As is my usual reading habit, I read the "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer all through the night, stopping only when I had turned the last page, which was at about 4 a.m. the following day. The consequences were quite unhealthy. I woke up grumpy at 7 a.m. and got into an argument with my hubby who, (correctly, I admit) pointed out that my nocturnal reading lost me quality time with them (hubby and daughter) as I had to catch up on my sleep the whole afternoon. As if that was not quite a handful to deal with for a sleep-deprived person, I acquired a slight fever later in the day. All of which was reasons enough for me to make a resolution that no matter how engrossing a book might be, lights are out by midnight, or maybe 2 a.m.?
Going back to the vampire-meets-girl-vampire-and-girl-falls-in-love romance with a seemingly dark twist (what can you expect? its about blood sucking creatures for crying out loud), I found myself transported to my tween years when a "Sweet Dreams" novellete was a must-have in every girl's book arsenal (aside from the usual Archie comic books and Sweet Valley High tomes). Take away the fangs, supernatural powers and immortality and you will find the angsts exeprienced by Bella and Edward and most of the characters in "Twilight" strikingly similar to the less critically-acclaimed teen romance series. Fitting in, unrequited love (or admiration, better yet, crush as it was more colloqially termed in my time), ecstasy of realized mutuality in feelings, envy for the almost perfect girl or boy in campus and so many others all find its place in Ms. Meyer's book that's fast becoming a pop classic for this generation of teens and twentysomething (including my contempraries even). But before "Twilight" fans start throwing tomatoes at me, let me say that while this book reads in some parts like a sibling of my teen romance books of yore, it is so more and its thousand of fans that continues to grow in numbers shall fully agree. The prose is far superior and it is as engaging a book as can be with colorful characters and mythical creatures having lived more than a hundred years. As for the female protagonist, so many youngsters can empathize with her and (I suspect it is one of the reasons for the book's popularity) the story of the clumsy and can't-seem-to-fit-in-girl snagging the handsomest guy in school provides hope for some of the languishing wallflowers out there (although Bellas is no pushover in the looks department, having three other admirers apart from Edward, the main man). I particularly like the unique take on the demon-angel angle and treatment of the condemned immortals. Perfect and beautiful yet tragic in the sense that the thing that keeps them alive is what make them a most deplorable and feared creature.
Taken amidst this backdrop, the book, thus, manages, with flying colors, to rise above the usual clicheic teen romance and becomes the latest betseller's favorite with fave reviews to boot.
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