I may be one of the few people who does not hate Twilight for sparkles or whatever else it did to the vampire myths. What I hate the series for is not only that it is shallow, it's that is successfully pretends to be meaningful to so many. Why is this one so popular when there are thousands of other similar stories?

Wikipedia
Glittering generalities are emotionally appealing words so closely associated with highly-valued concepts and beliefs that they carry conviction without supporting information or reason.

Weasel words. Stephane Meyer is an exceptional master at them.

"I love him . Not because he's beautiful or because he's rich !" I spat the word at Jacob. "I'd much rather he weren't either one. It would even out the gap between us just a little bit - because he'd still be the most loving and unselfish and brilliant and decent person I've ever met. Of course I love him. How hard is that to understand?"

Not caring for appearance, loving someone for their personality, .... there are such values. State that it is so and any beginning or gullible reader will buy it, or rather, allow them to use the story as a frame to project their desires onto. If I had read this in 2005 or earlier, I probably would've loved it. But then I learned to analyze what I read.

So let's analyze.

Loving? I've never seen Edward show any concern for her emotional welfare throughout the books. You know, emotional bonds, which relationships should thrive on? He lies, he manipulates, he doesn't share vital information, he decides where she can and cannot go, he insults her. But when does he bend to what she wants? When does he show her any sort of affection that isn't physical? The part in New Moon where they reunite may be the only one, and that was unfortunately an exception to the rule .... not to mention he caused all the pain in the first place. So, when did he ever make her laugh? Jacob made her laugh, so it's not impossible.

Unselfish? Just go ahead and count how often he ignores it when she says she doesn't want to do something, or uses a joke or a kiss to get her to comply to what he wants.

Brilliant? The only brilliant thing he has done is compose music, but that should not be a reason to love a person.

Decent? Decent people do not take the engine out of your car to keep you from seeing the friend who kept you safe and even rescued your life while your Target d' Lust was gone due to a twisted conscience stunt.

The things Bella always narrates about are these : good looks, music taste, talents. But his personality she does not even like : she doesn't like that he mind-stalks her through other people, she doesn't like that he makes fun of her, she doesn't like that he lies to her, she doesn't like that he takes her places where she doesn't want to go, she doesn't like that he leaves her, she doesn't like that he won't turn her into a vampire, she doesn't like that he won't explain why he doesn't do that, she doesn't like that he keeps her from seeing Jacob, she doesn't like that he has a double standard ..... but she never mentions something real about his personality that she does like. Well, except for the breaking into her house and watching her sleep, but being flattered by stalking is not healthy.

The sickest part is that Bella excuses all of those bad traits and as mentioned above, imagines him to have traits he does not display. And then this :

"Edward left me last fall because he didn't think I should be hanging out with vampires. He thought it would be healthier for me if he left."

Edward also never explained her why he would not just turn her, Carlisle had to do this for him. Yeah, they really love each other, they can't even communicate.

"When we were in the forest, when I was telling you goodbye--" I didn't allow myself to remember. I fought to keep myself in the present second only. "You weren't going to let go," he whispered. "I could see that. I didn't want to do it--it felt like it would kill me to do it--But I knew that if I couldn't convince you that I didn't love you anymore, it would just take you that much longer to get on with your life. I hoped that, if you thought I'd moved on, so would you."

He rather breaks her heart than breaking his own. And apparently he doesn't really know her at all, because it destroys her. Bella's opinion about it?

I took a deep breath. "There was nothing to forgive."

Yet, earlier in the same book she got angry about him lying to her about the reason he forced her to go to visit her mother, which he never apologizes for. He argues with Charlie and makes him look like the restrictive lame parent, while he himself coerced and lied to Bella. This another author trick to make it appear as if Edward is great and Charlie bad, even though logically Charlie has a right to do what he does and Edward not.

Oh, and Edward had a reason for wanting her clear, but doesn't talk to her about it. He only tells her later (if I recall correctly, he wanted her clear cause there's hostile vampires hanging around .... that or he didn't want her to visit Jacob on a party, but the first is the less worse reason so I'll just go with that one to keep this rant from completely disintegrating into a bitch-fest).

If he had said : "I'm sorry, I just didn't want to worry you any further after what I did to you. Next time, I'll discuss my concerns with you openly and we can reach a shared decision", I would have loved it. He would still be wrong about lying, but it would not be presented as acceptable and he'd be trying to change for her. Instead he cracks a joke to kill the topic. He doesn't care for her feelings, just for the aspects that are not her personality. That is not true love, because love involves respect, equality and consideration.

Let's not even get into the kidnapping thing, which he bribes Alice into.

No, wait, let's do get into it.

"You're kidnapping me, aren't you?"

She laughed and nodded. "Till Saturday. Esme cleared it with Charlie; you're staying with me two nights, and I will drive you to and from school tomorrow."

Bella spend a great deal of New Moon in Jacob's presence, yet in Eclipse she suddenly needs protection from him? Edward takes the engine out of her car, that's stealing and sabotage. It's a criminal offense. He bribes his sister to kidnap her when he is not around to watch over her. Intent does not matter, it's a criminal offense and a violation of personal freedom. He later apologizes and 'explains', at least, but that doesn't change the fact that again Meyer is twisted enough to wave it off with a joke. Bella then says he can kidnap her any time he wants. Stockholm Syndrome!

If he loved her, he would respect her opinion and free will, right away, unconditionally. Yet there are people out there who excuse this behavior in the name of love. No. Love should not invalidate morals, rights or common sense.

The rampant sexism is another thing I hate Twilight for, not to mention the Child Grooming. I happen to like strong girls in my entertainment and I happen to be aware what brainwashing is. But those are for another rant.

The Twilight series is like putting a fancy cassis on a horse cart, selling it as a shiny Volvo and it works because the saleswoman is great at her job.

Do something more useful with your money than New Moon. The CGI wolves (nifty as they are) need it less than the real ones.