Ok y'all. Lets talk Twilight. If you have been living under a rock the Twilight saga follows the life of Bella Swan and her seemingly unremarkable life until she finds her self entangled with vampires and werewolves in an epic tale of love, loss, and forever.
Let's recap: SPOILERS AHEAD! For you rock dwellers.
In the first book, Twilight, Bella Swan moves to Forks, WA to live with her father, after her mother remarries and travels with her new husband Phil, who is barely ever mentioned again. Bella moves to Forks just in time to start a new year at a new school and is immediately curious and enamored by the beautiful Cullen family. Her fellow classmates tell her they are a family of adopted children who live with the town doctor and his wife. When the youngest Cullen, Edward, takes an immediate dislike of Bella, she can't imagine what she ever did do cause such utter hatred. To her amazement he saves her life in a freak accident and then in his own words, "can't stay away" any longer. The more time Bella spends with Edward the more she falls in love and in turn the more she learns about him. And then she learns the unthinkable. Edward and his family are all vampires. But a new kind of "vegetarian" vampire that only drinks animal blood and therefore doesn't feed on humans like the vampires of our nightmares. The Cullen clan accidentally comes in contact with a trio of traditional vampires and when they smell that Bella is human, the hunt is on. A battle ensues that leaves Bella's life hanging in the balance. Twilight is a beautiful story about young love and the sacrifices we make for the ones we love.
Up next in the saga is New Moon. In this book Bella realizes that even though Edward will never age, she is getting older with every single second that passes and she begins to obsess over the fact that even though he has promised her forever she doesn't want to get any older than him. He promises her that her age will never matter and that he is hers for as long as she wants him. When something as simple a paper cut causes a disastrous end to her birthday, Edward decides that it's time for him and his family to leave for the sake of Bella's safety and Bella falls into a nearly catatonic state for months. Going through the motions until her father has had enough. When she is forced to make a choice between being shipped off to her mom her re-entering the world she finds solace in her friend Jacob who lives on the nearby Quileute reservation. She begins to spend all of her time with Jacob and his friends and finds a sense of happiness again with Jacob. He begins to fall in love with Bella and even though her heart still belongs to Edward she can't let go of Jacob. When Jacob mysteriously falls ill and is unable to see Bella anymore, her world begins to turn upside down all over again. Now that she's all alone again she begins to search for memories and runs into someone very dangerous from her past. When it turns out that he is an enemy and not a friend Bella is sure that it's the end for her until she learns that vampires are not the only "monsters" that exist. She soon finds out that Jacob and his tribe are descendents of wolves and because of the other "bloodsucker" in the area the teenage boys of the Quileute nation are beginning to phase and Jacob is poised to be the alpha because of hid blood line. Bella discovers this just in time when she find out that there's someone else out there hunting her, and while the wolves can protect her from the visitor they can't save them from herself and due to a terrible misunderstanding it's her turn to save Edward from his impending "suicide mission". But why would he do this when he left her? It doesn't make sense because he doesn't love her anymore. When Bella travels to Italy to find Edward she meets an ancient clan of vampires, called the Vulturi, who are adamant that Bella needs to become a vampire or be killed since the Cullen's have let her in on their "secret". New Moon is a book about new beginnings, the power of friendship, and how some lives belong together in ways that are msyterious even to the ones involved.
In the third book, Eclipse, Edward and Bella are back together and back in love. Edward has vowed to never leave Bella's side again and Bella while head over heels in love with Edward, realizes that she misses Jacob terribly and wishes that they could both be in her life even though she knows that's not fair to Jacob or to Edward. With the impending visit fro, Vulturi, looming over their heads Edward promises to change Bella but only if she marries him first. But forever will have to wait because Bella's past is catching up to her again, and this time it' bringing an army. While the Cullen's prepare for the upcoming battle they realize they can't do it alone and the wolves step in to offer their assistance. A truce is made and vampire and wolf alike fight to protect not only Bella but Forks and the reservation as well. When the fight is won Bella agrees to marry Edward and Jacob's heart is broken and knows he has lost Bella forever.
In what we all assumed was the final book of the saga, Breaking Dawn, we get the incredibly gorgeous and emotional wedding of Edward and Bella and then the steamy honeymoon. As the honeymoon continues Bella realizes the impossible. She's pregnant and growing at an alarming rate. In a matter of weeks she is ready to deliver and barely clinging to life as the life growing inside her is sucking Bella dry. There only hope is that they are able to keep her heart beating long enough after the delivery to change her into the creature she's been dreaming of becoming. She gives birth to a beautiful and incredibly special and talented daughter and is able to transform into a vampire after a long painful process. When she awakes to her new life and learns that her daughter is both vampire and human and still growing too fast, there are many new problems that the Cullen's encounter. The Cullen's are in the fight of their existence and with the help of many friends from around the world, and the wolves, who now have a remarkable tie to Edward and Bella's new daughter, they come toe to toe with the Vulturi yet again and live to begin their happily ever after.
If you have not read these books, I highly recommend them. The love story is beautiful, not just in the traditional sense of Edward and Bella, but also with the Cullen clan themselves and the love they have for their family, with Jacob and Bella and the incredible love they have in their friendship, and then between Jacob and Renesmee and the crazy wolf thing. I would read a million more books about this world and I hope there will be many more in the years to come.
The countdown is now on for the release of Midnight Sun on August 4, 2020 which will be a telling of Twilight from Edwards point of view. I can't wait to get inside that beautiful mind and hear the whole story from his perspective. What did he think of Bella the first time he saw her? Where did he go when he disappeared? What made him give up his strength and give in to the pull he had towards Bella? I hope all these questions and more will be answered and I will be counting down the days until this book is in my hand.
Twi-Hard FOR LIFE!!!