult series, nonetheless. I think these books have done well because she writes the main characters well and keeps the reader rooting for all of them. The series isn't driven by a lot of action or vampire bloodfests, but rather a budding romance between a human and her non-human suitors; she references "Romeo and Juliet" and "Wuthering Heights" a lot.
I recommend the series and will definitely read her 4th book when it comes out later this year.
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Twilight Sets Upon Us
Ok, I picked up this book with reluctance. Unlike most of the other girls (and boys)my age and older it took me a while to be convinced to read this book. I tried to pick it up just after it came on paperback, with no interest on my part. I must admit, even after I started it the second time around I found the beginning kind of sluggish, but I don't know if others feel the same way. I finally read it after much pushing and shoving by two of my friends, who were shocked that the bookworm hadn't read this series yet. I better start sending out my thanks, because I don't regret spending my time on Twilight for one minute. It was romance, mysterious, and engrossing. Of course, I always have my list of qualms...
The Bad-
1. Some parts of this book seemed to have the same thing going on time and time again. Edward would always find Bella, a silent and awkward encounter would occur, and eventually they would get mad at eachother and then forgive as easily as the anger came. Also what I found annoying was how Stephenie Meyer used snickered so many times in the book. It was really starting to bother me.
2. I have heard other people mention it, and I believe it is true. Bella is annoying when it comes to Edward. She never really mentions anything about his inside character, just about how perfect and beautiful he looked. She said it so many times that I was going, "Just get over it! We know he's gorgeous, please add detail of some other kind." And can anyone explain to me how Edward and Bella fell in love? I would be a little freaked out if someone said my blood smelled incredibly delicious and therefore he was attracted to me, but that's just me. But Bella wasn't even fazed! They really don't have anything in common, Edward is always lecturing Bella like she's a child. Although they are sweet together, I really don't see any chemistry there.
3. Bella is like a child a lot of the time. I really like her character, but sometimes I can see why Edward acts like her dad rather than her boyfriend. The part about her that especially bothers me is that she is SO WILLING to turn into a vampire and doen't think of anyone else. All that matters to her at this point is Edward. Please Bella,cut the self-absorbtion.
The So-So:
1. I don't like how all the boys in the town are in love with Bella overnight. As she isn't really described as pretty I find it unbelievable that boys were attracted to her personality overnight. I really can't see that happening to her.
2. I can already see that Jacob is a werewolf. I mean, is it not obvious that two enemies in blood will become enemies over a girl?
The Good:
1. I really liked the end, with the tracker and such. I didn't actually expect action in this book from the way the beginning was going. And how Edward sucked out the poison? I think he is a great guy, no matter his slight flaws that Bella can't seem to find.
2. Alice is a great friend. I like Jasper too, although his character is shady....
So I enjoyed this book throughly and have New Moon coming to me right now, which is awesome. So for all your reluctant readers: Give this book a chance. You may find a little twilight on your side.
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Boring
I read the first part of this novel 4 days ago and I've already forgotten the plot and storyline for most of the book. That just gives you an idea of how awful I thought it was. And then I remembered who the intended audience for this book was - young teens and so I gave this book 2 stars instead of one. The characters, from Bella to Edward are shallow and empty. They lack the richness of some other similarly themed books I've read. Don't expect to find anything on the level of Anne Rice here, because her writing in this book is very generic and formulaic as far as vampire romance novels go and I feel Twilight has been done in similar fashion zillions of times over. I was looking for fresh perspective on vampire romances and would have been satisfied with just a great set of characters but instead I just came up bored and yawning after a few hours of reading. I really did feel like everything i read was predictable. I really don't understand why so many people like this series.
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This book is Amazing!
One of my best friends recomended this book to me and I must admit that I had very high expectations for this book. When I finally read it "Twilight" totally hit those marks and went WAY passed them! This is my very favorite book and has everything you could ever ask for, romance, adventure, horror, comedy, and everything in-between!! I Very Highly recomend this book to Anyone.
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Not what I thought
I am only 15 and I can tell the writing is flawed. She uses the same words to describe the same exact things over and over throughout her books. I dare you to count how many times the word "animated" and "chagrin" were used. The author needs to seriously widen her vocabulary. I found that I could only be interested in the exciting action sequences of the book and the rest made me struggle not to put the book down. The only reason I like this book is because of the story ( and I am sure my liking of the story has everything to do with the fact that I am a 15 year old girl). The only reason behind this books success is because of its great appeal to the teenage audience and the fact that most teenagers are too stupid to know what a good piece of literature is.
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