The overly gothique cover, and the blurb that reads "When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable," convinced me not to read this book. Westerfeld mentioned it at WisCon, though, so I picked it up anyway. The first half is surprisingly good. Even though the main character is described as black-haired, pale and willowy (besides being named Bella Swan, gag), she's nevertheless a well-rounded, sensible girl who has her own life before Edward enters the mix. The high school scenes are particularly well-written, as they acknowledge the minor power struggles that occur without making them seem like the life-and-death situations they are on a WB show. Bella is never pressured into having a kegger, nor does she have to go out with a Bad Boy to recognize the hottitude of the Sweet Guy Next Door. All the goodwill Meyer built up in the first half collapses in the second half, unfortunately. Edward and Bella are utterly wrapped up in each other at this point. Bella rapidly decides that SHE wants to be a vampire so she can spend eternity with Edward, but oh noes! She's so delectable that another vampire is after her! Thank goodness Edward is around to save her. Ugh. Worth reading it just for the first half, but don't get your hopes up.