Edward was so innocent sometimes! Every time Bella’s heart rate increased he thought she was afraid. It took him quite a while to figure that out.

And Charlie!

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From Jacob, too!

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lol I was just thinking about this yesterday, how in the movie he's just like this sexy guy with body glitter on, but in the books he actually looks like he's on fire

Happy Birthday!!

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Yeah, that's sort of how I remember it being explained in the books, or maybe it was me reading between the lines? I think it was explained as your body stopping. Did they say brain development and emotional maturity too? (Edit: yeah, this was the stuff with the immortal children who could not develop past being whatever age they were mentally)

Which makes me think...Edward's original plan was to be with Bella until she grew old. I'm picturing now middle aged Bella pissed off by teenage Edward's bull crap.

I read the books as an adult when they first came out.

She's justifiably angry. She wasn't living with her dad before. She was living with her mother in a different state and got shipped north because her mother remarried a baseball player and the mom wanted to travel around.

So all the book series nonsense goes back to that.

Folks could argue all day that she chose to move to Forks.

But her mother chose her boyfriend and new husband over her own daughter. Picking the more stable parent isn't a choice, it's a self-defense mechanism and she can still be upset about it even if she chose it.

So my interpretation (I have not read Midnight Sun) is that Edward is a telepath who is obsessed with Bella because she is the first person whose thoughts he can’t read.

It’s more like he’s stuck in a timeloop than maturing, if you read Midnight Sun it’s clearly obvious that Edward is just a moody teenager, same as Bella. He complains about the other kids being vapid in a typical early 2000s “ugh, those preps.” None of his previous experiences have made him more mature than Bella.

According to Stephenie, he stopped aging when he was turned. He’s not 100+ years old, he’s 17, with the mental capacity of a 17yo

People get so weird about the age gaps. If we’re suspending disbelief enough to consider that vampires exist, I can get over one character technically being centuries older than another. Some of y’all need to stick to contemporary fiction if this bothers you so much.

I always cringe at the 100+ ageless male hero courting some 17 year old. ACOTAR has this too. At 100 years old what could you possibly have in common. At 33 what in common do I even have with a 17 year old. It’s so WEIRD and like grooming vibes.

I love twilight as a middle schooler and it got me into fantasy romance but this trope should be dropped.

Regarding the age gap, vampire development is frozen at the age they’re turned. Not just physical, but emotional and mental development. Edward can learn, but he can’t mature. That’s the whole reason why it’s forbidden to turn a young child, because they’ll be incapable of developing logical reasoning and are purely impulse-driven (thus likely to expose themselves to humans). It’s actually a major plot point regarding Renesmee and why the Volturi want to kill her.

I still enjoy reading them decades later.

Highly recommend this video essay: https://youtu.be/bqloPw5wp48

She goes into eros, obsession, desire and all that good stuff that can make us feel “irrevocably in love” with someone, among other things. It’s great!

The book isn't a lot better, but there are interactions that were probably cut to make room for the thriller aspects, to give the movie broader appeal. I don't know how well it worked; we'll never know what would have happened if the movie was more romance-focused with less action, but I think that was their logic anyway.

It always seemed like the movies, while able to be enjoyed by everyone, were really only made for the readers on the books. There's too much left out of the movies to make this a viable love story. It's still sweet or whatever, but without the books you get thoughts like OP. Which isn't bad, I'm not trying to say you're wrong for not reading the books, or that you can't enjoy the movies without the books, but there is just so much missing context.

Everything about him draws her in. His voice, his face, even his smell.

I’ve had this same thought! I was an avid movie watcher before I read the books recently, and I always thought that in the movie they never even had the opportunity to fall in love before they were promising eternal love to each other. It felt like more of an infatuation in the movie, but in the book there’s definitely more build up to it, more substance to their scenes together where they share extensive dialogue and reveal fundamental aspects who they are. They actually give each other something to fall for.

I am truly not much of a reader, but seriously these books I couldn’t put down. They give such great context and are just different enough from the movies to make it feel like a comfortable, familiar experience with exciting new twists and details. Highly recommend.

pfffffft don't be silly they also did Bella sleeping in her room and piggyback rides @ 200mph to find new meadows

I agree, i wish we saw more fluff between them. I dont think Edward is all that interesting to be around, and i think it totally would have been cute to see scenes of Bella maybe annoying him and asking “So what were the 70s REALLY like? Did you have to pretend to be high if you were smoking with other people?”

I think Bella did mention they went to amusement parks and a couple carnivals/festivals? I havent read new moon in years so I may not be accurate.

— I feel like I could imagine them like doing pottery classes together,

— him taking her to old fashioned diners and them taking ironic pictures of sharing a milkshake.

— alternatively, they go to a fancy steakhouse and Bella fills up on salad and can barely eat the steak. Edward orders his steak “Very rare.” Bella makes a joke “Yeah, he likes it still mooing.”

— going to fancy stores and Bella has a classic dressing room sequence where edward gives dramatic facial expression reactions to all the outfits

— I can imagine them going to silent movies and Edward talking to her saying, “I remember I met Charlie Chaplin once, he’s a surprisingly quiet guy.”

— Going to a drive-in movie and Edward over-prepares the truck bed to keep her warm and comfortable.

— If timeline permitted, they probably would have done the planking trend

— probably would have gone to antique stores and Bella makes Edward try to find something older than him. He struggles to find anything that old but points to everything saying “I had one of these!” and proceeds to complain about how things were made so much better back then and how carpentry has lost its art. Edward of course purchases an antique necklace with some significance in the jewel and makes some speech

— fruit picking, if anything would be in season in their area. I imagine he would get really high in the trees to get the really healthy juicy fruits for Bella.

I love thinking of this stuff LOL

Edward probably loves asking Bella questions and hearing her opinion because she's the one person in the world whose thoughts and personality don't pop out at him when they're interacting

Yes, omg I said this a few days ago in another post! So much of the saga was centered around the entire Cullen clan protecting Bella from some kind of imminent threat.

In retrospect, the story could have been made so much better with heavier emphasis on all of the characters personal lives and like yall said, Edward and Bella’s actual relationship.

Yes!!! And whenever I reread the series, I get so frustrated by this by BD. Like, you’re always saying you’re in love. Okay. Let’s see it. Show, not tell.

I always imagined he took her to all the bookstores she wanted and just watched her as she read lmao

Okay so I'm not even a twilight fan but remember how adventurous it felt to kiss someone new for the first time when you were 16/17? Magical.

This was my desktop wallpaper 10 years back lol. I love this pic.

I just wanna have my own home with a big backyard and plant some meadows just so I can lay like this and pretend to be bella whenever I feel like it

Can’t believe it’s gonna be twenty years soon…

How I wish they had kept her finding out he's a vampire and the meadow scene book accurate. The way she found out in the movie was SO dramatized and I feel like we were robbed of the cutesy way she actually figured it out. The meadow scene would have been so funny on film if Edward suddenly jumped up and bolted and then ripped out a sapling lmao

James’ look is so cringe early 2000s. The jeans, I can’t.

Crazy day 😱 I never realised!

WOW Nikki looks amazing in that pic. Excellent choice for Rose.

time passes so fast for us, humans

lol that blue filter is so intense!

I think part of the appeal of Twilight was that it popularized quasi-dark romances in YA; I'm unsure how deliberate Meyer was about that. Bella and Edward's relationship has a fair amount of the hallmarks of a dark romance: Massive power imbalance, mutual obsession between the two, Edward's dangerousness, him being a "monster" (he is a vampire), an outsider of societal/human norms and laws (somewhat), Edward's abuse of Bella, ect ect. It wasn't well-written, but it was probably new at time for YA?

IDK, it's early and I'm rambling.

Love the review. I read Twilight as a teenager and loved it, then heard how problematic it was and read it again and saw all the red flags. I can’t imagine reading it now for the first time.

If you want another trip, read Midnight Sun. It’s the same book from Edward’s perspective. I read it when it came out and it’s… what you’d expect.

I think I remember there being a part where he said something would be in his stomach forever but it might’ve been her tear he licked? Maybe he barfed the pizza? I don’t remember and this feels crazy to write but I also think that’s what’s in the book.

> Also, the outfits send me into outer space. The khaki skirt and blue blouse that Edward calls utterly indecent? Goodbye.

This is so fn funny I don’t remember this at all 🤣

After learning that Stephenie Meyer is Mormon and then at some point later in life doing a deep dive on Mormon culture, it tracks.

Alice is a Vogue fiend and SM had vision boards of the runway looks she'd pick out for the family and Bella. It's almost as funny as the cars she'd make up

Yes I was just thinking to myself how much I LOVED these books and that’s how I’ll choose to remember them 😅 my TBR list is long!! These can stay preserved in our memories lol

The movie does not do the book any justice. You don't get to capture Bella's true essence. She is so witty and clever. She very observant and doesn't miss a thing. Edward is just fascinated with the fact that she doesn't act like the rest of the high school girls and of course he obsesses because he can't hear her. The movie ,in my opinion, does not do enough to capture that. Then in midnite sun we get to know bella from Edward's POV. He asks her all about herself, her childhood,favorite books,pets,favorite food....its just so interesting because in twilight she doesn't see herself as fascinating as she is to him. In conclusion you are missing out by not reading the books.

Definitely read the books. There was a 6 week period between the car crash and when Edward and Bella speak again. Just one example. I’m rereading twilight again currently (for the first time since I was 15/16...I’m 28 now��) and I’m surprised at how much detail I had forgotten and that the movie left out.

I 100% recommend the books. The movies really do cut out the bulk of their personal moments together. There's a lot more banter and flirting in the books.

Try the books! Plenty of banter and chemistry there at the movie cut

Everything moves crazy fast, but in the books Edward spends a few days of non stop questioning to discover everything about her. Midnight Sun shows us that while Bella thought he was ignoring her, he was actually watching her interactions with others & falling in love with how kind and thoughtful she was. On Bella's part, yeah, she basically declared her love within days of him talking to her after he "ignored" her for weeks, but Edward had gotten to know her through the eyes of other people. In general, there is a lot more conversation in the books, especially Midnight Sun

I love this so much! Obviously Edward made a lot of mistakes, but people are too quick to point that out without acknowledging that he always learns a lesson from them. It’s character development. We wouldn’t even have a story to read without the characters sometimes making bad choices.

Stephenie sets up the distinction between Edward and Jacob really clearly, too. You see the pattern all throughout eclipse: when Edward does something wrong, Bella forgives him, then he tries to do better; when Jacob does something wrong, Bella forgives him, then he actively gets worse (there’s even a line at the end of the book where he basically says, “I’m not sorry, and I would do it again if I could”)

Bella makes a lot of mistakes and is really cruel in eclipse sometimes, too. She leads Jacob on, and she makes Edward constantly second guess if she wants to be with him or not. I understand why both guys go a little crazy lol.

Just because Jacob did some shitty things doesn't mean he's wrong about Edward's shitty things. I feel like Edward was obviously portrayed to be the better choice, and Bella clearly loved him more.

But if I were in her shoes, Edward would be way too manipulative for me. The New Moon abandonment was deplorable. (Not to mention Breaking Dawn and him trying to decide soo many things for her and emotionally abandoning her.) I'd never be able to trust him again. It was so cowardly too. He couldn't be clear and honest with his feelings so he chose the alternative. I hate it when people think they know what's best for me and when people act (passive) aggressively when I don't take their advice.

For the same reason, I could never be with Jacob. He hated Edward for Bella up until Renesmee happened- which is so uncomfy and territorial. I totally get his dislike of Edward - obviously as a friend you don't want to see your friend get hurt physically and emotionally over and over again. But Jacob handled it poorly and in a - I know what's best for you - kind of way.

Tldr I don't think either of them had a convincing enough arc for me to be able to forgive their wrongdoings. It would probably have left me deeply impacted and possibly traumatized. I'm actually surprised Bella didn't have abandonment or attachment issues after NM. It would've made for a realistic conflict and really shown the two overcoming an internal relationship conflict rather than only external ones. Their relationship issues were skimmed over and forgiven too quickly to be believable imo.

Ultimately, Bella was never in love with Jacob so she made the right choice because it would be kind of selfish to be with someone just because the person you actually like isn't available. I think that's justification enough to pick Edward because at the very least -however toxic and unhealthy it was -their feelings were mutual and consensual.

I agree. I mean Jacob literally said he’d rather Bella be dead than be a vampire. Like just imagine your “best friend” saying they’d rather you be dead than change.

Honestly I 100% agree. I don’t think anyone could make me want Bella and Jacob more the I want Bella and Edward. Especially after Jacob kissed her against her will, and threatened to kill himself if he didn’t kiss her.

My stance on Jacob will never change. After Leah turned he complained about the triangle, hearing all the thoughts around the sam Leah split. Jacob wanted to do the same with Bella. He’s in love with her and wants to be with her, KNOWING at some point he will imprint on SOMEONE else.

Edward was always the clear choice.