The Works of Stephenie Meyer

[Deleted]

Stephenie's writing a Twilight spin-off.

Link

I have no memory of this character at all.

[Smilla]

Joy.

Free? Okay.

[Ninja Bunny]

Okay...let me make sure I understand these books: the Twilight series is about a high school girl who is a pathetic wet blanket and her vampire boyfriend who stalks her and is physically and emotionally abusive to her. They go through a bunch of nonsense, eventually get married and have a baby girl who is effectively promised in something akin to an arranged marriage to an 18-year-old werewolf who shapeshifts into a pedophile when he decides this infant is his soulmate. But not to worry, he won't rape her until she's...seven. How noble. And legions of teenage girls and their moms think this is romantic and cute? Okaaaay.

[susyhomewrecker]

That's it in a nutshell!

On another disturbing, Twilight-related note: Twi-Mom writes to Ask Amy for advice.

[kali]

Feb 20, 2010 10:41:30 GMT -4 @georgianna said:

True, but is why these books are like teenage heroin. I think she does hit the whole teenage love thing pretty right on, bad writing and all. It's a bit surprising because the first one was really tedious to get through. I thought the others were entertaining, but I had to skim the "twu wuv" parts, my God.

Yeah, they are bad teenage fiction, but nothing worse than what's already out there. I think most teenage girls have the view of love that Bella has. Hopefully you grow up.

I agree with this. I totally understand the books' popularity, and probably would've been obsessed as a teenager. I also think Pattinson hit the nail on the head when he said he thought the appeal was that the books are almost voyeuristic and feel like they shouldn't have been published. Like you're kind of just reading some girl's fantasies put to the page.

The one thing that bugs me sometimes is that while I do think there's plenty of discussion on how unhealthy Edward/Bella is, I think Jacob/Bella often gets a pass, and for me, I found their relationship equally bad. He pulls the same kind of controlling shit Edward does, and even worse, at one point, LITERALLY forces himself on her. He totally manipulates her, basically threatens to get himself killed if she won't admit she loves him, and then after all that is rewarded with her telling him she's in love with him. It's such a shitty "Silly girls never know their own minds" storyline. And all that is before we even get into the later creepiness with him imprinting on her daughter.

[susyhomewrecker]

I thought Jacob and Bella had a fairly healthy relationship in New Moon. In fact, after I finished that book, I thought Jacob was a much better match for Bella because their relationship had grown out of friendship and mutual interests--not the "you smell great, we must be soulmates" crap SMeyer tried to feed us with Bella and Edward. I agree that that all went to hell in Eclipse, but it seemed more like lazy writing to me. Like SMeyer wrote herself into a corner, realized that Jacob and Bella really did make more sense together, and then had to make Jacob truly awful so she could justify Edward being Bella's soulmate. (I threw up a little in my mouth just typing that.)

[Ninja Bunny]

Very true, and then Meyer shoots herself in the foot again with Jacob because now that he's horrible (to justify Edward and Bella) she pairs him up with their kid. Yes, I want a manipulative, bullying almost-rapist pedophile sniffing around my infant daughter.

Lazy, lazy, lazy, and cowardly.

Ugh.

[kali]

I thought even in NM Jacob and Bella were pretty messed up. She was obviously not in a good place, and depending on your read of the situation was either losing her mind or was suicidal, which made it hard for me to see his helping her out with her death wishes as something healthy. And him tattling on her to Charlie in order to get her grounded so she couldn't see Edward always struck me as exactly the same kind of controlling behavior that Edward gets so much crap for.

[susyhomewrecker]

Did that happen in New Moon? It's been like a year and a half since I read/skimmed that book, so I don't remember the situation. Was it because he didn't want her seeing the Cullens, because he didn't trust that they wouldn't get hungry and decide to eat her? I don't think Jacob was a prize from day one either, and clearly Stephenie Meyer has got some fucked up attitudes about relationships if the controlling behavior is presented as a positive attribute and a sign of twu wuv. However, I think the Bella/Jacob friendship in New Moon is basically the only believable, semi-healthy friendship represented in the series.

As for Bella, I think there were indications in the book that her relationship with Jacob was helping her heal, and she would have eventually gotten over Edward if Alice hadn't shown up. Sure you can read it other ways, but in my mind she wasn't actively suicidal, just severely depressed and ambivalent about her life without Edward. (Again, barf.)

[bitca]

I'm pretty sure that Jacob tattling on Bella happened in Eclipse, because that's when he turned into a little asshole. New Moon was all about him turning into a wolf, blah blah blah.