As important as the "show don't tell" principle is in books, since books are made of words and nothing else, it's difficult to harness the power of the words that aren’t there as dramatically and obviously in books as in other media that allow time to pass for the audience without words to push it along. The effect is subtler in books, so purely for the sake of ease, this list will be mostly movies and TV.
One book did make the cut though, and yes, you read that headline correctly, it's a Twilight book.
Really.
And I will now somehow manage to explain why. (*Deep breaths*)
****Twilight Books 1-2 Spoiler Alert****
Yeah, I probably could have done this with only book 1 spoilers, but then it would be completely snark-free, and... yeah, that wasn't going to happen. That said, this is a serious moment that made this list in a completely sincere and non-ironic capacity, so, well, kudos, Ms. Meyer.
This is near the beginning of New Moon, so let's set the scene. Forget whether you're Team Edward or Team Jacob or Team Screw This Whole Repressed Teen Pseudo Vampire Thing, and suppose that you've just read Twilight and enjoyed it enough, in spite of whichever of its problems trouble you most, to want to read the next book.
In other words, you've just invested 498 pages of your life as a reader in Bella and Edward's love story, because, let's face it, that's pretty much all Twilight is about.
Then he leaves her.
You don't know how ridiculously nonexistent his reasons and general plan are (spoiler: the answer is very), you're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he's being blackmailed or something and is secretly staying close and protecting her from all the bad guys whose attention he's already knowingly brought down on her, and who can only be fought by supernatural beings like himself, until he can get the problem cleared up, instead of doing the exact opposite of that.
All you know for now is that the whole purpose and focus of Bella's story so far has been snatched away, and she's heartbroken. Oh, and she's got incredibly low self-esteem and takes his word that it's because she's not good enough for him without the slightest doubt. But hey, she's eighteen and freshly in love for the first time, so I’m going to go out on a limb and call that almost as relatable and sad as it is twisted and unhealthy.
There has to be more to this, you think. You'll just keep reading until you get one more little hint about the Edward storyline, you think.
Agree? Disagree? Comments are always welcome! Or keep up with my fictional musings by joining me on Facebook, on Twitter, or by signing up for email updates in the panel on the right!