Twilight Books and Gear

The book is Twilight.

In Twilight we meet Bella who has just moved to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state from sunny Arizona. She is moving in with her father, whom she does not know all that well. Her parents split up when she was young and her mother never could get used to the small Washington town of Forks that sees only a few days of sunshine a year and it rains almost constantly. But Bella's mom wants to travel with her new minor league baseball player boyfriend so Bella decides to relocate to her father's home.

Bella is anxious about fitting into a small town highschool and she is something of a curiosity, although what peaks her interest is 5 unusual and reclusive students. They are quite simply the 5 most gorgeous people she has ever seen. They also have an unusual story. They are all the adopted teens of the equally gorgeous and young town doctor and his wife. They are Edward, Emmitt, and Alice Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale.

Bella's first real encounter with one of them places her at adds with the Cullen she is the most intrigued by... the stunning Edward. She sits next to him in Biology class and he is anything but friendly. He grips his desk the entire class as if he could snap it in half at any second and he glares at Bella with hatred in his eyes. After class Bella discovers Edward in the office trying to switch Biology classes and once again she is the victim of his death glares. On one hand Bella would like to think there is no possible reason he could have anything against her, but her instincts tell her she is indeed the reason for Edward's bizarre behavior.

Edward disappears from school after that for many days until finally he returns and this time he is much more friendly to Bella in Biology class although clearly still tense when around her. Their relationship takes an unexpected twist one morning before school when a fellow student loses control of his van on the icy school parking lot. Bella is directly in the path of the van and about to be crushed between it and her own vehicle. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Edward across the parking lot watching in horror as she is about be killed.

The next thing Bella knows Edward has leaped into the path of the on coming van and he shields Bella with his body and uses a single hand to stop the van in its tracks. Wide-eyed Bella knows immediately that Edward is superhuman. Eventually... having demonstrated his abilities and powers to Bella, Edward confides in her that he has been seventeen for almost 100 years. He is a vampire. He and his family have chosen to live peaceably with humans and not feed on them. This is especially hard for Edward since he met Bella though, since her scent is more powerful and enticing than any he has ever come across.

So begins their love story as they get to know each other, vampire and a human, inextricably drawn to each other. Both quickly realize that even with all the obstacles between them they can't bear to be apart and they start spending every waking moment together. Everything hits the fan though when Bella accompanies the Cullens into the woods to watch them play a game of vampire baseball. Unexpectedly a group of 3 unknown vampires (James, Laurent, and Victoria) traveling through the area find them and ask to play the game. Everything is civil at first until James catches Bella's scent and realizes that she is human. A fight nearly ensues as Edward protects her but unfortunately this intrigues James, who is a true hunter. Alice, who can see the future, sees that James has set his sites irrevocably on Bella as his next kill.

The Cullen family must now figure out how to protect their new human friend as she is stalked by a ruthless vampire. Edward can't imagine losing the soul mate he has waited almost a century for. The book has many twists and turns but by the end Bella knows that she wants to spend eternity with Edward and she wants him to turn her into a vampire.

I LOVED this book! I was glued to it from page one.

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The book is New Moon, which opens with Bella being distraught that she is celebrating her 18th birthday, making her forever more "older" than Edward. Edward however is not willing to turn her into a vampire because he cannot be sure if vampires have souls and he is not willing to take Bella's if in fact, they are soulless and damned.

The Cullens throw Bella a birthday party innocently enough but when Bella accidentally cuts her finger while opening presents, Edward's vampire brother, Jasper is overcome with thirst and he tries to attack her. Bella is thrown into a glass table where she is severely cut on the arm. Only Carlisle, the head of the family and a doctor can stand to be in the same room with her while she is bleeding. He quickly stitched her up but the damage has been done. The Cullens realize that a vampire family isn't safe for the very human and fragile Bella.

The Cullens decide to leave Forks and start over somewhere else. Edward tells Bella he is leaving her for her own protection and they can't ever be together again. He makes Bella promise that she will never put her life in danger and when Bella insinuates that she might do exactly that to end her misery Edward promises her that if she were to die he would soon follow by provoking a fight with a large vampire clan in Italy.

A large portion of the book from here after follows Bella for months as she sinks into depression. Only after 4-5 months of depression does she attempt to get back to normal, when her father threatens to send her back to her mom, who is now living in Florida. Unwilling to leave Forks, just in case Edward comes back, she does her best to put on a show that she is getting better. She starts visiting one of her oldest friends named Jacob, who lives on an Indian reservation nearby. Jacob is the one who initially told Bella superstitious stories about vampires and werewolves who lived in the area.

Bella discovers accidentally that when she engages in some sort of reckless or dangerous behavior he "hears" Edward in her head speaking to her. In an attempt to keep him nearby even if it is just his voice, Bella starts engaging in risky activities. She buys two motorcycles and convinces Jacob to get them running for her, one he can keep as payment. She also asks Jacob to take her cliff diving. All the while they work on the bikes together they get closer and Jacob really does help her to tackle her depression. She comes to rely on him like someone relies on the sun for warmth. He becomes her very best friend, although she is soon to discover that he is a werewolf and the mortal enemy of the vampire.

The vampire Victoria is back in the area and hunting Bella in vengeance after Edward killed her mate, James. Jacob and his wolf pack become busy hunting for her most days and Bella decides to attempt cliff diving on her own. When Alice, who has still been monitoring Bella from afar, sees a vision of Bella jumping from a cliff she assumes Bella has commit suicide. She tells Rosalie she must go back to Forks to be sure and she boards a plane. While Alice is in flight Edward calls home to check in and Rosalie tells him that Bella is dead.

Edward calls Bella's home to speak to Bella's father (Charlie) but Jacob answers the phone and tells him that Charlie is at a funeral (family friend). Edward believes that Bella is dead and he boards a plane for Italy.

When Alice gets to Forks she quickly "sees" what has happened and where Edward is going. She and Bella take off for Italy to try and save Edward's life.

The book ends with the Cullens realizing that Bella is family and that they can't leave her. They decide by vote that Bella will be turned into a vampire if she wants to, without Edward's consent.

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The book is Eclipse.

In this book the vampire clan and the werewolf pack are still trying to stop Victoria in her hunt for Bella. Victoria has formed a small army of super strong, newborn vampires and Alice sees they will attack within days. Edward has also forbidden Bella from seeing Jacob, which pains her. She often tries to sneak away to see him, almost causing Edward to break their treaty with the werewolves.

Bella is torn between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob as both are consumed with jealousy. They have to join forces though as Victoria's army grows large and dangerous and a truce between these mortal enemies is reached. Bella also comes to realize that what she feels for Jacob is more than friendship she is in love with him too. He is like the sun for her but Edward is an Eclipse and she can never leave him. She and Jacob are heartbroken as Bella makes preparations to marry Edward and be turned into a vampire shortly thereafter.

I can totally see the imagery used. Jacob is the sunlight, relaxing, centering, stable. Edward is the moon, seductive, dangerous, exotic, erotic, and ever changing. How can you not love both?

We leave the book with many questions. Will Bella and Edward get married? Will he turn her into a vampire as promised? What will happen between Bella and her other love, Jacob? Will Bella be able to handle leaving all her mortal friends and family members?

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Breaking Dawn is the 4th book in the Twilight series and probably the most awaited as it was to answer the ultimate question. Will Bella become a vampire and stay with Edward forever or will she choose her best friend Jacob Black?

The book opens with Bella and Edward making plans to get married and then shortly thereafter Bella will be turned into a vampire. Bella has requested that they "honeymoon" while Bella is still mortal so that her first sexual experiences will not be clouded by blood lust. It takes MUCH convincing but Edward finally agrees. They get MARRIED at last! And the honeymoon begins on a private island. It does not take long before Bella and Edward realize that Bella is pregnant with some sort of vampire/human hybrid... ooops!

The next part of the book oddly enough, switches to Jacob Black's point of view from Bella's return to Forks to her birth and subsequent turning. After she is turned it reverts back to Bella's viewpoint as she wakes and finds herself a vampire and gets to meet her daughter who they name Renesme for both their moms.

Jacob can hardly even be sad over the loss of his first love Bella as he imprints on her daughter at first site which means they are destined to be together. Bella and Edward have a hard time accepting this but soon they hear that the Volturi have gotten the wrong impression of their daughter and they seek to kill her. They have to race against time and build an army to fight the Volturi if it comes to that.

This book was the most bizarre of the series and had a strong sci-fi feel to it. I personally could have done without the pregnancy but hey it was still good. It also worked around all the obstacles that Bella had in becoming a vampire so that they became moot, it was wrapped up pretty clean and with little effort.

I loved Bella and Edward's honeymoon (except for the pillow biting), and I loved her first hunt and hug with Edward.

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I have seen Twilight a dozen times now. Yeah I really like it. Overall I think it is a REALLY good movie. Yes, the CGI is badly done, the script feels rushed, many fluff scenes could have been deleted to make more room for more dialogue between Edward and Bella, and some scenes had some seriously bad acting. BUT they had a low budget and climate and schedule issues. Kristen Stewart looked confused and in pain all too often, not in love. I usually like her acting too. Perhaps she tried too hard. Robert Pattinson over-acted many times with his looks of torture and inward pain but overall I was impressed with him.

The movie has several darn near perfect scenes were everything clicked and we saw the story for what it is... beautiful. Some of those scenes were in the meadow, the first kiss scene, the vampire baseball game, and the prom.

There were things added to the movie that were not in the books but I think they were complimentary, my only criticism was that we could have had more Bella and Edward had they stuck closer to the book storyline. Robert Pattinson was perfect as Edward..beautiful and soulful just like the character. Also a real musician just like the character. He actually plays Bella's lullaby on the piano in the movie and he has two songs on the soundtrack.

The second time I watched the movie I was in a packed house with teens and preteens. There was a lot of giggling, screaming, oohing, and ahhing. It was hilarious and really made me long for those days myself. Without a doubt I would have been one of them... absolutely crazy in love with Edward/Robert.

I liked the casting for Edward, Bella, Jasper, Alice, Carlisle, Esme, Victoria, and James. I did not care so much for who was cast for Rosalie, Jacob, or Jessica.

I recommend you go see the movie and watch with an open mind. It really is a good film and I can't wait for the movie sequel coming out in November of 2009.

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