BiteIntoBooks: Review: Twilight (Twilight #1)

Author: Stephenie Meyer
Started reading: September 18th 2019
Finished the book: October 11th 2019
Pages: 501
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal
Published: October 5th 2005
Source: Bought the book
Goodreads score: 3.59
My score:

Synopsis
Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife-between desire and danger.

Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

My thoughts

Thanks to Arjen for doing this buddyread with me. When starting this book, I knew it could go either way. Twilight is either a hit or a miss, and I see a lot of 4/5 reviews or 1/2 reviews and not a lot of "middle ground" on this book. I did like The Host, A LOT, so I had hopes for this book. For a very long time I thought it would be a miss for me, but I was glad that Stephenie Meyer toned down the dramatic romance and made the book suspenseful and thrilling at the end.

Pros

Thought through: I'm always trying to figure out, in fantasy books, if there is a flaw in the world-building or the plot, since authors do make up a lot of stuff in those books. I'm always happy when I can't find anything wrong with the world-building or the story line, in terms of the fantasy aspect. Twilight has a good story to it, in terms of the vampires and the background.
Characters: The characters are so easy to remember, and that is very well done by Meyer. Sometimes it's hard in books with lots of characters to remember them all and keep them apart, but it's so fulfilling when it does work. The characters really have their own personality in this book, and every side character was one I did not forget easily.
Second half of the book: The second half of the book, when we get over the big ass romance and Edwards steamy looks, the story gets so thrilling. It was so hard for me to put the book away and I was really trying to be a good buddy and I had to restrain myself in not finishing the last 25% all by myself. That's a good thing in terms of a suspenseful and thrilling ending!

Cons

Over the top: Okay, it's been said a lot already, but I'm going to say it again; the way Edward is portrayed is totally over the top. At some point it had me gagging like; OKAY I KNOW HES PRETTY ALRIGHT?! It was so refreshing to get to the second half of the book where the dramatic romance is notched down a little. I do hope it's like that in the books to come...
Useless chapters and scenes: I found some scenes and a whole chapter so useless. Where Bella is just pondering and wondering and thinking and reflecting on things. That was just outright boring for me and I felt like it did not add to the story and the book could've been shorter.

Overall

I don't like writing negative reviews at all, so I was so glad that the story pulled me in at the second half of the book. I actually can't wait to dive into the next book. I did watch the movies maybe once, but I don't remember the various plots very well and it's all just a bit muddy. So I'm excited for what's to come. I do recommend Twilight if you're able to survive the first half; the second half is worth it!