Werewolf vs. Vampire. Who wins? No-one.

As some of you lucky enough to be within ranting range will no doubt be aware, I've been reading the Twilight series.  Yes, I am over the age of fourteen, but I am a girl, so at least I meet one of the requirements for reading them.  I also like vampires (although, obviously, I don't know any personally).  Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, Poppy Z. Brite... all good in my book.  However, I tend to like bad ass (or even better, uggo) vampires over pretty boy vampires, so Edward and his 'unutterably gorgeous' kin were fighting a losing battle right from the start.  Give me 'Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht' over 'Interview with a Vampire' any day...

By the way, I know that I'm not really qualified to write this post just yet, since I'm only half way through 'Eclipse' (the second to last one, for those of you lucky enough to be living under a rock for the past three years).  I just feel compelled to post about something, and this was all I could think of.  Plus, I know it's kind of a contentious thing... people either LOVE Twilight, or hate its guts.  At the moment, I have to confess to being a bit torn.    As I'm getting through the story, I have this major sense of impatience with Edward and his 'family' - though mostly Edward.  I mean, you love her, bite her... and damn the consequences, right?  I know he's all worried about Bella's soul and what-not, but the worry seems... unfounded.  Plus, I have to admit to being fully 'Team Jacob', but that might be because I'm a cold frog and the idea of having a nice warm werewolf to snuggle up to is pretty appealing. 

All of that girly goop aside, I think that the reason Twilight has been so successful is not the (frankly, amateurish) way it's been written, but the way that Stephanie Meyer has managed to wield Bella.  As a principle character, Bella rates up there with Catherine from Wuthering Heights in terms of out and out annoyance.  She really f'kin' grates on me... for no apparant reason, I might add (I should also add at this point that I am far more Jane Eyre than Wuthering Heights when it comes to the Brontes... poor old Agnes Gray doesn't even get a look in).  But she is a realistic teenage girl, in my view.  Everything is so intensely felt, every little gesture is analysed and every vocal nuance scrutinised with a fine tooth comb.  I've actually just read the part about Edward starting to relate to Heathcliffe, of all the horrid characters to relate to, so things are not looking positive for Edward (in my eyes) at the moment.  Who the hell would relate to a jerk like Heathcliffe?  Honestly.  Now, Mr. Rochester, I can understand (though he is an attempted bigamist, which isn't cool in any girls' book), at least he knows he's a jerk.  But I digress...

Would I recommend it?  Yup, if you can take it for what it is, and not get sucked into the vortex.  They're pretty good if you can get passed all the sighing and meaningful looks that go on, but it's really just Mills and Boon without the sex (at least, so far, though it looks like Bella might be getting some action sometime soon... don't tell me if you already know).  Actually, you might be better off reading some Harlequin or M&B - at least they get to the action faster, and you don't usually have to wade through tonnes of sickly teenage 'romance' to get to it.  I'll continue a bit more when I'm actually done, but I don't hold out hope for the Twilight series to enter my 'top ten books of ALL TIME' any time soon.