The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer is “complete” (except for the follow-up book Midnight Sun, recapping the first book’s events from the hero Edward’s perspective) and the film for the second book is scheduled for release next month. I am a latecomer to the series, being neither a teenager nor a vampire enthusiast. But once I started Twilight, the first book (actually on a dare), I was delighted with what I had found. Now I have read them all and have the first movie, and am waiting for the second.

What is interesting to me is that so many other readers and critics classify this romance in the books between Bella and Edwards as a typical “young love” situation, impossibly unreal and the stuff that dreams are made of. A lot of older readers complain that there’s too much of Bella’s adoration of Edward in the book. I wonder if they are a minority, or other readers are suffering through this excess just to stay with the two of them, and follow their adventures.

I would venture to say that the real power of this series lies in what happens to them, and how their reaction to events tests their relationship and makes it grow. Yes, they are both attractive – Edward has a radiance from being a vampire that is unmistakable, and Bella must also have something, since so many of the boys in Forks are attracted to her. But it’s her essential caring for people - going to Forks to help out her Mom, understanding the nuances of the boy-girl relationships around her and being supportive of them, cooking for her Dad and always trying to work with and not against him – this is what Edward loves. Bella also has her essential truthfulness and empathy, for her Mom, her Dad, the young and eager werewolves, and for Jacob, who is the best of friends and at the same time the worst, since he demands too much of her. And Edward has faults…he is overly protective of Bella and often assumes danger where there is none.

What is captivating about the books is that Bella and Edward’s differences – not just their human/vampire traits, but their disagreements – these are not downplayed, but presented as issues that they have to work out to be together. Bella’s total prostration in the second book is dramatic, but is true to the essence of the nightmare that she lives through. Any reader of any age who has experienced loss can empathize with her. And by the third book, Eclipse, what Bella and Edward have gone through for each other has deepened their relationship in noticeable ways. Even though they have serious issues that they don’t see eye to eye on (such as Edward fearing for Bella’s safety when she’s with Jacob, and Bella wanting to give up her human life for Edward) each time they are together is so affirming to them both, that they can’t be separated by arguing. And both come to terms with each other’s beliefs - Edward finally trusting Bella’s judgment of the situation with Jacob, and Bella accepting Edward’s desire to “play by the rules” in their intimate relationship.

So, I would beg to differ from those who say that the series is all about finding someone irresistible and compelling who is actually very alien and dangerous for you. I think that all the life and death scenarios in the Twilight Series work because they stem from the protagonists’ real choices. I also think that these kind of life and death scenarios are happening to us all the time, but on a level that we can only dimly recognize. Our choices in life and their results are revealed over time to be just as irrevocable as those choices made by Bella and Edward.