On the night of a full moon, I shared dinner with seven girls (from Christian and Jewish to non-religious) to learn why they love “Twilight,” the vampire romance series by Stephenie Meyer.

Edward, Meyer’s uncompromising gentlemen vampire, represents all that these girls hope for in a man—beauty, chivalry, strength, devotion. What girls crave is here, one who will sacrifice all for his lover and happily cuddle without expectation.

Twilight, book one, was their favorite, with book four, Breaking Dawn, a close second. Edward’s absence through most of New Moon disappointed everyone. The excessive back story in Eclipse grew wearisome for most, though some liked it.

Protagonist Bella—selfish but likable in spite of it—repudiates her humanity to spend eternity with Edward. Sneaking him into her bedroom wasn’t popular with these teens. They disapproved of the way she treated people, especially her father. They wished her character developed over the course of the series.

Twilight’s sexual tension was hot as Edward struggled to abstain from drinking Bella’s blood. They only kissed, but his unsatisfied blood-lust proved potent. By Breaking Dawn, my young friends wished Meyer had eased up on the sexual intimacy. The descriptions were more than these high school readers wanted.

Breaking Dawn gave the awaited payoff when Bella finally became a vampire. Her metamorphosis solved several problems, but the climatic final battle scene fell flat when the vampires talked their enemy out of annihilating them.

Though a few plot contrivances couldn’t convince, some exceptional writing glowed. Bella’s desolation over Edward’s abandonment was heart wrenching; and the intense perceptual awareness when she shed the impediment of humanity was so vivid, readers will long for the hereafter when existence will no longer be experienced through “a mirror dimly.”

The movie version of the first book releases Nov. 21. My new friends face seeing the embodiment of Edward on the big screen with trepidation. What if it falls short? How will Hollywood portray in 120 minutes a character as perfectly extraordinary as who is found within Twilight’s 500 pages? Hollywood probably can’t—not completely—but it will be fun to see them try!