I remember almost everything I felt when I first saw Twilight. I was nine years old, on Christmas break, and I felt wise beyond my years. I'd already read Harry Potter, and The Hunger Games had been released only months earlier. I was severely lacking in the department of books that I felt challenged me, and I knew that Twilight was both a book and a movie.

I walked into that movie theater a girl, and walked out a girl who was emotionally traumatized by Bella nearly dying. You could ask my mom - I'm sure she remembers me literally sobbing as James tried to kill our young heroine. Although, if that memory has been lost in the sea of memories of me sobbing in movie theaters, I wouldn't be surprised either.

At some point in my teen years, it became cool to hate Twilight. I couldn't figure out why at the time, but now, I know. A fantasy romance novel written for teenage girls and young women? Men could never compare to the supernatural, otherworldly appeal of Edward (or the childhood friend grown up to be a badass thing that Jacob had going on, if that was your thing). The story was less plot-driven than it was romance-driven in the first book, but that was exposition. In short, it was ridiculed constantly because of the target audience, and for that, those books deserve an apology.

The movies, too. Twilight was genuinely ahead of its time, with its cool-toned blue tint and frankly revolutionary soundtrack. I haven't watched a single Twilight movie in years, but I still remember the iconic baseball scene frame for frame, including Muse's Supermassive Black Hole playing in the background. The acting may have seemed uncomfortable, but the cast wasn't too fond of the script.

Many people's first complaint is that Bella, Edward, and Jacob are boring characters. Honestly? I won't argue too much about that. Stephenie Meyer for some reason chose the three least interesting characters to center her novel around, and I'll never understand that. But she gave us beautifully fleshed-out secondary characters in the rest of the Cullen coven and Jacob's pack. The Volturi was thoroughly intriguing when I was nine years old, and the vampiric governing body continues to pique my interest nearly a decade later.

I won't pretend the story doesn't have some flaws. No story is without flaws. I will be the first to go on a twenty-minute rant on the treatment of certain characters in the Harry Potter books, regardless of how much that may endanger my life, so I can't refuse to acknowledge some points worthy of criticism in the Twilight books. Namely: the whole imprinting thing? It made me massively uncomfortable as a nine year old, and it makes me massively uncomfortable now. If some huge, beefy son of a gun took one look at me and decided I was the center of his universe, I'd raise Hell.

When Jacob saw Renesmee (a name which I won't even begin to discuss), the fresh baby of a woman he sexually assaulted (when he kissed her without her consent? Yeah, that was sexual assault. We call it like we sees it 'round here.), and imprinted on her, I wanted to crush my Kindle to pieces and throw the remains into a bonfire. And there was no reason for Jasper to be a Confederate soldier! -- But Shawna, the plot of Eclipse hinges on Jasper's combat and military background! -- Jasper could have been part of any other war, and if he had to be part of the Civil War, he could have darn well been a Union soldier, or a Union spy in the Confederate army. And if you don't see this as a flaw, good for you!

But the Twilight saga is and was a beautiful story with some stellar characters, and I spent the best part of a decade unironically hating it because I heard so many adults - all of whom were adult men - bash a series that I love, and for that, I owe those books an apology.