Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

When seventeen-year-old Isabella Swan moves to the extraordinarily damp town of Forks, Washington, she thinks the only problems that she'll have to face will be the possibility of shriveling up from the lack of sun and convincing the nosy townsfolk to drop the “Is” and call her Bella. What Bella hadn't expected was the heap of near-fatal accidents that she would face in her new home. In addition to being chased by a pack of 20-year-olds in the back alleyways of Port Angeles, a nearby tourist trap, and nearly crushed to death by a runaway car in an ice-covered parking lot, Bella meets Edward Cullen, the perfect, pale, bronze-haired boy in her Biology class who turns the world that she thought she knew upside down. What Bella doesn't know when she first meets him is that Edward and his family (or at least the four equally-beautiful siblings he attends Forks High with, and their two parents) have a secret. The Cullens are vampires, and Edward has never smelt anything as alluring – or appetizing – as Bella.

It's hard to believe that Twilight is Stephenie Meyer's first novel, for her writing is filled with the sort of ripe wisdom that comes with experience. Her ingenious voice is able transform ink and paper into a fictional world that feels devastatingly real. The intensely passionate love that she describes between the story's two heroes is the stuff that Shakespeare himself might envy. Eloquently drawing her inspiration from the most famous European classics (Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, Brontë's Wurthering Heights, and Austen's Pride & Prejudice), Meyer has also managed to create two equally-stimulating sequels that continue Bella and Edward's journey, but with a few added acquaintances along the way.

Twilight has sparked a worldwide phenomenon that has turned ordinary fantasy-seekers into the vampires of Meyer's words; “thirsty” for more and more. Twilight is the perfect mix of brilliant writing and gifted storytelling for those who enjoy fantasy, science fiction, or even a heroic love story. Its meaning is true and its tale is captivating.