Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher:Hachette Book Group
Year: 2005
Audio Publisher: Listening Library
Audio Reader: Ilyana Kadushin
Audio Length: 12 hours 52 mins
Genre: Romance/Fantasy
Age: YA 13+
Rating:
I'm going to preface this review by saying these Twilight Saga reviews are going to be a little different from my regular format.
Can you believe it's been 10 years since the Twilight movie came out?!!? It's also been 10 years since Breaking Dawn the book was published. I was thinking about the series a few days ago before I went online to do a little research & discovered those 2 interesting facts. What a better time for a series reread??? It's only been 2 weeks & I've almost read the first 3 books already. Time flies when you go back in time to a great series. I remember reading the series in high school & then waiting in long lines with several hundred other screaming girls for the movies. Before hashtags we were buying tshirt & braclets that were either Team Edward or Team Jacob. I think I might even have a Twilight tshirt somewhere. For the record I am still & always have been Team Jacob. Now reading the series & watching the movies is just making that feeling stronger. I don't care if you like the fact that Bella joined the undead & ended up happily ever after with Edward, Jacob Black is HOT! Both in the book & in the movie version, THANK YOU to whoever picked Taylor Lautner for his character, spot on pick!
Over the years my opinion of the books started to falter once I was out of the teen romance book fantasy addiction haze that teenage heart throbs will bring on in situations like these. Let me say that now that I'm reading them again they are not that bad, not the best writing ever but entertaining, good descriptions, lots of characters, & a good story overall. The books much like the movies definetly get better as the series progresses. The first book is enough to hook you obviously but when you watch the movie....I can't even! The movie is just not good...The lighting is weird, Edward & Bella are so awkward, & the jokes just kill you. I know that Bella is supposed to be clumsy & awkward espically next to the god like form of Edward but still come on give me a break! Plus Robert Pattison looks like he's constipated most of the movie with his facial expressions. For some reason the first movie reminds me of a 90's music video, anyone else get that vibe? Luckily they get better much like the books. I think the movies really are what give the books a bad rap over all. At the heart of the book is a love story, or maybe it's better described as a love triangle. Plus you throw in the fantasy monsters, what's not to love. Meyer gives her own spin on a vampire tale much like others have done over the years. One of the things I love the most about the books is the passion, whether it's being used to describe the way Edward looks at Bella, or the sunlight as it falls through the canopy of trees, the descriptions are entriguing.
This is the first time I've listened to the books on audio & the reader does a good Bella. Her male voices are a little weird, I wish they had different readers for them, but overall she is good. They are a little long but enjoyable.I will also say that I read the book as well while listening & the font of the book is fabulous. I tried reading on ebook & it wasn't the same.
At the end of the day I'm happy I'm finally rereading the books & I've seen the movies many times over the years so it's fun to do a comparison.So without further adu...
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Twilight Book/Movie Comparison
***This is gonna be kinda long LOL I took about 6 pages of notes on my thoughts & things I noticed that were different***
The movie opens just like the book & all the other books will with a quote or poem. Bella is leaving home & she just has to have a cactus. I will tell you from personal experience they would have never let her have that in the plane LOL! But any way...the message of her missing home is clear. What happens to the cactus? You NEVER see it again, wait a minute, see I'm right the TSA took it! Anyway moving on...
(On a side note I'm listening to Train whle I'm typing this, speaking of the 90's!)
Once she gets to the airport in Port Angeles she has to endure the super awkward ride back to Forks in Charlie's police car. That also happens in the movie & it's great, so awkward.
I think the first big difference between the books & movies happens next. In the book Charlie bought the truck off of Billy & he has it waiting for Bella. But in the movie Jacob & Billy come over to the house to welcome Bella & they bring the truck. I think this change is pretty significant to the movies because they seem to set the stage for Jacob to be a major character & for Bella to possibly end up with him. Just think of that cliff kiss scene in Breaking Dawn, how could it not be him after that?! Jacob has a strong presence in the books, espically in New Moon but it seems stronger in the movies. The truck is perfect to the description in the books, where did they find it!
I will also point out that Billy is like drastically younger in the movies than in the books. But it's Hollywood, everyone is pretty right?
Most of the othere characters are the same as they are described in the books, the actors were all good picks overall.
The movie continues on the same as in the book for a while until we get to the dinner at the diner. I think this part was thrown in the emphasize what a small town Forks is & how lonely Charlie is, his life has been the same for almost 20 years. It would seem that Bella is also a vegetarian in the movie, did anyone else catch that? She gets a garden burger when they are there, & a salad another time, then when she is with Edward she orders mushroom ravioli. In the book she definetly eats meat so maybe it's not on purpose? Or it could be to show that she is like Edward since him & his family are "vegetarians"?
A big thing that is different in the movies compared to the books is the technology. In the books it's almost like the 90's or early 2000's no one has cellphones, Bella has dial up internet on an old desktop, her mom calls her on a pay phone & emails her. Then in New Moon Bella is given a camera for her bday & it's film. But in the movies they have some cellphones, digital camera, etc.
Something that is never talked about in this first book is the animal attacks that are happening in the movie. In the movie you know about the other group of vampires much soone because of those attacks. Things like that will happen in later books so it forms a pattern.
On my notes it just says Golden Onion...LOL...that was hilarious in the movie but not in the book. That whole scene was great. Edward has finally returned & he awkardly introdues himself then they do a lab that both of them have already done & win the onion. It's scenes like that from the movie that are a perfect example of it giving the book a bad rap.
After that the group goes to the beach on the reservation, La Push. In the book this is the first time we meet Jacob, he comes to the beach with some friends. He tells Bella the story of his tribe, how they are decendents of wolves, & about the cold ones. This is true in both the book & the movie. This scene will be important in the next book.
From the beach the scene changes to a prom shopping trip in Port Angeles where Bella runs into some trouble & gets into it with some crazy guys. In the book she gets lost & there is about 6 pages describing it. I think the movie did it justice with a much shorter scene. Of course Edward is there to save her. Then they go & have an awkward dinner where Bella starts to figure out what is up with Edward.
The next big thing that happens in the book & the movie although slightly different is the meadow. In the book Bella is skipping the girls choice dance that everyone wants her to go to in order to go on a shopping trip to Seattle. She ends up cancelling the trip & thats when her & Edward are alone for the first time & he sees him in the sun. That's also when we first get to see the meadow which shows up a lot in the future. After their trip to the meadow she runs with Edward for the first time as well. But in the movie this portion is cut short & you only see the run & the shiny image of Edward's skin. I think the meadow is more important then the movie gives it credit.
Once her & Edward are "official" Bella meets the Cullens & their house in the movie is over the top fancy & modern. But in the book they live in a big beautiful restored cottage type house, not the glass & wood thing from the movie. I personally would have liked to see the original house in the movie. One of the things that's missing from this part in the movie that is also kinda disappointing is the giant wooden cross in the house that sparks the conversation about how Carlisle became a vampire almost 400 years ago. This story might be told in later books/movies but not in the first movie. The addition to the house that I think is cool is the wall of graduation caps.
Then comes the baseball game & the arrival of the other vampires. The other vampires are spot on a far as looks & personality go except for Laurent, I think they picked him for the movie because once again he's pretty to look at. From there the hunt is on for James. One thing that is added here is Esme telling Bella that the reason Carlisle changed her is because she lost her baby & then tried to jump from a cliff to kill herself.
This part of the movie is very close to the book, they have to split up to protect Bella & find James. Alice & Jasper are with Bella in both formats & the rest are either protecting Charlie or helping find James. In the book Alice, Jasper, & Bella go to the airport to meet Edward & the others there Bella sneaks away. In the movie she sneaks away from the hotel, I think it was done that way because I'm sure it's hard to film in an airport.
In the final scene with James things are pretty much the same. The biggest difference is that James knows where Alice came from. In the book she can't remember anything about her previous human life. But it is never talked about in the movie much like Carlisle.
The ending for the book & the movie are the same, how else could junior year end other than prom!
Overall I can understand why certain things were changed or left out of the movie, I think the adaptation is good but a little on the cheesy side.
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