It's not the writing that gets them.....

I saw a blurb somewhere the other day (very specific, huh?) where Stephen King was talking about J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer and how they were both targeting the children/young adult market, but he said the difference was that Rowling can write.

My first thought was who cares? Meyer is just as successful as Rowling - maybe a tad less since Harry Potter pulled in both boys and girls and Twilight is attracting mostly just the girls, but still. What I wouldn't give for a fraction of that success! I read the whole Harry Potter series and I've read two of the Twilight books. I'm reading Twilight (the first in the series) again with my second daughter so this is all very fresh in my brain.

HP is a wonderful, fabulous story and I love Rowling's imagination and the world she created. I'm amazed by how plot points in the early books still have revelance in the last book, and I was so caught up in the adventures I could hardly put the books down.

Twilight is similar. Yet so different. And I'm sorry, but you can't compare the Twilight movie to the Harry Potter books, so don't even try. To compare, you have read the books. Not that I'm going to compare the books. I'm just stating my opinion on why the Twilight series is so popular. Now, I know that I haven't finished the series yet. I know what happens in the last book (darn spoilers!), but I haven't read it. So, judge me if you must, but this is just my opinion, not policy. :) Okay, on with the post.....

So, why does Twilight work? For me it's the first love aspect of it. The angst. The holding back, afraid you feel it more than he does. Add to this the fact that he could kill you at any moment and isn't sure he trusts himself not to until the middle of the book and it just turns up the emotions. First love is wonder. Insecurity. Obsession. And Meyer covers these well. Yes, she uses too many adverbs. Yes, she often tells instead of showing. But still, the story grabs you. It's hard to put down. You want to know what's going to happen next. There's danger, intrigue, and all those wonderful emotions that are brand new to some of these readers and fun to remember for others. :)

Is Meyer's book perfect? No. But is any book perfect? No. I guess when it all comes down to it, the bottom line is that I still hope my books are a fraction as successful as hers have been. I hope the reader gets sucked in and can't put it down and wants to buy the next one. And the next one.