Sandra L. GravettReseñas

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I took the subtitle, "Religious Themes in the Twilight Saga," too much to heart, I think. This text is not so much about the "Twilight" series as it is a rehashing of Biblical dogma framed around the "Twilight" storyline. Much of it seemed to stretch the parallels to an unreasonable length, as a college student might do when he or she finds that a chosen topic simply does not have enough material to compose a final paper of the required length. When the author began to repeat herself, I struggled for a few pages and then decided to abandon the book part-way through.

This book was boring and repetitive. While there were some good points made, most of the comparisons in this book are stretch, to say the least. I wouldn't bother if I were you.

I was really curious about this book, and was really interested when I got for Early Reviewers. I thought perhaps it was because I received when I had a newborn at home that I could not get into this book at all. I have re-visited it over two years later in trying to finally write a review. Obviously, the enthusiasm is still not there.

I am a Twilight fan so I was intrigued by this book. After reading it, however, I felt that the reasoning behind the arguments was far stretched and didn't make much sense.

As I began to read this book, I thought there was no way that there was Religious Themes in the book, but after the first 5-10 pages I started seeing how they all related.

I haven't got to finish reading it yet. So I pulled one from:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R4UHE8EBNQQI8

Sandra L. Gravett's book "From Twilight to Breaking Dawn: Religious Themes in the Twilight Saga" is another publication which examines the Twilight saga through a religious lens. Dr. Gravett is a philosophy and religion professor as well as a biblical scholar. She takes her expertise in these areas and uses it to show the reader how religious themes are clearly evident in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga.

Gravett begins with a brief introduction, reminding (or in a rare case, enlightening) us of the societal impact that this book series has had in recent years. There is also a short summary of all four books, plus the mention of the online work Midnight Sun. These summaries are helpful for readers (like myself) who have not read the entire series and do not mind plot spoilers.

Continuing, the subsequent chapters take on individual characters or issues and examine them in light of scripture and religious tradition. For the most part Gravett references the standard Christian Bible, but she also uses Mormon texts and other non-canonical books as reference points. As a Southern Baptist Christian, I personally had no need for the comparisons to issues found in non-canonical works. However, if you're looking at these themes in a purely literary manner, they do provide some interesting things to ponder.

Several of the chapters single out one of the main characters in order to examine them. In one, Edward's character is shown to be a Christ figure (according to the Kozlovic model). In another, Bella's possibilities as an Eve figure as well as a Mary figure are explored. Father Carlisle is shown to be a God figure, and Renesmee also shows characteristics of a Christ figure.

Other theological and philosophical issues are addressed, such as determinism, moral choice and Armageddon. In these chapters we get to hear more about Mormon philosophy, as they highly value moral choice (as other faiths do). Armageddon's ties into the final moments of Breaking Dawn are not as strong, but Gravett finds a few ways of comparing them. Overall, she concludes that "on the surface, nothing about the Twilight saga explicitly expresses a religious agenda." (p.99) Yet at the same time, she notices that Meyer often suggests a Christian-themed progression.

Overall I enjoyed Dr. Gravett's work. She came to this subject from the standpoint of a literary and philosophical scholar, not as one standing in any kind of negative judgment of the series. Everything was stated in observation, just as if she was holding a light up to parallels that may not have been easily seen in the past.

Gravett's writing is well crafted and decidedly collegiate, and she ends each chapter with interesting discussion questions. This lends this title toward easy implementation in a classroom or any other small group discussion. The questions she raises and the ideas she presents have given me a deeper appreciation for not only themes that are in the Twilight saga, but also for other works of fiction that I may read in the future. Not every book, character or plot will perfectly mirror those found in scripture, but it becomes interesting to see how God's word and philosophies can permeate all of life.

By: L. Hartness "LHartness"

I've been a fan of Meyers from the start so I was intrigued to read this book - but was disappointed...as other reviewers have said- it was a struggle to get through and the themes were laughable- seeming that the author was choosing who to match up- as a religious person I was somewhat offended by the lack of thought that seemed to be put in to the connections...not a book for me but check it out from the library if you're really curious

I received “From Twilight to Breaking Dawn: Religious Themes in the Twilight Saga” from the early reviewers program. I was excited to read it because I love Meyers Books, and wanted to read what the Religious connections could be. From the first paragraph I just knew that I had made a mistake. It was a struggle to get through the rest of the book. The connections were laughable; it seemed like just taking the key players from the Bible and matching them up with one of the Twilight characters, and then throwing in some facts to make it look good.
The back of the book says it says that it’s perfect for parents or pastors. I wouldn’t give this to either, it would surely make my mother want to make good on her threat to burn my Twilight books, and my pastor would be none to proud.
Then again, it could be my own religious background that makes me overly critical of this book. Read it for your self for an opinion, but in the end, this book just wasn’t for me.½

I received through LibraryThing Early Review and was curious about the possible religious connotations I didn't see as I read the series. However, it was a stretch to really make the comparisons this book did. It just seemed to go off topic a lot and not really make complete sense.