My sentiments are similar to llamamushroom's above: the series is compellingly-written & intriguing, although deeply flawed & repetitive. I liked reading the series with my wife, & I'm glad we did, although I've read much better books. There's much better fantasy novel series, much better vampire books, much better young adult stories, much better novels written by women, much better yadda yadda yadda. But I still enjoyed it, despite its flaws.

The thing is, yes, when you break down the story to its component elements, the whole thing comes off as an insane melodrama, full of schmaltzy love, horribly unbalanced relationship dynamics, & enough squick to veer into nightmare fuel. But all of this actually works (somehow) in context, which is no small feat. Stephanie Meyer pulls off one bizarre plot point after another, mostly through the power of her characters, & the pace & flow of her writing. It's like you're on a roller coaster: you have some fun, it's pretty cool, but when it's over you look back at the tracks & see just how rickety & dangerous the whole thing is.

Another strength of Meyer's writing is her ability to handle supernatural abilities. Many writers have difficulty handling mental powers like telepathy & precognition. Writers tend to forget that their characters have some powers sometimes, or deliberately switch them off when the plot kicks in, lest the powers ruin the storyline. You see it all the time: why didn't Dumbledore or Gandalf or Raistlin or whoever use their power to do X? Because it would've ruined the plot & the story would've stopped then & there, sans climax. But Meyer tackles both in more depth & scope than I think I've ever seen, & nails them both well. Edward's mind-reading & Alice future-sight are explored over & over again, & the implications & limitations of both tie into the plot very well. If there's anything the Meyer is really good at (besides plowing ahead with stories that other writers wouldn't touch, for good reason), it would be her masterful grasp of how superpowers affect a plotline.

Like I said, I read all the books, & I can't say they were a waste of time. It's sometimes funny to look back, & poke fun at some of the weaknesses of the series. But I believe that overall, the flaws of the novels are outweighed by their strange strengths. Meyer's ability to polish garbage is admirable; it's not a path that I would take as a writer, but you have to give her credit where it's due.