|
| 
 enlarge | Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Category: Book
List Price: $10.99
Buy New: $4.43
You Save: $6.56 (60%)
New (68) Used (87) Collectible (2) from $4.43
Rating:  2789 reviews
Sales Rank: 6
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.6
ISBN: 0316015849
EAN: 9780316015844
ASIN: 0316015849
Publication Date: September 6, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Special Purchase Limited Time Brand New (we do not ship to ak, hi, ks, ky, ny, wa, nd)
|
| Customer Reviews:
 I feel like I have been drained of my blood, and my ten bucks. November 17, 2008
I felt I should read this because I will soon be a high school English teacher. I expected a decent piece of literature because it has become so popular. What I didn't expect was a poorly written, boring and annoying load of vampire dung that left me wondering why I didn't save my fiction stories from the 8th grade.
Is it safe for your kids to read? Yes, Bella and Edward are not even saving themselves for vampire marriage. Edward will never ever be able to "do that" with Bella. So sad. I would think more about the messages it is sending to young girls. The "beautiful boy always saving poor Bella" is about as sickening as it gets. It is really disgusting how he carries her around, poor helpless, stupid little thing.
Stephanie Meyers, your no J.K. Rowling. Keep cashing those checks though, they will be coming for a while until these books end up at the thrift store next to the "Babysitter's Club" and the "Goosebumps" series.
 Ummmm....WOW!! November 17, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Honestly....one of the best books I have ever read...I could not get enough...my husband returned from a 6 week trip...I bought this book to pass time waiting for him to arrive at the airport...finished the entire thing in less than 48 hours....neglected hubby by day...made up for by night..."I can be your Edward Cullen"....ummm YES PLEASE!!! Amazing...thank you Mrs. Meyer!!!
Take it for what it is...Just a good fun vampy drama story! November 17, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm 30-something and having been through the self loathing, gothy teen angst and wayward hormones thing, I'm finding I'm really enjoying this book. It is kinda overkill how much Bella self-depreciates herself and obsesses over the "perfection" that is Edward, but that's Bella! An absolute drama queen!
I do get hung up on the long winded detail that is described about everyone and everything in the book, but I understand where that comes from. Stephanie Meyer is just cutting her teeth with this novel and quite frankly, I'd probably write the same way, feeling that in order to create the atmosphere, I'd describe every little thing as well.
So be forgiving and just enjoy a good book. That's what I did and I am happy that I dove into the Twilight Saga! ..Can't wait till the movies opening day! I'll be there with pop corn and a soda :)
This book is great for people of all ages November 17, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I had heard of this book a while back but was under the impression that it was just a book for young girls/teenagers etc. A few months back, I was talking with my stepdaughters and they told me how great the book was, and they aren't your ditsy teenage girls, but true book lovers. I decided to go ahead and give it a try one day and was immediately sucked into it. I read the first book in a day. I then grabbed the next three books and have just been so sucked into them, that I cant seem to put them down until I am finished and ready to move on to the next. I am about halfway through the fourth book, and am actually feeling like I am dreading the end of it because I want there to be more. I think people of all ages would love this series.
dear stephenie meyer: please send me a refund. November 17, 2008
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
My complaints with this book are less with the fanfiction-level writing quality, and more with the messages it passes on to its readers. In general the story seems to be plot-driven rather than character-driven, but since it features neither strong characters nor intriguing plot, I am left wondering what exactly Meyer found to fill 500 pages. Bella's character is paper-thin and passed off as sympathetic, even when her actions are downright vicious and unwarranted. She has no interests or hobbies, and even her academic accomplishments are not because she's smarter but because she's already gone through the curriculum at a previous school. Her superficial interest in classical feminist literature quickly fades and amounts to mere literary name-dropping by the author ("Look! I read 'Sense and Sensibility' Go me!") Meyer not only fails to create a strong female lead, but her characterization of Bella and all other female characters is an insult to the feminist literature she references. Bella describes all the females who try to befriend her as either fake or shallow, and focuses instead on attracting male companions - whom she then rejects as "dog-like" if they aren't attractive enough for her (see pages 55, 69, 77, 83, 144, 164, 204 etc..) Her behavior reaches an all-time low when she jokingly contemplates destroying other students' cars because the students annoy her. Meyer pushes for Bella's clumsiness as a charming fault, but it actually appears to be a serious medical issue (she can't hike, dance,or play sports, and she's considered a risky driver), that conveniently disappears during her sprint from the airport. Bella is also a doormat to her romantic interest, Edward, placing his concerns before her own to the extent that she drugs herself with cold medicine to avoid irritating him with her crankiness (pg 252). Meyer claims Bella's behavior should not be condoned (252), then justifies it as a sacrifice in light of her extreme puppy love for Edward. I'm left wondering what exactly about Bella is intended to be likable, let alone should be emulated by her female readers, young or old.
On to Edward, whose rage and control issues left me searching for the romance in this young relationship. He makes all the decisions for the both of them, he has fits of anger (which he claims are self-directed, but they are always manifested when Bella is present), so Bella is constantly thinking of how to avoid angering him (codependency?). Other readers have argued that scenes where Edward drags Bella across the parking lot, forces her to eat when she's not hungry, breaks into her house when she's sleeping, and yells at her when she says something he disapproves of are romantic when taken in context (103, 163, 166, 182, 185, 190, 211, 242, etc..). However, there is NO context where this behavior, whether in a vampire or not, is EVER acceptable. The fact that so many readers, especially young ones, seem to believe it is acceptable is truly frightening. In addition, Bella never gives a reason why she is attracted to Edward aside from his appearance; basically, she likes him because everyone else wants him. Why he likes her is still unclear to me.
The author's apparent contempt for small-town life is painfully obvious throughout the book. Bella thinks herself better than her Forks classmates because she has already covered much of the material at her previous school in Phoenix, which apparently features both a superior AP program and metal detectors (13). On a more personal note, Meyer describes all of Bella's classmates as worshiping Bella because she comes from the world-renowned metropolis of Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix may be considered heavily populated, but so is Seattle. So is Fresno (yay!). My personal experience, from attending a high school not much larger than Forks' is that students are nonplussed about transfer students coming from L.A. or New York, let alone Phoenix. It's a mystery to me why Meyer chose to set her story in the kind of community she clearly knows nothing about and thinks so little of.
On a positive note, some of the love scenes in this book are actually written quite sweetly, but readers have to wade through so much purple prose to get there that it's barely worth the effort. Overall, I'm not saying people shouldn't like this book or change their opinions about it; I'm only suggesting people be aware of the messages presented in it.
|
|
|
The Outpost Network | |
