Twilight 3-5

Twilight readings, continued.



CHAPTER 3

Okay, I think I got it now. She has a phobia of being happy. How else do you explain this sentence?

"I felt excited to go to school, and that scared me."

What? Really?

And you "should" avoid Edward after yesterday? Why? Good God, girl. Is there a spine anywhere in that mush you call your back? It's okay to be embarrassed, but don't make it your epic superpower of depression.

Plus, she hates snow. Now, I can understand hating ice. She's insecure-clumsy (entirely different than lack of muscle coordination). Ice is like her kryptonite. But she looks out the window at snow in the morning like someone dropped a bunch of dead bodies on the lawn. At this point, she is either really failing the sarcasm check, or the mood is tacked on. Either way, the behavior is starting to come across as fake. (I say this because she'll start moving towards positive narration or positive thoughts and then shies away from it like it's going to kill her. No! I'm going out of character! Must go back to cranky!)

... and she doesn't like the attention from boys. It's "disconcerting." My eyebrow, it slices the air.

Okay, wait. I'm not even 3 pages into here and I have to keep stopping for a comment. "I wasn't used to being taken care of"... but her mother stayed home while her new husband went out to work so that she could be with her daughter, be there for her daughter, and emails her daughter wanting to know if she's okay and does she like it up there in Washington. Then some of her fellow students offer to walk her to classes and cover her butt in gym class. But she's not used to being taken care of. Right. That's believable. De Nile, hon. It ain't a river in Egypt.

The rescue was pretty cool. Edward is understandably denying he did much of anything, and Bella is on to him (finally, she sticks to her guns), but now he's being kind of an ass to her in the hospital. And I do have to admit having a similarity to Bella. I also tear up and go silent when I get angry. It annoys the piss out of me, too.


CHAPTER 4

Ah ha! A chapter that didn't start out with a negative comment. Progress!

And her mom finally notices that she's depressed through the "tone" of her emails. Um... did you MISS your daughter's behavior before or were you just ignoring it? Honestly. Depression is pretty damn hard to miss, especially with such a pessimistic person.

Still wondering about Edward. Eye-changing, fist clenching, ignoring, etc.

Beginning to wonder if the guys' interest in her is genuine attraction to her or more of a male dominance / pissing contest thing. See who can get the first date with the new girl. I'm not saying it's that openly hostile. More of a subtle thing. But it's there. Could turn into actual attraction. Just thought I'd toss that out.

"I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy."

I think I just fainted.

Okay, the middle of this chapter is amusing. See, I knew Stephanie could do better. Now if she just keeps it up through the rest of the novel...

GDI. I spoke too soon. More woe-is-me. And oh, here we go with the sparkly vampires. He doesn't like me, but oh, he's so dreamy... /puke.

More amusement. I really do like the irritated banter. I'm a sucker for it, and she does it well.

Oh hey! I found my first creepy Edward comment/behavior/thing! "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella!" It sounds like a line, you know? Hint of stalker. Dash of complimentary to cover it up.


CHAPTER 5

Well, I guess Edward gets points for admitting he's not a good guy and actually warns Bella about it multiple times. Gives her a chance to back out while she still can. (ooooo, look at me being all foreshadowy and creepylike)

Okay, this bothers me:

"So, as long as I'm being... not smart, we'll try to be friends?" I struggled to sum up the confusing exchange.
"That sounds about right."

--_--

Banter, banter, banter... I've decided that's her strength. She should run with it more often.

Hey now, what's this? A fear of blood or a fear of needles? Ahh, blood. *snort* Wonder how that'll go over when she starts gettin' more serious with Edward. Even he thinks it's amusing.

Yes, Mike's behavior is confirming my earlier theory. I think him and the other 2 boys want to be the first to date Bella so that they can claim a victory over sparkly Edward (and yes, there may be some genuine concern and affection there, but that's not as interesting as my mini conspiracy theory and you know it).

Creepy Edward behavior #2 -- get in the car or else. Also, I lawled when she said her mom thought she was born 35 years old and she was all "well, someone has to be the adult." Coz she's so mature and all. (Though this is fairly typical if a little more obvious than usual behavior. Damn teenagers think they know everything.)

More banter. I like the banter. Did I mention that?



Overall, the tally is still take-it-or leave it. Some amusing parts. A lot of frustrating parts. When I picked up the book this evening to read it I almost put it right back down again, chapter 3 annoyed me that much. The only reason I kept reading was that I said I was going to read it. But after that it got more tolerable and during the banter it was actually enjoyable. Again, I have no problem with her writing. From a reader's point of view, she writes very well. But Bella needs to be on anti-depressants or something. I'm happy that she's gaining a personality but she strikes me as very high emotional maintenance.

More to come later!


Previously reviewed:
Prologue, 1, 2

Coming up:
Chapters 6, 7, 8
Chapters 9, 10, 11
Chapters 12, 13, 14
Chapters 15, 16, 17
Chapters 18, 19, 20
Chapters 21, 22, 23
Chapter 24 and Epilogue


~Sass~