Breaking Dawn

Okay, so I am one of those people who verbally abuses the "Twilight" series despite the fact that I own all of them and eagerly read them. (In a bite, I think Meyer's prose is gorgeous but her characters are obnoxious). Basically, I was pretty excited to read the latest installment and then whine about it. Plot-wise, I think this is the best of the series. Rather than having...more

Okay, so I am one of those people who verbally abuses the "Twilight" series despite the fact that I own all of them and eagerly read them. (In a bite, I think Meyer's prose is gorgeous but her characters are obnoxious). Basically, I was pretty excited to read the latest installment and then whine about it. Plot-wise, I think this is the best of the series. Rather than having star-crossed lovers moping for 500 pages, Meyer brings out a passionate and respectively creative story worthy of the readers' imagination. It was a good idea, it kept me reading, and it truly had me thinking. The only problem was that this great idea made the book almost a stranger from the rest of the saga. I feel bad about complaining about that. One of my biggest complaints of the series was the rampant romantic fluff. And then I get irritated when Meyer puts her focus on a creative story. I guess it all came too late in the game for it to be believable. It seemed to me that Meyer was pulling out a half-dozen plot devices for the sake of a sudden and great idea. Was this but an effort to please her fans? In my humble opinion, I think Meyer should have wrapped up the sage with the same fluffy goodness as the prior three and saved the creativity for an entirely separate vampiric novel. This would have given her more room without the already determined characteristics of other characters getting in the way. Still, I truly did enjoy this book. I do realize that Meyer is a good Mormon girl and felt the sex and passion of this book was perfectly balanced (though also being a Mormon girl I don't know how many young Mormon girls I would recommend the sex scenes to). The characters, shuffled to the background for the sake of the plot, were less annoying to me. And heck if Meyer don't write pretty and made a great story here! The novel was neatly wrapped up (which will infuriate as many as it will satisfy, depending on the personal perspective) and I felt it was a good conclusion. If only that nice bow hadn't been due to so many plot devices and conveniences. All in all, I think most Meyer fans will be pleased. I still think the story should have been reserved.   hide

This contains SPOILERS, so if you haven't read the book yet you might not want to read this. I liked parts of it. I liked the wedding and the honeymoon. I liked Bella finally being a vamp. I liked that Bella learned how to let Edward into her mind when she chose to. I liked the parts about Seth and Leah. I liked that we were able to get into Jacob's head too. But there were parts I hated....more

This contains SPOILERS, so if you haven't read the book yet you might not want to read this. I liked parts of it. I liked the wedding and the honeymoon. I liked Bella finally being a vamp. I liked that Bella learned how to let Edward into her mind when she chose to. I liked the parts about Seth and Leah. I liked that we were able to get into Jacob's head too. But there were parts I hated. I don't know what she was thinking when she wrote some of this. I would like to have seen Jacob and Leah get together. Then he could have had a true lover and companion who understood him and was equal to him in every way, just as Bella and Edward were after Bella became a vamp. She could have even expanded the series to write more about them and the wolf pack later. Jacob imprinting on the baby was just too weird for me. The whole baby thing was weird. I could have done without that whole scenario. But if it would have been a relatively normal pregnancy with complications at the end, that maybe she was going to die from, I would have liked that better. If the baby would have been more normal, that would have been better too. I liked that Edward could read the babies thoughts but I didn't like the rapid growth thing. Maybe the baby could have been a little more advanced mentally for it's age, but not THAT advanced. I also hated the way Edward reacted to the pregnancy almost the whole time. Really, for some reason the whole pregnancy thing reminded me of that scene in Dawn of the Dead with the pregnant lady Ha Ha. Oh and that name! What a stupid name. I also think the book should have been edited more. The J Jenks thing should have been cut out. And I sort of felt like she lost her characters a bit through parts of the story. I would have liked it better if Bella would have had to sacrifice more to become a vamp. It was all too easy. I wanted to see her go through some of the newborn vamp stuff for at least a little while. And we were all geared up for a battle at the end and then nothing happens. That was very disappointing. Overall I was disappointed in the book, but I will choose to remember the parts I liked and forget the rest.   hide

I actually loved this book for many reasons and I think it's easily tied as my series favorite with Twilight. The previous books were very character driven with weak plots (Eclipse), which was okay because I enjoyed witnessing the characters Stephanie Meyer developed. However, this book takes that development and weaves in a strong plot. At first glance I was disappointed with how...more

I actually loved this book for many reasons and I think it's easily tied as my series favorite with Twilight. The previous books were very character driven with weak plots (Eclipse), which was okay because I enjoyed witnessing the characters Stephanie Meyer developed. However, this book takes that development and weaves in a strong plot. At first glance I was disappointed with how the book split Bella's narration with a section told from Jacob's perspective. However, that portion of the book needed to be explained from outside her head. I think most fans would have known Bella's motivation and thoughts as her pregnancy rapidly passed (she always sacrifices herself for others). Also, seeing Edward through Jacob's eyes - eyes which hate him - really made Edward's pain much more vivid and Jacob more compassionate. Now, I did really like that the end of Jacob's section overlapped with Bella's. I think I couldn't have been satisfied if Meyer skipped the birth and start of the transformation process. Once Bella became a vampire adjusting did seem to be too easy but I easily accepted it since her character has always had a decisive mind and very good control over it once a decision is made. I also enjoyed how she and Edward now seemed to have equal footing in their decision making. I attribute this to their both being vampires and parents (which is one of those permanent "changes", like falling in love, that vampires rarely have). Also, Bella didn't "swoon" as much when Edward spoke, or touched her, or walked into a room. I was kind of getting tired of her always being distracted by his beauty in the previous three, it seemed redundant and targeted toward teens. In the end, this book is much more adult than the previous three. It has a very solid plot that the characters easily deal with and move through. Their reactions to each other and plot changes are appropriate and, most importantly, interesting. Although I read the first three searching for physical scenes with Bella and Edward, I was happy that Meyer kept it PC for the teen readers. Her decision made the book more adult fiction and less fanfiction or romance.   hide

This book sucked hardcore. I can't even function. It was utterly predictable from the first page. Opening it, I wouldn't have guessed anything about a baby, but after the story about the immortal children and Bella's nightmares, it becomes incredibly obvious. Of course, she was going to get pregnant (I wouldn't even start about how the biology doesn't work). I knew that the...more

This book sucked hardcore. I can't even function. It was utterly predictable from the first page. Opening it, I wouldn't have guessed anything about a baby, but after the story about the immortal children and Bella's nightmares, it becomes incredibly obvious. Of course, she was going to get pregnant (I wouldn't even start about how the biology doesn't work). I knew that the Volturi were going to find out and try to take it from her. There wasn't even a fight!! Harry Potter had a happy ending, but at least there was a realistic bloodbath on the way. Not to mention how easily Bella transformed into a vampire. She could control herself without a problem? And she figured out her gift just in time...a load of bullshit. As usual, Jacob was bland and boring as always. The crap in the second book was bad, but at least things were happening with the werewolves. But all they did was wait around while Leah moaned about how hard her life is. I think I was supposed to feel sorry for her, but she just needed to suck it up and deal. They all needed to. I've never read a book with so many people moaning and complaining. Their problems weren't even that legit. Oh, poor you with your half vampire baby in your womb. Use a condom next time. If he can get it up, he can knock you up. And of course, everyone lived happily ever after with no problems at all whatsoever in their perfect bodies, perfect love, and perfect existence. How. Cute. NOT!!! I lost so many IQ points. Twilight was good, and the series went downhill, but it could've been worse. The Host was a brilliant piece of work, and I don't doubt Stephenie Meyer's writing ability (although I have seen better, she's definitely publishable). I never liked Bella, and as vampires don't exist, neither does anyone like Edward. I know I wasn't supposed to take it seriously, but Edward was basically perfect. In fantasy, there should still be realistic characters. This last book made me realize how bland the characters are and how weak the plot is. The only person I really liked was Charlie, and he was barely in the book at all. Renesmee is not a cute name. I hate it. And I'm only rambling this much because I was looking forward to a good ending to this book series, and I got a bunch of literary diarrhea.   hide

This book starts with what left behind of Eclipse and it’s divided into three parts. The first part, told from the point of view of Bella, accounts the wedding of Edward and Bella and their honeymoon in Isle Esme. The second part, told from Jacob’s perspective, details the period he spends with Bella and the Cullens during her pregnancy and the horrific birth of her child. The third part,...more

This book starts with what left behind of Eclipse and it’s divided into three parts. The first part, told from the point of view of Bella, accounts the wedding of Edward and Bella and their honeymoon in Isle Esme. The second part, told from Jacob’s perspective, details the period he spends with Bella and the Cullens during her pregnancy and the horrific birth of her child. The third part, back to Bella’s view, accounts her early days as a vampire and the danger that Renesmee(the daughter she has with Edward) put the family in and the conflict with the Volturi. From the moment I start reading this book, I’ve been searching for clues etc on the reconciliation of the triangular relationship as the third book did left me heartbroken in a way for Jacob. You can see the gradual change in the mind of Jacob and how he finally finds peace. The first part is all very fairy-tale like with all the wedding and stuff and the first sexual encounter of Bella and Edward. Bella seems like a mature girl apart from the fact that in Eclipse she kind of keeps changing her “deadline” and “terms of conditions” for becoming an immortal. However, in the first part of the book, she becomes this pretty desperate girl always asking for more physical contact from her newly wed husband, which is a bit over the top. Edward, having discovered their first sexual experience results in bruises all over her body, refuses for more until she becomes an immortal. And of course he has to “give in” in the end. Well, you can imagine the consequence of ‘non-safe” sex which leads to the second part of the book. The second part is told from Jacob’s point of view and whole tone or language is different. From Jacob’s angle, you can see the love both Edward and Bella has towards each other which also makes him realize that he should move on. The account of the whole pregnancy is quite horrific, as the baby grows in the speed of light and Bella has to start ‘drinking blood’ to feed the baby. The final chapter for this part is more or less like the script of ER with Edward delivering the baby and Jacob giving Bella CPR!! And in the third part, you will find out that Bella, who nearly died during the childbirth, has survived as Edward gives her his venom in the last minute and turned into a vampire. The first few chapters account how Bella adjusts to this new life, which surprisingly is not as bad as it was expected. On the other hand, it shows how the triangular relationship develops and has indeed an interesting outcome. Having imprinted on her daughter, Bella can finally release herself from the guilt she felt for Jacob and Jacob can also “move on” with his life with Renesmee in mind. When I read to this, it does sound odd to me and it takes time to take it in. However, you may remember in New Moon, Quil imprinted on a 2 year old-so it’s not so strange after all, and besides, we do live in a strange world nowadays. This kind of takes the Bella-Jacob relationship into a new stage as he becomes her true (probably only human) friend whom she can still be close to, ignoring the potential ‘son-in-law’ issue!! It drags a bit for this part of the story but what comes next is quite exciting. Again, remember back in New Moon, Laurent, who developed a close relationship with Irina from the Denali coven, was killed by the wolf pack. Irina, comes to try to make peace with the Cullen but she sees Renesmee and believes she is an immortal child, a human child turned into a vampire-this is forbidden within the community. She reports this to the Volturi who then decide to come and punish the Cullens. In order to convict the Volturi that Renesmee is not one, they gather all the friends they can find as witnesses as Renesmee has this special gift of transmitting memory and thoughts. Their friends are all taken by surprise and become warmed to her. On the other hand, there is a slight twist to the story, Alice and Jasper disappeared which is a mystery that is only revealed in the most crucial moment. The Cullens, along with their alliance-the werewolves, not entirely sure that they will win this battle, are all prepared to die and so as their friends. As their friends gathering in their place, they slowly come to the conclusion that the Volturi are coming, not for the punishment, but to get all the gifted Cullens especially Alice to join them. The whole court of the Volturi finally arrive and at the crucial moment, Alice and Jasper appear with additional proof. They bring with them a 150 years old half-human/half-vampire Nahuel who explains that the half-breed poses no danger to them. The Volturi finally leave them in peace. This is probably not so much as a page turner as the first three books but it ties up some of the loose ends from previous books and a good ending or happy ever after is probably what many of the fans want. I know it may just be too perfect but that is probably what we want in our imagination. And seriously I do like the last chapter very much especially on the part where Bella, having obtained this gift of putting on a shield, manages to push it off, so that Edward can read her thought and understand how much she loves him. Last, but not the least, I think Stephanie is very clever in a way that she has put some clues in the end which will be useful if she decides to go back on them again. Will Renesmee choose Nahuel instead after 6 years when she grows up? Will Jacob be heartbroken yet again? Will Volturi recover after this encounter and come back again to revenge? I do sincerely hope that we will get answers to these in the near future!!   hide

So in the beginning the still human Bella ties the teen nuptials with her dark prince Edward, and it's off to the honeymoon. You can't help but think to yourself, "Finally! They both get LAID!". The honeymoon scene could have been a bit juicier. Just like in movies, I find it amusing that, for the sake of the young ones, they'll clip off a bit of the sex parts, but leave...more

So in the beginning the still human Bella ties the teen nuptials with her dark prince Edward, and it's off to the honeymoon. You can't help but think to yourself, "Finally! They both get LAID!". The honeymoon scene could have been a bit juicier. Just like in movies, I find it amusing that, for the sake of the young ones, they'll clip off a bit of the sex parts, but leave plenty of violence in it's place. Yeah, that'll balance it out. The whole middle of the book narration is taken over by my personal favorite, Jacob, Bella's best friend and the head werewolf. I like when he narrates, he's funny, and it's just refreshing to have someone else narrate for a while. Everything's fine and dandy until Bella discovers she is with (half-vampire) child, which her and her new husband didn't think was possible. Apparently in the media and among fans, (and their Moms) there was alot of negative hoopla regarding all the gore surrounding the birth. Personally, I didn't think it was a big deal. Again, I wish they would have done that more with the love scenes. Yeah, yeah, it was originally written for young adults. Whatever. Finally, the last almost half of the book, the narration goes back to Bella. Once her transformation is complete, the book takes on some whole new twists and turns you never would have thought of when reading the first book. I have to admit, I miss the human, klutzy Bella, and some of the events that take place are borderline absurd, but you can't put it down. The ending IS a little too neat, and "Happily Ever After", however, once you've fallen under the Twilight spell, you just love it, even when you want to hate it.   hide

*Spoiler Warning*I personally loved Breaking Dawn. I read it twice within a 48-hr period, because I was so desperate to find out what happened in the end that I needed to go back to enjoy the beautiful description and fleshed-out character conflicts. I loved how during Bella’s pregnancy, you could see several completely different viewpoints (Bella’s, Edward’s, and...more

*Spoiler Warning*I personally loved Breaking Dawn. I read it twice within a 48-hr period, because I was so desperate to find out what happened in the end that I needed to go back to enjoy the beautiful description and fleshed-out character conflicts. I loved how during Bella’s pregnancy, you could see several completely different viewpoints (Bella’s, Edward’s, and Jacob’s) of the same situation. I could hardly believe how when I read it the first time, I completely agreed with Jacob, and then the second time, I completely empathized with Bella; the book drew me in so much. And now for my rebuttal against the negative reviews:I don’t think it seems contrived that she was able to get pregnant; the explanation makes sense to me. I don’t think that it’s creepy that Jacob imprinted on Renesme; we’ve already gone over the fact that imprinting is not about romantic love, and Jacob says it himself, “It’s not like that.” I was thrilled that it happened, so that the Cullens and werewolves wouldn’t rip each other to shreds and Jacob could still be friends with Bella. And as far as the whole getting-married-and-pregnant-young message is concerned, didn’t Bella freak out about not wanting to get married all throughout New Moon and Eclipse? Can’t we give her a break, or are we going to have the attitude she was so fearful of, the “Oh, you’re THAT kind of girl” attitude? Because, face it people, this isn’t real life. This is a story. You shouldn’t base your life decisions on it. If you all were willing to let Bella become a vampire at age 18, I don’t see how getting married and having a baby is any more of a commitment and responsibility than that.I really enjoyed Breaking Dawn, I think that Stephenie Meyer is a fabulous author, and I hope that people can enjoy the last book in the Twilight Saga I think this was the best book in the Twilight Saga. Everything that Stephanie Meyer had been building up during the first three books finally came to a head here. I was amazed by how deep it felt to me; each character was looking at the situation from a completely different viewpoint, and you could SEE all those viewpoints. I was also pleased that the main plot twist was completely unexpected to me; I was shocked. I was amazing to me, how the first time reading it, I completely agreed with Jacob, and then the second time through, I was able to see Bella's perspective. This was really a great book.   hide

I went into this book with low expectations. Having read the first three and finding myself annoyed with Meyer’s writing, I wasn’t expecting much to change for the final installment. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved Breaking Dawn as much as I loved hating the first three, and finally I felt like my time spent reading Meyer’s mediocre writing had finally paid off. Breaking Dawn...more

I went into this book with low expectations. Having read the first three and finding myself annoyed with Meyer’s writing, I wasn’t expecting much to change for the final installment. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved Breaking Dawn as much as I loved hating the first three, and finally I felt like my time spent reading Meyer’s mediocre writing had finally paid off. Breaking Dawn is fun. Sure it’s cheesy at times, the characters are sometimes lacking, and it’s not that much of an intelligent young adult/teen series when compared to Harry Potter or His Dark Materials, but Meyer isn’t as repetitive in Breaking Dawn and the story moves along at a good pace in comparison to the other books. All of the books in the series are entertaining, even if I wanted to chuck a couple of them across the room at times, but I had no problems with Breaking Dawn and was actually entranced. The only thing that slightly annoyed me was switching to Jacob’s POV. It just wasn’t consistent in the series, so why now all of a sudden? It did give more insight into things, which I was grateful for and really the series couldn’t have ended without, but it was still irritating. That is the only major thing. Other stuff that was even slightly annoying is just too small or insignificant to mention, and that is saying a lot coming from me—Meyer seems to have matured a bit in her writing skill (or maybe her editor got better in the editing department?). All of the characters are still one-dimensional, but more likeable in this last installment. Finally I found myself NOT wishing for Bella’s death (she still is not my favorite character, never will be, but she was incredibly tolerable in Breaking Dawn). That alone is enough for me to consider Breaking Dawn the best book in the series.   hide

Stephenie Meyer's breathtaking ending to her "Twilight" saga is crazy amazing and totally unlike what I thought it would be. Meyers pushes her characters and plot to the maximum extreme. There is some very disturbing, yet fascinating content...it definitely is not for the younger audience of readers. Heck, I'm 18 and I could barely stomach some of the images Meyers put in the...more

Stephenie Meyer's breathtaking ending to her "Twilight" saga is crazy amazing and totally unlike what I thought it would be. Meyers pushes her characters and plot to the maximum extreme. There is some very disturbing, yet fascinating content...it definitely is not for the younger audience of readers. Heck, I'm 18 and I could barely stomach some of the images Meyers put in the book. She appears to have overcome some of her anti-sci-fi attitude as there are some elements in "Breaking Dawn" some have referred to as a being akin to a "weird gothic soap opera." Other criticism of the book is: Edward and Bella do not have as many verbal spats; "Renesmee" is a weird name and a weird plot twist; the ending battle was anti-climatic; etc. It was these elements and more that I believe to have created such aversion for the book from many fans. To all this, I completely disagree: while it is true that Edward and Bella don't have as many verbal spats, in its stead, we get, amongst other things a physical progression in their relationship...as well as time with other characters; Renesmee , I feel, is a beautiful name: mixture of Renee and Esme...very clever on SM's part...a unique name for a unique child; as a future psychologist, I fully appreciated and enjoyed the mental aspect of the ending battle...at first, I was surprised that there was no further action to it like others, however, in the end I feel SM made the right choice. This book was so highly anticipated that no matter what SM did, it could never satisfy such high levels of expectation. Many who sat there and predicted things for the book, then read it, I've noticed make up a good portion of those who disliked the book. One must go into reading this book with an open mind and be ready to expect the unexpected. SM put all of us through the loop with the twists in the book. It is sad to me that some readers cannot appreciate them...but to each his own. I felt that the way Meyer tied things up were very satisfactory...some criticized it to be a little bit too nicely tied up, but really... does anyone truly want an unhappy ending? You'll laugh. You'll cry. Sometimes you'll wanna laugh and cry. Breaking Dawn = a good time.   hide