10. Twilight

Meyer, Stephenie. Read by Ilyana Kadushin. Twilight. Little Brown and Company: New York, 2005.

Annotation: Clumsy Bella is the new girl in town and has her eye on Edward. There's just one problem, he's a vampire.

Justification for Nomination: This was my first time listening to a book instead of reading it. I will admit that it was sort of relaxing and a new experience but I didn't seem to get as much out of the "Twilight" audio CD than I probably would have reading it.

One thing I noticed with this story was the massive amounts of descriptions and building sexual attraction our heroin Bella has toward Edward. I didn't mind all the description but there was something just "off" about the way things were pronounced by narrator Ilyana Kadushin. I tried with all my might to be open to this new experience but I could never fully become comfortable with the audio and no visual.

I struggled to get through the audio book because I found too many distractions around me. It would have been great if I was a good multi-tasker or kept myself busy while listening, but for a twenty five year old film student I was too antsy. I was waiting to hear the books speaking parts acted out with more intensity or flare. I'm so used to my own visualisations that the experience felt like I had lost one of my major senses. Instead all of the female parts came off tedious and droning. I definitely thought they could have used a younger narrator.

As for the books overall plot points and storyline, I was incredibly intrigued. I'm no stranger to vampire genre and will be the first to admit my interest in its mythology. I grew up an avid fan of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and of the film version of Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire." Like most YA readers I have an incredible hunger for all of its interpretations. I found Stephenie Meyers own vision distinct and mysterious. She definitely has a skill for keeping the reader (or in my case, listener) intrigued.

A negative critique I had towards the overall story was the lengthy descriptions that dragged a chapter or scene out. I think she has a knack for beautiful descriptions and capturing the "angsty" teenager, but at times it became too much. Maybe I only realized it because I was listening and not reading. Perhaps its an entirely different experience reading the text but the audio CD became too long.

Overall the characters were fully developed and I could see the pull of YA readers toward each one. I found it interesting how Meyer's incorporates mystery, horror and romance but sometimes each portion either came on too strong or not enough.

It took a while to get through some of the set up and reach the climax of the book, but once I was there I was completely satisfied and thirsting for more.