Never got into it myself. But it’s impossible to ignore the media frenzy surrounding Twilight and so I went straight to my seventeen-year-old sister to investigate the recent popular phenomenon.
“Well the storyline is really good. But the writing is crap.”
Oh.
“It’s basically a love story between Bella, a 16-year-old human, and Edward, a 100 plus-year-old vampire who can read everyone’s mind. Except hers. “
I see. The old ‘unattainable’ trick strikes again.
We suspect that it was originally to target a more literary market but Meyer’s writing left a little to be desired and so the publisher opted for the young adult section. A ready and receptive audience for the excessive spin-off merchandise and subsequent film adaptation. Smart move. It topped the New York Times bestseller list in 2005 and seamlessly made the transition from cult to mainstream, helped, no doubt, by the clever casting of brooding male lead Robert Pattinson.
Rumour has it that Hughes & Hughes are doing a 3 for 2 on the Twilight range at the mo. Boxed journals, calendars, badges, and an impressive looking collector’s edition of New Moon, the second novel in the series of four.
Still, commercial success does not excuse die-hard fans from what The Sunday Times’ Style referred to at the weekend as “twi-biting”. Which, for the uninitiated, is nibbling your neighbouring cinema-goer’s neck. For feic’s sake.
The Lady Loves Books 
