The Rendition Experience

Summary:
Girl meets boy, boy repulsed by girl, boy is vampire wants to suck girls blood, girl falls in love with boy, boy freaks out a little before giving in, boy falls for human girl.

We go from there...

Ok... ok so I got sucked in (excuse the pun) by the hype and the film. My friend had been saying for ages read this book, read it you’ll love it, I never did. So when I was finally persuaded to watch the film earlier this month, which I assumed would be just another chick flick, I wasn’t all that excited.
Happily I can say I loved the film which prompted me to start reading the book, my friend had leant it to me and I hadn’t even touched it!!
The film (I know we’re not here to be critics of films but I feel it is relevant) in my opinion made the book far more enjoyable to read (it is a very enjoyable read anyway) but I was pleased I had seen the film first so the book could not ruin it for me and I already had formed images in my head of who and what the characters are. If I had read the book first I would have been disappointed with the film, because to be fair it is lacking in a lot of substance that the book has, but with a book you can get away with a lot more especially to do with romance and emotion as it is all written on the page whereas the film you can only do scenes with the characters interacting you never really get to know what they’re thinking, so I am glad I watched and read them in the order I did I found that in this way they complement each other well. They complement each other so well in fact that after watching the film I sat down 2 days later and read the entire book in about 5 hours he he he, honestly I could not put it down.

Right let’s begin, you must all have heard of it or even read it yourself, if not I shall try not to spoil it for you if you do decide to read it. It’s based in a small town in a remote part of America, called Forks. The story is a narrative from the main character Bella who is a 17 year old school girl who has just moved to Forks to live with her father. Bella is a shy, almost plain girl who is obviously a loner and doesn’t seem to fit in well with the crowds although she does become instantly popular with the boys at school though she really doesn’t see why. I liked her because I could relate to her I remembered being the shy quiet girl at school who didn’t really fit in, but then most people I have spoken to have felt that at some point in their school life, it’s quite a generic feeling of being a teenager really in my opinion. Now Edward (the strange boy she’s curiously drawn to) is a very difficult character to relate to, as you can imagine, who can imagine being beautiful, immortal, a monster and 17 all at the same time?? (Although don’t most 17 year olds feel this way he he he (joke)). He starts out appearing to hate Bella and be completely disgusted by her, which he actually does feel as well as finding her irresistible, well her blood more than her.

This awkward collection of discomfort and attraction is carried on throughout the book until Edward finds he can’t keep it up and decides to “break all the rules” this is where the romance begins. Now don’t get me wrong it is a romantic novel, Stephanie Meyer makes no qualms about it being a love story, and I like this it is a fresh, original way of writing a teen romance. To be fair I found that as I read the book the beginnings of the romance did feel to me like quite adolescent but as the story grew the two characters seemed to grow too, so it ended up being a much more adult relationship in my opinion with only a hint of the awkwardness that they had started out with, while everyone else around them remains the same and almost become a blur.
The story as a whole is in 4 books, but this does not take away the novelty of the first story. It’s like a separate story all by itself and I would have been happy if this was the only book with these two characters, because it is so well written and, unlike a lot of ‘forbidden love’ stories it steers away from the realistic, painful reality of love, where in life we don’t always get to be with the one we love especially if it’s forbidden, no matter how much we want to be, life doesn’t work that way, call me a cynic but I believe to truly love there has to be a certain amount of pain at some point in your life otherwise how do you appreciate the real, honest true love? And love at first site? Well that to me is a fairy tale in itself, but I do love to read a fairy tale.

This story provides me with escapism and a healthy dose of an unrealistic view of love and romance, if only for a brief time. I was completely absorbed in this book and not since ‘The last vampire’ series by Christopher Pike, have I felt so connected with the main characters and so caught up in the plot that; if it didn’t end well I felt like part of me would die (I get involved). This to me really felt like an old fairy tale with a very modern and unique twist, how many frogs turn into a beautiful Vampire?

Well a girl can dream ha ha. Not only girls though I know a couple of lads who really enjoyed this book (one was mithering for me to return their copy). The twists and intensity of the action and the depth of emotion appeal to all people who have ever loved or ever dreamed, I sometimes forget that even guys fall in love and feel awkward when they like someone they shouldn’t or can’t be with, so if you think it’s just a girlie story you’re wrong, give it a chance I think you’ll be surprised.

I can’t wait to read the next 3 books I am using them as my reward to write my own story, so I will appreciate them all the more without rushing through them.

I quote now from the film best line I think;

"These things just don't exist" - Bella
"They do in my world" - Edward

This to sums up the magic of the book (although I cant remember if this line is in the book) for the time you're reading this book, it'll be your world too.

Enjoy!! If you do read it let me know what you think :)