Series: Twilight

Retro Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Posted May 31, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 8 Comments

Retro Review: Twilight by Stephenie MeyerReviewer: Tracy
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Series: Twilight #1
Also in this series: Eclipse, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Breaking Dawn, Twilight, Twilight

Publication Date: July 18th 2007
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 544
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
five-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife-between desire and danger.Deeply romantic and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite.

*****As part of our 10 year anniversary celebration, we’ll be re-posting old reviews that make us cringe, laugh or sigh all over again.

Holly: Ah, the Twilight craze. This book is responsible for a lot of young adults becoming steady readers – and a lot of adult women losing their mind over fake characters. Good times. 

This review was originally published April 20, 2008

So yesterday I took my oldest daughter to a birthday party and dropped her off. It was either sit and watch her go down huge inflatable slides (um, no thanks) or mosey around the nearest store since I had forgotten to bring a book (I know, what was I thinking?). So I drove to Target and immediately went to the book section. The very first book I see is Twilight. My friend Christine raves about this book but I had never read YA before so I hadn’t really given much thought to reading this one. I grabbed it off of the shelf but still looked around. Nothing else seemed to grab me so I bought Twilight, sat down in the food court and started reading.

ok – how stupid am I? Don’t answer that! When I put off reading books that people tell me that are great and then I finally read them that’s the first question I have to ask myself. I should know by now that my “book” friends just don’t steer me in the wrong direction! Example: books I’ve put off reading then kicked my self afterward: Dark Lover by JR Ward and the rest of the BDB series, the Dark-Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy – you see the pattern.

That being said – I LOVED Twilight. I thought that it was a charming, sweet love story that had adventure & humor. Can you ask for more? Bella’s thoughts (and of course her dry humor and sarcasm) as she moves to a new town and starts a new school were so familiar to me since my family moved a lot up until I was about 20. Because of that I was immediatly drawn into the story and then just couldn’t put the book down.

I don’t think I’ll be putting off reading these highly recommended books any longer. And I certainly won’t not read a book just because it’s labeled YA.

Rating: A+/ 5

five-stars


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Review: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Posted November 1, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Review: Twilight by Stephenie MeyerReviewer: Rowena
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Series: Twilight #1
Also in this series: Eclipse, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Breaking Dawn, Twilight, Twilight

Publication Date: February 26th 2009
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 464
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

When 17 year old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town.
But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella.
Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility makes her feel almost physically ill. He seems determined to push her away - until, that is, he saves her life from an out of control car.
Bella will soon discover that there is a very good reason for Edward's coldness. He, and his family, are vampires - and he knows how dangerous it is for others to get too close.

 

 

Oh, Twilight.

I remember the first time I read this book. My friend Izzy had read and loved this book. She gushed and gushed over this book until I finally agreed to read it and after I read it, I was glad that she was my best friend because she introduced me to Edward Cullen. We were those old ladies that were drooling over a forever teenager. We liked Edward before he was cool.

That first time, I inhaled this book. I read it so fast that I had to read all of my favorite parts again because I was annoyed with myself for reading through this book so fast.

It’s been a few years since I’ve picked up this book and I wanted to see if it would hold up to my love for it so I read it again and while reading it again bring back a lot of welcome memories, the story itself and Edward didn’t hold up this time around. This time around, Edward was so much more creepy in a way he wasn’t before. Let’s be real, he stalked Bella. He watched her while she slept. He was protective in a way that wasn’t exactly healthy. In short, the dude was on the creepy side.

I have to wonder if the books didn’t as popular and the movies didn’t burst onto the scene, would I still love this book as much as I did?

I’m not sure.

While I’m on my rant about this book and what made Edward a little creepy monkey, let’s talk about Bella. Edward has been alive or undead I should say, for hundreds of years and in all that time- he’s never felt anything as strong as what he feels for Bella?

Seriously? What is so great about Bella that she would warrant such adoration from one of the hottest guys on the planet?

Can she karate chop you into next week? Can she sing like the angels above were shining golden sprinkle dust upon your head? Is she an amazing athlete that you can’t take your eyes off? No to all of that. She’s just your regular bumbling idiot of a teenage girl who mumbles and who has a case of the woe is me syndrome.

I will say that Stephenie Meyer has a way with weaving a story that makes you really sit up and take notice. While she’s waxing on strong about how in love both Edward and Bella are, you can’t help but fall in line and love with everything she writes. It’s only after you put the book down and really think about what you just read that you’re wondering what the hell is wrong with you that you would lust after a creepy stalker guy with bad taste in women. In the way of plots and everything, this story is pretty simple. Not a lot is going on in this story but that doesn’t stop you from eating up every word. That’s gotta count for something.

I don’t think I could do a re-read of New Moon and I know for damn sure that I won’t ever pick up Eclipse to re-read because reading it the first time nearly gave me a concussion from the book bouncing off the wall I threw it at and almost nailing me in the head.

I will say that while I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I did the first time I read it (even the second time), I can still see why it’s so popular among the twi-hards (Moms and daughters). The romance between Edward and Bella is what most women dream of. Someone to love them so intensely and so fiercely the way that Edward loved Bella. Everything that they went through in this book, everything that they felt was all laid out and it was easy to fall in love with but true love isn’t like that. Edward is a fictional character who is too perfect even when he’s being a bonehead.

The story revolves heavily around Edward and Bella and it was through this reading that I realized how two-dimensional everyone else is. You hear a lot about them and you get their story but their characters aren’t as well developed as Edward and Bella. I found myself wanting to know more about Bella’s Mom’s life in Arizona. I wanted more from the other Cullens, especially Carlisle (even though I hate the way he looks in the movies).

Overall, this story was good and it’s easy to see why the series is so loved around the world but for me, this time around, the book wasn’t perfect and still, I enjoyed it.

..and that’s your scoop!

4 out of 5

Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

four-stars


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Guest Review: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Posted August 6, 2008 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Guest Review: Twilight by Stephanie MeyerReviewer: Missy
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Series: Twilight #1
Also in this series: Eclipse, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Breaking Dawn, Twilight, Twilight

Publication Date: February 26th 2009
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 464
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

When 17 year old Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father she expects that her new life will be as dull as the town.
But in spite of her awkward manner and low expectations, she finds that her new classmates are drawn to this pale, dark-haired new girl in town. But not, it seems, the Cullen family. These five adopted brothers and sisters obviously prefer their own company and will make no exception for Bella.
Bella is convinced that Edward Cullen in particular hates her, but she feels a strange attraction to him, although his hostility makes her feel almost physically ill. He seems determined to push her away - until, that is, he saves her life from an out of control car.
Bella will soon discover that there is a very good reason for Edward's coldness. He, and his family, are vampires - and he knows how dangerous it is for others to get too close.

 
I realise I am way behind.

I kept hearing that Twilight was a great series, that everyone was in love with it. I meant to read it, I really did. But I have been crap at reading books that aren’t required for uni (and even some that are!) so I never got around to it.

Until I had to fly a bajillion hours home, needed something to read, and had it recommended to me by Holly.

This is what I think. (May be hilarious to those of you who have already read it and the subsequent books, I have no idea.)

It builds very slowly. There is a lot of detail and setting the scene. Once I settled in to the idea that this was her style and not a lack of appropriate pacing, I managed to enjoy it a lot more.

I had a heard the phrases “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” bandied around the internet (I deliberately haven’t read anything on the book since I read it myself, by the way, and really didn’t know anything going in) but … I guess that’s later in the series. I wasn’t sure whether I cared if it appeared or not, but now, yes, I think they’re going to need some kind of conflict. We’re all getting along too well at the moment.

Bella, grr, the girl annoys me sometimes. I don’t hate her by any means, but I wanted to smack her a time or two. I just went looking for some examples, because I knew there were some even if I couldn’t mention any off the top of my head. And I found one, only seven pages in: “No need to add that my being happy in Forks in an impossibility. He didn’t need to suffer along with me.” I doubt this annoyed me at the time, but it illustrates one of my problems with Bella: she’s just too damn self-absorbed and sorry for herself.

I found myself snapping “We get it!” at her (Bella or Meyer on different occasions) way too many times. We know she’s smart; she doesn’t have to be such a snob about it. We know you don’t like the weather (hell, neither would I) but WHO DOESN’T LIKE SNOWBALL FIGHTS?

This idea of Bella wanting to be turned. I read the excerpt of Book Two and man she is whingey (Holly: I have no idea what this means, either) in that part. I can understand maybe later on this might be an issue. I mean, Buffy figured it out as well (that Angel wasn’t going to age, while she herself would), it’s bound to come up. It seems like a) Meyer threw it in there at the end of this one so she could have conflict over it in the next one and b) it should have been developed over time, maybe as the major issue in the last book.

Bella being clumsy. Is this going to have some huge meaning in the future? Because if not, it’s annoying and unnecessary. I was waiting for the revelation that she actually has MS or something and that’s why she’s falling down all the time. If the only reason is so she could show up with scraped palms (blood! plus vampire!), that is cheap.

Also cheap? The way Meyer throws in these “subtle” allusions. She managed to mention Eve and apples within about five pages of each other, and never mention them again. Twilight is his favourite time, because it’s neither dark nor light, not one or the other, he struggles with his human/monster sides, like, SEE WHAT SHE DID THERE? This is acceptable for bloggers who use the “subtle” device ironically, because then it’s funny. An author who cannot create truly subtle yet meaningful references throughout her text has no business doing a half-arsed job at it.

I felt at times she struggled with descriptions, especially of Edward’s skin tone. You just know she got “alabaster” from the thesaurus (or maybe from Anne of Green Gables). And I’m pretty sure certain phrases, like the one about Bella using her hair to hide, were repeated. (I could be totally wrong. I am not fact-checking at 10:30 at night.) I hate that! Noticing individual words and phrases distracts from the story. Don’t do it to me, please.

Wow, this kinda sounds like I didn’t like it. I actually did. I don’t think her writing is the most elegant I’ve ever read, but the story was interesting, the characters less so but only a little. I just glanced back through the book and remembered that I really like the relationship and banter between Bella and Edward. Even though the Q&A could have got a little exposition-y, most of the time it was interesting, true, and revealing. I will keep reading the series – who knows, I might even catch up with the rest of the world, by which time I’m sure it will have moved on to the next big thing – and I’ll be interested to see how the movie portrays the story and characters.

Grade: 3.8 aka 3.75 (H: Zeek, I swear she chose this grade on her own!)

In conclusion, you should probably stick with Holly for your reviews in the future.

You can read more from Missy at Meanwhile…Back at the Ranch.

three-half-stars


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Review: Breaking Dawn – With Spoilers

Posted August 5, 2008 by Holly in Discussions, Reviews | 20 Comments

Review: Breaking Dawn – With SpoilersReviewer: Holly
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Series: Twilight #4
Also in this series: Eclipse, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight

Publication Date: August 2nd 2008
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 768
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

Below is a follow up to my review (you can also read Thea’s non-spoiler review at The Book Smugglers here) of Breaking Dawn, but with full spoilers (Thea’s full spoiler review here). Please beware, if you don’t want to know what happens in Breaking Dawn, don’t read any further.

Part 1

Written from Bella’s narrative. Bella and Edward get married. She still has some concerns about going through with it, but she’s determined to just get it over with. She turned the whole thing over to Alice, so all she has to do is show up. The wedding itself was beautifully written and I like that Bella realized during the ceremony that she and Edward belong together and she was silly for worrying about the wedding.

During the reception, Jacob comes back and dances with Bella. She’s overjoyed to see him, as usual. She mentions something about her honeymoon with Edward and the fact that they plan to be physical and Jake freaks out, because he fears for Bella’s safety. He ends up storming off in a huff and they get back to it.

Edward has kept their honeymoon destination a secret from Bella. Directly after the wedding reception they leave and Edward reveals that they’re going to Esme Island. Apparently Carlisle had given Esme her own island and she graciously offered it to the newlyweds. Bella is anxious to begin their physical relationship, but Edward is still hesitant.

Eventually he gives into her and then immediately regrets it, because she’s bruised basically from head to toe. This part was kind of emotional. It was Bella’s first time. She doesn’t realize that anything bad happened (we all know the girl is oblivious) and she wakes up happier than she’s ever been, only to have Edward completely rain on her parade and ruin the moment for her. While I understood where Edward was coming from, I felt it was handled very, very badly on his part. And He never did apologize for making her feel bad and insecure.

Because he feels awful, Edward resolves to never be physical with Bella again. Or at least not until she’s immortal. Bella, as you can imagine, isn’t very happy with this and resolves to change his mind. Except he runs her into exhaustion so she’s too tired to press the issue. After a few days (maybe a week) of this, Bella decides to try a different tactic. She bargains with Edward, telling him she’ll go to college and put off becoming a vampire for another year if he agrees to resume their relationship. He eventually caves in.

Up until this point, I was really enjoying the story. Sure, it’s a bit..predictable and even kind of laughable how perfect everything is, but the writing was strong and Bella wasn’t at all annoying. She was just a young girl enjoying being married to the man of her dreams and on the perfect honeymoon. The dialogue between she and Edward was well done and I was mostly left with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Then Bella got pregnant. Yes, I said pregnant. Now, this wasn’t a surprise to me. A huge disappointment, but not a surprise. I had a feeling from the way things happened in Eclipse and the conversations Bella had with Rosalie – and the way Edward acted about wanting Bella to have a child – that this was going to happen. It still made me very angry. But I’ll get into that later.

The problem with this is that Bella is less than three weeks along and already she’s moody, tired and suffering from morning sickness. Oh, and she’s already got a baby bump. Naturally this freaks her and Edward out – though for different reasons. Alice calls and puts Carlisle on the phone and Bella explains that she thinks she’s pregnant. Edward and Carlisle decide the best thing is to terminate the pregnancy, because it’s obvious something is wrong.

Bella isn’t happy with this and calls the one person she knows will help her keep the baby. Rosalie.

Part 2

This is written from Jacob’s narrative. Having the novel broken up like this was an excellent call on Meyer’s part. Not only did I enjoy his “voice” but it also gave us a chance to breathe after the first part.

Jacob is home in La Push waiting for the news that Bella has died. The Cullen’s have been in touch with Charlie – Bella’s dad – and are claiming she contracted some dread disease while on her honeymoon and she now has to be quarantined. Jacob knows this is just some story they made up to cover the fact that she’s being turned into a vampire. He discusses it with his pack and they decide not to retaliate against the Cullen’s for breaking their pact. In a fit of rage, he rushes over to their house to kill them himself.

Only when he gets there things are not what they seem. Bella is, in fact, deathly ill. And not because she’s been turned or about to be turned. She’s now hugely pregnant. Hugely. Apparently the fetus is growing at 10x the normal rate. Even though she’s only a month or so along, she’s the size of a woman who’s 9 months pregnant.

The worst part is the baby is slowly killing her. It rejects all food and beverages, so she’s slowly wasting away as the baby steals from her body to nourish itself. The entire family – with the exception of Rosalie – is desperate to save Bella. But she refuses to allow them to take the baby early, knowing it will die. Rosalie has become her bodyguard, refusing to allow anyone to be alone with her and constantly by her side.

I can truly say I hated Rosalie during this part. She wanted the baby, and didn’t care what it did to Bella or anyone else to get it. At one point Jacob speculates that Bella is nothing more than a means to an end for Rosalie and Edward agrees. It was disturbing the way she was willing to do anything to ensure the life of the child, even if it meant taking Bella’s.

Edward is broken. To see Bella suffering so much, to know he’s the cause..well, he’s barely hanging on. He begs Jacob to talk to Bella, to convince her to save herself. Jacob knows it won’t do any good, but he reluctantly agrees. Edward, close to madness at this point, tells Jacob to offer her a child if that’s what she wants. Yes, Edward told Jacob he could get with Bella to give her a child if that would save her life.

I have to tell you, this is the most emotionally compelling part of the entire novel. Seeing just how broken Edward is, feeling the animosity the entire Cullen family (sans Rosalie) has toward the fetus, witnessing Jacob’s anger at how horribly sick Bella has become…this really got to me. I cried several times during this part. I also have to say..I truly hated that fetus right along with the rest of them. At the end of Part 1 my sympathies were entirely with Bella, but my tune changed.

While part of me understood Bella’s reasons for insisting on carrying the fetus to term, another part of me was furious with her for being so selfish. I have to give mad props to Meyer for this part of the novel. She did an amazing job of writing this so I, as a reader, was just as conflicted as the characters. Brilliant.

Jacob goes back to his pack and Sam (the alpha) decides they need to take out the Cullen’s, and Bella, to protect their families against this unknown abomination. Jacob disagrees. Though he wants the fetus dead, he doesn’t think all the Cullen’s should die because of it. Sam tries to force Jacob into obeying and Jacob ends up breaking from the pack because Jacob is the true Alpha. Seth and Leah join him.

The biggest concern at this point is how Bella will survive until the birth, since she isn’t able to keep anything down. At one point Jacob thinks to himself that the fetus is nothing but a “blood sucker”. Edward hears the thought and suggests that perhaps the baby needs blood, being that it’s half vampire. That ends up being the case. So Bella drinks blood. As a human. And likes it. Because that’s what her baby needs. Weird.

Anyway, they’ve decided Bella will be ok during/after the birth because Edward will immediately transform her. I have to tell you, this severely pisses me off. Throughout the entire series, Bella has waffled back and forth about whether or not to become a vampire. Sometimes she wants it, sometimes she doesn’t, but it’s always been one of the major conflicts of the story. For the choice to be taken from her, for her to be absolved of all guilt in the making of the choice..well, that was a cop out by Meyer, plain and simple.

Meyer had the opportunity to really delve deep into the psyche and build upon the morality of the choice between life and the living dead, and instead she chose the easy way out. Yes, I’m still pissed about this.

Of course, I’m even more pissed off about what happens next. This wasn’t a surprise to me. Not even a little bit. As soon as Bella turned up pregnant I knew the following was inevitable. That doesn’t mean I like it. So what happens?

Jacob imprints on Bella’s baby.

Yes folks, you read that correctly. The reason Bella and Jacob were so attached to each other was really because Jacob was destined to imprint with Bella’s daughter. Once again, Meyer takes the easy way out. What had become an interesting love triangle turned into something straight out of a soap opera.

Part 3

Once again from Bella’s narrative. First, let me tell you about Bella’s daughter, Renesmee. Yes, Renesmee. you know, like Renee and Esme together. headesk She is not your average child. She grows at 5x the normal rate, is extremely intelligent and can communicate by touching your face and showing you her thoughts. She’s a miracle baby. Oh, and she has the ability to wrap every adult in a 100 mile radius around her little fingers.

Ok, so now you know that Bella had the perfect baby. Now let me tell you about Bella the perfect vampire. She was transformed (though it was touch and go there for a minute) directly after Renesmee was born and spent 3 days changing. She was doped up, so although she could feel every horrible second of it, she couldn’t make a sound. Then, she the morphine wore off, she refused to cause Edward more suffering by yelling out her pain, so she suffered in silence.

Once she was able to get up, she finds she can control the bloodlust and she isn’t really one of those newborns like she thought she was going to be. She’s graceful, beautiful and in complete control of herself. Oh, and she’s extremely powerful too. Even stronger than Edward. Wow, look at her go.

Then Irina (another vampire) sees Renesmee, Jacob and Bella out hunting and mistakes Nessie (as she’s called by everyone but Bella) for an illegal being called an immortal child. As it turns out, centuries ago, vampires were turning children and they were completely out of control, so now all immortal children are sentenced to death immediately. It’s one of those, “Kill first, ask questions later” type of things. The Cullen’s decide they need to gather reinforcements to witness for them that Nessie isn’t an immortal child, but Edward’s biological daughter.

They call on all their friends and the wolves and prepare to stand against the Volturi. Bella realizes that she has a super special “talent” and can actually create a protection shield that she can put around herself and anyone else who’s in danger. Do you see where this is going?

Actually, rather than going on any further, I think I can sum this up pretty quick:

Bella becomes the perfect vampire with the perfect husband and the perfect daughter who is perfectly content in her perfect little world because she’s friends with all the vampires and all the werewolves and she gets to keep in touch with her human family because she’s selfish like that.

Oh, and because Jacob and Nessie have imprinted, there’s no longer any tension between his pack and Sam’s pack, because they can’t endanger someone’s mate.

What I’m saying is: All the internal and external conflicts are resolved, quite easily and with as little fuss as possible. Bella becomes perfect. She’s able to keep her human family, her wolf family, her friends, her child, everything. Cheesy, neat, textbook, total cop out all the way around.

Very disappointing.

You know, I might have given this a higher grade than it deserved, looking back on it.

There you have it in a nutshell. Thoughts? Feelings? Agree or disagree?

On the other hand, this is marketed as a young adult novel. So perhaps things happened exactly as they should?

three-stars


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Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Posted August 4, 2008 by Holly in Reviews | 12 Comments

Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephanie MeyerReviewer: Holly
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Series: Twilight #4
Also in this series: Eclipse, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight

Publication Date: August 2nd 2008
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 768
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

Book Cover

Twilight tempted the imagination. New Moon made readers thirsty for more. Eclipse turned the saga into a worldwide phenomenon. And now, the book that everyone has been waiting for….

Breaking Dawn, the final book in the #1 bestselling Twilight Saga, will take your breath away.

I’ve decided to review this without spoilers, and later in the week (possibly sooner) I’ll open a separate post for spoilers.

When I finished reading Eclipse, I was severely disappointed in the direction the series was headed. I had been looking for some sort of maturity from Bella Swan, the main protagonist and narrator of the series, but didn’t feel there had been any growth. As a matter of fact, I felt she’d digressed in her behavior, and seemed younger and more immature than ever. It came as quite a surprise to me that Bella not only seemed more mature in this entry, but she was also a character I identified with, and even…liked? At least in the beginning.

Breaking Dawn
picks up almost directly where Eclipse left off. Jacob is still gone and Edward and Bella are preparing for their wedding. I didn’t bother to re-read Eclipse in preparation. As a result, I felt a bit lost at first, trying to remember exactly what had happened at the end of Eclipse. It wasn’t long before I was caught up in the story.

Meyer’s writing is as strong as ever, and even though I had some major issues with the story, I can’t fault her writing style or voice. Just as with the previous three novels I was completely sucked in.

This was probably the most emotionally compelling of the series so far. I could actually feel the emotions leaping off the pages. I laughed, I cried, I was so angry I wanted to throw my book. I could absolutely empathize with the characters as they faced various trials and tribulations.

Parts of this novel were much less dark than the previous entries in the series. I think this is both good and bad. I think part of the appeal of the series to date has been it’s darker, somewhat morbid undertones. While I think the levity in this one was needed, it was still hard to reconcile it as being part of the series.

Despite the strong writing voice, this entry lacked the punch of the previous ones. It seemed to read like textbook novel. I predicted every.single.thing that happened. There wasn’t one surprise, one outcome I didn’t foresee. That severely disappointed me, because though I was angry about some things that happened in previously in the series, at least they weren’t what I was expecting.

I do think Meyer offered us another angle from which we could study and analyze the gift/curse of love, and the ways our lives are effected by the decisions we make. That aspect was certainly interesting.

Overall the writing was just as strong as always, but the storyline and characters were just a bit too neat and tidy for me to recommend this. Too many things happened to make me shake my head and roll my eyes. It’s definitely a disappointment, realizing Meyer took the easy way out.

3.0 out of 5

Personally, I’m glad to see the series come to an end.

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This book is available from Little, Brown and Company. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

three-stars


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