Twilight in the Garden of Good and Evil

So I just finished Twilight tonight (the book, that is) and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.  I liked it.  A lot.

Yeah, yeah, I know, many of you are now saying, "I told you, so!" But I want to say this, this is NOT a book that would normally like.  I ain't a fan of the romances, yo!  For instance, Jane Eyre angered me.  Infuriated me!  And that's the only true example I have because every other romance I have ever been assigned was not read.  Ever.

Anyways!  Yes, I liked Twilight.  I fell in love with that klutzy, pale girl displaced from Phoenix.  I admired the endearing qualities of Edward.  At times I even wished, I too was part of the Cullen Coven.  I was swept up in the build-up of the young love between Bella and Edward.  It was fun to witness.

There were heart-breaking parts, that I had an unexpected emotional reaction to.  When she left Forks for Phoenix, I understood why she said what she said, but I still wanted to slap her. The second scene in the hospital between Bella and Edward brought tears to my eyes (which was awkward since I was reading at work and had a customer come up in the middle of it).

Praise be to Stephanie Meyer for painting this simple, yet beautiful tapestry.  I have few critiques I would make on her style.  Obviously I am not a teenage girl (or am I?) so I'm not the target audience.  Because of this, I thought it was a pretty simple read.  After plodding slowly through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, that was a great relief.  

I only had a couple quibbles with the book.  Knowing what I know about future books, I was surprised she didn't foreshadow Jacob Black's abilities more.  I was expecting some more feral terms when describing the boy, but hey, not a biggie.  The other thing was I thought Alice finding out about her origin was a bit convenient.  And by "a bit" I mean extremely. Besides the fact I felt the whole situation was convenient I also felt it was awkwardly wedged in there.

A small anecdote to end this: I was reading at work today when I teenage girl on crutches complete with braces and a head band came into the Sanderson Street facility at work.  Her mom went to the bathroom and while the girl waited she noticed I was reading Twilight and she almost exploded she was so excited.  Then it dawned on her that I wasn't a girl and that I was well past puberty (debatable) and she suspiciously asked me why I was reading it.  I told her I liked the movie so I thought I'd give the book a try and that I was not disappointed.  She gave me a shiny, metal smile and we had a brief conversation in which she told me how amazing the other books are and that I need to read them right away.