Eschewed Obfuscation

In a world of rapidly liberalizing children's literature - it is listed for "young readers" - I see no problem in there being a few popular books out there for the kids (and older readers) who like the idea of saving themselves for a white wedding, and like the idea that being a mother is something that could be the single proudest achievement of their lives. I don't see that it changes Bella's personality, either (she remains a consistently whiny, annoying twit imo). This is a character, an opinion, and Stephenie Meyers is certainly entitled to it, just as you're entitled express a disagreement with that stance. Conservatives are not all the complete nuts you see on television, as I'm sure you've noticed - same as not all Liberals are running around screaming obscenities and ass-fucking in the streets. I'm in no way saying that this book is the be all end all - it's absolutely got flaws and a number of loose ends that she seems to have tied together with colorful, but not very effective, fluffy yarn. If you get too wrapped up in that, though, you kind of miss out on the magic of the story, and nobody wants to forget why we read fantasy in the first place, do we?