Twilight series

I happened to find the whole set in this series for pretty cheap and decided to finally join the bandwagon and read them. I'd begrudgingly watched the movies and was totally unimpressed, mostly because of the bad acting and seemingly worse storyline, and I figured the books would be at least improve my opinion of this series. Aaand...I was totally wrong, because the books actually worsened my opinion of the series.

First, let's start off with the most bland, underwhelming, and annoying lead character I've met - Bella Swan. I get that this series takes place in high school while Bella is still going through her awkward teen phase, but I just really disliked her. She started out alright, but the obnoxious soon came out when Edward entered the picture and all she could do was obsess over how much she loves him. The only interest she seemingly has is reading the classics, and even that just seemed cliché. She's just this damsel in distress type who always seems to make poor decisions resulting in other characters having to fix her mistakes. I hated how she treated Jacob, too. At least she admitted that she screwed up, but she just expects him to stick around regardless of how much it obviously hurts him. Seriously - who wants to hang out with the person who rejected him, along with said person's new love? And when Leah finally had enough and called Bella out on her selfish ways, Bella of course played the victim and complained about Leah shrieking at her. I won't even get started on the whole vampire turning saga, because again Bella just completely disregarded everyone else and did what she wanted. I just didn't understand how she was so quick to make such a huge decision, one that would require her to abandon not only her friends, but her parents. Oh, and also to basically forfeit being alive. No biggie or anything, right?

I think part of the issue with Bella (and other characters) is just poor writing. For example, Bella just falling in love with Edward with no buildup fell totally flat for me. Come on Meyer, at least you could have given us an appetizer before the main course. The only interaction between the two characters involved Edward constantly warning Bella that he was no good for her (and I'm not even exaggerating when I say that's it) but we're supposed to just go along with Bella falling head over heels for him. Again, the total lack of buildup just made their supposed love feel contrived and forced. Edward was minimally less annoying than Bella in that he obviously really cared for her, but I never got a good picture of him as a whole, if that makes sense. I just couldn't get a strong feeling for his character, either looks or personality; and again, it was mostly because of the writing, or lack thereof concerning character development.

The only character that really stood out to me was Jacob. He could be hotheaded and did some pretty stupid things out of hurt or anger, but I understood his emotions. The only thing I couldn't understand is why he ever liked boring, self-absorbed Bella, but I'll chalk that up to wolfy teen hormones or something. Aside from that, I just really liked him; in a series full of cold (literally and figuratively), one dimensional characters, his passion and knack for speaking truths made him the only one I really related to or liked. I hated how Bella always treated him though, from keeping him around to turning on him when little combo name imprinted on him, and I was secretly cheering on Leah when she told her off.

I liked Jasper and Rosalie, but overall the Cullens just didn't do it for me. I guess I just found the whole vegetarian, empathetic vampire bit to be too hokey. I really didn't get why all four of the younger ones had to enroll in high school, either. Obviously that was a setup by the author for Bella and Edward's meeting, but it just seemed like lazy writing to have all of them attending school together as this weird blend of siblings and spouses. Why not just have Edward attend school since the other four are married couples?

Bella's pregnancy was probably the most annoying, drawn out, and somewhat grotesque part of the series. As usual, her decision to carry the baby goes against what everyone (save Rosalie) thinks is best, but they're all left to deal with the decision while Bella is slowly dying from carrying the baby. The whole thing was just too over the top for me, from Edward's total despair to Bella having to drink blood to sustain the baby. Also, I think Renesmee can officially qualify as the stupidest name. Ever.

Supernatural books and series are always hard because they deal with the stuff of myths and legends - vampires, werewolves, fairies, and so on. Because of that, I think it's doubly important that the author be able to create a world in which the reader can not only imagine, but enjoy. For me, the True Blood and Mortal Instruments series are perfect examples of such writing. The heroines are both so relatable and realistic, even as they journey into some pretty heavy supernatural stuff. One of the main problems I had with this series is that I didn't relate to or like the main character, and I didn't really like the author's version of the supernatural. I liked the werewolves for the most part, but I didn't find their portrayal to be really unique or impressive.

All in all, I can't say that I regret putting off reading this series. I can see why it's popular with the intended teenager fanbase, but still found the writing, characters, and storyline to be average at best. If you're looking for something better, I'd highly recommend the two series I mentioned above. On the bright side, at least I didn't pay much for this series.