The perfect heroine

Have you read the Twilight Series yet? I'm, as usual, waaaaaay late to the party. I scoffed them off at first as teenage angst books, but now that I've read them, I have completely reversed my point of view. The stories have got everything: great plot, romance, long-anticipated love scenes, cool battles, love triangles, hot boys. Of course, I fit the target demographic (except maybe for age) to a Tee:

- True believer in both First Love and True Love (not necessarily the same thing as anyone who knew my h.s. boyfriend will attest)
- Someone who can easily get caught up in a romantic moment
- Has chased after a boy -- or wanted to
- Sucker for intelligent boys with thick unruly hair

But the true genius of the story is that Stephenie Meyer has created a perfect modern romantic heroine in Bella. Sure, you can draw all the comparisons you want between her and the classic romantic heroines like Juliet Capulet, Elizabeth Barrett, or Catherine Earnshaw (as Meyer does frequently), but her true appeal is that she is so insufferably whiny and selfish, so easily dismissed from the narrative, that readers will almost automatically project themselves into her place which means, in effect, that I was the one on that honeymoon with the gorgeous teenage vampire boy. And I had a good time! And I wouldn't complain about the lingerie and wish I had old sweatpants instead! In fact, I'd bet there isn't a reader over 30 who doesn't think she would be a much better wife for Edward.

(No offense, Mr. J.)