Book Review: Touched by a Vampire

When I requested a free copy of Touched by a Vampire: Discovering the Hidden Messages in the Twilight Saga by Beth Felker Jones to read and review I had only heard of the Twilight saga. The movies are now coming out (with the second one released yesterday) and it seems that this tend has taken hold of the youth of America in an almost frightening way. I still have never read the 4 pasrt novel series and after reading a Christian's take on them, I probably won't!

In Touched by a Vampire, the author summarizes the Twilight series (for people like me who haven't read them!) and spends each chapter describing a theme of the Twilight series and how Christians should view this theme. The author discusses how the Twilight series portrays such themes as Gender Roles, the Ideal Family, Dangerous Romance and Abstinence. In the chapter, the author explains how the Twilight series portrays these themes and then how the bible portrays these themes. One of the dangerous things about the Twilight series is that it is written by a Mormon woman and many Mormon idealogies are subtly incorporated. The books give off an appearance of innonce because of the abstinence between the main characters, yet this does not mean that it's safe to indulge completely in these stories and a Christian should remain on guard. One of the most frightening things about the stories is the passion and complete giving up of herself of the main character for her love. The love between the main characters becomes an all consuming passion and devotion to one another that should never take place between two human beings and creates unrealistic ideas of romance and marriage.

At the end of each chapter, the author provides questions related to the topic to start a discussion with. You can also get a free guide for group discussions. This book is ideal for parents whose children have been captured by the series, Christians who wish to reach out in a relevant way to teens and young adults who read the books and anyone wishing to engage in a thoughtful discussion of the hidden themes of the Twilight series.