Ms. Hen reviews Twilight

 

Ms. Hen reads Twilight and enjoys a Shipyard Pumpkin Ale

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she is studying vampire fiction, and it's Halloween season. She knows this is not considered high quality fiction, but she read it because it's a popular book about vampires. It's a young adult novel, and it's written simply for younger readers, but Ms. Hen doesn't think that means that the writing is subpar. The writing is excellent in this novel, and Ms. Hen found the story captivating.

This novel is about a teenage girl, Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her father. At first, she is depressed because she misses the sun, and her father, who is the chief of police in the town, isn't good at communicating. She makes new friends, and she isn't sure why she's friends with these people. She meets Edward, who sits next to her in Biology, and at first he seems like he hates her, because he sits as far away from her as he can at the desk. She thinks he the most beautiful man she's ever seen. His entire adopted family is attractive, and they all sit together at lunch and do not eat anything.

Bella and Edward fall in love and she discovers his secret: that he and his family are vampires. He tells her that he acted like he didn't like her at first because he found her scent so attractive, and he was afraid she would tempt him to kill her. He and his family do not kill humans, they hunt in the woods and kill animals and eat them. They do not want to be discovered, and spend their time hiding their secret from everyone. They move to different areas from time to time, when the younger people in their group have to hide the fact they are not aging.

This novel is primarily a love story, and it is not as scary as some other vampire novels Ms. Hen has read. It's an innocent romantic story because Edward thinks that he and Bella cannot truly be together. She wants to become like him, but he does not want her to succumb to the darkness. He does not want her to suffer like he has, even though he loves her, he wants to be with her, but does not know what will happen.

Some excitement happens at the end of the novel, when Ms. Hen thinks is where the plot begins. The love story is charming, but it gets tiresome. Ms. Hen wants to read all the books eventually, but not right away. Ms. Hen is interested in vampire novels; years ago, she read Anne Rice's novels, but she does not want to read them again, because she has grown past that. However, she has no problem reading DRACULA every few years.

Ms. Hen thinks that TWILIGHT is important because it speaks to young people of its time. The era in which the novel took place was a type of twilight. Technology does not play a big part in this novel as it would if if had been written later. The young people barely have cell phones, and the Internet is turtle-paced.

Ms. Hen says Happy Halloween! The weather outside is frightful, and inside is scary as well. Halloween is Ms. Hen's favorite holiday, and the world is scary enough right now, why not scare yourself in a different way with vampires, ghosts, witches, jack-o-lanterns, and scary books.

Ms. Hen's Halloween manicure