Twilight by Meg Cabot YA fantasy book reviewsTwilight by Meg CabotTwilight by Meg Cabot

Twilight (2006) is the sixth novel in Meg Cabot’s MEDIATOR series. The first five books are Shadowland, Ninth Key, Reunion, Darkest Hour, and Haunted. I’ll assume you’ve read them (though, as I explain below, I think you could have skipped Haunted).

Twilight continues in the vein of Haunted, about which I said, “The focus of Haunted is on the relationship between Suze and the two boys who are ‘warm for her form.’ Teenage girls who swoon over love triangles will like this a lot better than I did.” In fact, Twilight feels like an extension of Haunted (a much shorter book) and I think the two novels should have been combined into one volume.

The love triangle continues. Paul (hot, rich, and evil) comes up with an idea to get rid of Jesse (hot and dead) so he can have Suze for himself. Suze will try to stop Paul. This involves going back in time (a skill that Suze has just learned she has). Can she stop Paul’s plan? What will happen to Jesse, the ghost she loves?

Readers will have to suspend all disbelief for this story. The plot is really sloppy at this point and Suze does some outrageously stupid and selfish things. Suze, a strong, brave, and independent heroine at the beginning of this series, has turned into a weak-kneed idiot over a guy who is a selfish and aggressive manipulative stalker just because he’s good-looking. This does not sound like the Suze we know and love. Her mentor, Father Dom, has had a similar transformation. He used to be wise and strong. Not anymore. He’s just as dumb as Suze in Twilight.Mediator (Book Series) by Meg Cabot

But, the end of Twilight is really touching (though it wraps up a little too neatly) and there are some swoon-worthy moments for teenage girls who love this series. There are even some things to think about here regarding whether we would choose to change the past if we could. I liked the ending.

Any readers who’ve gotten to this point in the series will not feel fulfilled until they’ve read Twilight to see how the story ends (though Meg Cabot returns to the series 10 years later with Proposal and Remembrance, which I will also review).

Good news for audiobook readers! Johanna Parker is back. The previous book, Haunted, had a different narrator, which was disappointing.

Published in 2005. This time it’s life or death. Suze has gotten used to ghosts. She’s a mediator, after all, and communicating with the dead is all in a day’s work. So she certainly never expected to fall in love with one: Jesse, a nineteenth-century hottie. But when she discovers that she has the power to determine who becomes a ghost in the first place, Suze begins to freak. It means she can alter the course of history… and prevent Jesse’s murder, keeping him from ever becoming a ghost – and from ever meeting Suze. Will Jesse choose to live without her, or die to love her?

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  • Kat Hooper

    KAT HOOPER, who started this site in June 2007, earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University (Bloomington) and now teaches and conducts brain research at the University of North Florida. When she reads fiction, she wants to encounter new ideas and lots of imagination. She wants to view the world in a different way. She wants to have her mind blown. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for dull prose, vapid romance, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Favorite authors are Jack Vance, Robin Hobb, Kage Baker, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Richard Matheson, and C.S. Lewis.

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