Twilight Series Review

This summer I have read a few books...well, 8 to be exact and for me lately that's a lot. 4 of the books were the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.  I'll tell you right now that if you haven't read them and want to: STOP READING THIS NOW.  This is a major spoiler alert.  I'll be giving up all major plot points so seriously if you want to have any fun reading them stop reading this post now.  Really: Stop!

OK now that we got rid of them, we can talk details!  I have a feeling I'll be making some enemies here but I have to get this off my chest:  what is the deal with all hoopla over these books? I'm not saying I didn't like them or see them as a guilty pleasure but I don't get it??!?! At lease here in Utah this book was everywhere which is why I finally broke down and read them.  (I make it a point not to read anything sold in Deseret Book if I can help it;)

I have to admit that I read all 4 books in about 3 weeks so I didn't get the anticipation factor in there and I have a feeling it makes a difference. I'm also not a conservative by any stretch, in fact I like to think of myself as quite open minded so this is not a post about how the books are too dark and evil.  It's mostly that they are nauseatingly cheesy and so far out of touch with any aspect of reality that I am having a hard time finishing the 4th book.  I'm all about the suspension of belief for the sake of a good story but this takes it too far.  

Major reasons I couldn't finish the series:

1. Bella becomes an unlikeable character:  too selfless (yes, too selfless), too humble, too far removed from the way anyone really is--it's just too much.

2. Renesmee?  Come on!?!  really?  PUKE.

3. One 'knight-in-shining-armor' is plenty for any book but two of them? Really, Jacob and Edward were both making me ill by the end.  I honestly can't say enough about how much I disliked these characters as the books went on.  Edward was great in book one. Jacob was fine in book 2 but after that it was just too much to take.  It was like being forced to watch someone with their PDA over and over.

4. I was totally on board with the whole vampire thing but adding in the werewolves and the italian vampire mafia group was, at best--lame.

5.  The final blow was when Bella is changed into a vampire and the author expects you to then read 300 more pages about her learning to hunt, insane vampire sex, feeding her infant human blood from a bottle, saving the world and her miraculously discovering her 'super powers' at the last minute.  At the end it was like a bad X Men movie.

I'm rambling and I'm sad to say that I could go on.  I think I was expecting too much. That always happens for me with movies and books and stuff.  The more I expect, the less impressed I end up being.  Anything good that was in these books came from the anticipation of Bella becoming a vampire--once that happened the book should have ended immediately and left the rest to your imagination.  Super fast growing, blood drinking baby human/vampire hybrids with made-up names should never be on the menu.

Book Review: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

OK I borrowed this image from Amazon, you can't really "search inside!"  Sorry!

This book was super interesting and infuriating at the same time.  It's about 2 women in ancient China and all that they went thru with foot-binding (click here to see photos), arranged marriages and just being female in a country that refers to them as "worthless".  It's enough to make you spit and yet I had this morbid curiosity about it.   The story is really about the friendship between the 2 women that lasted their entire lives which was quite unusual at that time China.

It just confirmed what I already knew: female friendships are of utmost importance to our sanity!  Marriage is wonderful and unbelievably important but it can't diminish the bond between women!  We all need a little girl power...they may have needed more than they had in ancient China but you have to work with what you've got,  right??

Book Review: The Golden Compass

Well....try as I might I really couldn't keep myself away from such a controversial book series.  I read all three books in this trilogy ( #2 The Subtle Knife and #3 The Amber Spyglass) and it is really something.  It is very creative and it's a real page turner.  It has some pretty major themes going on for a children's book including all you've heard in the media regarding religion and god.  

The author Philip Pullman seems to have some unresolved concerns about religion that have jaded him to the idea of a higher being.  A few concerns that he addresses are:  

 

Why God doesn't  intervene in all the horrible things that happen in the world? 

What happens when we die?

Who is God?  The nature of God.

What the Garden of Eden story is all about.

The nature of man.

The importance of agency and free will.

Hmmmm....sounds to me like the perfect jumping off point for some fab conversations with kids or anyone else that wants to read them. Having said that it's a bit strong for little kids, I think it's a bit over Julia's head at this point but it's something I eventually want her to read.  It would be wonderful for Piper and Lowell to read together. 

Over all:   a good series, I would read it yourself before you jump into it with your kids, but it's not something to be feared or avoided. 

Check out my Bookshelf

My bookshelf and book reviews are at the very bottom of this page.  Let me know what you have read lately, I'm always looking for a good read. More to come!