Hunky guys? Check. Relatable female lead? Check. Love triangle? Check.
Author Stephanie Meyer struck gold with her worldwide best selling “Twilight” series following that exact pattern. Following the popular lead of the “Harry Potter” series, local bookstores across the area held release parties for the fourth and final book in the series, “Breaking Dawn.” Marie Kulikowsky, the public relations manager at the Barnes & Noble in DeWitt, said the store had been preparing for the release of the final book for about two months. Visitors to the store were treated to a trivia game around the store, as well as previews for the “Twilight” movie, which comes out in December. Fans also took part in a book discussion and a Thriller dance off (for videos, visit cnylink.com). “I can understand why teen girls would love them,” Kulikowsky said of the books: aside from a “hunky” teenage vampire in Edward, the “Twilight” series features an incredibly identifiable main character with narrator Bella Swan. Overall, Kulikowsky said the majority of people attending the release party were girls aged 14 to 18, the main readership for the books. While there were many pre-orders, “probably several hundred,” she said, there were still a good number of people attending the party who had not pre-ordered “Breaking Dawn.” Still, unlike the ever-popular “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling, there were no problems for readers trying to get a copy of “Breaking Dawn.” Nicole Pelsue, a Syracuse resident and SUNY Oneonta senior, said there were about 150 customers there for the “Breaking Dawn” party by 10:30 p.m. — 30 minutes after it was scheduled to start. “There were so many more people here for ‘Harry Potter’,” she said, but attributed the smaller numbers — which still were enough to crowd and warm the store — to the different readership. “Anyone could read ‘Harry Potter.’ The ‘Twilight’ series is much more focused,” Pelsue said.
Not everyone attending the party was either a teen or a parent, however. Kate Moltin, a 20-year-old LaFayette resident and OCC student, started reading the books when they came out. “They’re really likeable characters, she said. “I just really loved the books.” She attended the release party with her aunt, Sherrie Plouff. Plouff said she has been bringing Moltin to release parties since she started reading the “Harry Potter” books as a kid. East Syracuse-Minoa graduate Ian Marsh and freshman at Binghamton University said he began following the series after his younger sisters read the books. When asked what he liked about the books, he answered — having to yell over the nearby Thriller dance off — “The plot; just it’s really well written!” Others fit the demographic a little more tightly. Jackie Blasting, a Fayetteville-Manlius ninth grader, attended the party with a large group of her friends. All were dressed up to fit the prom theme Barnes & Noble had attempted to advertise. She said she liked the novels because of the relationships. “There’s that romantic fling to it,” Blasting said. “It keeps you on your feet.” Allison Gibbons is a Syracuse University intern majoring in journalism.