This is what you're probably thinking: "Oh god, not another Twilight fan."

I can relate. Like you, most people regard the Twilight series as a fanatical unrealistic portrayal of love and relationships- not to mention the werewolves and vampires. If you manage to skip over books like Twilight when you enter the world of serious fiction books, you're one of the lucky ones.

Undoubtedly, Twilight creates an unrealistic expectation for not only the romance genre but the whole fantasy, paranormal romance genre itself.

Here's why you shouldn't swear off fantasy books just because of Twilight. Thanks, Stephenie Meyer. You ruined it.

If you're looking to get into the fiction genre, it is a bad idea to pick up Twilight as your first series. I never read the books to save myself from brain cell damage, but I watched the movies, and as a writer, the Twilight series has the plot of a poorly-written fanfiction. It's unrealistic; Bella is a Mary Sue character who is somehow idolized by every boy in her school, including the two hottest guys- one, who's a vampire and the other, who is a werewolf. The whole "werewolf v.s. vampire thing because of a girl" was weakly portrayed. The idea of Twilight itself could have been very interesting and immersive if it was written and shown in a way that made the story realistically so. The problem is, Twilight just doesn't do that. Bella was always getting hurt, she always had the comfort of some strong, handsome boy who just happened to be an actual monster, and she or her two love interests were always doing something ridiculous "for love."

(Ex: Bella tries to kill herself after Edward leaves, Edward tries to kill himself after he leaves Bella and thinks she's dead, Bella does life-threatening activities to try and see Edward, Jacob fights a vampire, Bella flies to Spain or someplace in the middle of high school?? My parents would NEVER have let me do anything remotely close to these activities)

The biggest let down of the series is the relationships themselves. They are never realistic, whether it's between Bella and Edward, Bella and Jacob, Jacob and Bella's daughter (??), or Alice and Jasper. Basically, you name the relationship, and a marriage counselor can name five major flaws easily.

Fundamentally, Twilight could have been a captivating adventure filled with love and mystery, but it ended up being a weird vampire novel with unrealistic standards.

The publication of Twilight set up an unfortunate stereotype for the fantasy/sci-fi/paranormal genres- "Is this what all fantasy books are like?" The truth is, there are a lot of really good fiction romance books out in the world that are written very nicely! There are famous books, like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the Hunger Games, and occasionally the Divergent or Maze Runner series, but then there's an ocean of beautifully written series with great plots, vocabulary, themes, characters, romantic subplots, and moral values. Here's a short list of lesser known really good book series:

-The School For Good and Evil* (Four books out currently, a fifth soon to come)
-The Lunar Chronicles (Seven books out, series finished)
-The Trials of Apollo (Two books out currently, a third to come. Like Percy Jackson but better)
-The Matched series (three books, finished)
-The Selection (five books, series finished)
-Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children* (three books plus graphic novels, series to be continued)

*These books I highly recommend for their outstanding writing, story lines, and romantic subplots

The writing in a lot of modern fiction books is just as interesting as nonfiction texts. If you're just not into fantasy fiction, that's understandable. But if you give the genre a shot, it's really all about finding the right book. A good book will keep you captivated until the very last word. That book is different for every person; it's about finding the story that inspires you. After all, with so many options you are bound to find a book that gives you that warm, fuzzy tingling feeling. Like you're in love, except with fictional characters. It's worthwhile to invest in a good book- it might change your life forever.