By: Ivy Dahl

Summary-

The sixth chapter of ‘Twilight’ begins with Bella going to the La Push beach with her friends from school, with some other local teens from the Quileute tribe joining their group. One of these teens is Jacob Black, Bella’s childhood friend who she remembers seeing when she used to visit her dad’s house in the summer, because his dad was friends with hers. When Bella mentions that she had invited Edward Cullen, one of Jacob’s friends looks grim before firmly stating that the Cullens don’t come there. Bella thinks back to Edward’s earlier immediate refusal of the beach trip and infers that he’s not allowed there.

Bella and Jacob end up breaking away from the group to go on a walk along the beach. Their conversation shifted towards Jacob telling her about “the cold ones”, a legend from his Quileute tribe. This legend stated that the Quileute tribe descended from werewolves, and that their one natural enemy were vampires, which they called “the cold ones”. The legend then continues that Jacob’s great grandfather made a treaty with a group of vampires who hunted animals instead of hunting humans, saying that if they stayed off Quileute land, they wouldn’t be exposed to society. This obviously immediately reminded her of the Cullen family. Jacob notices how enthralled she is and teases her for it, telling her it’s just a scary story. She half heartedly agrees. When they walk back to the rest of the group, Bella realizes that it’s already time to leave and their conversation has taken up more time then she thought.

Review-

This chapter is mostly just an information dump of hints about Edward’s true form for Bella, and features a long winded story, with little real life action happening to push things forward. This is supposed to be the moment in the book where Bella figures out what Edward really is, which I suppose is technically a climax, but since it’s given through long dialogue, in contrast to all the previous chapters which have been full of action, I’d say it’s kind of underwhelming. One positive aspect is that it introduces an important character, Jacob Black. I’d give it a 5/10.

By: Ivy Dahl

Summary-

The chapter starts with Bella stumbling into class, so dazed that she doesn’t even realize she’s late. As she’s trying to acclimate to the already ongoing class, Eric and Mike invite her to a beach trip. She mumbles an acceptance, barely paying attention.

This same sense of disconnect follows her throughout her morning, coming to an end when her attention is drawn, like usual, during lunch to the Cullen’s table. Edward isn’t sitting there. Now she can peacefully shut her mind off again. She grabs a lemonade and sits with her friend Jessica, who giggles and gossips as usual, until one sentence pulls Bella out of her daze, “Edward Cullen’s staring at you,” she commented.

It turns out Edward had just been sitting at a different table than his siblings today, one that had completely slipped through Bella’s radar. Almost immediately she notices him beckoning him towards her. She mumbles an excuse to Jessica and goes to sit down at his table. The first thing out of her mouth to Edward is that them sitting together is very odd. He responds that if he’s going to hell, he’ll do it thoroughly. He doesn’t explain what he means by this and just continues to say that Bella’s friends are mad at him for stealing her away from them. They then go on to have a conversation where Bella questions Edward about all the strange things that have happened and about what he is. Like always, he refuses to give anything but cryptic warnings and deflection, and lunch ends.

Bella immediately races to class. As she arrives, her teacher is bringing in boxes with equipment to find out their blood types as a biology lesson. Bella feels extremely faint at the mention of blood and leans her head against her desk, lightheaded. Mike notices this and offers to take her to the nurse. Once outside, and halfway to the nurse’s office, Bella sits down on the sidewalk, wanting to rest for a moment. Through her lightheadedness she hears the voice of Edward Cullen asking Mike what’s wrong with her. His voice offers to carry Bella the rest of the way there. Bella looks up, and before she can get a word out of her mouth, Edward scoops her into his arms, carrying her to the nurses office. When they arrive, he refuses to leave at the request of the nurse. He gets her out of the rest of the school day by telling the nurse that she’s sick and that he’s going to drive her home. Bella asks him if he’s going to the beach party that’s happening, but when he learns the beach, La Push, he declines. He drives her home.

Review-

This confusing relationship between Edward and Bella is obviously taking a huge toll on Bella, even to the point where she’s shutting out almost everything around her that doesn’t involve him. That’s a pretty crazy reaction to someone who you’ve barely known for a couple of weeks and regularly shuns you. But on the other hand, if someone single handedly saved me from a car crash, I’d probably think about them a lot too.

Bella also seems to attract danger and disturbances like a light attracts a moth, which is a going trend that makes me grow more on edge going into every following chapter. I’d give this chapter a 7/10.

By: Ivy Dahl

Summary:

In chapter four of ‘Twilight’, Bella begins to dream of Edward Cullen every night for almost a month.

The guy who almost hit her with his car follows her around giving endless apologies, and her brush with danger seemed to revive all the attention on her that had only just died down. Bella returns to her place next to Edward in biology, with him also now ignoring her again.

When Bella arrives at home, Jessica calls Bella and asks her if she would be upset if she asked Mike to a school dance, to which Bella says no, and that Jessica should definitely ask Mike.

The next day, once again, Edward ignores Bella throughout class, but this time he says her name once the bell rings and the classroom is empty. This grabs Bella’s attention and she listens keenly as he mutters an apology for ignoring her, but also insists that it’s better if they aren’t friends. This sparks Bella’s temper, saying that he should have figured that out before he saved her life, since he clearly regretted it. Now Edward, also angry at her response, tells her she doesn’t understand anything. Bella attempts to flee their argument but trips and her books spill out all over the floor. Edward picks them up for her courteously.

Bella continues her day, and after school she finds her classmate Eric leaning against her car awkwardly. He asks her to the school dance, which she evades by telling him she’ll be in Seattle that day. Later that day, she continues this cover up by asking her dad if she can actually go to Seattle, and he agrees.

The next morning, after Bella arrives at school she has a confusing interaction with Edward Cullen, who now has golden eyes, and is offering her a ride to Seattle. Bella reminds him that he told her that they shouldn’t be friends, to which he responds that he’s just tired of trying to stay away from her. Then bizarrely, before leaving, he warns Bella to stay away from him.

Review:

The fourth chapter of ‘Twilight’ has less drama and action then the previous ones, focusing more on fleshing out the building tensions between the characters. Because of this slower pace I’d give it a rating of 6/10. You can buy the book ‘Twilight’ on Amazon.

By: Ivy Dahl

Summary:

The second chapter of ‘Twilight’ begins with Bella getting used to the routine of her new school on her second day there, becoming more familiar with her friends and having less people stare at her. She is also dealing with being overwhelmed by confusion and anxiety at the absence of Edward Cullen when she realized he hasn’t shown up to school, even though all of his siblings are present.

That same night, while having dinner with her father, Bella realizes that her dad would know about the Cullens since he’s a local. She asks about them and he tells her about Edward’s family moving to Forks two years ago, and also about Edward’s father who she learns is a local brilliant surgeon. Her father speaks highly of them, and says it’s a shame people avoid them even though they cause no trouble. This gives Bella a little more insight on Edward’s mysterious life.

A couple more days pass with Edward being gone and Bella becomes more comfortable coming to school knowing she won’t have to worry about being glared at, until the next Monday, when Bella spots Edward sitting at lunch with his family again staring at her.

Later that day, during biology, Edward is friendly to her and isn’t as hesitant to interact with her as he was last time. He asks her lots of questions, seeming very curious about her past and what led her to Forks. She’s surprised at his sudden mood switch, but tentatively embraces it and answers his questions. She accidentally brushes her arm against his and is shocked by how cold his skin is. She also notices that his eyes are a lighter color then they were when she last saw him. She asks him about the change of his eyes which seems to flare his temper as he clenches his fist. But instead of lashing out, he quickly changes the topic to more small talk.

After biology, in the following gym class, one of Bella’s friends notes that Edward was being uncharacteristically friendly to her today. She agrees, confused. School ends and Bella hurries out to the parking lot, eager to end the day. As she settles into her car she notices Edward leaning against the car door of his Volvo staring at her. This distracts her so much that she almost drives right into the person in front of her. As she drives out of the parking lot she sees Edward chuckling to himself through her side mirror.

Review:

The second chapter of ‘Twilight’ builds upon what the first chapter sets up by intensifying the mystery of Edward Cullen’s mood swings. It makes the reader question where Edward was and why he was acting this way upon his return. I would give it a 9/10. You can buy ‘Twilight’ on Amazon.