Author: Stephanie Meyer

Publisher: Atom (22nd March 2010)

Pages: 434

ISBN: 978-1-904233-65-7

When Isabella (Bella) Swan moves away from Phoenix to live with her Dad Charlie in gloomy old Forkes she doesn’t expect to meet the very person that could change her life forever, the very mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen.

With golden eyes and porcelain skin and a voice which could mesmerise you into doing anything Edward is at the same time irresistible and impenetrable. But he has a dark hidden secret. Until now.

Bella’s determined to find out what he’s hiding and as she gets closer to him and begins to unravel the mystery she’s putting herself and those she loves in danger but by the time she realises will it be too late to back out?

I come to Twilight with a love of paranormal YA fiction (especially those with vampires and romance involved) my first fictional experience with vampires was the fantastic Buffy The Vampire Slayer (and the subsequent Angel) which makes me wonder why I didn’t come to Twilight sooner – I really wish I had.

I have to be honest the first chapter started to make me think that those reviews which have criticised the first book were right as I struggled to get into it (I expect the negative reviews were playing on my mind) but not one to put a book down I read on.

And I’m so glad I did because once I’d got past what I think was a mental block I really got into Twilight and really enjoyed the chemistry between Bella and Edward making it really hard to put down. Sometimes not putting it down till midnight (this is quite late for me – honest!).

I loved the way that Edward found Bella’s clumsiness (so many near death experiences) so appealing and attractive and I really enjoyed the way their relationship built over the first half of the book. As Bella began discovering more parts of the Edward mystery I really enjoyed seeing how she explained these (which would sound obscure to the uninitiated) to Edward and his reactions.

The second half of the book / last quarter things really change when a new threat is introduced (and at this point I’m really glad I’d forgotten the film) as I was completely surprised by several elements of the plot and on more than one occasion the story gave me goosebumps.

Throughout the book the comments from both Edward and Bella never failed to make me laugh in the right places and can I say that I am jealous of Edwards ability to play the piano – I suppose this is what comes when you can have many decades of practice!

I was intrigued by Meyer’s interpretation of the vampires, going against what I normally expect of vampires. Sure I’m used to the vegetarian vampire – it’s something I’ve seen before but there are some things which I was surprised by one of which was the reason Meyer’s vampires don’t go out in the light.

I have been converted from somebody who wasn’t sure I would like it to (dare I say it) a fan of the Twilight Saga and I already have New Moon on my bookshelf waiting patiently for me and I can’t wait to start it (but I can prolong it a bit – then I can make the series last a bit longer )

Oh! And I’m going to re-watch the film tomorrow!