Bites

Twilight, Stephenie Meyer.  OK, when I heard about this book -- high school vampires, star-crossed love, Mormon author -- I pretty much crapped my pants. How could that not be great?

So. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I hated this book. It's too long by about a third. It's oddly fussy in its details -- long passages about seatbelts and driftwood -- while surprisingly flat in characterization. Meyer also seems to take a pass when it comes to describing the few big action sequences (a car crash, a near-rape, a vampire attack) she gives us. Even the gushy romantic stuff that's the center of the book, the stuff you would think -- given Meyer's legion of fans -- is either oddly mechanical or completely glossed over.