| $@%&! level: Low “Bedroom” level: Medium (maybe nothing happens, but things get pretty heated) Violence level: Medium (vampire fights and vampire bites) Back Cover: “About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how potent that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.” |
If you were to do a Google search for images with the phrase “Still a better love story than Twilight” you'd get an awful lot of hits, and a lot of them are pretty funny. (Some of them are also totally inappropriate, so be careful what you Google.) Perhaps the reason why so many things are a better love story than Twilight is that Twilight isn't actually a love story. Real love never enters into it at all. It's a story of obsession, lust, and voyeurism, with suicidal behavior thrown in once you get to the second book. This isn't love! Girls, if a guy in your life is acting this way, seriously call the police and get a restraining order. It isn't sweet; it's not a compliment; and it's more likely to end with you dead at a young age than with you married and growing old together. In the words of a wise woman I once met, “A good vampire is hard to find.” And this is why I rant so much about Twilight, because it isn't a love story at all, but it's being packaged as one to young girls. (Incidentally, I rant the same way about Romeo and Juliet.)
I will give Stephenie Meyer this—she knows how to hold her audience. I stayed up far too late for about a week straight reading the first two books. I was caught up by them. But luckily, I didn't have the third one handy and had to take a break from reading for a couple of days. (Also, I needed to catch up on sleep by that time.) And when I had managed to emerge from the fantasy world, I realized just how dark and unhealthy the story was. Creative, yes. I really enjoyed the vampire baseball. Deeply engrossing, yes. Uplifting, definitely not. An example in any way of a healthy relationship? No. In fact, I would say that this is the story of the quintessential unhealthy relationship, and anyone who wants anything like it in their life should seek medical help as soon as possible.