Twilight Discussion

Let me start by saying that I LOVE this book. I remember when my friend Ame first started reading the books and she just loved them. And she kept pushing me to read them but I really just didn't want to. I think my thought process was that I had just got done with the Harry Potter books and I wasn't ready to jump into yet another series of books. So I really faught her on it. And at some point we made a bet, or more of a bargin. She would watch a movie that I recommended and I had to read the first chapter of the Twilight. I really do remember how confident she was, just the first chapter, and she was sure I would be hooked. And of course I thought, surely I could get through one chapter without being sucked in. Well, boy was I wrong!! And I am pretty sure that all happened last September (of 2007), so it hasn't even been a year yet and I have all ready re-read this book 4 time. I just love it.

Alright so here we go. Since there are 24 chapters in the book I am going to post my thoughts after each 4 chapters. So let's get started.


In chapter one, we are introduced to Bella's relationship with her parents. One thing that struck me, and is repeated through out the books, is Bella's attachment to people that don't need to talk all the time. She is always mentioning that living with Charlie is easy because he doesn't try to fill each meal with un-needed chit-chat. And I personally love that. I tend to want to talk and do feel awkward when the silence goes on too long. But every now and then with my close friends I'll notice that we will have been hanging out for a while with out speaking, with out feeling the need to fill that silence and I am actually really grateful for it. And of course now I look for that with people more.

Now here are a few ways that I do not relate to Bella, things we don't have in common. I have never been the new student. I went straight from one elementry school to one middle school to one highschool. Never moved, not once. So I have no idea what if feels like to be the new kid in school. I have never lived in a small town. But I have always wanted to. I know a lot of people want to live in Forks after reading these books and I count myself among them. I can not cook. Not like how Bella does. I am always in awe of how she just takes responsibiliy of cooking and she makes things like steak and potatoes. I have never made those things in my life and if I did feel the need to I would have to call my dad first for a play by play talk through on what to do. And another thing that I thought was kind of funny is that when I was first reading Twilight I had just finished a biology class in college where we covered the phases of mitosis, so I thought it was funny to read about them doing it, when Edward first starts to talk to Bella.

I always liked the character of Mike, he was loyal and good even after he was rejected. But I always hated Jessica, she was just so fake from the very beginning.

I loved the part where Charlie puts the chains on her tires. I remember that really struck me as so sweet. And for a scene that doesn't even involve Charlie haveing to actually be there, it really does set up his character so dead on. I mean that is just him, that is the type of guy he is. The type of guy who would think ahead to get up early and take the time to put chains on his daughters car to just protect her in every way possible. So Sweet.

As far as all the phenomenon stuff that takes place in the first 4 chapters, I don't think I was ever really that shocked by it. So I don't have much to say about it. I mean I new that they were vampires so I didn't really have much of a reaction to them looking different or not eating. Or even the scene where Bella almost gets hit by the truck.

One thing that I do think is funny is that, I work with this girl Tera who is 18 and reading these books for the first time. I remember when she came to work and was just furious at Edward for being so cruel and ignoring Bella. I never was that annoyed by it but she was just livid. I mean she only read at work and only when we were really slow and the managers were all gone. So it took her a really long time to get to chapter 8 where they go to Port Angeles. So for the longest time she would come to work and rant about how big of a jerk Edward was being and if he wasn't going to be friends with her he needed to leave her alone. And I would just be like "wait for chapter 8, just try to get to chapter 8"
But that was nothing compared to how frustrated she was with the whole Jacob thing going on in New Moon but we'll get to that later.

So I don't really have much else to say about the first 4 chapters. But I will say again...I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

Sorry it took me so long to pick back up on Twilight, I was trying to finish the other book Amanda had lent me.
One thing I forgot to say about the book with my last entry - I love that Edward has red hair!! I have red hair, well at least on my good days I do. I haven't dyed it in so long that it is starting to turn more blond than I usually allow it to. But I love red hair. And it is just so different that for once our leading romantic heart-throb has red hair. Okay yes I will admit it is not Carrot Top red, or even Ron in Harry Potter red. It is a deep auburn, but still that is red people!!! And I like it, that's all I'm trying to say.
Moving on; Chapter 5 Blood Type:
One thing that I thought was weird was that after the accident in chapter 3, Tyler comes into the hospital right next to Bella with scratches all over him, and yet Bella wasn't effected by the blood then. I mean yeah, okay, maybe with all the excitement and shock her body just wasn't responding like normal, but still. If blood is such a problem with her then why didn't she at least react that she was shocked it wasn't effecting her?
Anyway, I remember when I first read the book I was confused why she kept telling Mike to keep his hand in his pocket. I thought since he was trying to help her walk, that maybe she meant, you know, don't try to cop a feel or something. In fact I don't think it was until the 2nd read through that I realized that it was because he was the first one to get pricked and so his finger might still be bleeding. Now I just think that is funny.
Hey maybe- since Bella is effected by blood so much, maybe when she becomes a vampire her special power will be that she still doesn't like blood? Nah, too easy! But still, it would be interesting if her special power did have something to do with the fact that she has such a strong reaction to blood. Edward even said, humans aren't supposed to be able to smell blood. Just a thought...
Chapter 6 Scary Stories
Now seeing on how this isn't my first time to read this book, and I have read New Moon and Eclipse already, there is a part of me when this chapter starts that is just like "oh God, here we go..." and then in comes Jacob Black. My first picture of him was of this little gullible boy. I seriously pictured him in my head probably looking more like he was 10, with some harmless little crush on one of the big kids. Boy was I wrong. And then Bella just has to go off encouraging him by trying to flirt, which bothers me now more then it did the first time I read it. And at one point when Mike comes up, Jacob asks if that is her boyfriend and she says no, and then WINKS at Jacob!!!! Again didn't bother me before but now, the voice in my head just screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
Chapter 7 Nightmares
The only thing that I reacted to on in this chapter was the part where she wakes up and sees the sun outside and opens the window easily. Not really a big deal, but now that I know she opens it easily because Edward has already been opening it without her knowing for sometime now, I guess I just noticed that sentence more this time.
Chapter 8 PORT ANGELES
Probably my favorite chapter (next to the one where Edward first stays that night, that Bella is aware of) just because it is the chapter that finally gets the whole thing started!!
There is one part when she is wondering around and see Edward's car, where is he? He says later that when he couldn't find her he was "about" to start looking on foot because the sun was just then starting to set. So why wasn't he in the car then, and why doesn't she react more to seeing his car? I mean that is something I noticed even the first time I read the book. Her only reaction is to say "stupid, unreliable vampire" she doesn't even pause to take a look around to see if she can see him! If is was me, and I came across the car owned by the boy I was crushing on, I would at the very least take a second to look around and see if he was still near by. She doesn't really do anything but turn and go the other way. And it was because of her lack of reaction that the first time I read this I actually started to think that maybe it was someone else's car that just looked like his. It just confused me.
I thought it was funny as the guys started to circle in on her that she was trying to think of self-defense moves. No matter how many classes I could take and moves I could learn, I think in the heat of the moment I would be paralyzed by fear and even if I did remember the steps, I would probably be to weak to put any really strength behind the moves.
I love that Edward is so protective of her. I love that at the restaurant he doesn't notice the other girls, that he gives her his jacket, he lets her order first all those types of gentlemen things he does. Okay yes he wasn't going to order anyway, but still very chivalrous.
Have I mentioned I love this book!!

Funny story before I get started on chapters 9-12,
Today I took my dog Riley to this little park by my house. There is this field that is closed off except for one entrance. So I sat just a ways in front of the opening and let him run free while I read my book.
At one point Riley spotted some people coming into the park so he started to run towards the entrance, I turned to call him back but I was so engrossed in my reading that I called out Edward. Of course he didn’t respond at all, so I had to call back “Riley”. It was funny to me and made me laugh but I’m sure the people in the park thought I was strange for not remembering my own dog’s name.
The next four chapters is basically just Edward and Bella having multiple conversations where they get to know each other.
First of all does anyone else roll their eyes whenever she says “Holy Crow”? Okay yes, this is some what of a PG book so she can’t just start throwing out the s-word every time she is surprised by something, and yes, Holy Cow would probably be more annoying. But every time she says Holy Crow it just seems so irritating to me. Maybe I’m on my own with that one.
In Chapter 9 Edward is driving Bella home from Port Angeles and he is driving really fast. He says it is because he can hear people’s thoughts so he would know when other people are on the rode. But they live in a place that is surrounded by forests. What about when a deer goes running out on the rode? That has bothered me since the first time that I read this book. I think I even asked Ame about it then and she was never able to give me a satisfying answer.
I liked that in this chapter Stephanie Meyer sets up the fact that her vampires are above all the other myths. The fact that they don’t sleep in coffins, or get burned by the sun, and she kind of leaves you with the impression that they aren’t effected by garlic or Holy Water as well. All of these things aid in allowing these vampires to be more human, more believable. But it does make me sad that they can’t sleep. I mean I could kind of understand that they wouldn’t need to sleep, but why can’t she have them sleep if they want to. Kind of like with the whole breathing thing, they don’t need to do it, it’s just a habit.
In Chapter 10 there is one part that foreshadows everything to come in New Moon. “If I had to, I supposed I could purposefully put myself in danger to keep him close…” I know I didn’t make much out of her saying that when I first read the book but after I read New Moon and then re-read Twilight it stood out so strongly.
In Chapter 11 when they are in biology and they have to watch the movie. The first time I read the book that part seemed to last forever, instead of just two paragraphs. It seemed so intense to me I was just waiting for one of them to just jump the other and start making out or something.
In Chapter 12 I thought the part when she takes excessive cold medicine to get to sleep was funny. It was funny because Stephanie Meyer put it in with all most this whole “don’t try this at home” kind of message.

And here we go with the next four:
We start out chapter 13 with Edward showing what he looks like in the sun. And okay I can kind of get why he shines like diamonds. He is just so pale the light bounces right off of him. But come on I can’t be the only one who sees this as a little bit more on the campy side. And since this is being made in to a move I do have a few concerns how some things will transfer to the big screen but this is for sure my biggest one. I just don’t see how it can be portrayed in a way that isn’t distracting.
Chapter 14 is one of my favorites because it is when Edward spends the night. And I don’t really have much to say about it or why it is my favorite. It just is. I can’t wait to hear how the lullaby sounds in the movie when he starts humming it to her. The only problem that I had with this chapter was when Bella starts talking about marriage. Obviously she means in the future, but still, they have only really been together for a week, maybe a week and a half. The rest of the time he barely spoke to her. It just seems like it moved kind of fast. I will admit that I didn’t notice it at all the first time I read the book, it felt right to me, hell I’d marry him! But with all the re-reading I was really surprised at how little time is actually passes after the whole Port Angeles thing.
In chapter 15 we get a little more personal with the Cullens. And you know I just love Alice and Jasper. After Edward I think Jasper might be my next favorite character in the book. Again, I don’t really know why. I will admit that my love for him grew more after learning his whole story, not all the fighting parts but just how he met Alice, how he grew a conscience on his own.. But even when I first read this book and New Moon, I just always liked Jasper. I have a feeling I’ll be crushing on him even harder once the movie comes out.
In chapter 16 as we are learning about Carlisle and his whole story, we also learn about how he made Edward. I have always kind of wondered why Edward was never resentful about Carlisle turning him into a vampire. The book talks about how he was bitter about having his appetite curbed away from blood, but never anything about the transformation itself. It occurred to me that he was probably not resentful because since he could read Carlisle’s thoughts he knew his true intentions. Maybe that made him more empathetic. And I doubt Esme was resentful because she found companionship with Carlisle. But what if Edward couldn’t read minds and know the reasons behind certain decisions, would he have always held such respect for Carlisle? I think so, but I am curious.

Chapters 17 and 18 are when we meet James, Laurent, and Victoria. When they first come to meet the Cullen’s it is because they hear them playing the game of ball and want to join in. But after everything that happens at the end of this book, and in the two (so far) following, it is so hard for me to try to picture those three joining in a friendly game of baseball with the others. I mean seriously, go ahead, just try to picture it, Alice pitching to James, he hits it and starts to run the bases, Carlisle retrieves the ball and throws to the Jasper (as Catcher) just as James goes sliding into home plate… not possible!! The mere suggestion is simply comical.
Okay, so I just today realized something about Charlie. I was getting ready for work and thinking about what it was about these last four chapters I wanted to write about. I knew that one thing I wanted to say was that when you read the goodbye scene between Charlie and Bella, she considers what she says to him as being so cruel. But when you read the words alone they really aren’t that bad. It is just the context of which he remembers hearing them before that is so painful. And just thinking about that made something else click in my head, that is why he has so much admiration for Carlisle and Esme. That is why he takes it so personally when people disrespect them, because Esme is doing for Carlisle what Renee couldn’t do for him. I really did just put that together today, and it made me feel more for Charlie then I did before.
Last thing to comment on with these four chapters, Rosalie acts like such a bitch.
And that is pretty much all I got!
I’ll be right back for the end of the book….

And then, it all came to an end…
I don’t know if I really am just that obtuse, but for some reason when I first read the book, I truly pictured James out tracking Bella with just his nose or something. I was so confused when it talked about him tracking her through school records and stuff like that. I was like “how would he know to do that?”
Anyway, I hated the part where Bella leaves them in the airport. I wanted her to find another way. I didn’t like her answer to dealing with James. I wanted her to stay and let Edward help them figure out a plan. I understand that she didn’t have any time and if she had delayed her decision they would have all caught on to her, but still. And if she did have to leave them, I wanted her to wait and take one last look Edward getting off the plane before she left. He would have stopped her, she would have never gotten away, but I just wanted her to wait just two more minutes.
I kind of didn’t like the fact that James ended up being the one who had changed Alice. It just seemed to easy, to just throw that in at the end. Like the coincidence was just too big for me to buy it.
I hated the last lines of chapter 24. They spend the whole chapter debating Bella’s future, and they finally agree to disagree, for the moment at least. He relaxed, and I think he was even chuckling a little before he kissed her, and then she had to ruin it by mentioning Alice’s predictions again. Why couldn’t she just let it die (no pun intended) and go to sleep.
And then with the whole last part, Prom and everything. If Bella is supposed to be so observant, how did she not know!!! I mean come on!! She had to have known! And then Jacob came in with his whole message, how did Billy actually think that would work. I didn’t like that whole part at all.
If I had it my way, the book would end with that last kiss in the hospital. I like the part where Edward explains that he doesn’t want Bella to miss out on any human experiences, but he could have thrown that into his argument in the hospital room or save it for the next book. Nothing that happens in that epilogue is all that important or necessary.
So no, in my world the book ends with…
“I turned my head slightly…searching. He knew what I was after. His lips touched mine gently.
‘Thanks,’ I sighed.
‘Anytime.”
THE END!!!

Okay, my slacking days are over! I let Bittner beat me to end of Twilight!! XD But, I kind of jumped ahead b/c I was listening to it on cd with Aaron. And then I started Eclipse the other day because I was stuck at Frank's PT appointment with nothing else to read. But I got smart- I actually took some notes. But for now we'll return to Twilight. I can't believe I only got to chapter 1! The horror, the shame... alas... moving on.

Chapter Two: Open Book

The title obviously refers to Bella and the way her emotions always give her away... its funny that Edward is so frustated by not being able to read her thoughts, but I would think between her blushes and heart beats he could always know what she was thinking...

In this chapter I actually really like the rivalry between Mike and Eric. It's just cute. I like the fact the Edward not being in school depresses Bella. That's the way it is in the beginning of falling in love. David Cook (scrumptious winner of this year's AI) sings one song that has the chorus of "You make or break my day". That totally sums up Edward and Bella. If they are together, they're happy and exclusive wrapped up in their very own "tense little bubble".

I liked the email exchange between Bella and Renee- it went a long way in explaining their relationship. Bella took care of Renee, and now after hitting the grocery store, she's shifted gears and is now looking after Charlie. I love in this chapter how strongly Charlie defends the Cullens. I see a lot of him in Bella, its clear that Charlie is as loyal and probably, given the chance, as self-sacrificing as his daughter. I also didn't notice in the first reading of Twilight that Charlie called her Bell and Bells... Jacob does the same thing, and later and Eclipse it's much more apparent. Yet other than once calling her Isabella, Edward always calls her Bella. Hmmm...

So it snows in Forks (as if God is welcoming home our Edward) which of course is new to Bella. But she naturally hates it. The snowball fight between Mike and Eric is really funny, though. Although, Bella does get to enjoy the sight of Edward in melting snow, lucky girl. They make eye contact, only this time he's not glaring at her. And later in Biology, he actually deigns to talk to her, Le gasp! I like their little showmanship with the slides, Bella holding her own with the assignment.

Bella, our little Edward stalker, notices everything about him, and the fact that his eyes are now lighter. Edward seems surprised that she notices, but honestly as I've discussed earlier in another post, I just have a hard time believing that all these strange things the Cullens do aren't getting noticed. Especially the eye color thing... but I have a little bit of Bella in me, I too would have noticed. Only I would have guessed the vamp thing light years ahead of Bella- and I wouldn't have needed to flirt with mongrel pup Jacob to figure it out.

Besides, just based on all the questions he's asking her, Bella should have known that there was no way he was just 17 years old... Anyways the chapter ends with Bella practically crashing into a Toyota just because she's trying to act like she wasn't staring at Edward. And he just laughs at her.

Chapter 3 Phenomenon

This chapter is where Edward rescues Bella from certain death. Anyone not in love with Edward Cullen yet had now fallen head over heels for him. Not only is hot, but he is also possesses superhuman strength.

We also get our first site of Carlisle. Perfect, perfect, Carlisile. The one thing I want to whine about for a moment is the terrible mis-casting of Carlisle in the movie version of Twilight. No way is the actor hot enough, blonde enough, or Cullen enough. I've made peace with everyone but him. Ugh.

I also want to say that Bella is so weird. She hates the fact that everyone from school showed up to see if she was okay. The only time she whines like a teenager is when she wants to avoid normal human events (hospital, prom, etc). I understand that she does not like to be the center of attention. But not even a little happiness that although she's the new girl everyone immediatly is welcoming? You suck, Bella. Hahaha.

At the very end of this chapter Bella states that this is the first night she dreams of Edward, and knowing that he spies on her I wonder if this is the first night he watches her? I wonder if Aaron would think its strange if I start insisting on the blinds being up while we sleep? Hmmm...

Chapter 4: Invitations

This chapter kind of fast forwards a month (have you noticed that we have yet to celebrate any holidays in the series? What about Valentines, or Christmas? I bet Esme and Alice go nuts of Christmas!!). Because of her near death experience Bella is more popular than ever. Now she has added Tyler to her growing list of admirers. Bella no longer seems flatterd by their interest, because already Edward is all she can really focus on. Even when she's annoyed at him.

I love how Edward allows Tyler the oppurtunity to ask out Bella, it's amusing because Bella senses that he's doing it on purpose. The next morning, Edward is waiting for her. Some really cute dialogue follows, including of of my favorite lines, "Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." And then when she thinks he's making fun of her and asking her to the dance, but instead he's just offering to take her to Seattle, just really nice banter. Because that's how boys and girls talk to each other before they're sure of the other's feelings. It's the most teenager-ish conversation they've had. Ever. But even though Edward is almost 100 years older than Bella, falling in love is as new to him as it is to her. Of course, Bella caves in to his offer. Hours alone in a car with Edward Cullen? Hell to the yes! I wouldn't even care if he was just bringing me along as a road trip snack. I will gladly be his crunch and munch.

To Be Continued....

Kate, I think you might be on to something with the whole name thing. Maybe in Breaking Dawn Edward will start calling her Bells, and she will start calling him Ed, or Eddie... uh, maybe not.
You know I am the least observant person I know, but I also agree with you on the whole eye thing. If you see someone at school with huge gold eyes, how could you now notice. And if within a few days they are black, i mean come on.

Ugh, Linkin ParK GROSS!!! Everything they release sounds they exact same!!!!! Now that I know that I'll probably get really annoyed the next time I read through that part of the book. Gross!!! I hope they don't play them in the movie!