Yes, I read the books. Yes, I had high expectations for the movie. Did the movie reach my expectations? No...BUT...there is no way that it could. Most of Twilight-the-book is based upon pure dialogue. There is no way that Twilight-the-movie could have worked purely based upon the book, without the movie just being Bella and Edward talking endlessly. Overall, though, I would recommend this movie to anyone that enjoys a relationship movie with an exciting vampire plot.