WARNING * SPOILER ALERT *
{Really, if you're going to read the book, you'll probably want to read this AFTER you finish it. Or you can scroll down gently for my initial reaction and then read the rest later.}
{Really, if you're going to read the book, you'll probably want to read this AFTER you finish it. Or you can scroll down gently for my initial reaction and then read the rest later.}
So.
I read it on Saturday.
My honest reaction?
I was disappointed.
On several levels.
Sure the ending was happy and good and hooray for Bella, beautiful eternal vampire with Edward, her beautiful eternal vampire, and their absolutely amazing life. I'm sure my 14 year-old sister will be thrilled to read about it. Especially their 'night life.' How gratifying for the both of them. That we could all be so lucky.
Here's the deal: Lei posted a short little note on her blog asking if we were annoyed at Bella. Yeah. A little. I can't tell you how relieved I was to get out of Bella's head and into Jacob's. That's where the story became bearable for me. I liked Jacob leaving the pack, I liked Seth. I was irritated at Edward being such a jerk. The Rosalie/Jacob bickering got old really fast.
Here's something though: After recently re-reading through sorcerer's stones and chocolate frogs, snakes and swords, potions, Quidditch, wands, and labyrinths with death at their center ~things quite fantastical, one must say ~ I picked up my copy of Eclipse just for fun, to read through the ending and remind myself what was going on up in Forks. You know what happened? The utter fluff of the Bella and Edward saga hit me in the face, except it was so soft and silly, it didn't do anything to me, except make me realize that Harry Potter had more substance to it than I previously thought, and that the Twilight series is more like eating cotton candy. Hey, I like cotton candy every once in awhile. But there's no way I could make a diet out of it.
In the beginning Stephenie Meyer did a good job at creating a compelling story and I was interested in the characters. I was curious about the resolution and that is what kept me reading. The Breaking Dawn story didn't feel that well executed compared to the earlier books nor was it very well written. I felt that especially in the second Bella section that I was reading S. Meyer writing about S. Meyer. I could feel the author behind the character and it was annoying.
The whole Jacob-Bella-Edward triangle turned square with the arrival of Renesemee was bizarre, and though I was glad that Bella didn't miss out on the important life experience of motherhood (seriously, I wanted her to choose Jacob, if only for that), it was just weird. Another thought that I had was that writing The Host had sent her to a weird place in writing Breaking Dawn. I don't know this for sure, and I haven't read The Host, so it's just a conjecture.
The ending was decent, because of course Alice came back. Duh. And I felt like I was reading the other books in the series, where it was fluff, but at least it was suspenseful, interesting fluff. And happily they overcame the Vulturi for now and Bella was meant to be a vampire, la, dee, dah, la, dee, dah, la, dee, dah.
My only question is this: If getting a vampire and a human together causes problems, what happens when a werewolf with a half-vampire/half-human fall for each other? Just kidding.
I don't really want to know.
I read it on Saturday.
My honest reaction?
I was disappointed.
On several levels.
Sure the ending was happy and good and hooray for Bella, beautiful eternal vampire with Edward, her beautiful eternal vampire, and their absolutely amazing life. I'm sure my 14 year-old sister will be thrilled to read about it. Especially their 'night life.' How gratifying for the both of them. That we could all be so lucky.
Here's the deal: Lei posted a short little note on her blog asking if we were annoyed at Bella. Yeah. A little. I can't tell you how relieved I was to get out of Bella's head and into Jacob's. That's where the story became bearable for me. I liked Jacob leaving the pack, I liked Seth. I was irritated at Edward being such a jerk. The Rosalie/Jacob bickering got old really fast.
Here's something though: After recently re-reading through sorcerer's stones and chocolate frogs, snakes and swords, potions, Quidditch, wands, and labyrinths with death at their center ~things quite fantastical, one must say ~ I picked up my copy of Eclipse just for fun, to read through the ending and remind myself what was going on up in Forks. You know what happened? The utter fluff of the Bella and Edward saga hit me in the face, except it was so soft and silly, it didn't do anything to me, except make me realize that Harry Potter had more substance to it than I previously thought, and that the Twilight series is more like eating cotton candy. Hey, I like cotton candy every once in awhile. But there's no way I could make a diet out of it.
In the beginning Stephenie Meyer did a good job at creating a compelling story and I was interested in the characters. I was curious about the resolution and that is what kept me reading. The Breaking Dawn story didn't feel that well executed compared to the earlier books nor was it very well written. I felt that especially in the second Bella section that I was reading S. Meyer writing about S. Meyer. I could feel the author behind the character and it was annoying.
The whole Jacob-Bella-Edward triangle turned square with the arrival of Renesemee was bizarre, and though I was glad that Bella didn't miss out on the important life experience of motherhood (seriously, I wanted her to choose Jacob, if only for that), it was just weird. Another thought that I had was that writing The Host had sent her to a weird place in writing Breaking Dawn. I don't know this for sure, and I haven't read The Host, so it's just a conjecture.
The ending was decent, because of course Alice came back. Duh. And I felt like I was reading the other books in the series, where it was fluff, but at least it was suspenseful, interesting fluff. And happily they overcame the Vulturi for now and Bella was meant to be a vampire, la, dee, dah, la, dee, dah, la, dee, dah.
My only question is this: If getting a vampire and a human together causes problems, what happens when a werewolf with a half-vampire/half-human fall for each other? Just kidding.
I don't really want to know.
I enjoyed it! I'm kinda relieved it's over, but a little sad, too! I am with the review on http://www.choosethewrite.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteDid you know there is even Godiva chocolate to go with it now--talk about match made in vampire heaven.
Check it out here: www.weheartchocolate.com
Funny about the chocolate.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that I hated the book. It's just that I don't think it lived up to it's potential. It's always a bummer when something so obviously could have been done better.
I ordered this online as a surprise for Grace (she's a HUGE fan) but it hasn't come and it hasn't come. When the mail showed up today and it still wasn't there she got all teary with disapointment.
ReplyDeleteI read what you've said about it and was really tempted to lovingly tease that I knew what was going to happen but after the no-show today I didn't have the heart.
You raise some good points... I am especially with you on the weird associations found with The Host in the last book of BD.
ReplyDeleteAs I reported in the comments of my post, I am satisfied. No I didn't walk away wanting mroe as I had with the others, but I was okay with the conclusion. IS that good or bad? Not sure. I think I am kind of done with the series and ready to find something else to ravage. Lol.