SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read Breaking Dawn yet, you might want to skip this post until you have.
I loved Twilight. I really liked New Moon. I liked Eclipse. Breaking Dawn? Hmm. I wasn't crazy about it.
To begin with, I was a little disappointed and mildly offended by the sexual nature of the book. The things that made Twilight so appealing to me were the sweetness, the tension, and the control of human and vampiric appetites. Since this isn't a review of Twilight, I won't debate the whole appropriateness of its target audience, but it can't be ignored in Breaking Dawn. It flat out is not appropriate for teens.
With that aspect aside, let me address my other problems with this book. We waited through 3 other books to find out whether Bella would marry Edward and become a vampire and both of those things happened way to soon. Those things should have been the climax. Next, all the characters seemed a bit watered down to me. Bella, Edward and Jacob seemed more moody and whiney; none of them seemed as heroic and appealing as before. Parts of the book were slow and I thought it could have used more editing, mainly in the middle section voiced by Jacob. The end was too neat and tidy. No actual fighting with the Volturi and everyone got what they wanted. No fuss, no mess. And finally... Renesmee? I'm sorry, but combining Renee and Esme to get the name Renesmee is nauseating. Give the poor kid a name that doesn't make us gag!
OK, now that I've vented my complaints about the book, let me tell you what I did like about it. The description Bella gives of being a vampire was great. It helped explain how Edward must have been feeling around her in the previous books. This part was attention grabbing and reminiscent of the other books. It totally made me want to be a vampire! The last few chapters were page turners. Everything leading up to the showdown with the Volturi was what I expected from Stephenie Meyer. I even cried over some of it.
Don't let me discourage you from reading Breaking Dawn. If you read and loved the other books in the Twilight series, you have to read it. It was entertaining, just not as much as the others for me. I'm still a fan though. I'm still visiting Forks next weekend and will probably be an ultra enthusiastic tourist, and I'm anxiously awaiting the Twilight movie. 125 more days! (Go ahead Holly, call me obsessed.)
Alright blog readers and fellow Twilight fanatics, tell me what you thought?
(Here is a link to a 4-part interview with Stephenie Meyer explaining and defending some of the things about BD.)
2 comments:
This is what I thought about the book . . . I totally agree with you about the whiny characters. Jacob you expect, but Edward? I know that he is feeling really guilty and worried about Bella's life, but he was going to be a father and didn't even act remotely excited about it. Poor Bella having to actually bond with Rosalie over it while her hubby sulks in the corner.
Jacob - Bella is married get over it - she is going to have some vampire's spawn so deal with it. But I was loved how he is connected to Renesmee. (wierd name I agree)
About the wedding vampire thing happening so soon- a couple of weeks before BD came out Stephenie announced to her fans that there would be a wedding in the opening chapters so I was expecting it and not disappointed at all. I thought, "Finally - now we can get to the good stuff" - but my daughters aren't reading this! :) (see below)
The book is VERY sexually charged and not having teenagers yet made me forget all about that, so I agree with you there, I don't know that I would want any of my 3 daughters reading about all that sex. Even though it was rather clean and tasteful, it still takes your mind places it probably shouldn't.
I was itching for a fight with the volturi - I wanted to see Renesme in action. I wanted to see Bella fight for her family. I wanted to see Edward fight for his daughter. I also liked that Alice didn't abandon her family, but I didn't like how Bella had to keep the whole papers thing a secret from Edward. Why?? Wouldn't he support her decision to keep his daughter safe?
Overall I loved the book, I loved the unexpected twists and turns and i loved the 3rd part of the book!!!
I hope they can pull off the movie to be as great and enjoyable!
I'm writing my own review to post for my next blog entry. I personally liked that the wedding was right away. We HAVE been building up to it for the last 3 books, so I would have been irritated by having to wait through the last one. Just DO it already! AND I liked the sex. I don't have teenagers to think about, so I could just read it for me. I say hip hip horray and it's about friggin time! I TOTALLY agree with you about the anticlimactic ending. Come read the rest of my review later this week. Kinda sad it's over!
Post a Comment