Nightlight, a parody - Review

Alright, so as it turned out, I stayed up 'til close to midnight finishing this book. Ben walked into the room to find me in bed with the book to my nose. "Are you still reading that?" Why, yes, yes I am.

There were a few typos that were a tiny bit distracting. The kind of thing that an editor would have picked up on if they had actually read the book.

Otherwise, this book pretty much lampooned every major aspect of the original series, including how long it turned out to be when all the books were finally finished. There were even a few (mostly) blank pages reminiscent of the painful departure of Edward in New Moon.

Of necessity, most of the original characters were left out of the parody. The book would have been significantly longer than 154 pages if they had tried to squeeze everyone in.

The most difficult part of the read was how nearly unlikeable Belle is throughout the book, but she's such a train wreck, you just can't stop reading. (Some people I know would say the same of Bella from the original series.) Belle's interactions with her parents were a gross exaggeration of her counterpart, Bella's. Some were so much so that it wasn't really funny, but sort of sad. (I.E. Belle telling her father, Jim, that a bowl was like a plate but with sides and that he should eat his cereal with a spoon.) Belle's complete self-centered obliviousness to reality and the effect of her behavior on others threw into sharp relief the same flaws in Bella which were dealt with in a much more subtle manner.

Edwart, on the other hand, was really almost normal compared to his counterpart. He, also, seemed to be unaware of the real world, perhaps due to his inordinate video game playing. He seemed to fall victim again and again to the crazy obsession of his stalker girlfriend. (Hmm... I see some similarities there, too.)

There did turn out to be some twists to the story that I didn't expect which took the story in it's own original direction. It ended on a high note which, some would say, is better than the original.

Was it worth the $13.95? The jury is still out on that. However, it did succeed in it's created purpose: It was funny. Really funny. The ridiculous exaggeration and bizarre whimsy kept me turning page after page until there was nothing left but to sigh, wishing that there was more (but not really) and wishing I had taken longer to read it (but not really).

What was the funniest part, you ask? You didn't? Too bad. The part that kept me laughing for several minutes was found on page 136 (don't peek ahead, it won't make sense). Ben got home shortly after I read it to myself and I had to read it aloud to him. I was completely unable to get through the paragraph and Ben couldn't understand me through the involuntary laughter. I tried several times to get the sentences out, but had to stop because tears of mirth fogged my vision and my voice was broken by bubbling, squeaky laughter. Ben, eventually, had to take the book and read it himself. I had a moment of anxiety that he would read it and look at me with that pitying expression on his face that said, "You really are easily amused." I was gratified when he chuckled and said, "That is funny." I may have hyped it up too much with my uncontrolled outburst, but then, he often shakes his head at me when I explain why I'm laughing.

Overall: Good book. Fun and funny read. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't read the original series since most of the jokes are only funny if you have.

For those of you who are still skeptical about reading the original series, here is my somewhat flawed logic: If it wasn't at least half-way decent, no one would have bothered to lampoon it.

Happy reading!