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Twilight (novel)
Twilight is a young adult vampire-romance novel written by author Stephenie Meyer. It was originally published in hardcover in 2005. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan who moves from Phoenix, Arizona, to Forks, Washington, and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. The novel is followed by New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.
Plot summary
Isabella "Bella" Swan moves from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie. She chooses to do this so that her mother, Renée, can travel with her new husband, Phil Dwyer, who is a minor league baseball player. Bella attracts much attention at her new school and is quickly befriended by several students. Much to her dismay, several boys in the school compete for shy Bella's attention.
When Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in class on her first day of school, Edward seems utterly repulsed by her. After tricking a family friend, Jacob Black, into telling her local tribal legends, Bella concludes that Edward and his family are vampires who drink the blood of animals, not humans. Edward reveals that he initially avoided Bella because the scent of her blood was so desirable to him. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love.
Their relationship is thrown into chaos when another vampire coven sweeps into Forks and James, a tracker vampire, decides that he wants to hunt Bella for sport. The Cullens plan to distract the tracker by splitting up Bella and Edward, and Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix. Bella then gets a phone call from James in which he says that he has her mother, and that Bella must give herself up to save her. She does so and James attacks her, but Edward, along with the rest of the Cullen family, rescues Bella before James can kill her. Once they realize that James has bitten Bella's hand, Edward sucks the venom out of her system before it can spread and change her into a vampire. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, which Edward refuses to let happen.
Cover
Stephenie Meyer has stated that the apple on the cover represents the forbidden fruit from the book of Genesis. It symbolizes Bella and Edward's love, which is forbidden, similar to the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as is implied by the quote from Genesis 2:17 that is quoted in the beginning of the book. It also represents Bella's knowledge of what good and evil are, and the choice that she has in partaking of the "forbidden fruit", Edward, or choosing not to see him.
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New Moon (novel)
New Moon is a young adult fantasy-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is Meyer's second novel in the Twilight saga. This book, unlike the previous entry, is about losing true love. It was originally published in hardcover in 2006.
Plot summary
Protagonist Isabella "Bella" Swan is thrown an eighteenth birthday party by Alice and Edward Cullen, the vampire she loves, and the rest of their vampire family. While unwrapping a gift, she receives a paper cut. Edward's brother Jasper, although attempting a non-human diet, is overwhelmed by the scent of blood and tries to attack Bella. In an attempt to keep her safe from the world of vampires, Edward tells Bella that he and the rest of his family are leaving the town of Forks, Washington because he doesn't want her anymore. Bella becomes severely depressed and seeks comfort with Jacob Black, an old family friend who eases her pain over losing Edward.
Bella and Jacob begin spending a lot of time together, and Bella soon discovers that the rush of adrenaline present when she places herself in dangerous situations stimulates hallucinations of Edward's voice. Bella begins seeking out dangerous behavior, such as riding a motorcycle, to trigger the illusions. Meanwhile, Jacob finds out that he is a werewolf, and eventually reveals this secret to Bella. The werewolves begin to protect Bella from the pursuit of the vampire Victoria, who seeks revenge for the death of her mate, James, who was killed by the Cullens in Twilight. After Bella attempts cliff-diving, she gets caught in a riptide and is rescued by Jacob.
At the same time, Alice Cullen, Edward's vampire sister who has visions of the future, has a vision of Bella jumping off the cliff. Presuming Bella is dead, Alice rushes to Forks to check on Charlie Swan, Bella's father, while Edward calls Bella's home. Jacob answers and informs Edward that Charlie is at a funeral, referring to that of a man in town who had died of a heart attack, but Edward draws the conclusion that he means Bella's funeral. Desperate after Bella's supposed death, Edward flies to Italy to see the Volturi, peace-keeping vampires who would be able to kill Edward, granting him leave of a world without Bella.
Bella and Alice rush to Italy to stop Edward, and save him before it is too late. Before they leave Italy, the Volturi tell them that Bella, a human who knows of the existence of vampires, must either be killed or changed into a vampire herself. After they return to Forks, Edward explains to Bella that he only left in order to protect her, and she forgives him. The book ends with the Cullens voting in favor of Bella being changed into a vampire, much to Edward's dismay.
Critical reception
Reception for New Moon was mixed. A reviewer from DearAuthor.com complained that, "[Stephenie Meyer portrays Bella], either intentionally or not, as a selfish user who seemed to only be able to exist with the help of a man in her life", but also stated that, "For all my disappointment, New Moon zips by and leaves me wanting more", and rated New Moon a B-. AvidBookReader.com rated New Moon a C+ and said that, "The protagonist and narrator, Bella, happens to be the weakest character in the story and the most annoying ... I didn’t really care for the teenage angst ... [and] the thread with the werewolves was a bit uneven."A critic at Teenreads.com said, "In the middle, the story sometimes drags, and readers may long for the vampires' return. The events of New Moon, though, will leave Meyer's many fans breathless for the sequel, as Bella finally understands everything that will be at stake if she makes the ultimate choice to give up her humanity and live, like the vampires, forever."However, the book was condemned by feminist blogger and literary critic Kellen Rice as being sexist, saying, "Bella enters a self-described 'zombie' state when Edward leaves her. ... What does this say to readers, ... [that] they should fall apart at the seams for months if their boyfriend leaves them
Cover and title significance
The flower on the cover of New Moon is a red and white ruffled tulip. Stephenie Meyer has stated that the flower has no significance to the story, as she had no part in choosing its design.
The title refers to the darkest phase of the lunar cycle, indicating that New Moon is about the darkest time of Bella's life
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Eclipse (novel)
Eclipse is the third book in the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. It continues the story of 18-year-old Bella Swan and her vampire love, Edward Cullen. Eclipse is preceded by New Moon and followed by Breaking Dawn.
Plot summary
The story begins with the revelation that Seattle is being plagued by a string of unsolved murders, which Edward suspects are being caused by a newborn vampire that is unable to control its thirst. Edward and Bella fill out college applications, while Bella explains to Edward her desire to see Jacob, her werewolf friend, again. Meanwhile, Alice Cullen has a vision that Victoria, a vampire who is hunting Bella, is back in town. Although Edward fears for her safety, Bella insists that Jacob and the rest of the werewolf pack would never harm her, and he eventually allows her to visit Jacob once in a while.
A few days later, Bella expresses her desire to have Edward make love to her before turning her into a vampire. Edward initially refuses, explaining to Bella that he could very easily kill her. Eventually, upon realizing how much it means to Bella, he agrees to try in the future as long as they are married first. Despite having an aversion to marriage, Bella realizes that spending eternity with Edward is more important to her than anything else and accepts his proposal.
Bella and the Cullens realize that the murders in Seattle are being committed by Victoria and an "army" of newborn vampires. The Cullen family joins forces with the werewolf pack in order to combat this threat. As everyone else prepares for battle, Edward and Bella camp up in the mountains, where they are later joined by Jacob and Seth Clearwater, a young member of the werewolf pack, to wait out the fight.
In the morning, Jacob overhears Edward and Bella discussing their engagement and becomes very upset. He threatens to join the fight and get himself killed because Bella doesn't love him. To stop him, Bella kisses Jacob and realizes that she loves him, too. After Victoria and her army are successfully destroyed, Bella explains to Jacob that while she loves him, her love for Edward is greater and she cannot live without him. Jacob, angry at Bella's decision to become a vampire, runs away in his wolf form to escape the pain he feels.
Marketing campaigns
A few months prior to the release of Eclipse, Meyer hosted an "Eclipse Prom" event at Arizona State University with the help of a local bookstore and ASU's English department. Tickets sold out in seven hours, resulting in Meyer holding a second prom on the same day for which tickets sold out in four hours. At the event, Meyer read the first chapter of Eclipse, which was released in the special edition of New Moon that same day. Meyer also released the first chapter on her website and posted a "quote of the day" from the novel on each of the 37 days leading up to its release.
Cover
The book jacket features a torn red ribbon. Although it was supposed to be disclosed to the public in May 2007 at the Eclipse Prom, Barnes & Noble and Stephenie Meyer's official website premiered the newly released cover in March 2007, along with a preview summary of the book's plot.The broken ribbon represents choice, as in the book Bella must choose between her love for vampire Edward Cullen, and her friendship with werewolf Jacob Black. Meyer also stated that the ribbon represents the idea that Bella can't break away completely from her human life.
Early release
On July 25, an incident similar to the early release of the seventh Harry Potter book occurred with shipments of Eclipse. Barnes and Noble booksellers accidentally shipped advance copies of Eclipse to some of the customers who had pre-ordered. Barnes and Noble said that it was a computer error, as their entire online store is computerized.
To prevent any spoilers from popping up online, many fansite forums for the Twilight series were shut down, such as the Twilight Lexicon. Stephenie Meyer also locked her MySpace comments in an attempt to avoid spoilers. In an open letter to the fansite the Twilight Lexicon, Stephenie Meyer pleaded with these "lucky readers" to please keep the ending to themselves until the rest of the Twilight fans had the chance to read and enjoy Eclipse as well.
An early book release also occurred with Stephenie Meyer's release of the Eclipse special edition, which included the first chapter and cover art of the subsequent novel Breaking Dawn. The special edition was to hit store shelves on May 31, 2008, but multiple copies were released up to a whole week early. Meyer knew that some copies had been leaked, and released the following quote:
"There is a lot of speculation on the internet about possible covers, content and text of Breaking Dawn. I hope everybody knows that you shouldn't believe everything you see on the internet. The only way you will know what is real is when you have the book in your hands. Until then, people should really take everything they see with a grain of salt."
Critical reception
Eclipse received mixed reviews. LoveVampires.com stated that, "Adult readers may be put off by the teenage relationship angst in this novel but if you have already enjoyed the author’s previous offerings I think there is still plenty here to entertain." Based on this, they gave Eclipse four and a half out of five stars.Anne Rouyer of School Library Journal said that, "Meyer knows what her fans want: thrills, chills, and a lot of romance, and she delivers on all counts."[9] Selby Gibson-Boyce of Tulsa World wrote, "I read without stopping until I finished. Meyer's book would not detach itself from my hand. Exactly the same thing happened with Twilight and New Moon."
However, DearAuthor.com said that, "It was clear to me that once the decision to remake Bella into a vampire was made, all natural tension evaporated and thus the author had to manufacture false conflict after false conflict to keep the storyline interesting", and gave Eclipse a C- grade. Kellan Rice of Blast Magazine criticized the book as being sexist, saying, "Not only does Meyer give her two characters an obviously unhealthy-even abusive-relationship, but she romanticizes and idealizes it, and not only with Bella and Edward, but with Bella and Jacob as well."
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Twilight (2008 film)
Twilight is a 2008 romantic-fantasy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. The film stars Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, a teenage girl who falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen, portrayed by Robert Pattinson. The project was in development for approximately three years at Paramount Pictures before it was put into pre-production by Summit Entertainment. The novel was adapted for the screen by Melissa Rosenberg in late 2007, shortly before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The film was primarily shot in Washington and Oregon in early 2008. Twilight was released in theaters on November 21, 2008, and grossed $35.7 million on its opening day. The soundtrack was released on November 4, 2008.
Plot
Seventeen-year-old Bella Swan moves to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father, Charlie, after her mother remarries. She is quickly befriended by many students at her new high school, where she is intrigued by a mysterious group of siblings known as the Cullens. Bella sits next to Edward Cullen in Biology class on her first day of school, and he appears to be disgusted by her, much to Bella's confusion. A few days later, Bella is nearly hit by a van when Edward suddenly appears and stops the vehicle with his hand. Although he refuses to explain this act to Bella, Edward warns her against becoming friends with him.
Bella eventually discovers that Edward is a vampire, though he only consumes animal blood, and the pair fall in love. After Edward introduces Bella to his vampire family, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie, three nomadic vampires—James, Victoria, and Laurent—arrive and put Bella's life in danger. James, a tracker vampire, is intrigued by Edward's protectiveness over a human, and decides to hunt her for sport. Edward and his family put their lives at risk to protect Bella, but James lures her into a trap by making her believe he is holding her mother hostage. James attacks and bites Bella, but Edward, along with the rest of the Cullen family, arrives before he can kill her. James is destroyed, and Edward sucks the venom from James's bite out of Bella's arm, preventing her from becoming a vampire herself. Upon returning to Forks, Bella and Edward attend their prom and Bella expresses her desire to become a vampire, which Edward refuses to let happen. The film ends showing Victoria at the prom watching the pair together, ready to seek revenge for the murder of James.
The Cullens and the Swans
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Kristen Stewart as
Bella Swan,
a seventeen-year-old girl who moves to the small town of Forks, Washington, from Phoenix, Arizona, about halfway through her junior year of high school.
Robert Pattinson as
Edward Cullen, a 108-year-old vampire who appears to be seventeen. He is Bella's love interest and has the ability to read minds (except Bella's), along with superhuman speed and strength.
Peter Facinelli as
Carlisle Cullen,
a compassionate "300-plus years [old]" vampire who looks to be in his mid-20s. He serves as the town's physician and is the father figure of the Cullen family.
Elizabeth Reaser as
Esme Cullen,
Carlisle's vampire wife and a mother figure to the Cullen family.
Ashley Greene as
Alice Cullen,
a vampire who can see the future based on decisions that people make.
Jackson Rathbone as
Jasper Hale,
a member of the Cullen family who can manipulate emotions. He has the most difficulty maintaining the Cullens' lifestyle of not feeding on humans.
Nikki Reed as
Rosalie Hale,
a member of the Cullen family, described as the most beautiful person in the world.
Kellan Lutz as
Emmett Cullen, the strongest vampire of the family.
Billy Burke as
Charlie Swan,
Bella's father and Forks' Chief of Police
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