Preparing for the SAT and other standardized tests like the ACT and SSAT can be one of the most stressful rites of passage a student can go through.

Brian Leaf’s Defining Twilight hopes to ease the preparation for the verbal portion of these tests by guiding Twilight fans through the memorization of more than 600 vocabulary words found in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. Does it succeed in helping with test preparation? We read through a pre-release review copy of the guide in order to find out. Read on to see what we discovered.

In each of the 40 sections of the guide, a group of words from Twilight is given. The first step is to look up the word on the page indicated in Twilight and write down your best guess for the definition of the word based on existing knowledge and context clues. Next, the answer is checked against the provided definition for each word.

The definitions that Brian Leaf provides offer additional tips on how to memorize the word by noting word clues like prefixes, suffixes, word origins and synonyms. The level of the vocabulary in the Twilight series never reaches the same difficulty as the most challenging vocabulary that is found on the SAT, so this is a welcome addition as these clues can help to learn other more advanced words that are not in this tome. This information helps expand the usefulness of this book far beyond the 600 words included from the Twilight universe.

After checking your definition, a group of multiple-choice quiz drills that include SAT-style questions like synonyms, analogies and sentence completions are done in order to reinforce your memorization of the word. These drills also help with becoming acclimated to the peculiar style of questions on the SAT. An important part of SAT preparation is getting used to how questions are asked on the test.

After every five sections there is a quiz which tests what the student has learned. There are eight of these summary quizzes as well as two additional summary quizzes at the midpoint and end of the book.

VERDICT: [4/5 Stars]

Brian Leaf’s Defining Twilight offers a unique method of SAT prep for Twilighters by building on knowledge of a novel that fans are already familiar with. It won’t be the only study guide you’ll use to prepare for the SAT–the vocabulary in Twilight is not advanced enough–but it’s the most inviting and fun SAT study guide a Twilight fan will find. At a mere $10, Defining Twilight is a must-buy for any Twilight fan that is preparing to take the SAT, ACT, SSAT or GED.

• Defining Twilight is Available for Pre-Order at Amazon for release on July 20th.
• Homepage of Defining Twilight author Brian Leaf