The first time I read Harry Potter was in the 6th grade. The book had sat on my shelf since the first grade, which I had convinced my mother to buy me at Target after seeing a popular older girl at our swim club, tanning herself and seemingly entranced in the huge novel she was reading. It was Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, or the big blue Harry Potter book as I thought of it at the time. Little did I know that 5 years later, the books would impact my life in a way which I never thought they would.
I first read Twilight in the 7th grade. I watched the trailer for the upcoming movie on IMDB while it was still months away and decided to take a gander at reading it. I ordered it from a Scholastic catalog, and when it arrived at indoor recess on a rainy Tuesday, a girl in my class said “Oh! Your going to read Twilight too?”, with mock enthusiasm. Most of the girls had read it, and it was super popular, so I laughed and began to read.
And now, myself at 15 years old, the final Harry Potter movie was released almost a month ago, and the first part of the final Twilight movie is just a few months away. And I am proud to say that I favor Harry Potter much, much more.
Harry Potter, for those who don't know, is about a young boy named Harry whose parents died when he was a baby. He lives with his horrible Aunt, Uncle, and cousin, and wishes for a better life. Harry discovers that both his parents were magic, and that he is a wizard. He is enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and befriends the oh so important characters of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. His journey throughout the entire series is about defeating the evil wizard Voldemort, who killed his parents.
Twilight, on the other hand, is about a tomboyish teenager named Bella Swan. She is clumsy, quiet, and sarcastic. Bella moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to live with her dad. She makes a few friends, and is automatically drawn to the Cullen siblings who attend her school. She forms a relationship and falls in love with Edward Cullen and learns he is a vampire. The series is a four novel saga all about romance and vampires.
Personally, I did not mind the first Twilight book, and I tolerated the first movie. Bella has a very private mind which kind of reminds me of myself. But I did not find the series as action packed or as exciting as Harry Potter, and I felt that the characters in Twilight did not develop that much. In Harry Potter, Harry, Ron, Hermione and all the other characters are constantly maturing and learning lessons.
I think that maybe if the ending of Twilight was tweaked, Stephanie Meyer could have left it at that. If there had been no sequels, perhaps Harry Potter fans would enjoy Twilight more. Also the poor acting qualities displayed in the Twilight movies take a toll on the novels. I think with new cast members it could have had a chance. I also find it impossibly annoying that at every award show, Twilight seems to win award after award, with Harry Potter receiving barely any nominees.
Twilight was additionally just very boring. I found myself skimming the book a lot, and in the end still being able to understand everything. I believe there was a lot of pointless paragraphs. Harry Potter barely hit rough spots, and always kept me interested with so many characters and secrets that I needed to know the truth about.
In conclusion, I never bothered buying the last three Twilight books. I don't plan on reading them again, and I don't plan on buying the DVDs. My family owns every Harry Potter book and movie, that I can always retreat to when I feel like I need some magic to get me by. These books taught me so much, gave me role models and crushes, a belief in magic, and to trust that love, no matter for family, friends, or significant others, conquers all.