Twilight(Rating: 5)
This awesome book by Stephenie Meyer, is about a girl named Bella, who goes to Phenox to visit her dad, who got divorced, long back when Bella was just a little baby. So, when she goes to Phenox, that means that she has to go to a different school. With all new people. She gets nervous a lot. But, she gets through the day, fine. She meats this beautiful boy. Named, Edward. Btu it turns out that he is a vampire. So, they really like each other, so know they become boyfriend and girlfriend. And they live happily ever after. THE END!!!

Why did I like it?(Rating: 5)
I had never heard of the Twilight Saga before the movie came out. Then I heard all the teenage girls going nuts, and I was slightly curious. Someone I work with knows I love to read, and bought me Twilight for Christmas. I read the book in a singe five-hour sitting, staying up until 3 am to complete it.
Why did I like it? I'm out of the age range, and it's not the best, most original story ever. I liked it because it reminded me of how much I despised high school, and how much I wished that there had existed someone like Edward, to have outrageous reactions to me, sweep me off my feet, to make me feel forbidden things that I'd only read about in books.
It is an outrageously romantic story. Yes, sometimes the characters are annoying- Bella's stubbornness, Edwards overreactive actions; and sometimes, it hits exactly the right notes. What if there was someone you loved more than life itself? What if that someone loved you like that back? What if you could suspend all your responsibilities and simply grab that love with both hands and hold on to it, hoping for the best? It's the what-if that lives inside every teenage (and older, sometimes) girl's heart, the thought of that one desperate love that makes life not only bearable, but worth living.

Not as good as Harry Potter(Rating: 4)
All right. Fine. I am a sap. I did enjoy this book, and have read it twice. But NO WAY is this better than Harry Potter, or even as good as. Potter is an epic struggle between good and evil, whereas this is a love story. A well-written one, I'll admit, but most of the struggle between "good" and "evil" wouldn't have happened if Bella and Edward had never met.
Bella's constant descriptions of Edward's good looks get irritating. And the grammatical errors! So distracting!
Plus, Bella's view of herself is irrational. She thinks she's boring, while simultaneously FIVE guys like her! She needs to get a grip.
A word to parents: I wouldn't let your kid read this till he or she is in high school, because they'll get addicted and want to read the others in a hurry. The first two are fine for whoever can handle a long read, but the last two have some mild issues that I'm glad I didn't read until now. (I'm in high school.)

Meh. Borrow it from your library.(Rating: 2)
I'll try to keep this short. I decided to read the book because half the people at my job are engrossed in it and are uttering RAVING reviews. Okay. So, I decided to give it a chance, mainly because I'm between quarters from school and I'm bored as heck. Well, I got through the first two books ("Twilight" and "New Moon") and I really find the series to be rather lackluster overall.

Normally I'm a pretty fast reader, but it took me a while to get through half the book the first book because it was so bland. I could really only do a few chapters a night. It was just page after page of alternating between Bella's whiny complaints and how apparently "perfect" and brooding Edward was. Blah blah blah. The second half was faster to read through because that was when things finally started to get dire for the characters. But...

Well, Stephanie Meyer is an uninspired writer, honestly. She regularly mangles the English language and her characters just don't have that much depth. However, I can deal with one-dimensional characters if the plot is intriguing (I peg "Da Vinci Code" in this category. Dan Brown is a rubbish writer and his characters are dumb as dirt, but his plot keeps moving at least). Yet the plot in the book was sort of lackluster. Not BAD, but not really great either. I mean, the description of the "perfect love" between Bella and Edward is anything but perfect: It's saccharine and sickeningly sweet--not at ALL realistic and her characters completely lack HUMOR and QUIRK.I wouldn't be attracted to EITHER of them based on personality, and I was about to puke from all the mushy sentiment. I mean, if I spent every second gazing longingly at my husband, he'd have my head examined for signs of a stroke and/or divorce me out of boredom.

And should I mention plot holes? Okay, I'll simply say that THERE ARE ANNOYINGLY OBVIOUS PLOT HOLES! I mean, why is Bella's "ticket up" in the first book but apparently not in the second? What could a 101 year old vampire POSSIBLY have in common with a 17 year old girl? Why is Bella influenced by vampiric powers in the first book but seems immune in the second? I could go on, but I won't. I mean, didn't Meyer keep NOTES when writing her book for the sake of staying consistent?

Alright, long story short: I didn't think this book was any different than the paperback romance trash my mom would buy in supermarkets and read on the beach. Yes, those books ARE fun to read sometimes just like pizza is fun to eat sometimes--but man, it WILL give you a tummy ache and you'd die from malnutrition if you tried to live on it.

I can see why teenagers adore this book, but I, for the life of me, can't see the manic fascination held by adults. Yes, I will keep reading the rest of the series... on paperback when it comes out... in August... as a way to give my brain a trashy reprieve from my graduate school textbooks. Honestly, the series isn't worth more than that.

Doesn't live up to the hype(Rating: 2)
This book is engaging enough, but the writing isn't particularly good. Ms. Meyer needs to get over her fear of the word "said;" her endless, awkward "encouraged me"s and the like became quite distracting. The phrase "'Shh,' he shushed me" made me laugh out loud at what was supposed to be a tender moment.

I would recommend Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy over this book any day. It has some of the same elements and would appeal to the same audience but is a lot more creative and, unlike several recent runaway hits, is actually well-written.