The Twilight Problem

There is a severe problem in the world of fiction, or rather fiction reviewing, that needs to be fixed.

This problem, I like to call "the Twilight Problem."

"I know he's a vampire, and I know he's standing behind me looking at me like he wants to eat me, but I'm gonna stay right here in these creepy woods with him because I think I love him even though I just met him."

The Twilight Problem is a classic problem of comparisons-- no matter what, books are always compared to other books. But this one is unique, because it clumps a wide variety of books into a single category that is harshly and unfairly judged based on the mistakes of ONE book. More specifically, any book that involves any kind of romance is deemed "Twilight-esque," for some reason.

I am not only talking about The Hunger Games here, although that comparison is the one that bothers me the most because it is so completely unvalidated. I'm talking about every young adult book that involves some level of romance, or a love triangle. Cassie Clare's books. Divergent. Beautiful Creatures (okay, yeah, that one I get). Delirium. Starcrossed. Mara Dyer. Etc.

IT NEEDS TO STOP.

Twilight did not invent romance. It did not invent the love triangle. Anyone who dismisses a book because it has a "Twilight-esque" romance should take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask themselves, "Is this the kind of person I want to be?" Someone who will leave a harsh review of a book based on how similar it is to another book? Someone who maybe will not even read a book because of those comparisons? Someone who avoids romance and the beautiful lie that true love conquers all, because of one book that took it a bit too far?

I have never read two stories in which the romances were exactly the same. Meaning that a very small percentage of them were comparable to Twilight-- by which I mean insta!love, obsessive love, destructive love. Usually love stories are sweet and believable and romantic, which is how they should be. I'm not going to avoid a love story just because it might be like Twilight. Because chances are, it won't. After all, it's not the romance that makes Twilight bring on The Cringe Factor; it's the relationship. The fact that Edward and Bella own each other. The fact that Edward is dangerous and for some reason Bella isn't as concerned with her own safety as she should be. That he literally has to change who she is in order for them to be together. That's the problem.

Not the fact that there's a love triangle.

Not that fact that it's a romance.

It's the characters themselves, which have never, not once, been replicated in another book. You don't see the love interest stalking the girl from afar, or watching her while she sleeps before they even know each other, or having to constantly weigh his desire to be with her against his desire to kill her. THAT is all Twilight.

Here is where I contrast the books to prove that comparing them is useless:

You want to tell me that Peeta and Katniss and Gale are like Edward and Bella and Jacob? Tell me, when does Katniss ever say she needs them? Because Bella's a blithering fool when Edward leaves-- she walks hunched over, with her hand to her stomach at all times because she has a PHYSICAL AFFLICTION when he's gone. She thinks she needs him. Katniss knows that she won't die if Peeta and/or Gale were to leave or die. The one she chooses, she doesn't need him because she has an unhealthy attachment to him; she needs him because he helps her. He makes the world better for her. 

You want to tell me Jace and Clary and Simon are like Edward and Bella and Jacob? Jace is rude; Edward is annoyingly polite. Clary is full of fire and art; Bella is full of dissatisfaction and dependence. Simon is a vampire; Jacob is a werewolf (sorry, cheap shot, but I had to. Simon is also smart and geeky; Jacob is... Taylor Lautner).
You think Will, Tessa and Jem are like Edward, Bella and Jacob? Will is self-destructive because it helps everyone else. He will not let people love him, no matter how bad he must make himself seem. Edward gives a halfhearted warning about how loving him is a bad idea, and then he lets her do it anyway. Tessa is selfless like Bella, admirably, but she also thinks more logically about her decisions. Jem is the safe choice, like Jacob, but if he knew about Tessa's feelings for Will, he would never try to tear her away from him. Heck, he probably wouldn't even make her decide. And here's the kicker: Will and Jem are best friends. They have a relationship, whereas Edward and Jacob do nothing but fight with each other.

You think Tris and Four are like Bella and Edward? PLEASE. Tris wields a gun and beats people up. Four loves that she wields a gun and beats people up. Bella would probably end up shooting herself with the gun, if Edward were to ever let her near one. Which he wouldn't.

Think Lena and Alex and Julian (blegh) are like Bella and Edward and Jacob? Snort. Lena doesn't decide to join Alex's world because it's the only way to stay with him; she does it because she realizes that her world is dead wrong. Julian's certainly no Jacob (this one, actually, is a compliment to Twilight. Sorry, I really don't like Julian).

Think Helen and Lucas are like Bella and Edward? I admit, the love story in this one is reminiscent of Twilight in the most superficial ways-- they're thrown together, he brings her to school every day, his family is big and strange-- but these two are literally destined by the gods to be together. This story is one of the most original things I've ever read.

Finally, you think Mara and Noah are Bella and Edward? Excuse me while I *sips water* SPIT OUT MY WATER AT YOU. Mara Dyer is the antithesis of Bella Swan. She's seriously screwed up, and dangerous, and awesome. Bella wishes she were Mara Dyer. Noah Shaw, like Edward, has a mysterious bad boy reputation. But, unlike Edward, he earned it. It's not gossip; it's fact. He doesn't write poetry in script or talk about death as a romantic ideal, and he certainly isn't the 100-year-old virgin. Hah.

So, there you have it. I'm sure there are more examples of the Twilight Problem, but these are the 7 I chose to address.

Me, I'm not going to be influenced by it. I'm going to read love stories. I'm going to revel in the healthy relationships in books. I'm not going to be the cynic who confuses Twilight romance with romance in general.