But they do sort of bite

I still recommend the first book of the Twilight saga - and even the second, though less enthusiastically - to anyone who enjoys a good YA fantasy read.

I'll admit I skipped the third book, Eclipse (and read the Wikipedia summary instead), as I was still curious but losing steam.

Spoiler warning.

The fourth and final book, Breaking Dawn, could have been titled Breaking Down. It was an utter disappointment. I read about half way through, and then started skimming. A lot happens in this book to take issue with: Bella marries Edward straight out of high school, and she becomes pregnant on their honeymoon, bearing a half-vampire baby. Let's not even get into the science of that, please.

All this in a young adult book? Hello? It all becomes even weirder when you consider that Stephenie Meyer is a practicing Mormon. I've read several reviews that harp on the anti-abortion message of Breaking Dawn. But I didn't get the sense that Meyer was sermonizing; I really think she was just following her story. She just happens to be an immature author whose book contract evidently over-reached her own story-telling ability, and all she could draw on was the bizarre, violent hyperbole that passes for reality in Hollywood. If she'd stopped at the first book, I'd still think highly of her.

What I take issue with is how it's all described. Bella's pregnancy - not to mention the horrific birth scene - made me viscerally uncomfortable. It's grim, it's gruesome, and I'm thinking 11-year-olds don't need to read it.

Every character doesn't have to be a role model. But Bella never really matures, or even lives up to the sensibility and intelligence she demonstrates in the first book. She just becomes soppily obsessed with her (vampiric, gorgeous, flawless, handsome, etc etc) boyfriend [yawn] and never grows out of it.

The early, formative stage of their relationship (described in Twilight) is actually interesting and fun to read. But halfway through the second book, it's become mind-numbingly tiresome: they second-guess each other constantly, and take co-dependence to the metaphysical plane. Edward issues edicts, and Bella almost never sticks up for herself.

As for comparisons to J.K. Rowling: Dark and unpleasant things happen in the Harry Potter books. Harry has faint memories of his parents being killed by Lord Voldemort, can hear echoes of his mother's screams. Scary, yes. But Rowling describes all of these things in a way that's age-appropriate, and her story has enough content that she doesn't need to milk the macabre just to hold your attention. Which is just what Meyer resorts to.

Rowling understands and respects her readers. Many of us are adults, but even more are kids, and Rowling writes accordingly. She holds up her end of the unspoken reader-author contract, viz., she writes books we can all enjoy.

And I will never mention the Twilight books ever again, promise.