Twilight

Twilight By Stephenie Meyer.

About three things I was absolutely positive.

First Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood.

When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, memorizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.

What Bella doesn't realize is that the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And it might be too late to turn back ....

.... from the back cover.

' But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die. ' - Genesis 2:17

.... from an inner page.

Apart from reading Dracula a long, long time ago, Twilight is the first 'vampire' novel that I have read - and how the story has changed since then. It turns out that vampires needing to sleep in a coffin, being unable to go out in daylight and only being truly dead when someone puts a wooden stake through their heart are all just myths.

Basically a modern day romance combined with a bit of a thriller, Twilight, if at times, a little twee, is hypnotic, well paced, well written and surprising - just when you wondered where the story was going, a new development occurred. The characters, especially Bella, are extremely well observed - it took me right back to how I felt as the new girl at school and my first romance. Full of teenage angst, tenderness, loyalty and sexual tension, it is all about the human condition and what it is to be different. A thoroughly enjoyable read, I'm away to start New Moon, the second book in the series.