I was 37 years old when Twilight first came out. As a fan of the paranormal, especially vampires, I was admittedly intrigued by the latest buzz about the young adult novel. As I began to read the book, I realized that I had to suspend my sense of reality, even moreso than I usually did for paranormal stories. But now, at 50+, I’m opening the special 10th anniversary edition (that includes Life and Death), on my Kindle —with two apple (a red and a green) covers —to see how this saga holds up with grown-woman eyes.
Spoiler alert: it’s still iconic… but wow, some things hit very different.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Forks, the Land of Eternal Damp
We start with Bella Swan leaving sunny Phoenix to move in with her dad in Forks, Washington—a town with more rain than sunlight and about as much cheer as a wet sock. She says she’s doing it for her mom, which is sweet… but rain over sun? At seventeen? I had questions.
Bella’s dad, Charlie, is still emotionally stunted but well-meaning—and honestly, adult me sees him in a new light. He gives her an old red truck that teen me thought was adorable. Grown-woman me? It’s a safety hazard with charm.
At Forks High, Bella immediately becomes that girl. The mysterious new student who has every boy in school acting like they’ve never seen a pale girl in a hoodie. Eric, Mike, Tyler—they’re all falling over themselves.
Enter Edward Cullen.
Bella sees him across the cafeteria—pale, intense, hair-flippy—and it’s game over. Then they’re paired in biology… and Edward glares at her, “hostile, furious”.
And Bella? Of course, she blames herself.
“Did I offend him?”
“Do I smell bad?”
Girl. No. He’s just a 100-year-old vampire with boundary issues.
YA logic at its finest.
Chapter 2: And Then He Glared at Me
Bella, used to taking care of her mother, has now taken on responsibility for taking care of Charlie. She buys groceries and fixes dinner. Checking her email, she finds that Renee has sent several emails. Why wouldn’t she, or Charlie for that matter, have let her mother know that she landed safely? I wouldn’t have sent an email, I would’ve called Charlie that first night.
Bella couldn’t sleep because of the wind and the rain. She’s athletically-challenged, playing volleyball in P.E. To make things worse (according to Bella), he vanishes for a week… and then suddenly reappears all polite and charming like nothing happened. And Bella just rolls with it. Really? Ugh!
The emotional whiplash is real.
I probably could’ve done without the play-by-play detail of Bella’s school day. I know, I know, they are teenagers…in high school. Where else would the majority of the action take place? It’s still early in the book. The world of Forks will surely expand, right? We know the answer to that, though.
Reading It Now…
I can’t believe I notice the poor writing. She let it be known on every page that she would NOT be happy in Forks, “a relief to stare dejectedly out the window.”
Still… there’s something addictive about being back in Forks. The rainy gloom. The awkward teen angst. The nostalgia. Even Edward’s weird behavior is part of the charm—like rereading an old diary and cringing, but also smiling.
Final Thoughts
There’s no denying Twilight defined a generation. But this time, I’m reading it with therapy, boundaries, and bifocals. And honestly? That makes it even more fun…or cringy.
Next up: chapters 3 and 4. Bella gets almost flattened by a van and Edward suddenly wants to be her friend. I have thoughts.
Did you read Twilight as a teen or as an adult? What stuck with you? Drop your first impressions below—I want to hear it all. Team Edward, Team Jacob, or Team “Let’s Get This Girl a Therapist”?
Follow along as I reread the entire Twilight saga through grown-woman eyes—complete with sarcasm, sparkles, and some hard truths.
Tea, Books, and Life 
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