I just finished the book. It only took me just over 24 hours to read. It's... well, considering I was expecting something pretty awful, it's not terrible.
But by no means does it deserve the legions of fans it has.
And sorry, but Edward Cullen is... not appealing in any way, shape or form.
People are certainly right about characters having no range. The plot is all too convenient, especially with the whole "father never being around" thing, and there is so much that goes unexplained, or when it is explained, something that was seemingly important turns out to be nothing special.
It does have a few good points. She gets Alice really, really right. The only character in the whole book that is really engaging, and actually seems to be more than just a caricature. The baseball scene has appeals, but could be written better. And there is a great sense of... Americana to the book, especially as a foreigner. I don't know if that comes across to American readers, but there is a great sense that this book is written by an American author who is familiar with American pop culture.
That said, Bella is a terrible character. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Maricha Pessl gained a lot of acclaim a year or two back, and Pessl manages to do what I think Meyer was trying to do, but sooo much better. If you want to present a character that is supposed to be well read, don't give us someone who has read "Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer and Faulkner". Go for someone interesting. If she had said she'd read "Nabokov, Rushdie, Cervantes and Faulkner", then I would be impressed. Blue Van Meer, from Pessl's book, had at least read the Nabokov, along with the other Russians, and probably a good chunk of the others as well. And for a character who supposedly loves reading, why is there only one scene in which that is what she actually does?
Also, if she has so much trouble fitting in, why does she make friends instantly? And surely the perceptions of beauty aren't that different in Forks and Pheonix? Why does she suddenly go from misfit in one city to Sooper Dooper Babe who everyone wants to date in another? And surely she'd be more attractive in the big city, not the small country town where academia would surely be shunned in favour of... well, the popular image?
The clumsy thing never makes sense. And surely she's not that brave, or stupid, or whatever we're supposed to believe she is for not being afraid of the vampire. And how... juvenile does she think we are? Are we really supposed to trust that a first relationship is going to be loving for ever and ever? It's an idea squarely aimed at tweenage girls.
Of course, that's the whole book. It's aimed at tweens. And honestly, if I had a thirteen-year-old girl on my hands who was a reluctant reader, I'd give her the book without a thought. Of course, I'd then follow it up with the good stuff, which this book is sadly, or scarily, short on. If they were already reading, I'd advise against it, and give them something aimed a little higher. And there is no way I would give it to any form of "manly" teenage boy.
Overall, I'd say that most of the members of the boards are reading at a level way above this (which I think we all realise, and for which I am quite thankful) and while it is an easy summer read, and a quick distraction, it really only works in it's favour that it only takes a few hours to read. If it took much longer, there is no way it would be worth it.