Lit Vibes Only

Ep. 4: Lit It or Quit It: Twilight

• Lit Vibes Only • Episode 4

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Join Kelsey and Amanda as they dive into the chaotic world of Twilight, fearlessly tearing apart its portrayal of obsessive love and sparkling vampires. Get ready for a brutally honest and hilariously controversial take on the book that divided a generation.

CW: This episode references unhealthy relationship dynamics. Listener discretion advised.


Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. We'd love to hear from you!

See you on Mondays!

Ep. 4: Lit It or Quit It: Twilight
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[00:00:00] A quick note before we begin. While Kelsey and Amanda enjoy debating for your entertainment, we want our listeners to know that Lit Vibes Only is an inclusive community that honors all tastes and respects all readers. Enjoy this episode! In order to make choices that are best for you. Please note that this episode does contain brief, mentions other abusive relationships 

Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit out of books we love and hate. I'm Kelsey. And I'm Amanda. And we're here to talk today about the very likable and controversial book, Twilight. But before we get to that, Amanda, will you tell everyone where they can find us on socials? Kelsey, I would love to.

[00:00:57] Amanda: So if you are on Instagram, you [00:01:00] can find us at lit vibes, only underscore podcast on Tik TOK. We are lit vibes only podcast. And on YouTube, if you prefer to watch your podcast, instead of just listen to them, you can also find this at lit vibes only podcast. 

Thank you. I'm so glad you're doing that because I always get confused.

It is not very clear for me. , So with that being said, we like to start our episodes with the D. O. B. of the day. So Amanda, would you like to take it away? 

[00:01:36] Amanda: I would love to Kelsey. I feel like I'm still like figuring out this whole D. O. B. business. But for those of you who are new to this podcast or to what the heck D.

[00:01:46] Amanda: O. B. is, , it stands for drink of the day, outfit of the day, book of the day. Awesome. Correct. Yay. Okay. So my, , drink of the day, , I decided to make [00:02:00] myself some iced tea. So this is a wild raspberry and hibiscus iced tea with a dash of honey. So fruity and summery and delicious. So that's my drink, my outfit of the day.

[00:02:13] Amanda: , I'm wearing kind of a, honestly, I don't know what color to say. It's like a dusty lilac. I don't know. T shirts. That's a great 

way to describe it. 

[00:02:22] Amanda: Dusty lilac t shirt and some cutoff denim shorts. Basically my. Summer uniform. Like this is, this is my go to like jeans and a t shirt or shorts and a t shirt.

[00:02:35] Amanda: , and then my book of the day. I actually just started reading this this morning and I'm super excited to start it. Are you like 500 

pages in already? 

[00:02:45] Amanda: I like legit just started. , so it is the return of Ellie Black and it's by Amiko. I'm not sure how to pronounce her name. Amiko Jean or Amiko Jean. , and it is, shocker, a thriller.

[00:02:58] Amanda: , I'm really [00:03:00] excited though to read it because it has four stars on Goodreads and is highly recommended. So I am super psyched and I hope that I am, I'm shocked. I'm looking for some, some twists that are really gonna. 

If you do. If you are shocked in that book, please have us read it because I actually want to be genuinely shocked.

[00:03:22] Amanda: I was a little shocked for none of this is true, but apparently that wasn't enough for you. So I will keep you all posted. , and if any of my other thriller girlies out there have read it already and want to let us know their thoughts, your thoughts, let us know. 

, All right. One thing you'll learn about Amanda and I, I was teasing her about being 500 pages in, but like, that's not unheard of for her.

She's like an insanely fast reader and I don't get it at all. And we were talking, we'll talk maybe more about this later on the podcast, , about our reading styles. , But I feel painfully slow [00:04:00] anytime I'm next to her or like with her and she's reading. I'm like, what the fuck is happening? 

[00:04:05] Kelsey: Like, how are you processing everything?

[00:04:08] Amanda: We were, I remember we were on a plane to Vegas and we both were reading books. And I think I was just starting mine and you were already literally just started and you're like a fair distance into yours. I think I got like halfway through the book. 

Yeah. You like surpassed where I was at. I 

[00:04:26] Amanda: was like, okay.

Everybody has their own. 

[00:04:32] Amanda: We all have our things. You love audio books. I'm not a big audio book person and you can process information in order to stay. 

Caught up with you like I have to read audiobooks. There's no way around it. , so my job of the day. I have a chai. I made at home and ice chai with oat milk.

How demure of me. My outfit of the day. Also very mindful because it [00:05:00] is a cozy cozy day. It's just like a brand is this Fiori Fiori? I bought this. I bought this for our honeymoon and, , To wear on the plane because it's so cozy and, , yeah, it's a grayish and I have blue fury pants that go along with it.

[00:05:22] Amanda: They're so cozy. So soft. It's so soft. 

Yes. , and then my book of the day, I've been reading Firekeeper's Daughter. This book is so good so far. And actually I think it's more contemporary fiction.

It's yeah, it's a real world stuff. No fantasy. I'm like trying to. Yeah. No, it's not about faith. It's not. , and there's really, as far as I can tell there, I mean, there might be a little bit of romance in here, [00:06:00] but, , as far as I can tell, it's definitely not the main point of this book. It's about this girl who lives on.

Oh crap. I don't even know what tribe it is, but it's Anishinaabe, I think. And she meets this new guy that's in town and things start to progress from there. , she's on her way to her first year of college. And in chapter 10, like this book already destroyed me. So I'm loving it. 

[00:06:32] Amanda: I was going to say that sounds like a Kelsey read then if you're already like distraught and upset.

So good. Definitely pick it up. This is one I would be like, Hey, This book is for everybody. 

[00:06:43] Amanda: Well, it looks like when you showed me, like, just put the cover up just a moment ago, it looks like it wanted, it went in a word. I see a little gold. Yeah. Is that the Pulitzer? I don't know. I 

see a giant. Hold on. I know.

, these are hard to read. It's like gold award and [00:07:00] library association. I can't even, and it's like around, it's not like it's a name of some kind. It 

[00:07:06] Amanda: won an award. It has a shiny gold sticker. So yes, it does. So it definitely is a quality book. Yeah. Or somebody thought it was a quality book.

That made it. Yeah. We could talk. We could have an episode about awards, book awards, for sure. There's, 

[00:07:21] Amanda: yeah. Whole other thing. Oh my gosh. But I'm, I'm so excited for this episode. 

Oh my gosh. I'm like, I can't wait to get into it and I can't wait to see you so angry and like upset. 

[00:07:35] Amanda: You know, I'm going to try to regulate my emotions.

[00:07:38] Amanda: Can you? Honestly, I should promise. I promise nothing. I promise nothing. 

, so Amanda, before we dive deeper into this episode, give the audience your shortest response. Is it a lit it or a quitted? 

[00:07:54] Amanda: Like, I feel like this goes without saying, but this is like a hundred thousand billion percent quit it. Like I [00:08:00] wish I had actually quit it and hadn't sat through and and if it wasn't for this podcast, I would not have finished it. So. Yeah. Short answer.

[00:08:10] Amanda: Hated it. Absolutely. Quit it. 

Oh, thank you for your opinion. Many people disagree with you. 

[00:08:18] Amanda: Clearly there's apparently over 2 million people on Goodreads who gave this book a five star review. So yeah, it's insane. I'm still somehow in the minority, which is insane. 

Kind of moving on. Oh yes. Will you please.

Do our lovely summary of this book, 

[00:08:35] Amanda: I would, you know, I was gonna say I'd love to, but I, I really don't want to, , here's what I'll say because this book and the whole franchise has been around. Unfortunately, for a very long time, I feel like most people know the story of Twilight, so I'm not going to like do a whole lot of rambling monologue.

[00:08:54] Amanda: And if you don't know the story of Twilight, more power to you, honestly, [00:09:00] like good on you for avoiding this catastrophe. , so my like very brief summary, my like one to two sentence summary of this book is Bella Swan is the main character, she moves to Forks to live with her dad, and falls in love with a handsome mysterious stranger who, SHOCKER, happens to be a vampire.

[00:09:19] Amanda: And that is all I have to say about the summary of this book. 

That's all you're gonna say, Amanda? 

[00:09:26] Amanda: Well, okay, so there's like, oh, there's more vampires, , and Bella, , At least I 

gave none of us is, none of this is true, a true summary. Because 

[00:09:39] Amanda: nobody knows, a lot of people might not know what none of this is true is about.

[00:09:43] Amanda: , honestly, what else do I want to say about this book? , yeah, it's just like a lot of like age angst. Okay, so summary. , yeah. So she falls in love with, with Edward Cullen, who is a vampire. He's like, I don't know, hard for you. [00:10:00] I'm just so apathetic about this book, but also enraged at the same time. Oh, here we go.

[00:10:05] Amanda: So basically, yeah, he is a vampire. He's been around for like, I don't know, a hundred years. He lives with a quote unquote family. They're not actually related of other vampires and they have all like pledged to be good little vampires and instead of killing humans, they're just going to kill animals. So kudos to them.

[00:10:26] Amanda: Yay. , and I don't know, like Edward like saves Bella's life, like she's about to get hit by a car in the high school parking lot and magically he's there and saves her. And then she's like, Hmm, that's suspicious. How did you do that? And it's, , it's just a lot of like, I don't even know.

Let me fill in the blanks for you. 

[00:10:48] Amanda: I honestly, I mean, by all means, but I also feel like truly anyone listening to this podcast knows what the story of Twilight is. So I, I, I like don't want to spend too much time getting [00:11:00] into the finer details of the plot. Cause I do honestly think most people know I'm not just trying to be like difficult.

[00:11:05] Amanda: I think The main being a little difficult. Main . . I mean, yes. I'm being a little bit difficult. I think the main, I mean there's like the, they, they play a baseball game in the woods and like, you know, some other vampires show up that are like bad vampires. 'cause they do actually like, eat humans. Eat humans.

[00:11:23] Amanda: And so one of them obviously like targets, Bella. And decides to track her. So they're like, we got to get you out of town. So she goes back to like what new Mexico, I think, which is where she's from or no Arizona, Arizona, , where she like was originally living with her mom and of course the vampires on an idiot and like tracks are there.

[00:11:46] Amanda: And then she has like this whole like, martyr self sacrificing moment where she's like, no, I'm just going to go and like, essentially let him kill me so he doesn't harm anybody else. And, you know, at the very last minute, like surprise, [00:12:00] surprise, Edward shows up and saves her. And then he like has to, like, like suck the vampire venom out of her body and it's like this whole thing for her or for him because he has to like try and only suck enough so like the venom gets out of her blood but he doesn't actually kill her and it's just gross and weird and stupid and I hated it.

[00:12:22] Amanda: And Bella does 

live, and they end up going to her prom together in the end. And she 

[00:12:28] Amanda: thinks, oh, and she wants to become a vampire. Like, she's so dead set on Edward, making her a vampire. And she thought Instead of Edward taking her to the prom, she like weirdly thought he was gonna , change her into a vampire that night.

[00:12:41] Amanda: And so we asked her to get all dressed up in order to do that. Like this girl has so many issues. I'm really concerned for Bella, like truly and deeply concerned for her mental wellbeing. And I think we should be. I don't disagree with that. Well, apparently 2 million other people think [00:13:00] all is well in 

Forks, Washington.

So it's funny. We have to start on a good point though, Amanda. Thank you for doing the summary, even though that was clearly, clearly painful for you. , We have to start on a high point. 

[00:13:15] Amanda: So 

what did you like about the book? What aspect? 

[00:13:21] Amanda: This actually like one thing, and I have the, I have the actual hard cover book with me.

[00:13:27] Amanda: This book is I don't even know how long it is. I think it's like over 500 pages. I'm like trying to find Yeah, it's i'm sorry. It's 498 pages And the one thing I think my favorite thing about this book was that Even though it was almost 500 pages long. Yes, it went super quickly. It was you know, it was easy, right?

[00:13:50] Amanda: It was like because it was so horrible and so poorly written , it was kind of like ripping off a band aid. It was painful, but since it was quick, it was a little bit less painful. [00:14:00] So that is like literally the only thing about this book that I can say was a positive, is that even though it was long, it goes quickly.

[00:14:08] Amanda: So if you do have a friend, like I do, who forces you to read this, know that , your suffering will be intense. It'll be intense, but brief. That is what I'll say. 

Thinking of all the characters, if you had to put one at the top, who would it be? And there's a reason why I'm asking.

[00:14:30] Amanda: Like the top in terms of what? Like the worst possible? Like, no, no. 

Rather like your favorite. I wasn't going to say your favorite because I imagine you don't have technically a favorite, but who is the least? Disagreeable. Yes, exactly. 

[00:14:48] Amanda: Oh, that's easy. Bella's dad. I knew you were going to say that. He is the only character in the book that I'm like, all right, you seem like a solid dude.

[00:14:57] Amanda: Like you need to care for yourself better because you're kind of a [00:15:00] grown man child. But other than that, like you seem likable and have a fairly good head on your shoulders and you love your brother. He doesn't 

like Edward. He tries to keep Bella away from Edward. He's the only one in the book that has like.

A solid head on his shoulders. 

[00:15:15] Amanda: Doesn't really do that much to keep Bella away from Edward. But he 

doesn't like it, right? 

[00:15:23] Amanda: She like introduces Edward to her dad. He's just kind of like, okay, Be safe. I don't, I did not give the impression anywhere in the book that he was, like, really going all out to make sure,, Edward stayed far away from the story.

[00:15:36] Amanda: No, for 

sure, for sure. Like, not, 

[00:15:37] Amanda: but if anything, Jacob, I mean, Jacob's dad did for sure. Yeah, exactly. I don't think he did a really good job if he really was concerned about Edward being a bad character and that was all he did like, , but it's fine.

So there's a huge, movement where it's like, Charlie stans. [00:16:00] Where they're just, in love with Charlie and , he's the actual love interest in the book and movie.

It's really hilarious. , Yeah. There's just also, there's like t shirts about it. Like it's, I can get 

[00:16:13] Amanda: on. If I had to stand any of the characters, it would be him. Like he's the only one that I could like feel okay. Yeah. Yeah. Giving some props too. 

, so starting there, let's start with the characters.

Like what were your thoughts of some of the main characters? Let's not go into like, , maybe the side characters too much, but, , probably Bella and Edward. 

[00:16:32] Amanda: Yeah. 

Cause I feel like we could be here for a long time if 

[00:16:34] Amanda: we went into all of them. Yeah. I mean, honestly, I think obviously the main three in my head are like Bella, Edward, and Jacob, even though honestly, he's not a huge fan.

[00:16:44] Amanda: character in this story. Like he's still pretty minor. , and obviously there's the rest of the columns that are in and out, which honestly were really hard to keep track of. Really? Yeah. Well, I mean, generally, as you know, like names are not my thing. Like keeping characters names straight is so hard for me.[00:17:00] 

[00:17:00] Amanda: How do you like Justin Cronin 

books then? 

[00:17:03] Amanda: I don't know because his characters are like distinct and well formed and engaging so it's like I don't know the entire Cullen clan they're just kind of this like the one I remember honestly is I think Alice she's like the perky one who's always dancing everywhere and is like super graceful I don't know she's always described as a dancer and the rest are just like this I don't know like amorphous mass of like Quote unquote vegetarian vampires that are just unremarkable.

[00:17:31] Amanda: Let's get into it! Okay, I think, you know, before I get into the characters, I think what I want to first talk about is the writing, right? Because like, the characters are a direct result of Stephanie Meyer's lack of talent. And, , I remember within like the first five or ten pages of this book, I legitimately felt like I was reading someone's high school creative writing [00:18:00] project.

[00:18:00] Amanda: It felt like someone was like, all right, kids, I want you to write a spooky love story and we're going to spend the week working on it. And then we're going to read it for the class. That was the level of. Writing ability that was very clear to me right off the bat and there's this one and I and I have my notes I have my notes here, but there's this one point in the story where she's trying to convey that.

[00:18:27] Amanda: Bella is happy about something. I think she's just like, I don't know, had like a really good time with Edward or something. Okay. And she literally, I'm going to read it. I don't remember what page is on, but I like took this. I just love saying 

literally now because literally the best, literally the worst.

[00:18:44] Amanda: It means so much more on this podcast. Yeah. , so she, It's like the next morning, I don't even remember at which point of the book this is, but something happened and she's happy, right? And so this is literally what, [00:19:00] here I go again with literally, this is what Stephanie Meyers writes. I caught myself whistling while I was pulling the front part of my hair back into a barrette.

[00:19:08] Amanda: And later again, as I skipped down the stairs, Charlie noticed. You're cheerful this morning, he commented. It's one of those things. And as somebody who , went to school and got my minor in creative writing. There's this whole thing about, yes, you, you show, you don't tell. Instead of just being like, so and so is happy.

[00:19:27] Amanda: You like, show us what happiness looks like. But her version of show versus tell is like the way that like a five year old would do it. Like, can we honestly see this however old she is, 15, 16 year old whistling and skipping down the stairs because she's so happy. It felt like. A really young writer who is still trying to figure out how to convey emotions using really basic language and just this very simplistic style of writing.

[00:19:59] Amanda: Like, I [00:20:00] remember reading that, I just had to stop for a second and cry a little bit. , and then I gathered myself and continued on. But I think that was like really difficult. And, and that style of writing is obviously , Throughout the book and because of that clearly she doesn't know how to write in general And she certainly does know how to craft good solid characters And you know, I think she's also a little too on the nose at certain points her writing again It's so basic and straightforward it lacks any sort of subtlety or depth at one point at the beginning of the book She is like, like Bella has just shown up right to Forks, Washington, and she's trying to get, acclimated and acquainted.

[00:20:42] Amanda: And actually, I think I have, I think I have a note about it. I think I have a note about it because it's me and I feel like a little teacher over here. But she literally says this. , this is her getting ready to walk into,, The school, the first day I can do this. I lied to myself [00:21:00] deeply.

[00:21:00] Amanda: No one was going to bite me. And I'm like, seriously, really Stephanie Meyer. Like, this is , so painfully on the nose and obvious. And we get it, we get it. It's about vampires. It made me feel dumber reading this book. Like I felt in some ways, like I was being talked down to at different points throughout it.

[00:21:24] Amanda: All that to say, as we transition down to talk about characters, like, that same, oh go for it, go for it, what 

were you going to say? Before we go to characters, I just want to have like, you know, not necessarily counter argument to it, but again, just thinking about like the other side of things. Okay. And, who is this book made for?

[00:21:44] Amanda: It's made for adolescents. Yes. I would be offended. 16 year old or 13 year old reading this book and feeling like, You really think I'm that dumb that I can't figure it out? So you're going to just like, spell it. Like you're going to spoon feed it to me. Like I'm [00:22:00] glad I didn't read this as an adolescent, but I would have been like, honestly, a little offended.

That's hilarious. But it was intended for much younger audiences. And the reason why adults read it now is more about nostalgia and like thinking back. , and. I totally, I totally get it. It was very, very basic writing and not great. It was not great. 

[00:22:27] Amanda: You read this originally as an adolescent, right? 

Yes.

[00:22:32] Amanda: Like how old were you? 

I think I was around 19 or 20. 

[00:22:37] Amanda: Oh, so you were like, okay. Young, 

but like, yeah. But, , Oh, shoot. I lost my train of thought. 

[00:22:45] Amanda: Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't interrupt you earlier. You were like, on your train of thought. You were saying it was written for younger people. Younger people. And, like, that's perhaps why the language 

And also, what I wanted to say is just that, , I personally [00:23:00] don't read for necessarily the writing.

And I know that we are definitely different in that way. And, , I read for pure entertainment. 

[00:23:11] Kelsey: Like 

that is why I read and that is why I love the books that I love. And, , if a book is boring to me, whether or not it's. Fantastic writing or really bad writing. It doesn't matter. I'm going to toss it away.

I'm going to DNF that if it's boring to me. 

[00:23:29] Amanda: So bad writing, make it less entertaining for you or no, 

no, not always this book. I don't think so. This book isn't, , like my favorite book, right. But I think it's a good place to start for us. But, I, yeah, I just have a different, relationship with books than you, I think.

And so, , that is also another thing I think is important to keep in mind. Like, a book can be entertaining while being not so greatly [00:24:00] written. 

[00:24:01] Amanda: Okay. That's fair. I mean, yeah, I think we do have slightly different backgrounds. That too. Yeah, 

absolutely. 

[00:24:07] Amanda: , although I will agree with you, we've talked about this before, if a book is really beautifully written, but is pretty slow in terms of the pacing, I will check out, or it'll just take me a really long time to get through it.

[00:24:22] Amanda: Like, I'm not going to be like, yes, I'll get back to this book. , so I think we're on the same page maybe in that regard, but yeah, I do appreciate A well crafted sentence. Sure. Yeah, for sure. Especially since, yeah, I, you know, studied writing in college. So I do come to writing with that background and experience.

[00:24:41] Amanda: So yeah, for me, this book was, I think then even more painful, right? Because not only was it just a stupid book, but it was like a poorly written stupid book. So it was just like doubly awful. And I am, I'm just still so like, 

I'm so proud of you for making it through. 

[00:24:58] Amanda: Thank you.

[00:24:59] Amanda: Actually that, I [00:25:00] really needed to. Just acknowledging what a trial this was for me. Oh. , yeah. So I wanna 

hear your thoughts on the characters. 

[00:25:09] Amanda: I mean, okay, Bella, I truly, and I'm not just like being facetious I honestly don't understand Bella. Mm-Hmm. , like, I don't understand.

[00:25:24] Amanda: What motivates her. I truly didn't feel like the way that she fell in love with Edward so quickly and also oddly, it just didn't seem earned. , . Like dude, you've known him for like three seconds. You are, were really concerned about the fact that he could be this quote unquote monster slash vampire.

[00:25:50] Amanda: And I think her love for him, to me, as an adult reading this book, came across as [00:26:00] obsessive and unbalanced and neurotic and really terrifying for her. Like, 

and 

[00:26:08] Amanda: it happened so suddenly. I know like, oh my gosh, young love, and you just have all of these emotions and like, you know, they're suddenly there. But the intensity of her emotions and the fact that she was pretty quickly ready to literally end her life and become a vampire for him.

[00:26:25] Amanda: It just, that in and of itself took me out of the whole story. I was like, this isn't, you were talking about how none of this is true. Like, Yeah. You know, this is so unbelievable. Like this is so unbelievable. Yes. I get that it's like fantasy or whatever. The speed in which the relationship progressed and also the way in which it progressed.

[00:26:45] Amanda: Like, I cannot tell you how many times I felt like I was having whiplash or getting whiplash. I don't even know how to say that phrase because literally in every conversation that Edward and Bella have throughout the course [00:27:00] of the novel, they are at one moment, like, you know, madly in love with each other and telling each other how great they are.

[00:27:07] Amanda: And then the next minute they're pissed off at each other about one thing or another, like they're always flip flopping back and forth, like consistently. And it drove me crazy and was also as a reader, yeah, just like. It was so all over the place and I'm like This relationship is so unhealthy. It's so unhealthy.

[00:27:27] Amanda: Yes. Yes. Not least of what she's like, literally like 80 years older than she is. , So yeah, Bella came across as this really passive. Almost like blank slate character that was waiting for this man to come along and, like, give her life some sort of sense and purpose. And that is such problematic messaging, especially for, as you said, all of the adolescents who this book was written for.

Totally. Kind of to get into some of your points about, and this isn't really like a [00:28:00] argument, it's like not At all a counterargument, but it's just that kind of understand like fantasy, right? , Where this is a fantasy book, right? Vampires don't actually exist as far as we know. And, , this, I also like rereading this book.

I'm like, man, this is really not. It's less like, okay, the writing is very YA, but the messaging behind it is more like soft, dark romance. I don't even know what that is. You don't know dark romance? 

[00:28:39] Amanda: I 

think you said soft, dark. I know, but it's just like, Oh yeah. Soft, dark romance. Dark romance is I, and I've never read dark romance because it freaks me the fuck out because it's literally about like typically men stalking these women and these women like falling in love with them.

[00:28:59] Kelsey: It [00:29:00] is a 

whole genre that people are obsessed with, obsessed with. So this is dark romance then. So I think it, it's kind of soft, dark romance. And, , not to like explain away any of those things, but people fucking love that shit. And so it's not my personal, like favorite, but, , it's to kind of understand there is a world out there that people love it when the man in the book is like this stalker creep who 

[00:29:30] Amanda: makes this woman fall in love with him.

[00:29:33] Amanda: Like he literally creeps into her bedroom at night, watches her sleep, like what, what? And the fact at one point in the book, she says since I'd come to Forks, it really seemed like my whole life was about him. And this idea that , she literally has fixated solely on this, Man, boy, boy, man,, and made, yeah, him the [00:30:00] entire point of her existence and ultimately endangers herself, her dad, her mom, right.

[00:30:08] Amanda: In her attempts to like, have this problematic, weird, creepy man. , like it's really, it's really concerning. And I think Like, if we shift then from Bella to the character of Edward, who I feel like Stephanie Meyers. really tries to, obviously, because he's, you know, one of the protagonists, like she tries to make him this sympathetic character.

[00:30:32] Kelsey: Like we're supposed to like 

[00:30:33] Amanda: Edward, like he's supposed to be like, you know, even though he's a vampire, he's really kind of supposed to be like this knight in shining armor. And because we're situated that way as readers in relationship to him, it's like, It's doubly problematic because if you're being told by the author, like, this is a, this is the good guy, right?

[00:30:51] Amanda: This is the person who she's fallen in love with because, you know, he's kind of the one, the hero. While at the same time having this hero character [00:31:00] do really Weird, creepy, stalkerish, assaulty things. That is so problematic because it makes it that much harder for young readers to, to differentiate between what is good and healthy and what is bad when you're telling someone, Hey, this is good while they're doing things that are actually really awful.

Totally. I, , I like in a way agree. I agree with the fact that this is for young adults. And that it's marketed to young people while having all of these, , problematic, like themes throughout. But I also, on the other hand, there are reasons why like dark romance exists, actual dark romance.

And I've heard from people who love dark romance that it's actually a way of them kind of healing through the trauma that they've experienced. And I personally [00:32:00] don't. Go down that route because because of my own experience. Right. So I have the opposite effect of like people really enjoying and loving those books that those types of stories.

I stay away from like violence against women. , and In books and movies. Like I say, I try to stay away from that. , and even though I do come in contact with them, they're very compelling stories to me. And I've never read dark romance, but I'm talking about things like I just read it ends with us, right?

There was a lot of violence, , towards women in that book. And I was in a way, like, it also helps Me, I think it does. Like I could feel that with that book. It's just, it helped me kind of process some of the things that I've been through. And on the other side of it, she's in that book particularly, which is why it was.

More helpful for me is that she chooses to like step away from that right in the end in this [00:33:00] book obviously that's not what's happening, right? It's a fantasy book , I also wanted to like the trope of the age gap is there like In fantasy, I feel like age gap doesn't really exist because there's like other, there are other stories that like, this is a 500 year old Faye man with a 19 year old girl.

And it's like, it's like, it doesn't, to me, it doesn't even like, 

[00:33:25] Amanda: No, it's 

process. Like, it's just like, Oh, they're both like, whatever. I don't even think about it really. And, , and then in this story, although it's not said like explicitly, and I don't think throughout the entire series, , I can't remember exactly, but this is a story of like faded mates, which is why I think it doesn't make sense in, , In that how they fall in love with each other, it's just faded and Stephanie Myers never like gets to that exactly.

But that is a huge, that's a big trope in, , fantasy and romance. The trope is called [00:34:00] what? 

[00:34:00] Amanda: Faded mates. 

And what does it 

[00:34:02] Amanda: mean exactly?

So basically faded mates is just that you are fated to be with a person. Okay. And there's 

[00:34:16] Amanda: like, Oh my gosh, I thought you were saying they did mates. And I'm like, what the hell does that mean? Like I feel like slow fade, you're like moving in the opposite direction of the relationship. No, no. Okay. So they did.

[00:34:28] Amanda: Okay. Got it. Yes. 

Okay. Okay. Okay. And I think that this story is an example of that because. In the end, Bella does become a vampire and she was always meant to be a vampire. And, , that's just her story and how Stephanie Myers decided to create this. In case, because 

[00:34:47] Amanda: people can't see this, I'm rolling my eyes so hard right now.

And I like Fated Mates isn't like, to me, I don't love it or hate it. , not one [00:35:00] of my favorite tropes, It, it is a common occurrence in fantasy books. And I think that's what Stephanie Meyers was trying to get to with how they fell in love. , because it was really just instantaneous.

Like you're saying, does it make sense that, , I think that's why, not necessarily that I'm not necessarily that she was trying to do that. I think it is just kind of poor writing, but I think that's. The reasoning that I make out of that. 

[00:35:29] Amanda: Okay. So you're projecting something onto the story to try and make it better than perhaps I never said that this was 

an 

[00:35:37] Amanda: amazing story, but you did, you did like it.

[00:35:41] Amanda: At least when you read it the first time, you were, you know, 

I will go back to that idea of, , kind of like this dark romance because I. As a 19 year old back in the day, I found myself in a problematic [00:36:00] relationship 

[00:36:00] Kelsey: and 

the man was like, almost 10 years older than me. And, , it was a situation that. I can see in this book and, , especially like in new moon where she just feels like absolutely nothing when he's left and is like a shell of her own person.

Like I actually identified with that really deeply, , when I was going through those things. I don't think Oh, this is not a like positive of the book by any means. And that's not what I'm trying to like say, but I did relate to it. And while I was going through that, I was like, Oh, I guess this is a thing.

But the problem with me relating to it at such a young age like that is like, Oh yeah, there are also themes of , , but you belong with that person. Mm-Hmm. . And so I do think that it normalizes it. Yeah. Yeah. I do [00:37:00] think as a young person, I was feeling that and hopeful that it wasn't all this pain and agony.

, And that's not what real life is like, right. And so, , I do want to say that as well. I, in the end, I, , as an adult in a healthy relationship right now, like I had no connection to the characters and I was like, Oh, this is not great, but I do want to say to that, it was a book that started my, my reading journey that helped start my reading journey, you know?

And so, , it wasn't. It wasn't all bad, 

[00:37:43] Amanda: Amanda. I mean, I, I know that, and I think we might've mentioned this in our intro episode, or you might've mentioned it in our intro episode, that books like Harry Potter, books like the Twilight series were kind of, , a gateway for a lot of people to get into reading.

[00:37:59] Amanda: And so like, [00:38:00] I will give the Twilight books that, because I even remember when they came out when I was younger, that a lot of people who, again, were not big readers, Suddenly, we're reading these quite long, right, YA novels because You know, they were, they were trending and they were interesting and had vampires for romance, all these things.

[00:38:16] Amanda: So I,, that is one other small props I will give to the book. , but yeah, I think going back to what you were just talking about, , I think that One of the big issues with this book, and that's, I think, you know, come up, more recently in dialogue, , and critiques and, and reviews of this book is that it does kind of glorify and romanticize a really unhealthy, problematic relationship and makes it look desirable for young readers.

[00:38:44] Amanda: And it's like, yeah, is this guy treating you this way, or? Do you, do you feel like a shell of yourself when he's not around? But like, that's not a bad thing at all. Like it just, it's just your faded me. Yeah, exactly. I mean, you're just so in love with him and you're meant to be together and you just need to like push through and persevere.

[00:38:59] Amanda: And even [00:39:00] though, , Bella and Edward don't really get physical in this book really at all. Like there's like some kissing and, you know, a bit of, a bit of, yeah, very, very painful kissing, weird kissing and like, you know, a bit of cuddling. But there, there, the other aspect of it being a problematic relationship is there are moments that I found unsettling and disturbing, like Edward's kind of physical, almost aggression towards Bella.

[00:39:28] Amanda: And like, I remember it's, , , gosh, it's, it's near the beginning of a book still. And he's trying to like, I think, get her, yeah, into his car. And he physically drags for her, right? Like grabs her. He was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one hand. And then over the course of this page, the next page, he literally physically just like hauls her ass into the car.

[00:39:53] Amanda: Yeah. I remember stopping at that moment in the book and being like, I feel so there's so much unease [00:40:00] around this whole interaction. Like it feels so , He's not assaulting her, but it feels almost like free assault y, and there are other moments in the book where, you know, and he, he is, you know, he's incredibly strong and incredibly fast and can easily physically overpower her.

[00:40:15] Amanda: And I feel there's multiple moments in the book where he's just kind of like tossing her around and taking her wherever he wants to, in a way that just felt so gross and aggressive and controlling. And. Yeah, it just really did not sit well with me. And so I think there's also that physical element of him using, , yeah, the fact that he is physically more dominant and stronger than Bella to kind of get her to do things either that she might not want to, or to do them, you know, in a way that he wants them done or done quicker or whatever, that I was just like, It just made it feel like she was this little ragdoll in his hands.

[00:40:52] Amanda: He was just kind of manipulating as he pleased. I did not like that. And again, I think if you're a younger reader reading this, you [00:41:00] might see them as, Oh my gosh, like that's how I supposed to be. Like he is supposed to be like this super physically dominant person that can just kind of toss you around whenever he wants.

[00:41:09] Amanda: And that, but that's love, you know? 

Yeah. He also has an air of like, Oh, I'm older. So I, I know what's best for you and your life. , And maybe it's not even how he's, older than her. It's just who he kind of is, is just, I know, it's better for you. , you don't want this life because, you know, Your soul is going to be ruined.

I know, you know, like it was just, it was just interesting, like all of the small details of how he decides things for her, , versus her getting the opportunity to make her, her own decision essentially. 

[00:41:45] Amanda: Right. 

Like, and then new moon, , the, the next book, which we won't be reading for the podcast. You're welcome, Amanda.

, I just didn't find a reason to like go into all of the books because You know, it's just, [00:42:00] they're all the same and they're all horrible. It's just, we're going to say similar things about it. , it's, but ACOTAR, we are getting through all of those. So don't even worry. 

[00:42:11] Amanda: I will read the first one. 

It is absolutely happening.

So insanely long. You can't read the first book and not read the second book. Trust me, I will have no trouble stopping. Oh, trust me, we will. Everyone reading on our fantasy side, we will be going through Akatar. Now I lost my, my train of thought. 

[00:42:33] Amanda: I also don't entirely remember what you were talking about.

[00:42:37] Amanda: I don't remember what I was talking about. You were saying that something that happened in new moon and then you went off on a tangent. 

Yeah. So like he decides that he's going to leave her because he knows what's best. And then she suffers all of this, not, you know, whatever, all of the other details aside, he gets to decide her suffering and he gets to decide.

How her [00:43:00] life plays out versus her. Yeah. And even when down the road, you know, we've, we've all seen the movies. When she has the child, he very much opposes having the child and wants her to have an abortion and she has to use somebody else to support her decision, , to be a barrier between her and Edward.

It's, yeah, it's not a great dynamic. 

[00:43:23] Amanda: No, at all. Like from day one, it's problematic. I, maybe it would be more aligned with you if I had read this book as an adolescent or as a young adult and was in different head space, maybe, but I feel like I, I don't know.

[00:43:36] Amanda: I want to say that inherently some part of me would be like, this feels, Like a little egg. I think so. I don't know. I don't, I don't know. I can't say obviously, but, , yeah, I, there's nothing about this where I would be like, Oh my gosh, it's just like the cutest little love story ever. Like if you're coming away with that, I think there might be other things you might want to check in with.

, [00:44:00] yeah, I will say though, that the. The movies are absolutely like some of my favorite movies to binge over and over again. Like I just, I do. It's a comfort thing. It's that and like Pride and Prejudice for me. I will. You cannot 

[00:44:16] Kelsey: even put those in the same 

sentence. They're so awful. 

[00:44:19] Amanda: Comforting. Comforting.

[00:44:20] Amanda: Yes, 

Pride and Prejudice is. They're totally different. It's a good movie. Totally different. When Cesario and I, my husband, met, . We, it was during the pandemic and I, that's when I became obsessed with Pride and Prejudice 

[00:44:33] Kelsey: and 

oh my God, I don't remember how many times I rewatched that movie and he, it was, it was in the background and he was like, why are we watching this again?

And, , yeah, he always teases me. I'm like, Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite movies. 

[00:44:49] Amanda: Yeah, I well, absolutely. We are on the same page about that Twilight. Honestly, I mean, I guess I should disclose that I even though I hate I hated [00:45:00] this book. I have seen all of the movies. Yeah. , I mean, it was sort of a situation where I was trapped.

[00:45:08] Amanda: in a boarding house that I was living at in Australia. And this was back in the day. This was like 2011. They had an Apple, , TV. And it had like 10 movies that were like, I don't know, loaded onto it. I don't even remember how Apple TVs worked. And five of them were the Twilight movies. So I remember, like, I was stuck at the boarding house during like a school break.

[00:45:30] Amanda: All the kids were gone and I just sat there by myself and watched all the Twilight movies. And then I never watched them again. Surprising. So bad. , so I did, I did have a little bit of like Twilight knowledge prior to reading the book. Yeah, which. Yeah, it made me that much more adamant about why I didn't want to read it, but I survived.

[00:45:52] Amanda: There are like other things I could say about this book. Like, the fact that there, yeah, there are [00:46:00] conversations between, as I said before, the conversations between Bella and Edward are so Not only inane, but circular and they literally have the same conversation at length at least five different times throughout the course of the book.

[00:46:19] Amanda: And it drove me crazy because there was like, there's no progression and their relationship and like what was happening. They were like, just having the same argument, having the same discussion, having the same conversation. Multiple times and the other thing that drove me crazy that was repeated throughout and I think because I don't honestly remember the rest of the movies and I don't remember the rest of the books, but the fact that literally every other sentence Stephanie Myers like felt compelled to tell us just how clumsy Bella was.

[00:46:47] Amanda: I'm like, we get it. Bella's super clumsy. 

Well, she has no other personality traits. So what else was she supposed to do? 

[00:46:55] Amanda: It was so frustrating. Like literally I just started to like take note of [00:47:00] every time she mentioned once again, how clumsy she beat that point within an inch of its life. I'm like, we get it.

[00:47:07] Amanda: Does it come up again in the story? 

That's just who she is until she becomes a vampire or anything. And then she's not clumsy 

[00:47:14] Amanda: anymore. 

Okay. Yeah. 

[00:47:15] Amanda: Because I was like, it kept coming up and then I was like, I, and I knew that Bella became a vampire eventually.

[00:47:21] Amanda: And I was like, does this tie in? Is this supposed to be meaningful? Because she keeps bringing this up. So she clearly wants us to like, Yo, that Bella can't walk in a straight line on, 

I really don't know why. I mean, we could read into that though. I'm sure. , but yeah, the reason why she can't, or he can't read her mind, right.

As we could, that's hinting at her power later on as a vampire. Okay. That's the only thing that I know is significant. 

[00:47:52] Amanda: I'm glad you brought that up. So the other thing was like, yeah, why can't he read her mind? Huh. Do they ever explain that in the other books? So 

[00:48:00] yeah. So she has the ability to, she's , What is it called a shield?

She's a shield. And so she cannot only shield herself. She finds out when she becomes a vampire, she can shield others and protect them from other people's powers. , so that was kind of the hint of like, Oh yeah, she was meant to be a vampire. And, , yeah, baited me, , well, moving on from Bella and Edward, I actually, the thing that I wanted to talk about too, which I'm, I'm actually so sad that it wasn't in the movies.

Okay. Was it? I don't, I don't think it was, but the whole backstory of Alice's. Do you remember? 

So James is the bad guy, but I think that he was the one that knew her in her old life. And I think, okay, so this says in 1920, after having been institutionalized by her family, an unknown vampire turned her to save her [00:49:00] life from the relentless tracker, James later. Oh yes. Okay.

Okay. Cause James saw her and was going to eat her or something. Yes. She was led to the love of her life. Jasper after receiving a vision of him. And the pair subsequently joined the peaceful coven of the Cullen family. So I thought it was James that changed her, but yeah, that makes more sense that it was.

[00:49:25] Amanda: Yeah. Some other vampire. He's mad at the end that , she was the first one that kind of got away. And he was telling Bella this story, you're not going to get away. Like I'm, I'm gonna, you know, consume you. , and that's why he mentioned Alice. Cause he never kind of was able to get over the fact that she got away.

[00:49:44] Amanda: She's the one that got away. I do remember that

but they completely cut it out of the movies.

And I was like, Oh, that's such a cool point. I just thought that was like the most interesting thing to me. And the book was [00:50:00] her backstory and that she was in a psych ward. And that makes a lot of sense for the character Alice. , because she's kind of aloof a bit. And like the fact that she has like her, her power lends itself to like being able to see the future.

It's a mental type of power. Right. And so, , that, that makes sense that she had some issues. while she was human. , anyway, I just, I just thought that plot line was interesting, but didn't really go anywhere. 

[00:50:30] Amanda: Does it, come up in any of the other books at all? Like her back? Honestly, I don't remember, but, 

, Definitely not in the movies.

Which is stupid. 

[00:50:39] Amanda: At that point, especially because it comes up at the end of the book, I was like, so desperate to be done. I was like, I'm done with this. I was like, yeah, I didn't hear this. I don't even know who Alice is. 

I 

[00:50:49] Amanda: was like, let this be over, please God. , yeah, I mean, I feel like, I don't know that I have much more to say about this [00:51:00] book aside from what I said already and that I'm glad I never have to interact with it again.

[00:51:05] Amanda: And you're welcome. And that I'm, I'm truly concerned that there are so many people still that think this is like an excellent book. Like, I think what I'd like to do. I would love to sit down with one of those five star people and be like, Hey, although I guess, I guess we're going to hear in just a moment and what a great segue, what a great segue into our literally the best and literally where we read to you five star and one star reviews of this book.

[00:51:34] Amanda: , To further shore up the side that we are on. So Kelsey. Further polarized. Yes. Further polarized. The crowd. So Kelsey is going to be reading the, literally the best, the five star, a few funny and interesting five star reviews. And then I will be enlightening us all with the truth of what this book is all 

about.

So I think we [00:52:00] start, last time we started with five star reviews, right? I think we did. I think we started with 

[00:52:04] Amanda: the best. 

We'll start with literally the best and then go to yours. Okay. So I have, a few, a couple short and a few more longer. And so, , we'll start out. These are all from good reason. We're all five star reviews.

And I'm so sorry if I mispronounce your name, but here we go. Farrah? Farrah? Probably the worst piece of literature I've ever read. Five stars.

Acknowledging that it's bad, but she fucking loved it. 

[00:52:40] Amanda: I want to know what her defense is. Like I want specifics. There's no need for defense period. I'm going to honestly, I'm going to count that review on my side. So that actually is one point for hilarious. , 

Paige says, Death is peaceful. Life is harder.

I've [00:53:00] never loved anything as much as I love the Twilight series. No, that's not a joke. And yes, I mean it. There's just something about the ultimate comfort read that never gets old. I'm sure you have one too, but maybe you're lucky enough that the world doesn't think it's a guilty pleasure to read it over and over again.

Like they do for mine. But enough of that. I think Stephanie Meyer is an absolute genius. She took vampire lore and she made it something completely different. Now, it's almost impossible to think of vampires as only these vile, terrifying creatures of the dark because she made them sparkle. She made them a part of the light.

She made them a part of dreams. and fairy tales. Edward Cullen is the light of my life because he doesn't exist simply in the dark no matter how much he tell you he belongs there and isn't that [00:54:00] amazing? 

[00:54:00] Amanda: No, no, I'm genuinely like truly deeply concerned about the author of this review. Also, what this book is comforting this weird problematic relationship you find comfort in.

[00:54:15] Amanda: It's so good. So good. 

, again, difficult name. Kalila, this series, no matter how well written it is or isn't, is what made me dive headfirst into the world of books. So it will always be a five star read for me. Sorry, not sorry. You should be very sorry. 

[00:54:35] Amanda: There are so many other books. Sorry. 

I know Goodreads tells me that this is my second time of reading this book, but let me tell you, I can't count the times I've read it. My guilty obsession. What can I say? This book, this entire series draws me in. And each time I read it, I fall in love that little bit more.

I couldn't tell you why I love [00:55:00] this book so much. I couldn't tell you why the characters are so addictive. No pun intended. And I don't ever want to stop feeling this way. When I fall into the world of twilight. It's a world that I can honestly say is an escape from reality. It literally lifts my soul. 

[00:55:19] Amanda: I love how she continually said that she couldn't explain anything.

[00:55:22] Amanda: And I'm like, yeah, you're right. Because it doesn't make sense. Like she just is your love for this book. And this series like does not make sense. And you said it yourself. Oh my God. 

Okay. My favorite. This final one from Danielle, Danielle, sorry. This is the first time I've reread this book. It's definitely different feels second time around. Not the greatest writing lots of story holes that don't add up, but honestly, it's got its own home and vampire culture and is a classic in that sense. , I'm personally still a fan. 

[00:55:59] Amanda: This [00:56:00] is like, what is that phenomenon where like a group of people all have like the same delusion?

[00:56:09] Amanda: There 

is a word for that. Oh my God. 

[00:56:13] Amanda: Collective psychosis. I don't even know, but I feel like that's what's happening. Honestly. You know what? All of those reviews. Make me think of a cult. It's like they all know something is slightly off and something is wrong, but they just can't help themselves. And they're still going to just follow Stephanie Meyer, like to, to the edge of a cliff and go over it with her.

[00:56:35] Amanda: Like, I, 

yeah, we didn't even get to the, , Religious like undertones of everything. 

[00:56:44] Amanda: That is true. 

That is true. I mean, it's 

[00:56:47] Amanda: not sad. I mean, I think like in a nutshell, like we're definitely looking at kind of these very traditional gender roles for sure. I think, I mean, even the fact that. We see when Bella moves in with her [00:57:00] dad, her kind of taking on the role of the house and like cooking the meals and cleaning and taking care of him because he's like, he's so incapable of doing any of that on his own.

And that the woman herself is just. Selfless. Because she moves from Arizona where she was happy with her mom to please her mom. And then she comes to Forks and is like, Oh, my dad actually needs me too. Great. 

[00:57:27] Amanda: And then like, now Edward needs me and I need him and I will do whatever it takes to kind of conform myself and shape myself into like whatever.

[00:57:36] Amanda: He needs me to be or I need to be, to be with him. Like it's, she has no identity. Like she has no, aside from me, clumsy, she has no identity. Like it's, it's awful. And for some 

reason has all the boys after her as well. Oh my. 

[00:57:50] Amanda: That was actually one of the other notes I wrote down. I was like, literally, why is every single man in this high school obsessed with her?

[00:57:56] Amanda: She's 

just new 

[00:57:56] Amanda: like 

to the school. That's all that I read into [00:58:00] it. I don't know, 

[00:58:01] Amanda: it was just weird. 'cause she seems pretty unassuming and somehow like literally every boy in the school is like falling all over themselves to get including weird 

Cullen Interesting to go because part of like the religious undertones they were both virgins when they got together.

, even Edward

[00:58:22] Amanda: all I know for this, he never actually says that he is because he was, no, I mean, he gets, sick when he's like 17, but we don't, I mean, he doesn't actually talk about whether or not he was with anyone before that. 

Maybe I'm taking that from a, , another book or something, but I.

I'm pretty positive. Oh, I mean, it wouldn't surprise me. Why don't you start with our one star read? 

[00:58:47] Amanda: So we're going to start with Claire Richardson, who says, in short, the writing mechanics are atrocious. The dialogue is stilted and absolutely [00:59:00] wretched, the characterization is bad, loose, jumpy, and the progression is occasionally senseless.

[00:59:07] Amanda: The main characters themselves are not compelling, selfish, shallow, lacking the deep thought that comes with true passion and love, and instead leaping recklessly into stupid and deadly situations when anyone with a brain could see 60 other possibilities that should have been tried first.

[00:59:25] Amanda: I cannot express my disgust for the relationship between Edward and Bella. It's not romance. It's not passion. It's not love. It is selfish idiocy at best. Bella as a character is insufferable. Her self sacrificing streak is not compassion, it's sheer stupidity. It's hormones. It's a bad, bad example for the teenage girls who read it.

[00:59:47] Amanda: Bella's whole life is tied up in her boyfriend. She has no goals, passions, ambitions, or dreams besides wanting to be with Edward, who could kill her. I'm being a vampire. I'm being a vampire. Like, thank [01:00:00] you, Claire Richardson, for pretty much summarizing in two little paragraphs my entire opinion about this book.

,

[01:00:07] Amanda: and then my very favorite one star review from a user who simply is called human, all they wrote was vomits aggressively. And there you have it. That is the reaction. Wait, vomits? Like what? Yes. So they literally just put inside of two asterisks. vomits aggressively. I wonder 

if people like that is the appropriate response to this book.

Have actually read the entire book or did they stop at some point? 

[01:00:39] Amanda: Probably because they were vomiting aggressively because it's so atrocious. 

[01:00:45] Amanda: , 

[01:00:45] Amanda: but I really appreciate that. Nice 

job. Nice job. , I think, you know, it was really intentional for us to start with two books that we didn't exactly have, like, super strong feelings about.

Like, I didn't feel deeply in love with [01:01:00] Twilight and you didn't feel deeply in love with None of This is True. , but as we continue on, we're definitely going to , Get into some books that we absolutely love and I could not wait when you were saying, , how their conversation was repetitive and you were like, and there was no like, relationship progress.

, that immediately made me think of powerless and reckless. And we are so a hundred percent reading those. And I love them. I absolutely love them. And you're going to hate the living shit out of them. And it's going to be fantastic. I 

[01:01:35] Amanda: feel like I have so far have been so much nicer to you. If we're comparing none of this is true to Twilight.

[01:01:43] Amanda: I definitely had the more painful and the longer. Read as well. I just want to point that out to everyone. , but before we wrap up that we do have to do final recommendation. So Kelsey, would you recommend Twilight? 

Wait, did we do that for none of this is true? We [01:02:00] absolutely did. I 

[01:02:01] Amanda: feel like I only did that.

[01:02:04] Amanda: No, I think we both did it. We definitely both did it. If we didn't, we're doing it now. So as the person who recommended this book and forced me to read it, what is your final recommendation? Should folks go out and read Twilight if they've never read it before? You know,

I think I'm going to have to say no, because I just, I can't, , I can't because it is for young adults.

Like I can't in my good heart, like recommend this to a child, young person. , but it is like that opening door of fantasy, you know, I, you know what, there are better opening door fantasy books out there than twilight. I will say, , so I will say, I'm going to, I'm going to say no. I feel so 

[01:02:53] Amanda: justified, I think, is the word I'm looking for in my, in my [01:03:00] opinion.

[01:03:00] Amanda: Not that I 

didn't enjoy , them at a time, but I, now as an adult, I have to say that in good faith. You've seen the light. 

[01:03:09] Amanda: I've seen Edward in sunlight. Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, I think that does it for us with this book. Thank goodness. You have 

to do your recommendation. What are you talking about?

Honestly, 

[01:03:22] Amanda: do I, I feel like, okay, if you could not tell gentle reader, if you could not tell 

I 

[01:03:30] Amanda: had to get into Bridgerton. , okay. , yeah, I absolutely do not recommend this book. Like shocker, like surprise, surprise, twist ending. Amanda does not recommend this book. , yeah, if you are looking to get into reading again, or for the first time, yeah.

[01:03:48] Amanda: Well, let's just, . So you're all, , I would say there are other books. I mean, just Harry Potter, right? If you want to get into fantasy, You want to , ease your [01:04:00] way back into reading, just, just pick up Harry Potter. I know JK Rowling is problematic, but , at least the books are good.

[01:04:07] Amanda: Like Twilight and Harry Potter. There's , for me, no comparison, like no, they don't even inhabit the same universe. So, , don't read this book. That's all I have to say. 

People are gonna be mad at us. 

[01:04:19] Amanda: About what? Because 

I, I couldn't defend Twilight well. Because 

[01:04:24] Amanda: it is 

indefensible. This is no, I don't, I don't agree.

I don't fully agree because there are people out there that absolutely love this book. So I feel like my following is going to be. It's going to take a blow. It's going to take a blow. I'm sorry you guys. There are other books that I absolutely adore and love that I'm going to fight Amanda for, but this one is just not it.

I'm sorry. 

[01:04:47] Amanda: It's not it. Like, Twilight is not it. And I'm saying that to all the two million plus people out there. It's not it, and I feel no shame saying that. , anyhow, as we wrap things up, we do want to remind [01:05:00] folks once again where you can, , find us on socials. So if you, again, if you'd like to watch this episode instead of listening to it, We're very expressive.

[01:05:12] Amanda: So if you want to see all the crazy things happening, 

I feel like a wild child. I'm like constantly sticking out my tongue and like making faces at you. 

[01:05:21] Amanda: It's just 

my like energy. Like I'm like, 

[01:05:25] Amanda: so you can watch us on YouTube at lit vibes, only podcast. You can check us out. On TikTok at lit vibes only podcast and on Instagram at lit vibes only underscore podcast.

[01:05:39] Amanda: And as always, this is a, this is a community endeavor. So we want to hear from you. We want to interact with you. So if you did like this book and are enraged by how this episode went, we absolutely want to hear from you. And I think at one, at some point I feel like once we start to get enough feedback, we [01:06:00] should definitely .

[01:06:00] Amanda: , start incorporating like our listeners like responses and oh, that'd be great for sure. , to broaden the conversation. 

, the last thing that I want to say too is that we are a very brand new podcast and we need reviews. So if you are loving the show, please, please, please go to where you find your podcasts, where that Spotify, Apple, what have you, and give us a review.

And Amanda, do you want to tell them what the 50 first reviews are going to get? Yes. 

[01:06:34] Amanda: So if you are one of The first 50 people to leave us a review, you are going to get a limited edition Lit Vibes only sticker that you can put on your water bottle, your laptop, your car, wherever. , so please get those reviews in and we will send you a really cute sticker.

[01:06:54] Amanda: It's our logo. It's our cute little logo. It's very cute. , so Be sure to do that. We'd love to hear from [01:07:00] you and we'd really appreciate those reviews. 

I think we also have to say it can't just be a review. It has to be a good review. So if you give us a one star review, I'm sorry, you're not getting a sticker.

I think we definitely have to put that out there. 

[01:07:17] Amanda: Although we, I feel like, yeah, leave us a good review, but also like leave us your thoughts and things like, like you'd love to see from us, like in the future, if you agree or disagree with our, yeah, DMS, but if you agree or disagree with our takes on things, , yeah, be nice, please be nice.

[01:07:31] Amanda: Coolio, we'll see you next Monday. See you next 

[01:07:36] Kelsey: Monday. Bye.