Touched by a Vampire: Discovering the Hidden Messages in the Twilight Saga Book

I've always liked vampire books, so when I got the opportunity to review this books for Waterbrook/Multnomah, I jumped at the chance to see how a Christian author would handle this subject.

TOUCHED BY A VAMPIRE, by Beth Felker Jones, is for every parent who's wondered if their teenaged daughter's obsession with the TWILIGHT series is a good thing, and every reader who wants to examine the phenomen more deeply in light of Christian truth. I was particularly interested because of a granddaughter who's been reading these books and watching the movie. The author examines whether the good themes in this book, such as the fact that true love waits for marriage, outshines the more troubling aspects of the series, such as the heroine's utter obsession with the hero before she has ever become her own person. The book contains an overview for anyone who has not read the TWILIGHT series but still wants to understand them.

I was glad that the book examined the series without insisting on a premise that no true Christian should read these books or allow her children to do so. It's thoughtful and thorough without being arbitrary. It's also not an anti-Mormon treatise (the author of the TWILIGHT series is a Mormon), though it examines the series in light of Mormon themes; for example, the emphasis on family as represented by the Cullen clan.

Ultimately, I've come away from reading TOUCHED BY A VAMPIRE thinking that while a temporary obsession with the TWILIGHT series won't hurt the teen who has parents who have taught her not only that true love waits, but true love does not drown individualism either, and that the love of a mythic creature such as a vampire with superpowers cannot compare with the love of God. I'm proud to say my granddaughter has such parents, so I'm not worried about her being warped by reading TWILIGHT. But perhaps the teen who has not developed her own sense of identity, and more importantly, does not understand that the One who loves her most is God, may come out of reading the TWILIGHT series looking for a magical Edward Cullen equivalent who does not exist, and come away disappointed.

The book can be ordered by linking to:

This book was provided for review by the Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Blessings, Laurie