What is your opinion on Stephenie Meyer?

earthsprite · Post by **earthsprite** » 24 Jul 2013, 13:27

Wibblywobblywhatever wrote:I keep a copy of the Twilight books on my bookshelf.

They help to remind me that no matter how bad a writer I think I am, I can't be as bad as her.

Just.

No.

This. (I don't know why I can't quote inline on the thread. This is a weird version of phpBB, so apologies to the mangled username).

But since you're asking for opinions, I will dig myself into a controversial hole:

As previously stated, her grammar and spelling are atrocious; the first edition was reportedly riddled with errors, which makes me even more enraged that she got the thing published.
Stephenie Meyer encourages abysmal behavior: passive female gender roles and abusive/stalking relationships - (Note: If any of you have read Wuthering Heights and understood what kind of relationship Heathcliff and Catherine had, you're on the right track, because this is Meyer's favorite book.)
Bella is quite exactly the Author Insertion of Mrs. Meyer. Look at a photo of the author and compare it to a description of Bella. You'll also see how empty of a shell Bella is so any reader can easily fit inside and take her place in the relationship.
At the time the books were released, a certain Church was funding a Proposition to ban same-sex marriage in my state. Stephenie Meyer, along with Mitt Romney and Orson Scott Card, contributes at least 10% of their income to said Church. Therefore buying Twilight indirectly suppressed the freedom of thousands when the Proposition passed. Love story? Hardly.

jannie135 · Post by **jannie135** » 25 Jul 2013, 02:26

laura_askew88 wrote:I enjoyed the Twilight series and have read it many times. I like her writing style and I think it fits the characters. I would seem silly using elaborate writing to describe those characters. It is a book written for a younger audience which should be kept in mind. The end to the series was a little disappointing though, no big fight scene....

This is one of my big issues with the whole series. It's a book intended for the younger audience. I feel like if you are intentionally writing for minors, you need to understand that you are writing for young impressionable minds. It irritates me that so many girls are fawning over the stalker-esque creepy Edward who watched Bella sleep, and the depressing Bella who falls apart and turns into an adrenaline junkie because Edward is gone. But at least she's passing all her classes right?

Ugh. Honestly, I have this theory about all the awful vampire books that are coming out lately. I call it the Harry Potter Withdrawal Effect. I think we are constantly looking for the next "it" book series and after running out of, or while waiting for the next book in the series, people found Twilight. SInce it made a lot of money people started delving into the world of paranormal romances aimed at young adults. And thus, a new genre is formed.

I don't mind paranormal anything, but I really can't get into vampire anything. ugh.

But I did read the whole Twilight series, and if I read it without taking anything seriously... it's very entertaining (like watching a bad movie). I think this last book was my favorite. It felt like I was reading a strange dream.

Also, I feel like I've read fanfiction that was written better than the Twilight books.

Just my two cents!

AutumnWind · Post by **AutumnWind** » 25 Jul 2013, 04:41

SmileyC wrote:I couldn't get on with them but I think it's important to remember who they were written for. They were aimed at teenaged girls and then suddenly went mass market. I don't think the writing style is very good but you can't argue that the storyline captured an awful lot of people.

I completely agree. When I first read the saga, I thought all aspects were horribly written. I didn't like the main character, and I didn't like the way the plot progressed, so I stopped reading. Every time somebody would rant about how much they loved it, I would just keep quiet unless asked for my opinion.

I realized then that it /was/ aimed at a certain audience. Regardless of my opinions, it clicked in the market probably because of its fresh take on the classic vampire theme. And of course, what teen-aged girl wouldn't love to read a love story?

0verstimulated · Post by **0verstimulated** » 26 Jul 2013, 15:13

I commend her for becoming so popular. I read the first editions of this book and just attributed many of the blatant errors in editing was due to a terrible freakin' editor. But it was as though I was reading the story of a not extremely talented 17 yr old writer who had a loose grasp on grammar and plot devices. I'm sure I can dig up some stories from when I was 15 or so, writing for the first time, with the same type of cringe-worthy errors. If she used the word "incredulous" one more time, I was going to reach through the book and strangle her. My girl friend loved them, I think she read it forty times. I, however, trudged through it, not really paying attention to what was going on because I couldn't get passed the terrible writing. If this book shows up on my kids' reading list (whenever I have them), I'm going to be insanely upset. Any book she endorses, I have to skip over. I don't know why, but I can't take her seriously. I'm sure she's a fantastic person, and she's getting better with her craft, but I just didn't care for them one bit. LONG book for a lot of nothing.

-- 26 Jul 2013, 16:33 --

jannie135 wrote:
This is one of my big issues with the whole series. It's a book intended for the younger audience. I feel like if you are intentionally writing for minors, you need to understand that you are writing for young impressionable minds. It irritates me that so many girls are fawning over the stalker-esque creepy Edward who watched Bella sleep, and the depressing Bella who falls apart and turns into an adrenaline junkie because Edward is gone. But at least she's passing all her classes right?

I think that's my main problem with most romance genre books. Ever read any Nicholas Sparks? Yea, with a twist of the wrist, it could be a thriller. (since I can't post links yet.... Google "The Notebook thriller trailer").

jannie135 · Post by **jannie135** » 26 Jul 2013, 23:24

0verstimulated wrote:I commend her for becoming so popular. I read the first editions of this book and just attributed many of the blatant errors in editing was due to a terrible freakin' editor. But it was as though I was reading the story of a not extremely talented 17 yr old writer who had a loose grasp on grammar and plot devices. I'm sure I can dig up some stories from when I was 15 or so, writing for the first time, with the same type of cringe-worthy errors. If she used the word "incredulous" one more time, I was going to reach through the book and strangle her. My girl friend loved them, I think she read it forty times. I, however, trudged through it, not really paying attention to what was going on because I couldn't get passed the terrible writing. If this book shows up on my kids' reading list (whenever I have them), I'm going to be insanely upset. Any book she endorses, I have to skip over. I don't know why, but I can't take her seriously. I'm sure she's a fantastic person, and she's getting better with her craft, but I just didn't care for them one bit. LONG book for a lot of nothing.

-- 26 Jul 2013, 16:33 --

jannie135 wrote:
This is one of my big issues with the whole series. It's a book intended for the younger audience. I feel like if you are intentionally writing for minors, you need to understand that you are writing for young impressionable minds. It irritates me that so many girls are fawning over the stalker-esque creepy Edward who watched Bella sleep, and the depressing Bella who falls apart and turns into an adrenaline junkie because Edward is gone. But at least she's passing all her classes right?
I think that's my main problem with most romance genre books. Ever read any Nicholas Sparks? Yea, with a twist of the wrist, it could be a thriller. (since I can't post links yet.... Google "The Notebook thriller trailer").

Agreed. I give her kudos for being able to make money off of it.

Also on the topic of Nicolas Sparks. I don't really like his style of writing either. I read one book A Walk to Remember, but he just writes cheesy books. I do however respect him because he knows what sells. He definitely knows what a girl wants to read about. I just don't find his books to be that memorable. But I am basing this off of reading one book and watching a couple film adaptations so maybe I'm judging too quickly? Haha.

Patrick97 · Post by **Patrick97** » 27 Jul 2013, 03:43

Ironically, being a man, I found the Twilight saga somewhat entertaining, although I completely agree that Stephanie's grammar was abhorrent throughout and the storyline was poorly executed. I instead managed to acquire them as a series of audio books and enjoy listening to them when ever a dull day is in sight!

zeeshanaayan07 · Post by **zeeshanaayan07** » 27 Jul 2013, 17:17

Stephenie Meyer is the best in the world

lovemesomejava · Post by **lovemesomejava** » 01 Aug 2013, 09:36

I was surprised when I began reading "Twilight" for research in the paranormal romance genre. It kept my interest and was easy to follow - that is, until somewhere around the "meet his family" part. Eventually my interest waned, and although I still plan to finish reading, it's not a high priority.

Obviously, she's doing something right or she wouldn't have such a following. However, I don't think "The Host" had much of an impact, did it? I never heard of it until Dish Network started announcing they'll be showing the movie.

karins28 · Post by **karins28** » 20 Aug 2013, 04:25

I really liked her books once,now I don't even know why I even bothered reading them

KattPascale · Post by **KattPascale** » 20 Aug 2013, 06:52

Hey she put together something that a huge audience likes. Is it written perfectly? Not really. It's a plain way of writing but it is super easy to read. Does she leave a few things out? Sure (eg. Vampire falls in love with human but is tempted when she gets a paper cut. Hello? What about her period? So she forgot to cover that.). But who cares? I don't judge. If she wrote something that a lot of people like, more power to her. All us indie authors can learn something from her. Create a character that a lot of people can relate to (a plain Jane teenager whose parents are divorced), and the adventures of being a teen/vampire admirer!
KP

Katy Isodo · Post by **Katy Isodo** » 23 Aug 2013, 17:16

I enjoyed the books for what they were - basically book junk food. I never considered them to be anything epic or life changing, but when I was reading them I was going through some difficult stuff in life and it was just nice to to have that 'junk food' for my brain. In many ways it's almost as if the books could have been skipped over completely and just have the movies. With all of that in mind, I much prefer her other novel The Host. It's been a while (years) since I've read it so I don't remember if she had the same amount of errors in it, but I enjoyed the plot and characters and will probably see the movie soon.

Megan Young · Post by **Megan Young** » 04 Sep 2013, 19:15

I feel she is highly overrated.

jessimarimudo · Post by **jessimarimudo** » 06 Sep 2013, 20:00

I think she needs to hurry up with book 2 to the host series or else imma forget bout the first one and I read it twice . hadda read it again when I heard the movie was coming out but yeah hurry steph

srivolco · Post by **srivolco** » 08 Sep 2013, 01:40

Decent story teller , great at building characters and drama into the plot, interesting way of presenting the age old myths , the way vampires were restructured. The Host though didn't appeal much to my sensibility.

Sveta · Post by **Sveta** » 08 Sep 2013, 21:09

I read one of her books, and oh boy, I felt that my brain needed new batteries after Twilight. The writing is atrocious, she peppers her book with pointless "big" words that make little sense, and I would love to call it Purple prose of the man's body.