Seeing the film without any knowledge of the books is easy. You really dont need any prior knowledge to enjoy the movie.My daughter read all the books and wanted to see it. She said it followed the books fairly close. The acting is believable and good. The storyline is tragic, dark, funny, romantic with lots of teen angst. Also it is fast paced, as fast paced as the baseball game the vampires played in the thunderstorm. GO SEE IT!!!!!!