Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Group Book to Movie Review & Giveaway

Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife-between desire and danger.Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite. (from Goodreads)

“About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him-and I didn’t know how potent that part might be-that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.”~Twilight

Let's get serious for a moment here, shall we, readers? If you don't know what Twilight is, I want to know what rock you've been hiding under for the past several years. That said, all four of us have different opinions on the book & the movie. So buckle up, readers and we hope you enjoy our thoughts on Twilight the book vs. the movie!


I had heard so much from so many people about this book and honestly, I didn't think anything could EVER live up to the hype that surrounded Twilight.  I held out for a long, long time. It was the summer before New Moon was released in the movies when I finally broke down (after running into my dear cousin Mary; she made me promise I'd give it a try) and grabbed the book from a garage sale. 


I read Twilight in an afternoon. I could not put it down; I ignored my husband, the  tv, the phone and pretty much everything but this book.  I was absolutely hooked. What girl hasn't felt like Bella at some point? Feeling like you're completely out of sync with everyone else on the planet, how very normal of her! I was drawn in by the suspense and the love story. I didn't even know there were three more books, I was just plowing through the book to get to the climax, because I knew the end was going to be phenomenal. I was right!


I thought the book was absolutely perfect; really and truly perfect.  Edward & Bella's relationship was like the literary form of crack and I had to have more. I had never considered myself to be a big vampire fan but Meyer's vamps were so totally unlike any I'd encountered in literature before that it was almost easy to forget there were vampires in the book.  My focus was the blossoming relationship; that first love feeling, the all-encompassing fixation on that one person. Meyer brought it to life beautifully. 


I don't think there was a female alive who read and enjoyed Twilight and didn't fall at least a little bit in love with Edward Cullen. I know I was definitely a hardcore Team Edward proponent from the start. Honestly, at this point it had never crossed my mind that there could be anyone else for Bella. When I found out there was a love triangle coming I was beyond confused. 

Other than the love story,  one of my favorite part of this book was the blood-typing scene, it was just hilarious and I thought that moment was really the turning point in Edward & Bella's budding 'friendship'.  Also, the meadow scene was just amazing, in my opinion. And then we have Alice. I adore her. She is quite simply, fantastic and (I think) the most interesting character in the book. Who wouldn't want  a friend like her around? 


I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good love story, because honestly, that's all this is; a wonderfully funny & addictive love story. 

My Rating: 

“And so the lion fell in love with the lamb..." he murmured.

I looked away, hiding my eyes as I thrilled to the word.

What a stupid lamb," I sighed.

What a sick, masochistic lion.” ~Twilight

And now on to the movie review. I really and truly wish I could say that I enjoyed the movie as much as I did the book; alas, I cannot. In my opinion, the movie was just terrible. I have tried time and time again to sit through it and not get angry and pick it apart. It has not happened as of yet. First, let me apologize to you lucky souls who can separate the book from the movie and enjoy them as two separate stories. I really wish I had that ability. I don't know if it's because I loved the book SO much or what but I was totally disgusted with the movie. The script is my biggest issue. It was awful, in a word. In my opinion, they (Melissa Rosenberg & Catherine Hardwicke) took Bella ( a character I loved) and turned her into a sometimes blathering idiot.  And then we have the absolute low point of the movie in my opinion; 'hang on spider monkey' Really?? (Ick!) 

The casting could have been way worse, I try to comfort myself with that thought. I loved Peter Faccinelli as Carlisle Cullen. He was fantastic. Gil Birmingham was perfect as Billy Black. But the best casting choice, I think, would have to be Billy Burke as Charlie Swan. He was superb; he had the look, the mannerisms, everything I pictured Charlie to be. Another positive was the baseball scene. I thought that was well done.

My biggest complaint with the movie is all  the fantastic parts they left out. They added crap (the field trip??) and left out the brilliance of the blood typing scene. Also, would it have been so hard to have Alice & Bella become friends? And I know it sounds trivial, but I really wanted to see the shoes Alice put Bella in for the prom. Edward was very happy with those shoes in the book. I'm nitpicking, I'm sorry. I really don't want to go on and on about how much I hated the movie and everything they did wrong. (Even though I am) . I'm just very glad the movie didn't make me hate the book. One last complaint and then we'll move along to the other ladies. Why did they cast a short young man to play a character who was supposed to be almost 7 foot tall? I love Taylor Lautner as much as the next girl, but really? 

My Rating:

“Don't be self-conscious, if I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I'm not ashamed of it.” ~Edward Cullen~Twilight

Twilight is the first novel in The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, about a girl, Bella Swan, who moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father, from Arizona where she’d lived with her mother, and her new husband. For me, Bella was really not a likable person from the start, doing one hell of a lot of whining and pouting from the very first page. And me? I just cannot stand when the main character falls all over a guy, like she did, but I could actually get into her head quite easily and relate to those feelings, though I’ve never had them (and I hope I never do).

In Twilight, Edward and his family are a totally different perspective of vampires. I’ve never read of vampires like that, and even though most everyone refers it to fairies (and sometimes I agree, depending on my mood), no one can deny it was new.

I gotta say again, though: Why can’t relationships develop and be drawn out to the point where you are biting your nails and screaming because you want these two to get together already because it’s obvious they’re endgame? What happened to such long stories? I suppose I can understand for Edward – he’s only wanted a girlfriend for what? 100 years? And apparently Bella smells to him like old books and vanilla candles do to me (good) – but Bella pretty much fell all over him when he fixed her with a look. And while it made for a cute scene or two, how does one go from, “You’re a bloodsucking killer whom of which I have hardly spoken to ever” to “but you have great hair so I trust you completely! Here! Look at my neck! Lookit!” …No.

But I digress (A Jacob/Bella shipper shouldn’t talk about Edward/Bella publicly, we tend to offend somebody). Point being, I did enjoy the story, and the writing, and the new perspective of vampires, even if the love-story was absolutely ridiculous. All in all, I enjoyed it. And it definitely made me want to pick up New Moon and see where the story continued!

My Rating:

Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen

On to the movie; I’ll be honest; I saw it before I read the books. I actually didn’t know it was a book when I saw the commercial. I just saw it, looked at Robert Pattison and went, “Huh, he’s kinda cute” and rented it. So, that was actually kind of cool, to be able to watch the movie and not judge it for every missed step it took, mumbling, “Wrong…wrong…wrong…” like I normally would. I thought it was actually very good, so when I saw “Based off the novel by Stephenie Meyer” I figured, eh, why not, and picked it up.

Mind you, it was a few weeks later that I got to read the book, so I didn’t realize how much got left out, and readjusted, or just plain screwed up. So, when I watched the movie the second time, I just wasn’t as impressed. I was actually shocked to see how much was incorrect, considering how much I liked it the first time.

So, as a movie, I think it was fantastic. In comparison to the actual book, I’m… sick. Though I shouldn’t be- it’s Hollywood; they don’t actually read the book before they make a movie out of it! Pfft.

My Rating:

“You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever.” ~Edward Cullen

There's a reason more than 5 million Twilight Saga series books are out there. Twilight, the first book in the series, is the addictive story of two teenagers, Bella, a normal girl and Edward, a vampire. This is the type of book you might read in just a few sittings, becoming so lost in its fantasy world that you forget your physical surroundings. It's a fun book to get lost in and comes to an end much too quickly.

Twilight is a very entertaining, fast moving story of romance and suspense. I found the concept of good vampires odd and yet intriguing at the same time. I loved this book. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good love story. I have nothing negative to say about it at all!

My Rating:

I wish I could say I didn’t have anything negative to say about the movie.  I must say, though, I was not happy with it at all. They left so many key things out. There were whole scenes from the book that were so good, how could they leave them out?? For instance, the blood typing scene! Also, why didn’t we get any of Alice’s backstory? I thought that was pretty significant to why James was so intent on getting his way at the end. 

My Rating:

“So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin?" I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
He smiled swiftly, seeming to appreciate my effort. "Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin.” ~Twilight

 I think the best part of this book is seeing the relationship between Bella and Edward blossom and grow as the story progresses.  It was interesting to me how falling in love for Edward changes him so much, and yet, so little. I seriously adore that Bella was written so normal; a very awkward, unsure, unaware teenage girl.  And yet, as the series progresses, she becomes a woman.  Meyer’s definitely created a wondrous strange world for our Bella, sparkly vampires, hot werewolves, and blissfully ignorant humans!  Charlie for instance; his best friend is a werewolf and his daughter is in love with a vampire AND the two are sworn enemies.  He had no idea?  I call BS!  I do love the way he and Bella want so badly to develop a relationship and are completely clueless how to do it; and the awkwardness that ensues as they try.

Another great aspect of this book (all of them actually) is the relationship that develops between Bella and the Cullen family; how they interact and her impression of them.  I did not like that in the movie, Twilight, they attempted to play down the unique bond and friendship that was forming between Bella and Alice; (thank god they revamped that for the next movie)! 

In short, I love all things Twilight, it's an excellent book. 

My Rating: 

Let me start with the truth, I read this book last.  Saw the movie with my bestie and our kiddo’s, then read New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.  Thought I must be missing something and went back and read Twilight; I was right.   Two words, video camera!  Mel and I disagree about this often; Twilight is my favorite of the movies.  I am a B-movie fan all the way.  I love the cheesy, low budget scary movies and if there is a zombie or 100 included in the cast, BONUS!  (Must we go over the whole Cold Kiss fiasco again; it was NOT a zombie book!)  Anyway, I digress………………

Twilight the Movie; LOVED IT!  It’s hard to pick a favorite scene but I will try; “Your scent, it’s like a drug to me; my own personal brand of heroine.”  JeanClaudeGoddamn!  Where is my Edward?? 

“So, you and Cullen?  I don’t like it; he just looks at you like your something to eat.”  LOL!  Gotta love Mike Newton, forever trying to get into Bella’s britches.  Flash forward to BD Part 1 “Enter the love child of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe!”  Mike Newton has some of the BEST lines in all the movies. 

Since I hadn’t read the books yet I didn’t really have any judgment on any of the actors playing the characters, it just seemed to flow very well.  The counterparts complemented each other perfectly (Carlisle and Esme; Rose and Emmett; Alice and Jasper; Bella and Edward) as well as the quirky secondary characters like Mike Newton and the kids at school, Charlie, Victoria and James.  Love them falling in love, love the struggle with humanity and Edward’s never-ending struggle with what he is, love the interaction between characters. Love, love, love this movie! 

Such a fabulously stupid movie, you can’t help but love it.  Having read all the books and watched all the movies to date I am utterly convinced that Stephenie Meyer had a bigger role in the movies than we are aware of; the movies, much like the books, grow and transform with each one.  It’s fabulous to watch some of your favorite characters grow and become what they were meant to be all along.

My Rating:

And now for our 1st Twilight giveaway! 

*Reminder-winners will have 24 hours to respond before they forfeit their prize*

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