1. I don’t think the books are dangerous in the soft porn area, really. Or at least I wasn’t really bothered by that. I could see how it might lean that way for some people, but I don’t think that’s the issue. I just got irritated by how Bella and Edward were all over each other all the time. I think the problem isn’t whether the writing is pornographic, but what this is can potentially do to the psyche of teenage girls (and college girls) who might want a relationship based on physicality. I don’t think Twilight is the only source of this fire - just watch TV. But I don’t think it helps.

2. I think all this hubub with Edward giving women unrealistic expectations of men is absurd. It makes me pretty angry, actually. The hero and heroine are both immature and hormonal.

3. I think the plot is relatively interesting. In many ways, it’s like Tuck Everlasting only the heroine has grown up. The trouble is that Babbit’s Winnie was more mature than Meyer’s Bella. Bella never considers once what it would be like to give up mortality. She’s too excited for Edward to sneak into her room again.

So yeah. I think the books are poorly written and I don’t like that people are so obsessed over them, especially young girls. But I don’t think the books are *dangerous*. I don’t condemn people for reading them or liking them. I would just rather read something else. *shrug*.

It was actually my kid sister’s YW group, and my best friend’s home YW group in a completely different state, where girls who read the books used them as an excuse for “napping” with boys. The youth leaders have felt most betrayed by Meyer but–upon further questioning–it was the youth leaders who recommended the books in the first place. Interesting how we all like to point fingers instead of shouldering the blame….

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. Readers should use their own judgment and not rely on any affiliations the author has.

It honestly boggles my mind how much hype there is about these books. They are kind of fun, but are by no means amazingly well written, or spectacular.

Start by, to quote myself, teaching young readers that “something “Mormon” (i.e. produced by a Mormon) isn’t inherently better than anything not-Mormon.” That’s how they can be more discerning, instead of assuming it’s okay because a Mormon wrote it.

@Mary: That wasn’t in response to Sally’s comment alone, but to comments here and on AMV in general.

One thing: sleeping isn’t bad, if you mean it literally. Sure, it’s generally a dumb idea because you’re setting the stage. If you mean it figuratively, then, sure, that’s not good. I think her wording is ambiguous, but my interpretation is that the rumors she has heard (on good authority, so we shouldn’t doubt them at all) girls are literally sleeping with their boyfriends, and she thinks that’s the book’s danger–that sleeping will lead to “sleeping”.

But regardless of any of that, it has not a thing to do with the author of the book. The only thing it has to do with it is that the author happens to be Mormon, and the girls who are sleeping (or “sleeping”) with their boyfriends as a result of reading the book may have taken that largely irrelevant fact as the go-ahead to act like the character in the book. It’s a completely illogical conclusion to draw, and one that the author shouldn’t be faulted for. They could have just as easily drawn the conclusion that it’s only okay when your boyfriend is a vampire. But they didn’t. So it probably means they were looking for an excuse anyway, and where an excuse is wanted, one will be found.

The readers are accountable for their own actions. It’s just a book. It may not be a particularly good book, but it’s the job of the reader (and parents) to decide what’s worth reading. It’s not the author’s job to babysit her readers and “lead them not into temptation.” It’s her job to sell books, and she’s doing that quite well, by all accounts.