I'd never heard of the Twilight saga until after the first movie, Twilight was released . All of a sudden, people on my facebook were making comments about how Edward Cullen could bite them any time , and how they wanted to be Bella . I was intrigued, and asked a friend of mine who this Edward Cullen was - and they in turn lent me the first book in the Twilight sage, Twilight.

Written by Stephanie Meyer, it's essentially a teenage story written from the point of view of 17 year old Bella, who after her mothers remarriage moves from steamy Phoenix, Arizona, to the wet little town of Forks in Washington to live with her father . Shortly, she meets the mysterious Edward Cullen, who for some reason seems to have taken an instant dislike to her, a dislike that is made all the more confusing by occasional uncharacteristic attempts at friendliness. Despite his many warnings that he is dangerous, she falls for him, and with a little help from Jacob Black, a Quileute indian who shares some of his tribes ancient tales , she unearths his big secret - he's a vampire .

We see a little of Edwards struggle to maintain a relationship with something that , to any ordinary vampire, should be food . But Edward's no normal vampire - he, and his created family (I say created, as none of them are blood relations, they are a coven of vampires) are 'Vegetarians' , feeding only on livestock and animals, never humans .

Love stories are never simple, and as in any good story, outside events conspire to make life difficult - in this case a chance encounter with some non-vegetarian vampires , one of whom, James, is a tracker, a vampire who specialises in following scents - and Bellas scent is particularly alluring for him . From this point on, the novel kicks up a gear, and becomes far far more exciting.

I enjoyed the book from the start . I really got into the mind of Bella, who, despite a little extra clumsiness and social awkwardness, is a pretty typical teenager with the luck to fall for a boy who is anything but typical . Until the secret of his life is revealed, Edward comes across as overly moody and hostile initially, a behaviour that becomes more understandable a little later in the book .

The rest of the Cullen family come into focus later in the book , and each of the characters in the book is very distinct and well formed . They have real, strong personalities, each very seperate from the other and yet gelling together perfectly into a family unit .

This first book is written entirely from Bellas point of view, which could have made it seem rather flat and one dimensional, but thankfully didn't .

I've since read all the books in the Twilight saga, and although its a comparison that has been made many times before, I do feel there is a similar buzz around this series as there was with Harry Potter, although it appeals to older teenagers and adults. The writing style is simple, yet beautiful, and manages to convey some real emotion during the more heartfelt scenes .

All in all, I think this is an excellent book, for teenagers and adults alike .