Twilight

Vampire novels nowadays should have their own genre, based on the abundance of them not just in adult fiction books, but teen ones as well. Though some may say that you can only have so many plots about blood-sucking creatures of the night and that many of these are actually very low in quality, it may surprise you how original some of them can be.

Take Twilight, a coming-of-age novel by first-time author Stephenie Meyer. The photograph on the cover is compelling enough, but the summary will grab your attention as well.

"About three things I am absolutely positive. One: Edward is a vampire. Two: there is a part of him, though I don't know how dominant that part may be, that thirsts for my blood. Three: I am honestly and irrevocably in love with him."

Who wouldn't be intrigued by that?

So upon reading the first few chapters, one would come upon 17-year-old Isabella Swan, the book's protagonist. She narrates in first person about her move from sunny Arizona to rainy, boring Forks, following her parents' divorce and her mother's decision to move to Florida with her new lover. She reluctantly tries to make a life for herself in the dreary town where her father is the police chief.

Her first day in school as the new kid may sound like the typical teenage story, with all her insecurities and her attraction for the only person who doesn't seem to care about her being there. Edward Cullen, unlike all her schoolmates, even seems to hate her, for no particular reason that she knows of. This doesn't stop her from taking interest in him though; his pale beauty seems to be inhuman. Soon enough, Bella discovers his secret: he and his family are actually a clan of vampires, though there is one thing that sets them apart. They refuse to drink human blood and instead hunt animals, because then maybe they wouldn't be so damned.

Bella is strangely all right with this fact, because already had a suspicion that they weren't as they seemed, but even with the budding romance between her and Edward, something is coming between them. That is, Edward's everlasting thirst for her blood especially, which drew him to her in the first place, and he is afraid that one day he may lose control and hurt her. Bella disregards this and it seems that all is well that ends well until another group of vampires come into the scene. Those that hadn't lost their appetite for human blood.

The remaining chapters are filled with suspense and even a sense of dread for what might happens next, but the book ends on a happy note that leaves room for its sequel New Moon.

All in all, Meyer's debut into the writing world has its flaws, where it seems to tread on cliché ground, but her original twist on the vampire image and her fantastic blend of dark romance and fantasy horror makes Twilight an enthralling read.