Inexplicable.

**SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL THE Twilight BOOKS** (Unless you never plan on reading them and don't care if you get spoiled.)

About an hour ago I finished Breaking Dawn.  I have been speeding through because I am dying to discuss these books with full knowledge.  Now that I have read them all, I can firmly say the following:

Team Jacob.

But I'll get to that in a second.  First, I want to talk about the books themselves.  I devoured Twilight in a marathon day session and it was pure torture waiting a week get my hands on New Moon.  I just spent about five hours finishing Breaking Dawn because I was so submerged in that universe and didn't want to leave.

And yet, until the last part of Breaking Dawn, when I felt it got pretty nifty with the vampire lore, I couldn't honestly tell you that I "liked" them.  I can't explain it.  True, I liked Twilight well enough, but I knew it was complete trash.  Unlike Harry Potter, childrens' books that can be appreciated by adults, these books are young adult books that are indulged in by adults.  They don't have the depth of mythology or the complexity of Harry and his friends.  I like to refer to these books as crack:  You know they aren't good for you, but you can't help it anyway, like a crack fiend or candy compulsion.

Something about them, though. . .they draw you in and don't let you leave.  I don't do romance novels, but engrossed myself in Twilight. That grew tiresome in Eclipse and New Moon, which is why I began reading Breaking Dawn as a chore, just to get through it, just to finish what I had started. Then I find myself reading it every chance I get, instead of watching Private Practice even!

Perhaps my insatiable thirst for the books can be explained by the sheer loneliness of my current living situation and the comfort of escaping into someone else's melodrama without too much effort or thought.  Also, as J as pointed out, I do tend to love the teen girl stuff - Dawson's, Felicity, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, etc.

What I find more baffling and what I simply cannot offer a logical explanation for is my strong preference for Jacob Black over Edward Cullen. It's just a feeling I have when I read the books.  I enjoy the Jacob/Bella dichotomy much more than the Edward/Bella one, so maybe it actually comes down to my feelings about Bella and not so much the two boys.   With one she is fun, sarcastic, adventurous; with the other she is lovestruck, sappy, and boring. Not to mention Jacob is a warm blanket while Edward is more of an ice sculpture.  Bella, stupid Bella, well, I think maybe she just sort of sucks (until the last part of Breaking Dawn, when she finally gets a little spine).

So maybe this says more about me than about any of them - as I mentioned, I've never really been a fan of romance novels, and we all know I loathe the winter weather.  Also, I'm not really into the idea of soul mates as pop culture has created them. I'm more cynical and spirited by nature, I suppose.  And I love, love dogs whereas I have never, to my knowledge, encountered even one vampire. How could I NOT be Team Jacob?

I understand that Bella and Edward are "meant to be" for the books' purposes, but I guess I don't really buy it, or don't want to buy it, rather.  Nonetheless, I won't dispute her choice no matter how much I don't like it.  Jacob to me is just a far more interesting character than the one-dimensional, dreamboat Edward.  

And if I were Bella, I might just have to consider changing the ending for the movie versions, because even though Rob Patt is all hot with his eyes and his hair and his British accent, this kid is a force to be reckoned with: