I wasn’t sure what to use my Audible credit on this month, so I picked the unabridged version of Twilight, interested to see what all the fuss was about.

It seems to be a rather love/hate sort of book for most reviewers, those who disliked it complain that all the characters seemed to do was endless mooning over each other while for others, the author can do no wrong. However, I rather enjoy a trashy romance from time to time, so I was sure I could cope with that. Plus, it had the added bonus of vampires… got to be at least worth a try.

I was a little put off at the start of the book. While the narrator was excellent, having an “Audible Kids” bumper at the beginning made me wonder if it was going to be just too childish a read and the whole of the introduction had a loud music overlay on the speech which was very irritating. That passed though and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. More than that, I found it a totally gripping and absorbing ‘read’.

I’ve read a lot of romances, a range of the good and the embarrassingly dire. Stephenie Meyer has crafted one of the very best I have ever read – the characters are totally believable and sympathetic. The story is told through the eyes of Bella, the heroine, and through her we slowly uncover the truth behind Edward Cullen and at the same time fall in love with him as she does. It is a little awkward as a 35 year old to admit that you are besotted with a fictional character, I know, but that’s how I felt while reading it.

It’s much more than a mere romance though. It’s strong in the fantasy thriller genre too. When I wasn’t on the edge of my seat as their relationship became closer, I was completely gripped by the action – one of the few books I can genuinely say I found impossible to put down (the kids ended up playing a lot on their Nintendo DSes the last two days). Don’t let the fact that this is marketed as teen fiction put you off, while parts of the romance are very idealised (well, apart from the fact he’s a dangerous predator – that’s not usually an integral part of most romance novels I’ve read) it’s still a very well written thriller in its own right.

On the back of it, I’ve ended up buying the DVD (a little disappointing, will write more on that later), the paperback version and two of its sequels. I’ve also started immediately listening to the whole audiobook again. Good job the kids are back to school tomorrow.