"SENYUMAN DAVID.." my favorite story from chicken soup for teenage soul

Dia mampu dengan cepat membuatku amat sangat bahagia atau sangat marah.
tapi saat ia tersenyum,segalanya lenyap, dan aku tak bisa berbuat lain kecuali membalas senyuman itu.
ia memiliki sejuta senyuman, tapi ada satu yang dapat kudengar lewat suranya di telepon yang jaraknya berkilo-kilo meter jauhnya.
senyuman itu penuh canda dan penuh arti tapi sinis, tulus dan penuh rahasia tapi memaksa, dan ribuan sifat lain yang saling bertentangan sekaligus.
senyuman itu bisa membuat aku tertawa saat aku terluka, membuatku memaafkannya saat aku marak. senyuman itu membuatku jatuh cinta padanya.
Dia adalah laki laki pertama yang benarkucitai. kadang kadang saat ia memeluku dan kepalaku bersadar dibahunya, rasanya seperti ia dapat mendengar pikiranku yang berada jauh dilubuk hatiku. ia selalu tahu dengan persisi apa yang ingin kudengar. ia akan menatapku dan mengatakan bahwa ia mencintaiku. semua itu diucapkannya dengan kehangatan yang kupercaya, mau tak mau.
sejak pertama kali kami bersentuhan, ia telah mendominsai pikiranku. aku ingin memusatkan pikiranku pada sekolah, keluarga dan teman-temanku yang lain, tapi tak ada gunanya. aku berulang-ulang berkata pada diriku bahwa ia bukanlah lelaki yang seharusnya kuperlukan dalam hidupku, tetapi dengan berlalunya hari demi hari, aku semakin mengingikannya.
naluriku terus menerus bertentangan.percayai ia. jangan percaya padaya. ciumlah ia . jangan cium dia. telepon ia. jangan telepon dia. ceritakan padanya apa yang kau rasakan. jangan, nanti ia malah pergi meninggalkanmu. dan pada akhirnya aku bertanya tanya apakah hal ini mungkin yang terbaik untukku.
lalu suat hari semuanya melanda diriku. ia menghilang dan aku terluka, dan bertanya tanya apakah ia memang pernah mencintaiku. begitu banyak yang ingin kutanyakan, dan begitu banyak yang ingin kuceritakan padanya. kepergiannya bagaikan alarm jam weker yang berbunyi terlalu cepat, dan kini impianku berakhir. ia telah pergi dan yang tersisa dari kebersamaan kami hanyalah sejumlah surat dan kenangan, dan aku terlalu angkuh untuk terus mengenangnya. hatiku meratapi kepergiannya, tapi akal sehatku memintaku untuk tetap tegar menjalani hidup ini.
aku banyak belajar dari nya, lebih banyak dari lelki lain, kecuali ayahku tentu saja. ketika pada akhirnya waktunya tiba dan aku mendaptkan kekuatan , aku terpaksa menerima pelajaran itu dan berjalan terus tanpa dirinya. waktu berlalu, hidup bergulir terus, namun ada kala nya pikiranku melayang kembali ke impian manis ku bersama nya, dan aku dihantui oleh bayangan semyumannya. aku sangat menyukai senyumannya.
happy green ^o^

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'SELAMAT MALAM,YAH!' my favorite story from chicken soup for teenage soul

"kau takut ketinggian?"” tanya ayah, saat aku menaiki tangga yang tampak goyah ke atap rumah tingkat kami. Aku naik untuk membantunya memperbaiki antena TV.
“"tidak”" jawabku, saat ia naik dibawahku sambil membawa perkakas.
Aku tak punya banyak pekerjaan diatas atap, sebagian besar hanya memegangi antena dan mengambilkan perkakas, jadi aku mulai berbicara dengannya sementara ia bekerja. Aku selalu bisa mengobrol dengan ayahku. Ia lebih seperti anak besar, bukan seperti orang dewasa. Malah,ia tampak jauh lebih muda dari usianya yang empat puluh satu tahun. Kebanyakan teman-temanku malu kalau ayah mereka bermain dengna mereka, tapi aku tidak, malah aku bangga akan dirinya. Tak ada orang lain yang memiliki ayah sekeren ayah ku.
Setelah selesai memperbaiki antena, kami masuk kerumah, dan aku mulai siap-siap untuk pergi tidur. Saat aku memasuki kamarku, aku menoleh dan melihat ayah tekun bekerja disepan komputer dikantornya, yang bersebelahan dengan kamarku. Saat aku memperhatikan dirinya, timbul dorongan kuat dalam diriku untuk menjengukan kepalaku kedalam dan mengatakan bahwa aku menyayanginya, aku tak pernah mengatakan hal itu kepadanya atau kepada orang lain sejak aku berusia tujuh saat ayah dan ibuku sering masuk kamarku untuk menyelimutiku dan menciumku dengan ucapan selamat malam. Ucapan itu bukan ucapan yang dikatakan seorang lelaki pada lelaki. Tapi, saat aku masuk dan menutup pintu kamarku, perasaan terus tumbuh dalam diriku. Aku berbalik,membuka pintuku dan menjengukan kepalaku ke kantor ayah.
“"Yah.."” Kataku lirih.
“"ya?"”
“"em..”" dapat kurasakan jantungku berdebar semakin cepat “"eh..aku cumamau bilang..selamat malam"”
“"selamat malam.."” katanya, dan aku kembali ke kamarku dan menutup pintu
Kenapa tidak kukatakan? Apayang kutakutkan? Aku menghibur diriku dengan mengatakan mungkin aku akan memiliki keberanian untuk mengatakannya nanti-nanti, tapi bahkan saat aku mengatakan itu kepada diriku sendiri, aku tahu itu mungkin tak akan pernah terjadi.
Keesokan harinya tampak seperti biasa-biasa. Seusai sekolah, aku mulai berjalan dengan sahabatku ke rumahnya, seperti yang sering kulakukan, tapi ibunya mengagetkan kami dengan menjemput kami di tenpat parkir. Ia bertanya padaku aku akan prgi kerumah siapa, dan saat aku berkata “"Rumah anda"”, ia berhenti dan berkata “ "Tidak, kuaras ibumu mungkin ingin kau pulang sekarang”". Aku tak curiga apa-apa, kupikir ibu sahabatku ingin melakukan sesuatu bersama keluarganya sendiri, dan aku tak boleh ikut.
Saat kami sampai di depan rumahku, aku melihat banyak mobil di depan dan banyak orang yang kukenal berjalan dihalaman rumahku.
Ibu menyambutku di pint depan. Wajahnya bersimbah air mata. Ia lalu memberitahu dengan suara setenang mungkin, berita terbruk dalam hidupku “ "Ayah meninggal"”.
Pertama-tama aku hanya berdiri diam saat ia memeluku, tak mampu bergerak dan bereaksi. Dalam pikiranku, aku terus mengulang Ya Tuhan, tidak, ini tidak mungkin benar! Tolonglah.. tapi aku tahu aku tidak sedang dibohongi. Aku merasa air mata mulai membasahi wajahku dan aku cepat-cepat memeluk bebrapa orang yang melayat lalu naik kekamarku.
Saat aku memasuki kamarku, ku menoleh ke kamar ayahku. Mengapa aku tidak mengatakanya? Saat itulah aku mendengar adikku yang berumur tiga tahun bertanya, “"Ibu kenapa kakak menangis?”"
“"ia cuma capek, manis"” kudengar ibuku berkata kepadanya saat aku menutup pintikamar. Ibu belum memberitahu adikku bahwa ayah tak akan pulang darikantor lagi.
Aku tak pernah benar2 mengatakan pada ayahku bahwa aku menyayanginya. Betapa aku pernah ingin mengtakan hal itu kepadanya. Aku sangat merindukannya. Saat aku menamuinya lagi setelah kehidupan ini, aku tahu hal pertama yang kukatakan kepadany adalah “ "ku sayang padamu Ayah”" sebelum saat itu datang, hanya ini yang dapat kuucapkan “"Selamat malam, Yah" “
Luken Grace-from chiken soup
happy green ^o^

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ketika cacat fisik menjadi sebuah gift dari Tuhan!!!

hari ini, gw melihat salah satu ciptaan tuhan yang sedikit berbeda dari kita mahluk yang juga ciptaannya..
gni kronologis nya,hari ni gw dtg ke perpisahan SD Yayasan Beribu,dan seperti adat istiadat dari dlu,stiap perpisahan pasti murid2 dari kelas 1 yg masi pada segede kutil sampe anak kelas 6 yg mau meninggalkan skolah trcintanya menampilkan kreasi2 seni..ada yg nyanyi,dancing,nari daerah etc..awalnya lil bit boring,pas anak2 kelas 1 ama kelas 2 yg naek panggung nari2,mnrut gw mrka ga nari itumah cuma spin their body and shaking their hand..Nah,pas giliran anak kelas 4 yg tampil,menari lagu adat,lagu o ina ni keke kalo ga salah, 4 cewe 4 cowo nari berpasangan,awalnya gw ga bgtu merhatiin anak2 yg pada nari itu,ampe nyokap ngasi tau kalo salah satu yg nari itu ada kelainan di matanya,nyokap blg,"liat anak cowo yg pake slendang kuning,matanya kyk kucing" brhubung mata gw jg kelainan alias minus,gw ga bgtu jelas ngeliat dia diatas panggung,sampe akhirnya pas dia turun n lewat dpan gw,oh my,matanya emang berbeda,sdikit nyipit keatas bentuknya memang agak mirip mata kucing dan warnanya biru,ga pas ama kulit dia yg indonesia alias rada item hasil maen lalayangan hha..tapi yg bkin aneh lagi mata kiri ma kanan nya warnanya beda,2 2 nya sama biru tapi salah satunya (yg kanan kalo ga salah) sdikit lebih nyala warnanya,amazing..trus nyokap gw jg crta,kalo anak itu matanya jg suka brubah2 warna,kadang kuning dan matanya bisa ngeliat di kegelapan,katanya kalo mati lampu,dia lah satu2nya orang yg bs melihat dan mengambil barang tanpa kesulitan melihat dalam gelap,subhanallah..mungkin bwt sbagian orang bs aj menyimpulkan anak itu menderita cacat dimatanya,tapi menurut gw itu bkn cacat tapi anugrah dari Tuhan,lagipula bntuk matanya keren bgt kok,dan ga byk org yg punya warna mata brubah2 gt,apalagi bs ngeliat di gelap,keren,dan bocah itu jg keliatan enjoy dgn matanya,dia brani naek panggung,berekspresi,bergaul sama temen2 sebayanya,just like ordinary 4th grade student!! kebetulan pas gw perhatiin (mata gw susa lepas dr tuh bocah,menarik pisan atuda!) tuh anak ditemenin nyokap bokap nya hari ini,dan gw liat mrka jg biasa aja,gada yg lain dgn mata atau bgian tubuh mrka yg lain,ibu nya jg cm sorang pegawai di bank (kata nyokap) pok0nya gada yg aneh ma ortu nya,entah dr mana 2h bocah mewarisi gen mata kucing nya,,tapi ga masalah menurut gw,jadi berbeda itu ga dosa ko,apalagi kasus nya ni bocah malah bkin gw kagum,matanya canggih gt!! Gw jd pengen liat matanya kalo lg gelap..
Tuhan emang maha bisa,Dia seniman paling hebat,berkreasi dgn ciptaanNya,,subhanallah..!!
kadang kelainan ga berarti cacat,sometimes its come as a gift..Tergantung bagaimana qta menerima dan mensyukuri anugrah Tuhan..

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legend of SHAPE SHIFTER

Shapeshifting is a common theme in folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a change in the physical form or shape of a person or animal. Other terms include metamorphosis, morphing, transformation, or transmogrification.

In Folklore
Popular shapeshifting creatures in folklore are werewolves and vampires (mostly of European, Canadian, and Native American/early American origin), the fox spirits East Asia (including the Japanese kitsune), and the gods, goddesses, and demons of numerous mythologies, such as the Norse Loki or the Greek Proteus. It was also common for deities to transform mortals into animals and plants.
Although shapeshifting to the form of a wolf is specifically known as lycanthropy, and such creatures who undergo such change are called lycanthropes, those terms have also been used to describe any human-animal transformations and the creatures who undergo them. Therianthropy is the more general term for human-animal shifts, but it is rarely used in that capacity.
Other terms for shapeshifters include metamorph, skin-walker, mimic, and therianthrope. The prefix "were-," coming from the Old English word for "man" (masculine rather than generic), is also used to designate shapeshifters; despite its root, it is used to indicate female shapeshifters as well.
Almost every culture around the world has some type of transformation myth, and almost every commonly found animal (and some not-so-common ones) probably has a shapeshifting myth attached to them. Usually, the animal involved in the transformation is indigenous to or prevalent in the area from which the story derives. It is worthy to note that while the popular idea of a shapeshifter is of a human being who turns into something else, there are numerous stories about animals that can transform themselves as well.

Skin-Walkers
In Native American and Norse legend, a skin-walker is a person with the supernatural ability to turn into any animal he or she desires. Similar creatures can be found in numerous cultures' lores all over the world, closely related to beliefs in werewolves (also known as lycanthropes) and other "were" creatures (which can be described as therianthropes). The Mohawk Indian word "limikkin" is sometimes used to describe all skin-walkers. It is also known as the Yenaldooshi.


SN SHIFTERS ”Okay, let’s get something straight. It’s not a mandroid. It’s a shapeshifter.” The shape shifters of the supernatural universe are a breed of their own. The “SN Shifter” is a shape shifter capable of transforming itself into anyone, taking on one’s physical appearance and vocal patterns. . "It generates it’s own skin. It can shape it to match someone else’s features… you know, tall, short, or male.” These shape shifters are also capable of taking on the memories of the body it shifts into, in a process that resembles the Vulcan Mind-Meld. In order for the shape shifter to shift from one person to the next it has to go through a painful process of shedding its own skin. The person that it shifts into can be alive or dead, there is no preference. "Kills them. Doesn’t kill them. I don’t think it really matters.” Sometimes the shifter takes its victim to their underground lair such as the sewer systems. “They like to layer-up underground. Preferably the sewers.” The only way to easily detect a shape shifter is by its laser eyes that appear off of a camera feed. "Same retinal reaction to video… eyes flare at the camera.” "It’s human, more or less… has human drives. In this case, it’s money.” Thus far, most shape shifters that have appeared have turned to a life of crime whether it be murdering young women or robbing banks to attain money. “This thing was born different, hideous and hated; until he learned to become someone else.” "You remember the old werewolf stories? Pretty much came from these guys. Silver’s the only thing that kills em’.” The Winchesters ran into their first shape shifter in St. Louis. This shape shifter even dared to kidnap the Winchesters and tried to take over Dean’s life! Eventually the Winchesters escaped and killed the shape shifter once and for all. “Clearing” Dean from all charges due to his otherwise apparent “death.” The Winchester’s recently ran into another shape shifter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This shifter was robbing banks to attain money, serving its own greedy needs. Due to this encounter, the feds now know that Dean is still alive and like all real life hunters before him, he is about to face off against the law!
SHAPESHIFTING
Shapeshifting, also known as transformation and transmogrification, is a change in the form or shape of a person, especially a change from human form to animal form or a change in appearance from one person to another. “Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore- legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men.” Usually, the animal involved in the transformation is indigenous to or prevalent in the area from which the story derives. It is worthy to note that while the popular idea of a shapeshifter is of a human being who turns into something else, there are numerous myths about animals that can transform themselves as well.

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The Others !!!!!!! BEST moVie i ever Watched!!!!!!

Sumptuously crafted, with moody eeriness and almost surreal visual imagery, Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar's The Others is a terrific supernatural thriller that builds and sustains its considerable suspense, without ever relying on violence or special effects. Cast in a role she was born to play, Nicole Kidman stars as a neurotic single mom, raising two seemingly problematic children while her husband is fighting in WWII.

Though effectively scary, and thematically recalling the blockbuster The Sixth Sense, The Others is an arthouse film, a status recently confirmed by its inclusion in the Venice Film Festival's main competition. Avid devotees of the occult film are the primary target audience, but, with the right marketing, and strong critical support, Miramax can score decent numbers in major urban centers, with an English-speaking tale that still feels like a foreign film.

Showing a special talent for reality-bending thrillers, Amenabar has earlier made the equally impressive thriller, Open Your Eyes, which was adapted as Cameron Crowe's new film project, Vanilla Sky, starring Rom Cruise, here credited as exec producer with his partner, Paula Wagner.

Like all good psychological thrillers, The Others deals with the most primal human fears, such as fear of being isolated in a secluded house, fear of somber closets, fear of half-open doors. In this particular case, scripter Amenabar works up a nice twist, building his suspenser not around fear of the dark, a common element of the genre, but rather fear of the light.

Set on the secluded Isle of Jersey in the final days of WWII, tale revolves around Grace, an attractive if severe woman who's anxiously waiting for her beloved husband to return from the front so that her family can resume a more normal life. A domineering mother, Grace overprotects her two children who, she claims, can never be exposed to any light. The house is always dark, with curtains covering ever inch of the big, menacing windows.

As the story begins, three new servants appear at Grace's door, as replacement to the former helpers, who had inexplicably disappeared one night. Tension mounts as soon as Grace realizes that the servants have arrived, even though she has not had a chance to mail her request for help to the personal ads section of the local press. Who are they Gradually, it's revealed that each member of the enigmatic trio is familiar with the house, its surrounding cemetery, and bizarre history that's recorded in hidden photo albums.

Every once in a while, the children scream out of frightening sights, holding that the house is populated by intruders. When her daughter first reveals that she has been communicating with unexplained apparitions, Grace is reluctant to believe her, because it defies her devout Christian upbringing. Instead of consoling her children, Grace keeps punishing them with the kind of severe intensity that will increase the fears of normal children, let alone problematic ones. All the relationships get even more perplex and complicated, when Grace's husband (Eccleston) suddenly returns home from the War and proves unable to communicate with his family and servants.

Amenabar, who also composed the ominous score, works well in the Gothic tradition of the haunted house (in this case, a grand Victorian mansion), a staple of horror thrillers that here plays a legit character along with the human ones. As director, he deserves credit forbuilding a subtle psychological terror that's entirely dependent on the viscerally real performances of his ensemble.

With her classic grace, porcelain-like beauty, sophisticated manner, and forceful stare, Kidman gives a chillingly delectable performance (one of her very best), as a headstrong woman, who's gradually forced to abandon all her beliefs and fears, entering the dreaded realm of the occult and supernatural.

Equally important as the superlative acting is the mesmerizing lensing of Javier Aguirresarobe, whose camera swoops and glides through dark, echoing halls and foreboding, half-lit rooms. Reflecting the changing tone of the story, the camera quickly turns from calm and peaceful to harried and panicked pacing. At the end, both characters and viewers seem to have lost all sense of time, operating in a truly bizarre twilight zone.

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review !!!!!!! the little prince by Antoniate de saint exupery

The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince for those who like to be accurate), a novelette, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was published in 1943. Even today, this wonderful story of love, loneliness, and life exercises its wonderful magic over readers and is much cherished by both children and adults. It's easy to see why: a simple prose style that delights, fresh and funny illustrations, a wealth of imagery, a simple story that's yet effortlessly profound and above all the character of the Little Prince that tugs at your heart strings without ever getting overly cute and sweet.

The story is narrated by an aviator downed in the Sahara Desert who is trying to repair his wrecked airplane. His frenetic efforts are suddenly interrupted by the appearance of the Little Prince who, of all the things in the world, asks him to draw a sheep. The narrator is astonished and even wonders what a kid is doing in the middle of a desert.

But, "When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey. Absurd as it might seem to me, a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death, I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen."

Thus begins the interaction between the Little Prince and the aviator out of which is born a classic tale.

On a simplistic plane, The Little Prince is the story of an aviator whose plane is forced down in the Sahara Desert and there meets a boy who has traveled to earth from another small planet. The boy, the Little Prince, asks him numerous questions about sheep, trees and flowers. The boy also shares his various adventures, his journeys from one planet to another and finally leaves.

Yet, the story is much more enriching and satisfying. It's also the tale of a young prince who has left his tiny planet to seek answers to all his questions. The Little Prince is also the story of a man who learns a lot about the nature of life from an innocent kid whose journeys and innocence have given him the wisdom of a sage who has lived many years and traveled many miles. The Little Prince and the aviator come to understand what is really important in life -- love. What matters is caring about someone or something, living up to the trust invested in you, and sustaining that relationship.

It is only when one realizes the importance of love that one understands the responsibility towards those who one has "tamed." As the prince did:

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean, 'tame'?"

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."

"'To establish ties'?"

"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world..."

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower... I think that she has tamed me..."

[. . .]

The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time. "Please, tame me!" he said.

"I want to, very much," the little prince replied. "But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."

"One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me..."

The prince loves his flower so much that he protects her every night with a glass cover. He also requests the aviator to draw him a muzzle for his sheep so that it wouldn't eat the flower. The prince knows that his flower is naive and it is his duty to protect her.

Adults forget that love and friendship matter the most and allow themselves to be consumed with things that are inconsequential. In a way, The Little Prince, is also somewhat of a satire on adults. The novelette describes how adults lack imagination. When the narrator draws a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant, adults only see it as an odd-shaped hat. This lack of imagination translates into adults who are unable to focus on the essentials of life and instead concentrate on the unnecessary. Saint-Exupéry carries this throughout the book and pulls off some fine satiric touches.

There's the king who commands the Little Prince to function as his judiciary:

"I have good reason to believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night. You can judge this old rat. From time to time you will condemn him to death. Thus his life will depend on your justice. But you will pardon him on each occasion; for he must be treated thriftily. He is the only one we have."

The author similarly satirizes a conceited man, a tippler, a businessman, a geographer, and a few others. They all serve to show how adults make some futile aspect of lives their very existence.

And that's the nature of this little book. It delivers its message, its wisdom, unobtrusively, often casually through the Little Prince's encounters with various people, through his innocent questions that seek only the truth, and through his understanding of the self and of the life and people beyond oneself. And all the time, it also remains an excellent children's tale, without ever turning didactic.

After you've read the book, things start looking a bit different. You realize that somewhere, for someone it is possible to love a flower and lavish attention it. You realize that such love and responsibility is not be ridiculed, because you've understood that the object of love is not important – what matters is that there is love and there is a commitment to sustain that relationship.

And if you are bold enough (and if life hasn't corrupted you totally yet) you too would start questioning some of your priorities in life.

[. . .] nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere, we do not know where, a sheep that we never saw has eaten a rose... Look up at the sky. Ask yourselves: is it yes or no?

Has the sheep eaten the flower? And you will see how everything changes... And no grown-up will ever understand that this is a matter of so much importance!

This story of a boy in love with his flower is told in a little over a hundred pages. If there's anything to crib about the book, it's that it gets over so soon and you wish that you had not read it so fast. However everyone of those pages of is fantastic and will stay with the reader forever.

If you appreciate the simple things in life, if you want to know what is it that makes children find so much joy out of life, read this book and you'll treasure its simple but deep wisdom

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review !!!!! Breaking Dawn by Stefanie Meyer

I’m sure you all know what Breaking Dawn is (if not, what rock have you been living under?), so I’ll skip that. The midnight release party was a surprising non-event considering the fan base these books have, but many of the people there were incredibly into it all, dressing up for a book in which people dress normally (hmm…), and there were tasty special drinks at the Books-a-Million coffee shop.

Anyway, the book itself. Well, this was exactly what I expected the end of the Twilight Saga to be, in some ways. It was a wonderful brain-candy type of book–something I couldn’t put down, something I loved the experience of reading, but, well, nothing about it is dazzlingly brilliant. It’s something I absolutely loved reading, but now that I’ve finished I don’t feel like I’ve gained anything. Stephenie Meyer’s writing is not too impressive, honestly. I love her characters, though, and when what I want is something that I will absolutely devour and something that won’t take anything out of me, that’s perfect.

I hope I explained that well enough. Anyway, this book what exactly what I expected and wanted out of the end (I think) of the Twilight Saga. I loved finding out the fates of my favorite characters. My thoughts on Bella’s fate are below and spoilerific.

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* Note: I’ve edited the end of my review a bit because my prediction that fans would enjoy it was completely mistaken. I have seen book-burning campaigns, and book-returning campaigns. Anyway, yeah, I don’t usually edit reviews after they’re posted but I felt the need for a bit of clarification here.

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* Another note: Please don’t take this review the wrong way if you link to it. Do not take it to mean that I loved this book. I did not love this book. I enjoyed myself while reading it. No, this review is not intensely negative, but I didn’t have very high expectations.

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* HERE COME THE SPOILERS:

Bella’s transformation is what I expected and hoped for, knowing the characters, but I was afraid that the author would find some way of avoiding it, some crap reason for Bella to hold on to her humanity or her soul or whatever. Luckily, she didn’t. What happens between her wedding to Edward and her transformation into a vampire is unexpected, though, and I appreciate Stephenie Meyer’s ability to throw such a curveball, because I usually have an idea of where everything is headed in her books. Predictability and formulaic stories are nice, though, to an extent. Stephenie Meyer’s books are exciting, but not particularly thought-provoking. They’re fun to read, even addictive sometimes, but not something I feel a need to revisit often. I enjoyed finding out the fates of my favorite characters, though I’ve always wanted to hear more from Alice, and she was absent during much of this book. I was a bit disappointed at not delving deeper into my favorite characters, except Jacob–I loved his part of the book. It was by far my favorite. Jacob is fantastic.

*SLIGHTLY SPOILERY PARAGRAPH OVER.

Overall, reading Breaking Dawn was a pleasure. Stephenie Meyer is great at what she does, great at writing for her audience, and if you can recognize that, can see that this book is exactly what it is meant to be and not expect more from it, you’ll love it.

Edited to say: Spoilery comments, more so than this review, so beware! Also, I thought the nicknames were stupid, too.

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