You’ve all heard the story. Girl moves to a new town. Girl meets boy. Boy seems strange. Girl and Boy fall in love. Boy turns out to be a vampire? In an interesting twist on an age-old love story, Stephenie Meyer has given her fans an addicting read, a devastating vampire to fall in love with and a brand new franchise to follow.
The Twilight series is the story of Isabella Swan who moves to Forks, Wash. to live with her father when her mother remarries. There she finds a loving but reticent father, lots and lots of precipitation and a family of vampires blending in with the locals. When she captures the attention of one of them, she enters a world where supernatural danger is well hidden under rain clouds.
Twilight, the first book in the series, was published in 2005 on the eve of the end of Harry Potter, and it seemed that as soon as Potter fans had finished the last book, Twilight became an overnight success. With its captivating, almost-too-perfect hero Edward Cullen stealing hearts from fictional and real women alike and its relatable, yet sarcastic main character, Bella Swan, Twilight is nearly impossible to put down, even by those who aren’t necessarily huge fans. There is something about the unflinching, unwavering and overwhelming love that Edward not only holds for Bella but communicates eloquently and often that makes readers swoon. Of course, Edward Cullen is neither the only vampire nor the only alluring aspect of the series, but he is also undeniably the focus of the series’ appeal.
“When I finished the Harry Potter series, I was desperate for another world to delve into. I was looking for something a little less epic, yet just as engulfing as Rowling’s series,” second-year College student Amber Wilson said. “Despite the clichéd love story with a Romeo and Juliet overtone, it was just what I needed.”
Though on the surface the Twilight series seems to be just another teen love story, the currents of Bella and Edward’s love run deep enough to touch upon a level of devotion and understanding not often seen in teen literature. Edward not only has to manage a boy’s love for a girl, but a vampire’s love for a human whose blood smells sweeter to him than anyone else’s ever had in his nearly 100-year-long life. Twilight is about the complexity of love, commitment and choice.
Of course, with Twilight’s overwhelming, wildfire-style takeover of readers everywhere, the comparisons to Harry Potter were inevitable. Though it is often hailed as “the next Harry Potter” by reviewers and fans alike, the comparisons have seemed out of place and inapplicable by many.
“I don’t see what the fuss is about. It’s not half as good as Harry Potter was — I don’t think it’s even comparable,” second-year College student Cristina Wood said. “The book was all right but I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Though many loyal Harry Potter fans resent the comparison, claiming that the Harry Potter series has much more to offer readers than the Twilight series, in reality they are just two different series, both wildly popular and in the fantasy category.
Of course, in natural order of phenomenon, the Twilight movie is being released tomorrow. Fans everywhere, even those who didn’t read the book ecstatically, or avidly, are looking forward to Twilight’s venture to the big screen. The manifestation of Edward Cullen alone is enough to send teenage girls in to fits of screaming fancy, but the vaguely alternative nature of the film and the creator’s willingness to deviate from the overwhelming adoration toward a more sardonic, albeit incredibly loving, interpretation promises entertainment for all levels of fandom.
Second-year College student Chloe Carcamo put it best: “Though the Twilight phenomenon is verging on the overly fanatic, it’s easy to understand why ... The series engulfs you into the fictional world of vampires and timeless love while incorporating it into an everyday teenage existence, making the reader feel like it could happen in their own reality.” Because really, who doesn’t want their own adoring, overwhelmingly-in-love vampire?
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