For some reason when I first picked up this book, I thought it was going to be a historical fiction. Anyway, this story had an intriguing premise; I was very hopeful starting out. Bella actually seemed like a fairly sensible girl... until Edward entered the picture. And then the cringe-worthy dialogue began, along with the purple prose (do we really need to hear about how beautiful Edward is over and over again?) and Bella and Edward become so wrapped up in each other that I actually found it boring. Their conversations were so stilted and bland, I felt like they dragged on and on. The petty high school drama wasn't interesting either. Edward's vampire family was kind of intriguing, and I wanted to know more about them. But basically all of the vampire lore was revealed through conversations and long sections of exposition-- boring. A real plot kicked in near the end of the book, but it was too late.