It is Teen Read Week and to participate, I’m reading a variety of teen books this week. I started late last week with Twilight, and plan on finishing Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The list of other books I hope to read if I have a chance are:
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson (choice inspired by the short story/novella in Let It Snow)
Red Glass by Laura Resau
I’m being modest in my reading goals as I have two projects due this week for my classes.
Twilight was a disappointing start to the week. I wasn’t hoping for much when I started the book, except to have at least a strong female character. Instead, the character was goofy and not in an adorable way. And her relationship with Edward was typical for any vampire story in that it always alluded to the sexuality of vampires. Perhaps it was just reading Dracula, but I can’t help but to equate vampires with sex. Besides the underlying sexuality, there was the typical teenage rebellion in not introducing her new boyfriend and sneaking out. The high school relationships were typical, if but briefly noted as most of the story revolves around Edward and Bella. As she becomes more involved with her relationship with Edward, the rest of the characters become scarce.
As much as Meyer tried to portray vampires in a good light, I couldn’t help but feel that the attempts were superficial. Can a vampire really become a doctor and save human lives? Can he ignore and control his undying thirst for blood? Carlisle may be above all temptation, but it seems the rest of his family is not above it. And in Carlisle being above temptation, is he then a vampire god?
There are better books for young high school women to read. In fact, Let It Snow or Papertowns are much better books with great female heroines. They can inspire acts of greatness and propel minds towards being developed more. Twilight is candy. If you have a taste for romance stories and want to only be entertained as you read, then it is your book.
the mama fox 