Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My well-meaning younger sister loaned me this book, thinking it would be a fun trashy read for our summer ocean jaunt. I love Buffy, so a vampire novel sounded like a perfect beach book & guilty pleasure. Instead, this book only succeeded in making me really angry. First, in its depiction of Bella Swan, a swooning dimwit whose predominant characteristic seems to be that she falls down a lot, & is rude & impatient with the non-vampires who dare speak to her; secondly in its depiction of Edward, the creepy vampire she loves. We get pages & pages describing Edward's "marble lips," "crooked smile," "bronze curls," etc, yet we're not even sure of Bella's hair color. We do know she has no hobbies, interests, or ambitions, other than to bask in the glory of Edward & his vampire family. They sparkle with beauty! They're brilliant & talented! They play vampire baseball! Here's what ultimately disturbs me - this book - this *franchise* - is incredibly popular with young women. They heart Twilight. They REALLY heart Twilight. They mob mall appearances by the film's stars, & scratch their necks to show their devotion. They buy t-shirts at Target that say "Forget Being a Princess, Make Me a Vampire!" & here's what they're gobbling up: A pop culture mythology in which the ideal love object is an undead boy who is manipulative, controlling, prone to following you around & breaking into your house to watch you sleep, but can be forgiven all these things because (a) he's gorgeous and (b) he only does what he does because he LOVES YOU SO MUCH. We're told that Edward's obsession with Bella stems from the fact that her blood smells so good to him, & as the story unfolds it's established that Edward will withhold sex (the book is being co-opted by the pro-abstinence folks) until he & Bella marry. & he turns her into a vampire. So, to recap: your boyfriend stalks you, but he's driven to it because your blood smells good, so really it's your fault (way to reinforce blaming victims of abuse). & he's manipulative & controlling, but that's because left to your own devices you fall down & get into trouble - you need a big strong vampire boy to protect you, decide what's best, & tell you what to do (way to reinforce antiquated gender roles). Sexual longing with no actual sex=good, and marriage=death (not as some militant feminist metaphor, but literally, death). & if any of the above sounds like abuse, don't forget it's *your fault* -- you were asking for it by smelling so yummy! Trashy beach read is one thing -- but there's so much going on here that's flat-out ugly it makes the franchise's popularity with young women disconcerting, if not alarming.