I’ve been reading Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series, and am surprisingly enjoying it. I say surprisingly because I’m not really into horror. (The concept, for those unfamiliar, is a teenage girl falls in love with a vampire. Her best (guy) friend becomes a werewolf and, as you can imagine, she has some problems. Not to mention that the vampire and the werewolf don’t exactly get along. Oh, and all the vampire’s peeps want to drink her blood, on some level or another.) It’s great stuff.
My mom is a children’s book writer. She has a group of friends who are all writers. One of them is an expert on YA (that’s Young Adult.) literature. (Side note: I so feel like Rachel Ray by abbreviating YA only to then spell it out. EVOO?) I asked my mom to get her opinion on the books.
She doesn’t like them.
And she had a list of reasons why. I won’t bore you with the list, but her review made me really evaluate how I feel about the books. And while I do love them, I have one huge issue with the books.
I don’t buy into the whole vampire thing. He’s cold all the time. He wants to suck her blood. He is beautiful in a too perfect way. (I love beauty, but we need to be equally matched. The main character is constantly feeling less beautiful than her boyfriend. Not cool.) He treats her well, but never does anything that a real boyfriend does, like goof up every now and then. (Come on, no relationship is perfect.) He drives too fast. He sneaks up on her (I startle easily.) He can read minds (creepy), but not hers. He never sleeps (who wants to spend the rest of her life with her boyfriend watching her drool all night?) And face it, he’s old. (100 years.)
But the best friend character is way more appealing to me. And there is certainly some romantic tension between the two, but I can tell I’m not supposed to be rooting for them. Of course, that only makes me want to even more. And yes, he’s a werewolf, but he’s endearing. He’s warm. He has a slight temper, but never toward her. He has a hard time keeping his emotions to himself. He’s a little vulnerable. He’s protective of her. They have fun together without all the b.s.
Call me quirky, but it appears I like werewolves better than vampires…who knew?
3 Comments
Those of us who write supernatural/horror fiction have watched the ascension of Ms. Meyer with interest. Few writers I know have much respect for her skills as an author but they do appreciate her drawing more young readers to the moribund field of horror. We’d like to see the rebirth of a genre that has been in the doldrums too long.
Thanks for this…
I heard that this series was as good read for most ages, but for one reason or another never picked it up. When I heard it was a vampire love story, I was happy I’d never done it. I haven’t really read a good vampire story since the original.
Like you, I must be a werewolf person.
Oh! Congratulations on your recent promotion to Royalty. That crown looks good on you. The running shoes are just the right quirky touch.
Yes! I agree! Werewolves over vamps!