Once again an enjoyable read, but much less so now. Yeah, okay I get that she loves him and he loves her, get on with it now please. I found myself starting to skip bits near the end out of either boredom or irritation. When that starts happening the illusion created starts to break down, the critical faculties begin kicking in again and you lose that vital ‘suspension of disbelief’. So this ninety-year-old vampire is profoundly in love with a selfish brattish teenager too stupid to realise that the “but we can still be friends” line doesn’t really work on someone who wants to get her bent over doggy style. The whole toing and froing with her werewolf love interest was thoroughly wearing. It also occurs to me that perhaps Edward is not only a vampire but a pervert? This would explain many decades of always going to school when he could have said, “Really, I’m twenty – I just look young.” It also seems to me that Meyer has fallen into the ‘I made my heroes too powerful and now I’ve really got to contrive dangers to have a story’ trap. Really, much of the writing and story-telling grabs, but when you step back, you see it for what it is. The whole thing is one of those American high school flicks with a wash of supernatural to give it some glamour, all wrapped round a rather prudish romance. I’ll read the next one, but rather suspect I’ll be skipping a lot of that too.
12 comments:
yup, exactly. by the end i just wanted to punch bella in the face and stake edward.
But aren't the Twilight series YA? Aimed at a generation younger than either you or Kirby are? Therefore shouldn't expectations be lowered somewhat?
I'm just glad I've never been tempted with this set of stories nor the Parry Hotter one.
What about Meyer's The Host? ( which is labelled as adult SF?) anyone read that?
I've never read these, but found The Host enjoyable, and a page turner.
I read the first one and chucked it across the room once i discovered James didn't kill the wretched pair. I haven't bothered with the rest.
Kirby - I'll drink to that!
Bob Lock - I don't hold with the idea that we should lower expectations with YA, sure the protags are usually younger so certain areas may well be toned down, but it's not an excuse for talking down to your readers, poor writing or sloppy plotting. A YA audience is likely to also be reading some adult novels and should be demanding the same level of writing, especially when so many good writers are out there.
Apparently Meyer doesn't even have the excuse of being a lousy writer because i'm assured by others that Host is actually quite good.
doubt if i could read vampire, but watching it is another thing:
Near Dark, Let the Right One In, Vampire's Kiss (weird comedy, love it), Thirst ('79), The Rape Of The Vampire, Requiem For A The Vampire
last two might be confusing or arty for anyone sane.
I'm not a big reader of vampires, so it's good to hear I'm not missing out on something the rest of the world found gold.
But give me a movie full of sexy vampires and I'll watch every bloody drop of it. :D
@Hagelrat
Bob Lock - I don't hold with the idea that we should lower expectations with YA, sure the protags are usually younger so certain areas may well be toned down
Exactly my point, thank you. I'm an adult, I don't particularly want to read 'toned down' prose (perhaps one of the reasons I enjoy Neal's stuff!)
Long live Percy Jackson...!
Bob - in terms of sex and violence toned down, but I still don't think that means your expectations of it should be lowered, or that the quality of the prose should be less, which was my point.
Whether or not you wish to read vampire romance is of course entirely up to you and clearly not. I would not say that a YA author can't achieve the same quality of prose as Neal (although Meyer clearly doesn't in these), it's just likely to be less, umm, visceral.
Neither do I think that choosing to read good stories that maybe have less gore in them has much to do with being an adult. It's personal taste. I enjoy a wide range of books, including Neal's and including a lot of young adult novels.
I think it's worth reiterating here that I very much enjoyed the first two books (check my reviews of them) and I will be buying the last one. I'm not dumping potential good reads on the strength of what disappointed me in this one, and if the last book concludes well, then I'll consider this a good series.
@Hagelrat
It's impossible for me to criticise something I haven't read, whereas you and Neal have, and can give your opinions. All I'm saying is that, going by what Neal wrote and what a lot of other critics have said about this series, it doesn't seem to be aimed at a mature reader but a younger audience and therefore the toning down isn't just about gore (which, face it, is a major part of a vampire's make-up, surely?) but also you have to half-close your critical eye to believe certain aspects of the storyline the critical faculties begin kicking in again and you lose that vital ‘suspension of disbelief’. So this ninety-year-old vampire is profoundly in love with a selfish brattish teenager too stupid to realise that the “but we can still be friends” line doesn’t really work on someone who wants to get her bent over doggy style
which is something perhaps a YA is more prepared to do than Neal or myself.
I notice Neal adds that he enjoyed both books and will buy the third and therefore that in itself is heady praise, but, as you say, it's personal taste and on what I've gleaned from these postings it's not for my palate.
bob - I love YA but frankly found the first of the Twilight books completely unpalatable and won't be reading the rest. I am just asking you not to write off YA as a whole because there are some seriously good books being marketed that way at the moment Some of them don't even centre around a teen style romance.
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