I am not a big fan of mushiness but this book was such a perfect mix of emotions and action that I could not put it down until it was over and even then, as author Stephenie Meyer puts it, “I wasn’t done with the characters Edward and Bella just as yet!“The book is set in the dark and rainy town of Forks, in Washington State. What better setting for a romantic novel depicting the absurd love story of an average girl and a mystical near perfect boy who is a lot more than human, a vampire in fact. Most of the book, even till midway is engrossed in the decorous description of Edward’s beauty and perfection, both bodily and of character. A character who is so enveloped by this average girl that all else seems like a blur to him, almost invisible. After all, who wouldn’t be, after having waited centuries for the love-of-their-life to appear.

The story revolves around Bella’s clumsiness and ability to turn a perfectly safe environment into a physical hazard for herself and Edward’s untiring efforts to keep her safe as her guardian angel. Soon, they both realize the futility of their efforts to avoid each other and accept the presence of the other wholly into their lives until they are inseparable.

A sudden turn of events endangers the main characters’ lives but Bella does not want her magnetic attraction to danger to hurt her friends and family any more. The fast paced developments that follow keep the reader glued to the book, page after page. Simultaneous to this unfolding terror, the characters are developed immaculately, in a way that the reader seems to identify with their every reaction and can sympathize with them. I think my intimidation and ‘reverence’ of the author’s style is difficult to phrase, but her descriptions left me speechless, especially when I saw pictures of Forks in real life. She has done more than justice to those images and created a beautiful and believable mental image of the locations, humans and non humans alike.

Overall, a very well-balanced book, that brings the best out of the reader’s imagination. A very creative and realistic effort not only to bring fictional characters to life but to maintain their world within ours.