I will begin by rating the books and movies in order from BEST to WORST.
Books
1. Midnight Sun
2. Twilight (Book 1)
3.New Moon (Book 2)
4.Eclipse (Book 3)
5.Breaking Dawn (Book4)
Movies
1. New Moon
2. Breaking Dawn Pt. 1
3. Breaking Dawn Pt. 2
4. Eclipse
5. Twilight
If you're looking at movies that follow the books the closest, New Moon hands down did the best job, with Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 close behind. I am sucker for a pretty wedding though and found myself celebrating their ridiculous love right along with their friends, family, and city of Forks.
THEY PLAYED FLIGHTLESS BIRD, AMERICAN MOUTH BY Iron and Wine during their first kiss as husband and wife WHICH WAS THE SAME SONG THEY DANCED TO AT PROM UNDER A GAZEBO OF LIGHTS.... I was shook.
Let's also just call a spade a spade and say that the movie Twilight was a straight dumpster fire. The script definitely ruined Edward Cullen's character and the dialogue (which understandably had to be condensed for film) did not capture the essence of building the love story of the main characters.The weird camera angles in an attempt to be dark and edgy, were also making me slightly motion sick. Good thing Robert had great hair to make up for it.
I feel the biggest film surprise came during Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 when the film completely derails from the book the last fifteen minutes of the movie. In what the viewer perceives as reality, Carlisle is decapitated and it was at that point I lost my crap. Not Eddard Stark lost my crap, but about half that. *cue ten minutes of shock and expletives aimed at my poor husband who sportingly said he'd watch the movies with me * It was then I discovered this alternate ending was only one of Alice's (Edward's vampire sister who can see possible future outcomes) visions. You got me good. You got me real good.
Anyway, IF you want to get an accurate picture of what the series is like JUST from watching a movie, I'd say watch New Moon. Love triangle, vampires, werewolves, old school vampires that make the stuff of nightmares, and teenage angst. You get the gist.
Enough about the movies, let's jump into the real meat and potatoes of this-the book series.
Until November I had not picked up a Twilight Series book in about a decade. IF you are going to read Midnight Sun, I'd suggest reading that FIRST and then proceeding ahead with a series re-read if your heart so desires. It was absolutely fascinating to know Edward's side FIRST before you knew Bella's (or in my case re-read Bella's). It was SO FUN to read Twilight and know exactly what both characters were thinking, feeling, and doing parallel to one another because you had both sides of the story. Also-Midnight Sun has oodles more detail, back stories, and conversations that make the entire plot of the original book much more understandable. For example, true to many teen romances, they fall in love fast. From Bella's point of view you think, "Ok, girl...you're 17, chill your jets..."-but from Edward's point of view in Midnight Sun, you learn that there was an entire family discussion about him falling in love with her. It was during this discussion that half of his siblings had decided to kill her until his sister Alice saw a future in which she and Bella were best friends, and also a future of Bella becoming a vampire. Made more sense as to why he was so obsessed. Her......the older sister in me is still like:
Revelation 1: LET'S MAKE THIS CRYSTAL CLEAR. I WILL BE #TEAMEDWARD until the DAY THAT I DIE, but rereading this series as an adult, made me sure appreciate Jacob Black a hell of a lot more. I think this is simply because I am a wife now and a mom now. In the book Bella is so quick to trade away her humanity and her ability to have children with it. When you're 18, you're like -YEAH...LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE!- When you're 31, you're like -You sure this dude is worth that?- Even worse -This is my worst nightmare as a parent....- The steady warmth, friendship, and love that was Jacob Black was a lot more endearing to me this time around.
Revelation 2: I actually DIDN'T like how they initially fell in love. Once that love was established, I could eventually lose myself in it, but the actual process of falling in love in both Midnight Sun and Twilight was so rushed. They went from first date to I will spend eternity with you in .5 seconds. As an adult, I found that off-putting.
Revelation 3: Part of me doesn't like how the series ended. We've got a half vampire/half human pregnancy, a half human/half vampire offspring, we've got a lot of planning for a battle (and eventually no battle), and Bella becoming a vampire in the end. I am glad if she had to become a vampire, it was the way it was- dying from trying to deliver said half human/half vampire baby the only alternatives being death or immortality, but I wouldn't have chosen it for her.
THIS IS HOW I WOULD'VE ENDED TWILIGHT:
Bella decides that humanity is beautiful and she would've grown old with Edward. On her death bed, as she lingered between life and her actual eternity, Edward would've been finally able to read her mind (Edward's super power is that he can read minds, but he could never read Bella's). It was at this moment that he relived their love story. You would've then be lead to believe that the entire series was Edward's retelling of their love story.
Revelation 4: I noticed in the cafeteria scene in Twilight that Robert Pattison's eyebrows looked strikingly similar to Gage's. It was at this point that I had to ask myself, "Wait, did you subconsciously look for a mate that was all of your teenage crushes rolled into one?"
You bet your sweet buns I did.
In conclusion, if you are a Twilight Nerd like me, then I definitely recommend reading Midnight Sun. Don't listen to all of these middle aged woman complaining about how long the book is, how whiney Edward is, and a host of other lame conclusions. Have fun, get reading, and lose yourself in a piece of your youth. Like my sister told me, "Hey, anything to get you through 2020."
Happy Reading!
Cheers,
Kate
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