Twilight has been one of the most popular staples in teenage pop culture since the release of the first book by Stephenie Meyer in 2005, and the famous movie adaptation in 2008. I mean come on, who wouldn’t want to see two hot supernatural guys fight over some regular girl? Meyer knew who to sell her vampy ideas to and we ate it up (I still eat it up to this day)! Feeling sick? Twilight is on the TV. When I’m feeling slumped, New Moon and Jacob’s biceps are right in front of me. I read the books when I turned 12 and became obsessed with the series from then on, and when I was finally able to watch the movies it was all I wanted to watch. Even now in my 20s, I still find myself needing a Twilight marathon annually with my girlfriends. However, there are plenty of differences between the book and the movie. I’m here to share my favourite differences between the two and save you the hassle of reading the books for yourselves! But if you loved the movies, I think picking up the book series would be a great choice for a fall read!
One of the first differences in the book was Bella and Jacob’s first meeting; it was never in Forks like it showed in the movie. In the book, they had never met before Bella moved back to Forks, and the scene where Bella’s friends take her to La Push beach is where Jacob and her first meet each other. It’s a really cute scene in the book that turned me into a Jacob girlie. They had a bonfire on the beach shoreline, and the flames changed colours due to the driftwood soaked in seawater. Where the two plots intertwine is when Jacob spills all the secrets of his tribe being descended from wolves and the Cullens being the “Cold Ones” and the scene thus sets them up romantically, especially because Edward never showed up. This brings up a whole other change of context for their relationship because obviously Jacob develops a huge crush on Bella after their meeting (how could he not?).
I desperately need to bring up the most popular scenes from the movies that do not exist in the books. First, Bella’s awkward encounter with that ketchup at the diner never happened. In the book series, Bella and her dad, Charlie, almost always had supper at home because Bella liked to cook, which showed the father-daughter relationship between them that I find absolutely vital for their relationship in the rest of the book series. It also would have added much more relationship context in the movies if the cooking scenes had been included in the movies.
Now to bring in one of the most quotable lines from the movie, “You better hold on tight, spider monkey,” simply never happened in the book. Edward was never that cringey–thank God! What actually happens in the book is that in Edward’s room, after he shows Bella around his house for the first time, she teases him (just like in the movie), telling him that she doesn’t find him scary. In the movie, Edward does the whole jumping out of the window and scaling the tree, however in the book he just throws her on the couch. Instead of climbing up trees and running 100 miles an hour with fragile Bella on his back, Edward doesn’t end up being all that dangerous after all, just a big, safe flirt. Even though it’s absolutely hilarious in the movie with the CGI and the beautiful landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, it never actually happened in the book.
One part that was a lot less dramatic in the books was when Bella told Edward she knew he was a vampire. In the book, it was actually on the car ride back from Port Angeles after the kidnapping scene when Edward swoops in to save her. But it was definitely a great cinematic choice for the movie to include that dramatic montage of the flashbacks to his vampy characteristics like ice-cold skin and his eyes changing from black to yellow at the beginning of both the movie and book.
And one last romantic moment change from the book is Bella and Edward’s first kiss. Instead of the awkward, but aggressive one in the movie where Edward launches himself backwards off of Bella when she tries to make out with him; the book’s version is very sweet. After the scene in the meadow where the pair skipped school and talked about Edward being a vampire, they kiss at Bella’s truck after walking back from the meadow. I absolutely loved this part in the book and it gives the story a lighter feel whereas the movie is quite grunge.
I personally love both takes of the Twilight series. The dense detail adds so much to the Twilight book universe and the grunge aesthetic of the movies gives the Twilight saga such a nostalgic vibe every time I watch the movies or open one of the books.
From your Twilight enthusiast, I hope you enjoyed reading and were even persuaded into taking a dip into the Twilight universe!Since it’s the season in the Pacific Northwest where we are “under a near-constant cover of clouds and rain.”