Dear Twilight Haters,

The Twilight saga has been a bestseller since 2005. However, the series was not officially popular in till first movie release in late 2008, when sales sky rocketed selling 17 million copies. Currently the film adaptation of New Moon, the second storey in the saga, will be in theaters on November 20. The movie has been highly expected by primarily teenaged fans. Many teenagers are memorized by the concept of vampires, love, and lust. I think that the success of the novel is overrated. Stephanie Meyer has an eloquent voice as a writer, the plot and characters fail to meet the standards of a romance novel in my eyes. I also think that the films have cause the saga to become more like a franchise then novels (I notice more girls are infatuated with Edwards Cullen, and think that he is a reflection of Robert Pattinson.)

Not to be stereotypical, but romance novels target a female audience. Therefore the female protagonist must be dynamic and show growth through out the novel. Many examples of this are Scarlet O'Hara (Gone with the Wind) and Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice). Notice I did not mention Bella Swan. The book begins with Bella moving to Forks Washington, she is quiet and typical. Then when she meets Edward Cullen she learns the meaning of love. However after she learns the secret of the Cullen family she still thinks that the world would stop spinning if she could not have her precious Edward. She really doesn't grow as a protagonist which is a vital part of a novel. The characters also fall flat. In all novels there are round characters (main characters that can be described well.) and flat characters (minor characters that have a vague description.) In the book the Cullen Family is descried to be dazzling, and Edward is said to be beautiful. However intelligent word choice was used, Edward's description is superficial and vague.

The novel is also very anticlimactic. Most plots follow a simple structure where there are rising actions. An example in the novel would be when Bella moves to Forks, or when Bella and Edwards sit beside each other in class. Eventually these events rise to a point of suspense, also know as the climax. There, really is not a suspenseful climax nor is it poignant. (Bella doesn't really come to face with any danger after she learns the Cullen's secret because she is protected by Edward.) The premise of the plot is extremely generic. People are awed by creativity of a vampire love storey. However vampires were first created by Bram Stoker in 1897. Romance novels were around before even that. The combination of vampires and romance were first formed by L.J. Smith, writer of The Vampire Diaries. In the Vampire Diaries a high school girl is torn amoung the romance of two vampire brothers. Therefore the concept of vampires in love really is not that original and the plot is anti-climatic.

I cannot comprehend why Twilight gets the amount of praise that it does. The characters lack either roundness or diversity. The plot is shallow, and the concept is common. Therefore is all the success because it is a brilliantly orchestrated work, or because it has been a franchise .
Yours Truly, Blank