Piper Nuelle

The 20th anniversary of the first Twilight book is upon us and what better way to celebrate one of the most iconic books of my teenage years and probably one of the most iconic books in general for the Romantasy genre, than to have a book club meeting to discuss everything that is Twilight.

My local Waterstones in Eastbourne advertised in their store and on their Instagram page about the event, which as a self confessed ‘Twi-hard’ I just had to go, plus I heard along the grapevine that there would be some special editions to buy on the night. I was a little nervous about attending, I am an introvert, I find social situations extremely hard, which is why I prefer to settle down with a good book and a cuppa tea than I do go out and mix with people. But, my husband encouraged me to go, telling me I might meet other book lovers and that at the very least I could treat myself to a new book or two… Or three!

On arrival I was met by the wonderful host who I believe to be Jess, who kindly said I could borrow her photo of the store and the book display for my blog. So huge thanks to Jess and Eastbourne Waterstones. She told us to grab a chair, get comfy and to dive into a cauldron with vampire abilities hidden inside to see which one we would get. Then later on our names and abilities would be drawn at random to win a book.

My vampire ability was – Relationship Identification. Which was actually Marcus’ ability one of the three leaders of the Volturi. What his ability means is, he can see emotional ties between people. He can sense the relationships and connections that people have with one another. He can sense how strong bonds are between friends or loved ones, can pick out the leader of a group but can also sense where peoples bonds may be weak to use to an advantage.

At first I was a little disappointed that I got this ability and not one of the cool ones like Bella’s shield ability or Alice’s second sight into the future or even Jane’s ability to inflict a mental illusion of burning pain that ripples through the bodies of her victims. I mean… If I had to use that ability… Sparingly… Like not on my enemies… Never… Ah hem… Anyway…

But choosing a vampiric ability from the Twilight universe was fun and it was interesting to see what other people ended up with to.

There were a few cool games sheets to do whilst we waited for everyone to arrive such as a wordsearch, a crossword and a Twilight quiz… Which I admit I was a little rusty on. The quiz as well was another opportunity to win one of the new edition books. I didn’t get to win one, but it was nice to see other people win. And if I’m honest I’m pleased I didn’t win one because I probably would have cried, gone bright red and forgot how to talk lol.

Once everyone was settled we got down to business, which was the Twilight discussion! This part was really interesting and fun, because we all got to share our own thoughts and opinions on things that happened in the book. And I have to admit I joined in twice!!! Yeah I know look at me go, and I didn’t throw up haha. But it was fun to join in with other book lovers and make suggestions and chat.

One thing I found especially interesting was the whole 9/11 and My Chemical Romance connection to Twilight. There was apparently a kind of Butterfly effect with the singer of My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way who unfortunately witnessed the 9/11 terror attacks and this inspired him to created his band and make music. Stephenie Meyer loved My Chemical Romance and Gerard Way, maybe sort of seeing him as a beautiful vampire man maybe? He could have been her inspiration for Edward and maybe herself as Bella but just in teenage form? And as she listened to the music, thus Twilight was born in her mind and she wrote the book with their songs as part of her playlist. Obviously, this is just what I heard and I did have a little look online but I’m not sure what is factually correct and some of this is my opinion too, so don’t hold me to it but I did find the connection fascinating the hear.

There was also the whole debate on who was team Edward, who was team Jacob, no one wanted to be team Bella, and we even had a team Charlie. There was also the point on how Renee was a pretty useless mother and how this led Bella to become the sort of parental figure at home, even with her dad Charlie when she moved in with him because she didn’t know how else to be or act, this included making sure the house was clean, cooking for him and making sure there was food in the house. And then there was the contrast of her falling in love with Edward, a domineering vampire who was dangerous but also made her feel safe. We kind of came to a kind of conclusion that Bella was maybe fed up of being the one to look after others, she wanted someone to look after her and she saw Edward as that person.

The story of Edward and Bella is fascinating, because it does in a way to me mimic how a lot of teenage girls are at school. They all want a boy to notice them and love them, to make them feel safe and wanted. But obviously Stephenie Meyer put a supernatural twist to it, along with a notable love triangle with Jacob.

I have to admit I did feel sorry for Jacob’s character in the saga, because Bella does use him, a lot. She even admits it in the Twilight first book at the beach where she kind of flirts with him to get him to spill beans he shouldn’t be spilling, and she knows she is doing it. And then in New Moon where she uses his friendship until Edward comes back. It is really sad and I do dislike Bella’s character for doing that, plus he was younger than her and she kind of used his young innocence and naivety against him. Ultimately Bella was always going to be with Edward, there was no denying that, poor Jacob never had a chance, but in the end it was great to see Bella finally turn into a vampire and to see what her vampire ability would be. I liked the fact that she became a shield, and although others see this as a boring and kinda dull ability, I really liked it, especially as she could use the shield to basically cover her loved ones and friends around her.

One thing that did puzzle me was how many boys fancied Bella!!! There was Mike, Eric, Tyler, Edward, Jacob and then there were other vampires that were also entranced by her or her shield ability and also wanted to hunt her down. Whilst Bella is ‘pretty’, to me she was kinda, normal like the rest of us are, it is kind of unrelatable for many girls. Especially seen as she used to live in Phoenix Arizona where no one really took any notice of her, but suddenly in Forks she is the hottest girl in town. Most girls would not like a girl like Bella coming in and swooping all the boys attention, and it would cause tension and maybe even bullying at times. So this part of the story kind of gives me the ick… Obviously with Edward the reason he is attracted to her is because she smells good… Like good enough to eat lol.

At the end of the book club meeting there was a chance to buy some books, especially the new editions. I really wanted the pretty one with the fore-edge design with Bella and Edward hidden on it and when you move the pages in a certain direction you can see them. But unfortunately there was only two copies, and although I possibly could have made moves to get one, I felt to scared to grab one as I didn’t want other people to hate me lol! I know that is just my social anxiety coming through, no one would actually hate me, I mean I don’t dislike the people that managed to grab one, I admire them for being brave enough to go for it. But I wasn’t disappointed as I did manage to get my hands on one of the new 20th edition ones with the pale hands holding the red apple.

My original copy of Twilight is the one with the film poster of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as the cover, so it is nice to own one with the OG hands and apple cover but the new 20th edition does have some embossed raised parts where the name Twilight is, but it also has some pretty cool artwork inside on the front and back. My favourite image is the back one with Bella and Edward embracing and her iconic red truck driving along the road. I think her truck is a character in itself that people tend to forget about.

I really enjoyed the 20th anniversary event at Waterstones Eastbourne. It was a wonderful way to celebrate a book that has touched many a readers hearts and has had people at each others necks over whose team they are on. If they ever do something like this again for other iconic books I would really like to go and I would recommend it to others too. I do believe they also do another form of book club where they choose a book, you read it and go along for the discussion, but you would need to check out their Instagram and or go instore to find out that information if you live in the area.

Waterstones Eastbourne Website – Events section

The store and the host were very welcoming and there were a variety of people there from all different ages, backgrounds and genders and I felt very comfortable as it was great to have a diverse group of people, who loved the book as much as me, to sit and just talk Twilight. So thanks to Waterstones Eastbourne for holding the event and for being so welcoming. Plus I’m sure they did great on sales that night too lol, I came away with three books for myself and one for my husband…

I hope you enjoyed my blog post and I hope many other people are able to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Twilight. I really have a need now to go and watch all the films back to back, especially seen as it is officially ‘Hoa… Hoa… Hoa’ season.

Take care, xo Piper xo