Book Reviews #1 - Twilight Series by Stephanie Mayer

The Twilight Saga

Reviewed by Bookworm Princess Caspian

The sensation of the year and if any of the book-a-holics have not read it I say ‘shame on you’. One of the best chick-lit ever written and I can say that with confidence because I love chick-lits and I’ve read loads of them! The Twilight saga has been categorized as ‘suspense, romance, horror, comedy’. Each book in the series was inspired by and loosely based on a different literary classic: Twilight on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, New Moon on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Eclipse on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and Breaking Dawn on a second Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meyer also states that Orson Scott Card and L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series are a big influence on her writing. Stephenie Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream.

Twilight
Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father in Forks, Washington to allow her mother to travel with her new husband, a minor league baseball player. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to a mysterious, handsome boy, Edward Cullen. She eventually learns that he is a member of a vampire family who drink animal blood rather than human. Edward and Bella fall in love, but James, a sadistic vampire from another coven, is drawn to drink Bella's blood. Edward and the other Cullens defend Bella. She escapes to Phoenix, Arizona, where she is tricked into confronting James, who tries to kill her. She is seriously wounded, but Edward rescues her and they return to Forks.

New Moon
Edward and his family leave Forks because he believes he is endangering Bella's life. Bella falls into a deep depression, until she develops a strong friendship with werewolf Jacob Black. Jacob and the other wolves in his tribe must protect her from Victoria, a vampire seeking to avenge her mate James' death by killing Bella. A misunderstanding occurs, and Edward believes Bella is dead. Edward decides to commit suicide in Volterra, Italy, but he is stopped by Bella and Alice, Edward's sister. They meet with theVolturi, a powerful coven of vampires, and are released on the condition that Bella be turned into a vampire in the near future. Bella and Edward are reunited, and the Cullens return to Forks.

Eclipse
The vampire Victoria (James's mate from Twilight) has created an army of "newborn" vampires to battle the Cullen family and kill Bella. Meanwhile, Bella is forced to choose between her relationship with Edward and her friendship with Jacob. Edward's vampire family and Jacob's werewolf pack join forces to successfully destroy Victoria and her vampire army. In the end, Bella chooses Edward's love over Jacob's and agrees to marry him.

Breaking Dawn
Bella and Edward are married, but their honeymoon is cut short when Bella discovers she is pregnant. Her pregnancy progresses rapidly, severely weakening her. She nearly dies giving birth to her and Edward's half-vampire-half-human daughter, Renesmee, but Edward injects Bella with his venom to save her life by turning her into a vampire. A vampire from another coven sees Renesmee and mistakes her for an "immortal child", whose existence violates vampire law, and informs the Volturi. The Cullens gather vampire witnesses who can verify that Renesmee is not an immortal child. After an intense confrontation, the Cullens and their witnesses convince the Volturi that the child poses no danger to vampires or their secret, and they are left in peace.

Midnight Sun
This one is not out yet. It’s from Edward’s point while the other four were from Bella’s point. Half the text was released by Stephenie Meyer on her official web site due to some copyright reasons.
Here's the Draft:
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partial_draft4.pdf

Her first book titled simply “Twilight” was made into a feature length movie and The Twilight Saga became one of the most talked about book series in the world.The second book is ready to release this winter-19th November2009.
Many fans of The Twilight Series compare Stephenie Meyer to J.K. Rowling. As a matter of fact, when the third installment in the Twilight saga named Eclipse was released in Summer of 2007, the sales of the book sky-rocketed to the point that it matched, and then exceeded the sales of Harry Potter book.

I hope I’ve convinced all the readers. So what are you waiting for? Go grab your copy, and read the story of how the lion fell in love with the lamb.

Bookworms @ Bookamrks say:

Although it's an understatement to call the Twilight series "chick-lit", it's the deepest love story, ever read. Nonetheless, a very crisp review.

Rating:

3.5 Bookmarks

(Rating is on a scale of 5)

Favourite Authors - #3 Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte

Favoured By Bookworm Princess Caspian

Charlotte Brontë (21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was a British novelist, the eldest of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature. Charlotte Brontë, who used the pen name Currer Bell, is best known for Jane Eyre, one of the most famous English Novels.

LIFE
Charlotte was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, England, in 1816, the third of six children, to Patrick Brontë , an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1821, At home in Haworth Parsonage, Charlotte and the other surviving children — Branwell, Emily and Anne— began chronicling the lives and struggles of the inhabitants of their imaginary kingdoms. Charlotte and Branwell wrote Byronic stories about their country — Angria — and Emily and Anne wrote articles and poems about theirs — Gondal. The sagas were elaborate and convoluted (and still exist in part manuscripts) and provided them with an obsessive interest in childhood and early adolescence, which prepared them for their literary vocations in adulthood.
Charlotte continued her education at Roe Head, Mirfield, from 1831 to 1832, where she met her lifelong friends and correspondents, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. During this period (1833), she wrote her novella The Green Dwarf under the name of Wellesley She finally returned to Haworth in January 1844 and later used her time at the pensionnat as the inspiration for some of The Professor and Villette.
In May 1846, Charlotte, Emily and Anne published a joint collection of poetry under the assumed names of Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. Although the book failed to attract interest (only two copies were sold), the sisters decided to continue writing for publication and began work on their first novels. Charlotte continued to use the name "Currer Bell" when she published her first two novels.
Her novels were deemed coarse by the critics. Much speculation took place concerning the identity of Currer Bell, and whether Bell was a man or a woman.
The main character, Jane Eyre, in her novel Jane Eyre, was a parallel to herself, a woman who was strong. However, she never left Haworth for more than a few weeks at a time as she did not want to leave her aging father's side.
In June 1854, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate, and became pregnant very soon thereafter. Her health declined rapidly during this time, and according to Gaskell, her earliest biographer, she was attacked by "sensations of perpetual nausea and ever-recurring faintness." Charlotte died, along with her unborn child, on 31 March 1855, at the young age of 38.
The Life of Charlotte Brontë, the posthumous biography of Charlotte Brontë by fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, was the first of many biographies about Charlotte to be published.

JANE EYRE
Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character, a small, plain-faced, intelligent and honest English orphan. The novel goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations; her time as the governess of Thornfield Manor, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her; and her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester at his house of Ferndean. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism and sinister gothic elements.

Themes such as morality, religion, social class, gender relations, disability, the gothic, disguise, symbolic names of people and places.

Bookworms @ Bookmarks say:

What an overview. Never knew so much about her. The language, aspects covered, is outstanding.

Rating : 4 Bookmarks

(Rating is on a scale of 5)