Yeah, it's cotton candy. I have read better writing by fan fic Star Trek authors. I think her editor was using crack cocaine. Have you counted the grammar and spelling errors in those books?
The movie dumped a lot of the stuff in the book that drove me nuts... my sister likes the book a lot more than I do. The weak female lead character is very anti-feminist in the books, in my opinion. Mary Sue doesn't begin to describe it.
However, there is some funny stuff in the book (and movie)--Bella's dad and Jake, and Alice, the comic relief.
I laughed at those parts.
I truly agree that Meyer's writing is pathetic. (Stephen King agrees! He says JK Rowling is a better writer than Meyer, and he states why.) She uses the same word 5X in a row, instead of using a thesaurus or a synonym finder, for crying out loud! Ever hear of more than one way to say something?
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If you want better vampire fiction in a teen book, read LJ Smith's Vampire Diaries. They are still in print and they were published in the 1990's. Or try Anne Rice in the adult section.
I can see both sides of the picture on the books/films. The useful thing is a badly written book that gets published can be studied by a writer who wants to write something better. (Although I admit she found a writer's agent who's a genius at marketing. Go figure that one out.)