Single Sundays: Nightlight: A Parody by the Harvard Lampoon

Synopsis (from Goodreads.com):
About three things I was absolutely certain.
First, Edwart was most likely my soul mate, maybe.
Second, there was a vampire part of him–which I assumed was wildly out of his control–that wanted me dead.
And third, I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me.

And thus Belle Goose falls in love with the mysterious and sparkly Edwart Mullen in the Harvard Lampoon’s hilarious send-up of Twilight.

Pale and klutzy, Belle arrives in Switchblade, Oregon looking for adventure, or at least an undead classmate. She soon discovers Edwart, a super-hot computer nerd with zero interest in girls. After witnessing a number of strange events–Edwart leaves his tater tots untouched at lunch! Edwart saves her from a flying snowball!–Belle has a dramatic revelation: Edwart is a vampire. But how can she convince Edwart to bite her and transform her into his eternal bride, especially when he seems to find girls so repulsive?

Review:

This is one of those books that sounds good in theory, but when it comes to execution it fails to deliver.

I mean, it shouldn’t be hard to write a parody about Twilight–you don’t even have to think longer than a few seconds to remember a joke you have made at the expense of the Twilight Saga and its movies. So, I was extremely excited to read this parody and laugh hysterically at jokes that we all saw coming and could agree upon.

Unfortunately, that isn’t how it played out.

A friend of mine–who shares the same book interests as myself–recommended I read this book because it was hilarious so I was more than willing to give it a try. And at first, I liked the book. It played off the original story very well and I laughed out loud at the jokes. But then it just got weird and awkward and I stopped enjoying it. I almost stopped reading it but because it is such a short book, I just trucked through it.

Simply put, the book becomes absurd and just bizarre. If the author was trying to inadvertently send the message that the original Twilight was just as absurd then I think they accomplish that but not in a witty way that would gain my respect or admiration or even a 3 star review. There were so many other ways that the story could have gone or played upon and it just fails to do so.

Conclusion:

Very disappointing and not as funny as one would hope. I only really laughed for the first 30 or so pages–and I seriously laugh at everything so me not laughing for the rest should be a sign. Avoid if you can–even if you hated Twilight, because you will finish the book and hate Twilight even more because the whole Twilight phenomenon is the only reason why this book was created in the first place.

Rating: 1.5/5

Shorthand Stats:
Genre: Parody, Satire, Comedy
Recommended for: no one (but it is suitable content for those ages 15+)
Similar Reads: Fifty Shames of Earl Grey by Fanny Merkin

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