Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4) by Stephenie Meyer - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

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08/03/08

Karene rated it:

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

If you loved Breaking Dawn and don’t want to see it criticized, I’ll warn you now not to read my review. That being said, let me begin by saying that when I first read Twilight, I was hooked. I read New Moon in one sitting. I awaited the release of Eclipse with great anticipation. Sadly, Eclipse was the beginning of the end. It left me disappointed enough not to have high expectations for Breaking Dawn. Even at that, Breaking Dawn shattered my lowest expectations. I am stunned at the depths...more If you loved Breaking Dawn and don’t want to see it criticized, I’ll warn you now not to read my review. That being said, let me begin by saying that when I first read Twilight, I was hooked. I read New Moon in one sitting. I awaited the release of Eclipse with great anticipation. Sadly, Eclipse was the beginning of the end. It left me disappointed enough not to have high expectations for Breaking Dawn. Even at that, Breaking Dawn shattered my lowest expectations. I am stunned at the depths to which this once-revered author has plunged! From this point on I will refer to Breaking Dawn as B.D., aka “Bitter Disappointment,” or, if you prefer, “Boring Depravity,” “Bloody Drama,” “Brain Drain,” or my husband’s personal favorite, “Bloody Diapers”.

Where do I begin? How about with my least favorite character, Bella? She began the series with a lot of promise. Sure, some people said that she wasn’t well defined in the first book, but I never had a problem with her. Throughout New Moon and Eclipse, her character starts to decline. In B.D., Bella becomes intolerable. This girl is unbelievably selfish. She begins the book whining about the beautiful, expensive car Edward bought her. She whines about the wedding preparations, the dress, the ring. Poor thing has to *gasp* marry the man of her dreams! The injustice! She is far more concerned about nameless, faceless people mocking her for getting married young than she is about the happiness of the man she claims to love more than life itself. And her treatment of Jacob! Where to begin? This is a good kid had the misfortune to fall in love with her and though I had issues with his manipulation of her emotions at the end of Eclipse, still, he’s a teenage guy and you have to cut him some slack. But come on, Bella! Once she realizes she loves him, but that she loves Edward more, she chooses Edward. Fine. So let the poor guy go! Let him move on with his life! But no, she has to have her cake and eat it too. She hurts both Edward, the one she has chosen, and Jacob, the one she has rejected, by refusing to cut ties with him. She claims to hate herself for hurting him, says at one point that it’s “criminal” to injure him as much as she does, but will she love him enough to let him let go and move on? Nope. She wouldn’t “feel whole” without him, so she continues to cling to him. Even after she’s married. The culmination of this extreme selfish lack of consideration for anyone’s feelings but her own is when she slips and refers to the unborn baby as “EJ”. Did she even think to consider whether Edward would be happy about having his child named after his rival? No, she just did what she darn well wanted to do, and gave no thought to what Edward would want. Bella has become a tyrant. What Queen Bella wants, Queen Bella must have.

Now, a little bit about Edward. He was what made Twilight so magical. He was mysterious, romantic, beautiful, all the many things that the hero of a good book should be. Edward stole the hearts of most of the female readers of this series. Yet, by the time you finish B.D., you find yourself either feeling terribly sorry for him because he chose such a lame heroine, or just contemptuous of him for becoming a doormat, a slave to Bella’s whims. I thought I’d scream if I had to hear him say “If it makes her happy, I’ll do it, even if it’s not what’s best for her” one more time. In B.D., the author sends the message through Edward that love and blind devotion are the same thing. They aren’t. Truly loving someone isn’t giving them free reign to stomp all over you and everything in their path, just because they think it will make them happy. Real love encompasses the occasional appropriate guidance of the loved one away from self-destructive desires toward a better way. But here, we are taught that if you love someone, you let them have what they want, all the time, without exception.

As for the story development, my greatest frustration is that the author created a very intricate world, complete with detailed descriptions of what could and could not happen in it. Then she decided not to play by these rules. Yes, I am referring to the sudden and inexplicable ability of a vampire to father a child. This felt very contrived and unbelievable, and introduced such a bizarre, nightmarish chain of events that I could hardly believe I was reading the story that began as Twilight. This baby feeds on the blood of its mother and slowly sucks her life away? Bella has to drink human blood, while she’s still human, to save her life and the life of her child? And she LIKES IT? This is the same, human Bella that turned green and almost passed out while doing blood typing in Biology class, right? Okay, I could see that her aversion to blood was going to go away after becoming a vampire. But while she was still human? Really? I felt sick the whole time I read about her drinking gallons of blood a day to sustain the child. Bleh. I still don’t get the whole scene where Edward asks Jacob to offer to make babies with Bella. What?!? Again, is this the author’s attempt at showing us the extent of true love? It was twisted and disturbing.

And the delivery of the baby…that was just plain disgusting. Bella vomiting gallons of blood, her bones snapping right and left, blood vessels popping in her eyes, Edward biting into her womb to get the baby out, and the tender moment when mommy sees baby for the first time is marred by said baby taking a bite out of her mommy. Ick! And I’ll just join the legions of people who are saying, “RENESMEE?!?” You’ve got to be kidding. This from the author who tastefully chose names like Edward, Bella, Carlisle, Alice…why didn’t she just name her “Brangelina” or “TomKat”? Or “Bedward?” I will also join the protests against Jacob imprinting on Bella and Edward’s daughter. I could see when the concept of imprinting was introduced that it would be the author’s way of making a happy ending for Jacob at the end of the story, and that was fine. I like a happy ending, and of course I wanted to see Jacob happy. But are we so inflexible that we can’t be happy with Jacob imprinting on a nice, new girl to the story? No, Bella must have her way. She can’t be happy without Jacob as a part of her life. And we’re supposed to feel happy and satisfied that she gets her way in the form of Jacob as her son-in-law? How is that a happy ending?

At the top of my list of grievances is the destruction of the message that was communicated so clearly in the first three books. Once Bella falls in love with Edward, she is confronted with some very difficult choices. If she wants to be with Edward, she must choose to leave human life behind her and become a vampire. The value of Eclipse was that it forced Bella to look long and hard at what she was choosing if she decided to become a vampire. She would have to cut ties with her human life…her mother, father, and everyone human that mattered to her. She could never have children of her own. She would have to deal with the bloodlust of being a newborn vampire. She would spend a significant amount of time developing the self-control and restraint that the rest of the Cullens had achieved. One of the most compelling elements of the first three books is Edward’s angst, his agonizing about the state of his soul as a vampire. He grieves what he sees as the loss of his soul. This is at the heart of his great reluctance to change Bella, the reason for his disappearance in New Moon. All the vampires who have chosen not to feed on humans hate what they have become. They are conflicted about who they are. None of them who remember life as a human can say with conviction that they wouldn’t go back if they could. Bella has to confront all of this and choose to sacrifice the value of her humanity for the love she feels for Edward. All of this is well and good and presents a very thought-provoking storyline. Then, in B.D., every one of these issues is neatly sidestepped in order to create an obstacle-free path to a happily-ever after ending for Queen Bella. First of all, from the moment she opens her eyes as a newborn vampire, everything is better. The world shimmers. She experiences everything so much more intensely, things are more beautiful, more colorful, more wonderful. What’s not to love about being a vampire? Within minutes, she is exhibiting the self-control that everyone else took decades to achieve. And how about the whole I-have-to-have-sex-before-I-become-a-vampire-because-all-
my-human-emotions-will-be-gone-for-awhile? Nope! Not only does she still experience all the emotions and passions she had as a human, but they are intensified! By the time we’re finished reading about Bella’s new life as a vampire, we have to wonder why anyone wouldn’t want to be a vampire. All the build-up for Bella to grow and mature through sacrifice and self-denial, wiped away. So much better for her not to have to suffer through that stuff, right? And she manages to get immortality and a baby, to boot. We have to wonder if everyone who claimed that becoming a vampire was a serious, heavy choice was just delusional. The nobility of the message is sacrificed in order to create a neat, happy ending for everyone.

I haven’t seen much, if any, speculation on what the cover of the book is trying to communicate to the reader, so here’s my take. The big white queen is, you guessed it, Queen Bella, the white vampire. The red pawn is you (or I), the blood-red reader, about to be sucked dry in the wake of the Queen’s destruction. Beware!

I wish Stephenie Meyer had ended with Twilight or at least an extended version of New Moon. I think I’ll be hauling my copies of the last three to the local library as a donation and trying to just enjoy Twilight for what it was before the rest of this mess came into play.(less)

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08/04/08

Meg rated it:

Read in August, 2008

Stephenie Meyer is really starting to piss me off. I'm actually ANGRY at her. Why? Because she's the great untapped potential of our time. She was born with such an innate gift for storytelling. It's uncanny. I mean, as a storyteller, she's one of those six-out-of-five-stars kind of talents. But as long as her writing clocks in at the zero mark, she'll never reach greatness. HER INTERMITTENT GENIUS IS KILLING ME!!! I really love her stories--a fact which embarrasses me... and i...more Stephenie Meyer is really starting to piss me off. I'm actually ANGRY at her. Why? Because she's the great untapped potential of our time. She was born with such an innate gift for storytelling. It's uncanny. I mean, as a storyteller, she's one of those six-out-of-five-stars kind of talents. But as long as her writing clocks in at the zero mark, she'll never reach greatness. HER INTERMITTENT GENIUS IS KILLING ME!!! I really love her stories--a fact which embarrasses me... and it doesn't have to! I could be PROUD of the fact that I love her, if only... Actually, I'm plagued by a long list of "if onlys" as I read her novels. Here are a few:

IF ONLY SHE COULD SERVE THE MAIN DISH WITHOUT A SIDE OF CORNBREAD SMOTHERED IN CHEESE SAUCE. Actually, to say her writing is corny or cheesy doesn't even touch it. Some of Edward's dialogue actually gets the bile rising in my throat. Literally. Maybe you guys go for that kind of stuff, but it makes me want to scream, "Yeah right!" These poor teens addicted to Edward are destined to increase our future divorce rate a hundred fold. Why does that drive me crazy? Because of Meyer's intermittent genius. Every thirty pages or so, she will write a truly touching moment full of honesty and warmth--and absolutely NO CHEESE--and I think to her, "See, Steph! You can do it! Why include all this crap in between???" (I forgot to mention that I sometimes give her pep talks in my head, huh... It's a little weird, but go with it.)

IF ONLY SHE DIDN'T HAVE THAT PER-PAGE CLICHE QUOTA. I'm sincerely convinced she has to include a minimum of five cliches per page or her editors won't publish her. There's no other excuse for it! Aren't you guys tired of things happening as quick as lightening, or reading the way the protagonist's heart breaks into a million pieces, etc.??? I AM! By the time Stephenie wrote that Bella literally began to "see red" when she was angry, I wanted to scream at her, "NO!!! Don't make her see red when she's angry, like she's Sponge Bob or something!!! Why all these cliches??? You obviously have a decent vocabulary and a wonderful ability to craft words, why write the exact same phrases we hear everyday in soap operas??? Why, dear Stephenie, why???" It makes me... (so mad I could spit--or insert any other hackneyed phrase of your own choosing). It's like she doesn't actually write her own sentences. She just cuts and pastes from the worst lines in history. SAVE ME!!!!

IF ONLY I COULDN'T SEE WHAT WAS COMING AS CLEARLY AS ALICE CAN. The plot is so predictable, I feel like I've already written it in my mind. Don't you? Maybe it's just me, but being taken by surprise is one of my greatest thrills as a reader, and in the thousands of Stephenie Meyer pages I have read, it happened only ONCE (page 360 of Breaking Dawn... didn't see THAT one coming and it knocked me flat on my unsuspecting butt... easily the best moment in the whole series). That is positively INEXCUSABLE. Didn't Meyer's beginning writing class instructor tell her to make the list of possible things that could happen and go with the most INTERESTING. He must have said PREDICTABLE that day in his lecture, and that's how she got confused.

IF ONLY ALL HER CHARACTERS WEREN'T MORMON. Obviously Bella, Edward, Jacob and the others aren't Mormon. But she wrote them that way. (Lest someone be offended, let me clarify that *I* am Mormon). They do not talk like real people in the real world. Sorry. They talk like Mormons (with the occasional "damn" thrown in, proving she did make SOME attempt at fighting her natural Mormonness). I'm not saying they need to swear more... I just haven't heard as many euphemistic substitutions since I watched an episode of the classic Batman TV series as a kid. Holy cow! Geez! Golly! It's distractingly corny. She talks like... ME! A Mormon! Each time I turned the page, I half expected Bella to exclaim, "Oh my heck!"

IF ONLY STEPHENIE WOULD EDIT. I'm not talking about the approximately 500 typos that caused me to re-read entire paragraphs in order to understand what was going on (dear fancy publishing company, can't you afford just three anal readers like me to proofread for you???)... I'm talking about WRITER'S editing. It's like Stephenie sits down, turns out about forty pages a day and never looks at them again. Didn't she learn to go back over the writing? To circle the cliches and to-be verbs? To iron out the script so it flowed? To truly CRAFT her writing, instead of just settling for whatever popped into her head first??? (which happens to be brilliant, just not POLISHED). SHE'S KILLING ME!!!

Once again, why is she killing me? Intermittent genius. It's not that she always sucks. I'll read some amazing paragraph and talk to Stephenie again in my head. "Why? Why do you do this to me? You obviously CAN write. SO WHY DON'T YOU????" I love her sense of pacing. I love the way she captures the electricity of crucial moments. Her dialogue is dazzling. There are so many moments of intermittent genius. If she could only be consistently, ridiculously awful. Then I just wouldn't read her.

Aren't you being too hard on her, Meg? YES!!! Yes I am! That's what makes me the angriest of all. I'm reminding myself of this judge I had once in a piano competition. I finished my twenty page solo and he said, "That was very good..." then he leaned forward menacingly and added, "Now why wasn't it PERFECT?" I thought to myself, "Um... because I'M not perfect, maybe..." Then he added, "The first page was perfect. Why wasn't the REST of it perfect?" He then concluded that I must have been lazy, which was far from the truth. I'd almost literally worked my fingers to the bone (see, if I were proofreading my novel right now and read that cliche, I would have replaced it at this point) preparing for the competition.

Am I asking Stephenie to be perfect? NO!!! Just worthy of her own talent! It all came to her too easily. That's the problem. She even admits it herself. She just sat down at a keyboard one day, decided she was going to be a novelist, started writing, then immediately found an editor (who obviously sucks) and a publisher. Instant success! There's a reason why writers usually have to work for it! IT MAKES THEM BETTER AT WHAT THEY DO.

I still haven't read "Host." Honestly, I'm afraid I'll like it. Then I'm afraid that I'll rip out each page one by one in maddening frustration. This is my future Stephenie Meyer plan. Maybe someday, when I stop "seeing red" over reading this last evidence of her wasted potential, I'll pick up another of her books. And I'll read it obsessively in two days, like I always do, because she's a genius. BUT I'LL EXPECT MORE OF HER. We ALL should. And if she doesn't try harder... SOON... I'll stop reading. Because it's just too painful.(less)

Like this review? yes (306 people liked it)

74 comments

02/23/08

Jilly rated it:

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: anyone wanting to spoon their eyes out

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

[pardon any grammatical/spelling errors, I'm not reading this over again--I didn't get much sleep obviously:]

If I could give this book a lower score, I absolutely would. When you create a book series, there tends to be an issue with the next book that comes out in the series having to be better than the last. Of course that is always a possibility for stories such as Harry Potter, where the plot is laced through all of the books and leads to an ultimate climax and resolution in the f...more

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113 comments

08/02/08

Annalisa rated it:

bookshelves: chick-lit, fantasy-sci-fi, young-adult

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: girls who like a happy ending at all cost

I was so disenchanted with Eclipse I wasn't excited for this read, but I had to know how it ends. I held off judgment in hopes that the conclusion would redeem the series. The verdict? Hard-to-swallow soap opera. A car crash you can't stop staring at in hopes that something salvageable comes out of the wreckage. But nothing does. So bad I started taking notes on all the plot holes because I couldn't keep track. What happened to the story that captured the hearts of girls everywhere?

Y...more

Like this review? yes (168 people liked it)

53 comments

06/18/08

Janae rated it:

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Die-Hard Twilight Fans, not appropriate for young teens.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Where do I begin? I LOVED this book. It was even better than I even imagined. So many surprises! I picked mine up at midnight when it was released and could hardly put it down.

So first off...the wedding was beautiful. The honeymoon was even better. Stephenie Meyer did an amazing job of writing a "tasteful" honeymoon scene. It wasn't dirty at all. It was beautiful. You knew they were able to have sex and that there was a definate strong "intensity" durin...more

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40 comments

08/15/08

Jenne rated it:

Read in August, 2008

oh yes, so VERY many spoilers! and unladylike language, sorry.

p.1: god help me. Here we go.

p.8: yep, Edward is already "going overboard" protecting Bella.

p.20: Her parents think it's a good idea for her to marry this weirdo at 18? They never think ANYTHING is a good idea.

p.33: Vampire babies! creepy! in a good way.

p.58: Jacob!

p.72: I swear Bella never just goes anywhere, you always have to DRAG her like a ...more

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43 comments

08/13/08

James rated it:

bookshelves: modern-fantasy

Read in August, 2008

Yes, I gave it 5-stars. This is partly because I was so pleased by it compared to the last two books in the series that I overreacted. But I also approve of her approach to the book and have rated it so highly in order to counteract those reviewers out there who hated it because they felt Bella was a bad example to young girls.

I have a bone to pick with these people. Read some of the reviews on Amazon or GoodReads and you will find a certain type of person who feels that Bella's char...more Yes, I gave it 5-stars. This is partly because I was so pleased by it compared to the last two books in the series that I overreacted. But I also approve of her approach to the book and have rated it so highly in order to counteract those reviewers out there who hated it because they felt Bella was a bad example to young girls.

I have a bone to pick with these people. Read some of the reviews on Amazon or GoodReads and you will find a certain type of person who feels that Bella's character fails as a role model for young women today. Why? Because she, gasp, got married and [SPOILER:] had a child at a young age.

Oh, my, what is the world coming to when young people choose eternal love and devotion! (Oh that more young women could be more like the implausibly articulate yet utterly selfish lead in the movie Juno!) In my favorite example, one reviewer on Amazon claimed it wasn't credible that a girl as young as Bella would feel joy at sensing a baby growing inside her. "I'm 28 and if I felt something moving in me, I would freak," she said, "I can't believe a 19-year old would be happy about it."

Sadness ensues. Women and men from every culture in every era of history have found a tremendous and peculiar satisfaction in their children. It doesn't matter where you believe this instinct came from, it's real and it manifests millions of times over. Should we be so surprised that Stephenie Meyer would be one of the billions who believe this love to be real? Read the author's bio and it becomes clear: She was married at 21 before she finished college and had three children while still in her 20s. But one can hardly call her a "failure" for choosing family first. By all standards she's fabulously successful and wealthy. Plus, she has a college degree (one of the big beefs some people had with Bella's choice to postpone college). Are we really surprised that Stephenie would see the world through rose-colored, happiness-prone glasses when her own life is exactly that, deliriously happy?

Social polemics aside for a moment. The one thing this book lacked was a satisfying climactic, apocalyptic battle royale between the forces of vampire good and vampire evil. I know this book was intended to cap off a romance series, not The Lord of the Rings but there's a reason books of high fantasy all end in cataclysmic bloodshed. It takes a conflict of such dramatic proportions to drive the point of a story deep into our minds. And the point of this story, if you weren't too focused on your own family planning to notice it, was worthy of such dramatic punctuation.

The real point of this book is that we can and should choose love. That despite our personal weaknesses and faults -- our immature attempts at love and our petty jealousies -- we can make important, permanent decisions that will tie us to other people, making their lives and our lives better in the process. The battle I propose -- one I hope sees the light of day in a future novel -- would seal Bella's decisions and the decisions of her family and loved ones in a way that would render their commitments real. Their marital love, their parental love, their familial love, and the love of fellowship with others who share their principles.

Some would have to die to preserve the love they have made immortal. Others would have to kill to do the same. Nothing is more final, especially for immortals. But they would do so to symbolize the triumph of their love over the petty dynasty of the Volturi and thus establish a global movement of vampires that respect human life and restrain their selfish hungers in deference to the greater good. Something that wise humans do every day.

Such a symbolic battle would take this series to the next level. But even without it, this book is the best evidence that Meyer wasn't really writing a sloppy romance saga for misty-eyed girls, but was instead telling a story about the eternal power of love and self-denial. (less)

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08/08/08

Jessica rated it:

bookshelves: 2008

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

It kills me, but I didn't like Breaking Dawn. Disappointment doesn't even begin to cover my feelings, as invested as I have been in this series. It's an extreme reaction, but I have had extreme feelings about these books since I read the very first word.

I have loved these books because they took something that was total fantasy, the world of vampires, and made it seem realistic. I never thought I would have liked a vampire book, but this was never a vampire book to me, it was a book ...more

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06/03/08

Rachel rated it:

bookshelves: brain-candy, cracktastic, fantasy, interpersonal, kids-and-ya

Read in August, 2008

Page 318 - Had her body changed because she was a werewolf? Or had she become a werewolf because her body was wrong? The only female werewolf in the history of forever. Was that because she wasn't as female as she should be?

Okay, it's always been obvious that the only things Smeyer finds important in life are marriage and babies, the younger the better, but what the fuck, y'all. I am beyond disgusted at this. (edit - this is kind of unclear, mostly because at the time of typing ...more

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08/06/08

Abby rated it:

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Breaking Dawn just might be one of the worst books I have ever read. Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse can stand together as a fairly pleasing, lovable trio. Breaking Dawn seems almost unrelated to the series, like some crazed, over-the-top fan fiction. In the first three books, Stephenie Meyer creates this world of seemingly realistic magic – realistic because it is bound by explainable rules, and the characters within the world have retainable qualities from book to book. Though New Moon shows...more Breaking Dawn just might be one of the worst books I have ever read. Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse can stand together as a fairly pleasing, lovable trio. Breaking Dawn seems almost unrelated to the series, like some crazed, over-the-top fan fiction. In the first three books, Stephenie Meyer creates this world of seemingly realistic magic – realistic because it is bound by explainable rules, and the characters within the world have retainable qualities from book to book. Though New Moon shows how utterly weak and pathetic Bella is sans Edward, it seems a natural progression of her needy personality that was introduced during the development of their relationship in Twilight. It seems as if in Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer ran out of ideas for her characters or else decided to completely remake them and ignore the logistics she created for these magical creatures. It might as well have been named Breaking Rules.

First let’s start off with Bella’s personality. Though her aversion to the wedding ceremony is over-done and her self-deprecating attitude by this point is impossibly trite, it seems like the classic Bella. By the time she finishes her honeymoon with Edward, she has gone from being this average teenager who is in love enough to marry her boyfriend but doesn’t want to jump into a marriage for fear of being thought of as “small-town”, to a married, pregnant eighteen year old who is so intent upon keeping her incubus child that she is willing to die so that the thing can live. Oh, and she has also become somewhat reminiscent of a crazed sex-addict. She is annoyed that Edward wants to go out and explore the island with her, snorkeling and hiking and doing fun activities. She would rather just stay in the house and have sex all day, every day, for weeks at a time. That’s disgusting. Also defying any sort of logic is the fact that once she realizes she might be pregnant, it is confirmed by the fact that her stomach has a little bulge and she feels the baby kick. The five-day-old embryo. Right. It’s almost like Stephenie Meyer wanted to stuff five years of normal life into Edward and Bella’s magical existence for the sake of not having to write a fifth book. Although Bella’s pregnancy was a surprise to the vampire world, the event seemed utterly contrived. By the time I finished reading the honeymoon scene, I was having to shut the book to collect myself. I felt my mind had been violated, like Stephenie Meyer had just mind-raped me through nearly 100 pages. I had to force myself to continue reading. It only got worse.

I was annoyed that Stephenie decided to use a whole third of the book for Jacob’s perspective. What sort of structure is that? It’s just a lame excuse to develop the plot from an easier angle. It’s a total cop-out. Why even write a version of Twilight from Edward’s perspective if you can just throw in alternate perspectives wherever it makes things easier? Once Bella becomes pregnant, she ceases to be Bella. We see most of the pregnancy through Jacob’s eyes, and Bella’s stubbornness is annoying. I didn’t even feel compassion or sympathy for her. Edward speaks of it as a “thing”, Carlisle is afraid of it, they say it’s an incubus and not even a real infant, that it eats its way out of its mother’s womb, and yet Bella wants it, is willing to die for it. What? Since when did Bella want to be a mom? Since when did she not care about the whole “small town” image? She doesn’t seem to see how this child could complicate her life, much less end it. Plus, the thing grows at an alarming rate. Within a week or two, Bella’s stomach is large enough that she “cradles it” in her arms. This image disgusted me. First of all, I would rather not imagine a pregnant 18 year old, married or not. Second of all, the logistics of it bother me. Like oh, of course she gets through 9 months of pregnancy in roughly four weeks. Way to go Stephenie, it’s obvious you’re not anxious to speed the plot along or anything. Plus, with Bella’s personality it seems like she would have a hard time wrapping her head around the idea of impending motherhood, let alone be absolutely ready for it in four weeks’ time.

Then the birth – grotesque, disgusting. Edward biting open Bella’s womb to free the child. Um, sick? I can only hope the movie version of this saga ends with Twilight. I can't imagine them trying to dilute the honeymoon scene, let alone the birthing scene. I can just picture the awkward energy radiating in the theatre during a movie like this. I wouldn't be surprised if there were nothing but crickets at the end, moviegoers awkwardly shuffling out of the theatre, avoiding eye contact with those they came with. But moving on, how about the lovely celebrity-coupleish name they burden her with? Renesmee. Gag me. I wonder what Stephenie Meyer was even thinking. And to further her perverted, illogical tirade, Stephenie has Jacob imprint on the infant Renesmee. Wow, didn’t see that one coming. Of course, how perfect for Bella. She can have Jacob in her life AND have him be happy. Wow. Applause. Great solution. Not. I would rather he imprinted on Leah. That would have made much more sense.

Once Bella becomes a vampire, she continues to remain the exception to every rule while being utterly oblivious to the fact. Bella! You’re so under control! Really? I am? What? Bella! You are unusually graceful! Really? Was that jump good? Bella! Your mind can block everything out, you have super powers! And oh, you can conveniently use them to protect the ones you love! Really? Is that good? Am I being modest enough? Gag me. How convenient to the plot that Bella can skip over all the newborn vampire nonsense and just be herself. How convenient that her passions for Edward only intensify. Who needs human experiences? How convenient that Charlie gets to know the Cullens are not human. How convenient that he happily accepts that two months after giving his daughter away, he already has a grandchild the size of a 3 year old. Right. Because infant Renesmee is not nearly as interesting or cute as talking toddler Renesmee who appears to be a baby Einstein that prefers to “show” her thoughts rather than speak them. And suddenly Bella has the mental maturity of a 30 year old mother though she’s still an 18 year old who got pregnant four months ago and has a daughter who is progressing at least 5 times as fast as a normal infant. The whole plot line reminded me of a child who got bored playing the same old story with her Barbies and suddenly decided that Barbie and Ken were going to have a baby, and that baby was born and became a functioning member of the family within two hours of play time.

I was a little hopeful when the Volturi arrived for what seemed to be an inevitable war. I recalled back to when Bella mentioned something about not being able to imagine the Cullens without their head, Carlisle. I thought for sure Carlisle would make some ultimate sacrifice to save Edward and Bella. At least one major casualty would have breathed some feeling into this book other than “everything is perfect because Bella and Edward defy every bit of logic.” But no. In true predictable fashion, Alice returns and saves the day. Bella grows some balls and radiates her “shield” over everyone. Pathetic Bella, the damsel in distress, the one who always had to be protected and saved, now the one protecting and saving everyone else. How convenient. No fighting occurs, Renesmee is assured a life of immortality and will conveniently grow up extra fast for Jacob. Bella and Edward live to have more sex. Everyone lives happily ever after.

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11/01/07

Shannon rated it:

bookshelves: 2008, paranormal, romance, shape-shifters, urban-fantasy, vampires, ya

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'll preface by saying that I did enjoy this book - I love the story overall, and the characters, and the premise and all of that. I don't have a problem with Bella, and it was funny seeing her through Jacob's biased eyes - on the contrary, I like Bella. I wouldn't be able to read these books if I didn't. What really bothers me most about this series are the obsessive fans.

This is one of those series where the obsessive fans take the story away from the author, writing their own vers...more

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08/04/08

Ann rated it:

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Dear lord. "Didn't like it" is a terrible, terrible understatement. I cannot believe I wasted my time with this book. The deeper and deeper I got into the absurdness of it all, I realized what it reminded me of: a bad fan fiction.

Let's start with the *shudder*...pregnancy. GAH! GAH GAH GAH! What was Meyer THINKING, making it possible for Bella to be pregnant? What the hell was she thinking?

Now that I read Meyer's statements more carefully, I realize that ...more

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08/04/08

Lauren rated it:

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Nobody

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I gave Breaking Dawn several days' worth of chances and it did nothing but stun, anger, and disappoint me. I enjoyed the first three books, despite how badly written and full of grammar mistakes and typos they were, because they were fun and exciting and took me away from a sucky year at college. Breaking Dawn, however, was so shockingly awful that I actually burst into hysterical laughter every time something drastic happened. I actually was unable to read it in one sitting like I wanted to bec...more I gave Breaking Dawn several days' worth of chances and it did nothing but stun, anger, and disappoint me. I enjoyed the first three books, despite how badly written and full of grammar mistakes and typos they were, because they were fun and exciting and took me away from a sucky year at college. Breaking Dawn, however, was so shockingly awful that I actually burst into hysterical laughter every time something drastic happened. I actually was unable to read it in one sitting like I wanted to because my brain couldn't handle the ridiculousness for more than an hour at a time.

Not even considering how insanely bad the plot and writing were, the morals the book presents made me wonder how Stephenie even managed to get it published.

Moral #1: Marriage is easy. Bella doesn't have to pay for, take care of, or do anything in the way of keeping her marriage going. Not even touching on the whole Mr. Perfect issue.

Moral #2: The only thing worth staying alive for is sex. Bella never stopped considering her choice to become a vampire until she had sex with Edward and then suddenly wanted to hold back. Crying and begging him to screw her because her happy dream was over? Come on girl, have some pride. Pull yourself together, Bella. Sex isn't everything.

Moral #3: Women are only good for babymaking. "Had her body changed because she was a werewolf? Or had she become a werewolf because her body was wrong? The only female werewolf in the history of forever. Was that because she wasn't as female as she should be?" Are infertile females less female because they can't make babies and that's all women are good for? Stephenie thinks so.

Moral #4: All of your problems will be solved for you, so don't try to fix them. That year of wanting to drink human blood? Don't worry about it, you'll just skip it anyway. That baby who's killing you from the inside? Don't sweat it, Edward will just make you a vampire and then you'll be fine. Annoying cub boy won't fall out of love with you? Chill out, he'll imprint on your babies and then you won't ever have to worry about them getting in the way of your perfect love life again. And that leads into #5...

Moral #5: Pedophilia is okay! Just wait until they get old enough (or in Renesmee's case, wait until they're 6 years old because then they'll look old enough) and you're good to go.

I could keep going with the morals but I feel the need to touch on the fact that the ending was the biggest and most awful cop-out I could've imagined her writing. The other books had incredibly kickass, awesome action scenes that pulled me in and wouldn't let me stop reading. Breaking Dawn just built up and built up and then the Volturi just decided, whatever, no battle. Go home with your mutant baby. See you in six years when she tries to make babies with the werewolf and we get pissed off at you again. There were no struggles. There were a lot of solutions springing from midair and the preparation for sacrifices that were never made.

And that is why Breaking Dawn ruined the Twilight series for me. (less)

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07/06/08

Meredith rated it:

bookshelves: ya

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Meredith by: I'm going to shoot them in the face
recommends it for: a masochist and a moron

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I cannot describe the depth of my disappointment and disgust.
A baby?
A(nother) pedophil-esque imprint?
THIS IS WHAT WE WAITED FOR??
ARE YOU KIDDING ME???
THIS WASN'T AN EPIC NOVEL, IT WAS A CONTAGIOUS RASH.

Everything we came to know (and presumably love) about the characters and the way their stories were told in the first three books completely sh*t the bed in this one. It was impossible to bond with any of the characters in the book, especially Edward, w...more

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08/03/08

Syl rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Airheads

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'd like to start out this review with three simple words that pretty much give away my feelings for this particular story (for those of you who have no desire to read my rant).

I hated it.

My friend --who stayed up reading the night it came out -- called me very early the morning of the 2nd and told me quite a bit of the plot.

I was horrified.

I wasn't even going to read it until she threatened to gouge out my eyes with a plastic spork. Quite hon...more

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04/29/08

Heather rated it:

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: Serious Twilighters Only

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

***DEFINITELY contains SPOILERS***
Sorry so long, but I had a lot to say about the end of one of my favorite series.

This is a hard one. Overall, I got what I wanted – The wedding, Bella’s change, Jacob imprinting, and minimal loss of life. It was the perfect fairy tale ending with a ‘happily ever after’. So I should be happy, right?

To begin with, I think the book was too crowded and rushed. It could have easily been 2 books, giving us so much more...more ***DEFINITELY contains SPOILERS***
Sorry so long, but I had a lot to say about the end of one of my favorite series.

This is a hard one. Overall, I got what I wanted – The wedding, Bella’s change, Jacob imprinting, and minimal loss of life. It was the perfect fairy tale ending with a ‘happily ever after’. So I should be happy, right?

To begin with, I think the book was too crowded and rushed. It could have easily been 2 books, giving us so much more in every aspect. Everything was too neatly taken apart and put back together, and I really think SM could have been more creative with that if she had more time and space for it. It just seemed a little surreal and disjointed. If she had some of these things planned all along, she really should have prepared her readers a little better. Honestly, this book didn’t feel like her writing; in fact, it felt a little shallow. However, there were a lot of surprises and twists, and I was on the edge of my seat throughout a few of the chapters, which is one reason I won't say it was bad.

Bella & Edward – Not enough romance…at least not once the honeymoon was over. Their relationship is my favorite part of the series and it just went forgotten in this book. Part of the reason I read this series is because of the ‘feeling’ I get when I do (you know what I mean), and that was lost after the first 200 pages or so. I’m so happy they got married and she was changed, but it stopped short there…and the rest of the book didn’t really seem to fit with the rest of the series because of this desertion.

Edward – Did he DO something to SM? I mean, I feel like she TOTALLY slacked on his character in this book! I always thought he was her favorite as well, but he was just not a strong character in this book at all. Edward is what made Twilight so ‘magical’ for me. He was mysterious, romantic, beautiful, clever, intelligent; he was everything a knight in shining armor should be. Edward stole my heart by the 4th chapter. So much of that was lost in BD. You almost find yourself feeling sorry for him for becoming Bella’s loyal lapdog. It just didn’t feel right.

Bella – The clumsy school girl turns perfect vampire in record time? Seriously? Where is the angst, sorrow, pain and sacrifice we were expecting? This is what made the love between Bella & Edward so fantastical, their willingness to sacrifice EVERYTHING for each other. Then there is no sacrifice? How is that fair. Everything was just too easy for Bella in this book. I realize now that Bella is SM’s favorite character, not Edward. Bella gets to have the love of her life, amazing human sex, a baby (and we didn’t have an inkling she WANTED to be a mother), and become a super powerful vamp with no ‘newborn’ stage at all (although I was happy to finally discover her immunity to the powers of others is actually a special talent of her own…even though she did gain control over it a little too quickly for a newborn vamp, it’s nice to have an explanation nonetheless). We should all be so lucky. It was very hard to get past how everything worked out so perfectly for Bella. Even the pain during her change was overshadowed by the fact she was capable of hiding it from Edward, she was that strong already. It was actually a little annoying, I guess. The conflict with Jacob is also easily repaired as he falls out of love with Bella the moment he realizes he has imprinted on her baby daughter. But as much as Bella can’t live without Jacob, this news isn’t good news for her; she’s upset that it’s worked out so perfectly for everyone. Like I said, a little annoying.

Renesmee - I actually liked the chapter of Renesmee’s birth the best. I was surprised, shocked, horrified, disgusted, absorbed, hopeful, worried, and much more. I actually felt SOMETHING, which is what was missing the most from this book compared to the others. I am in the minority, I think, in that I was happy to find out Bella was pregnant. Before I realized the fear Edward possessed over this unknown, I thought it would take a different direction. I should have known better. Either way, I still thought the surprise was a good one, and I didn’t focus on the irrationality of a vampire siring a child because, well, come on people, we’re talking fiction…fantasy…supernatural already, our minds should be open to all possibilities. I thought the explanation of why this was ‘possible’ was pretty believable. I also liked her special talent and how it was directly related to the talents of both her parents. However, I am NOT in the minority when I express the opinion that I despise the child’s name. Renesmee? Are you kidding me? Thank goodness Jacob nicknamed her ‘Nessie’ and everyone followed suit, so I had to read that name less. Why not Carlie? I mean, really!

Jacob – I actually liked Jacob more in this book than any other, I think. I was always ‘Team Edward’ when it came to Bella, but I still wanted Jacob to be happy. I kept hoping he would imprint on some nice girl and they would go double date with Bella & Edward. I even started to wonder if Leah was imprinting on Jacob and how that would work? I thought that would definitely be an interesting story line. But no. Things are tidied up nicely and Jacob imprints on Bella’s daughter. Are we supposed to believe this is why they cared about each other SO much, because of his already existent attachment to her unborn child? And now he will become their son-in-law. Does that seem weird to anyone else? I expected this once we found out Bella gave birth to a daughter, but it was still a bit disappointing. I think Jacob could have ended up happy without Bella in a much more pragmatic way, personally.

The Cullens – First I’ll say I missed Alice tremendously!!! I said before BD came out that someone had to die, it just had to happen, and I speculated it would be Rosalie (I was right that someone had to die, luckily I didn't care about Irina one tiny bit). I figured she would be the easiest loss for the readers to swallow. So I was definitely surprised at the more frontline role she actually played in this book, and disappointed that Alice disappeared for so long. I also wish there was more story around the Cullens helping Bella as a newborn. Having her get control so quickly and easily was actually disappointing. I was looking forward to the expanding roles of each Cullen family member helping her through that time with their different strengths. I also wish we’d had more of the other vampire tribes, I thought it was very interesting having them come together with different talents, histories and personalities. I go back to why this could have been two books, one giving the story of the wedding, the honeymoon, the baby, the change, and more of the newborn years…yes, I wanted years; another giving more of the story of these new tribes and the battle against the Volturi.

With all that being said, I want to reiterate that I did enjoy the book and I was very happy with the way it ended. I just wasn’t as pleased with the story leading up to my desired ending. I wanted the ‘happily ever after’, but I wanted it to be more supernatural/vampire/even horror and less ‘fairy tale’ I guess. I hope SM gives us more of our favorite characters though, and that she takes a little more time to do so.
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03/25/08

Elizabeth rated it:

bookshelves: paranormal, recentlyread, ya

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'm going to say right off the bat that this review contains spoilers.

Spoilers ahoy.

I'm not even sure where to start. Should I start with the contrived pregnancy? Should I start with the ridiculous name "Renesmee"? Should I start with Jacob imprinting on the vampire hybrid infant/toddler/whatever of the woman he loves? Or should I go right to the only really good part of the book, which was meeting all the different vampire clans, covens, and nomads, in preparat...more I'm going to say right off the bat that this review contains spoilers.

Spoilers ahoy.

I'm not even sure where to start. Should I start with the contrived pregnancy? Should I start with the ridiculous name "Renesmee"? Should I start with Jacob imprinting on the vampire hybrid infant/toddler/whatever of the woman he loves? Or should I go right to the only really good part of the book, which was meeting all the different vampire clans, covens, and nomads, in preparation for a confrontation with the Volturi, only to have it build up to exactly nothing?

Stephenie Meyers has betrayed her readers on a scale that I have only ever seen from Laurell K. Hamilton. A series about choice and sacrifice has as its final volume an elaborate piece fanfiction that includes every cliche you can think of, in order to tie up everyone's stories with a neat little bow. Now, I am a married woman with a child, but I certainly don't think that's something to hold up to teen girls as something they should have done by age 18. I was never thrilled with the marriage plot, although considering Meyers' background I could have lived with it, but I found the pregnancy plot ridiculous, and worse, a cop-out. Meyers could have created the same conflict with the Volturi by having Bella decided she wanted a few more years of humanity- as she almost does decide, before the pregnancy angle comes into play. She could have resolved Jacob's story by having him fall for Leah- which would have tied up that poor girl's loose ends, too. She even still could have included Bella's change as a method to placate the Volturi, only to be too little, too late. Unfortunately, instead the author seemed to decided to take the most outlandish ideas she could come up with and run with them.

The good: reading the middle section from Jacob's POV. It was refreshing to have a realistic teenage voice and realistic teenage reactions to things. I also appreciated the plot involving the wolf pack, especially Leah and Seth. Unfortunately, this was mitigated by having Jacob's section focus almost entirely on Bella and the pregnancy, and ended with the most horrific delivery scene I've ever read and Jacob's imprinting on baby Nessie (no joke about the nickname, sadly). Another good aspect of the book I already mentioned, which was seeing all the various vampires from around the world, and reading about their interactions. Unfortunately, they came in to prepare for the most anticlimactic scene yet in this series.

Overall, I would categorize myself as horribly disappointed. I'm still shocked that what I just read was the real book and the true conclusion to Edward, Bella, and Jacob's stories. What a waste of 756 pages.(less)

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08/07/08

Jen rated it:

Read in August, 2008

**WARNING SPOILERS!!**

I was prepared to give this version one star about 250 pages ago, but the ending ironically redeemed this installment for me. After reading other comments and reviews, I see I'm in the minority with the ending, but in truth, to me, it was the better part of this book as I saw the rest of it being impossible cheese that was hard to stomach. But let me rewind to my critique of the entire book from the beginning.

I realize the genre of this book: teen ...more

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07/29/08

Heidi rated it:

bookshelves: chick-lit, fiction, humor, lds-authors, series, ya

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I started reading at 12:30 am and went non-stop until 7pm. Meyer totally outdid herself! Best book in the series, bar-none! She created a completely original plot that flowed perfectly with the other books. All of the characters had depth and substance. Jacob was not a brat any more, although he still had moments when he got on my nerves. But I enjoyed the chance to read a few chapters from his point of view.

I had hoped that Meyer wouldn't wait until the end of the book for the wedd...more I started reading at 12:30 am and went non-stop until 7pm. Meyer totally outdid herself! Best book in the series, bar-none! She created a completely original plot that flowed perfectly with the other books. All of the characters had depth and substance. Jacob was not a brat any more, although he still had moments when he got on my nerves. But I enjoyed the chance to read a few chapters from his point of view.

I had hoped that Meyer wouldn't wait until the end of the book for the wedding. But I was also worried about how far she would be willing to write about other things. While it makes the world of difference to me if those things occur in a book after the couple is married, I still believe all of that is personal and private and does not need to be shared in detail with anyone. Even if it's fiction! So imagine my surprise that the wedding took place at the very beginning of the book--in the first 100 pages! And that she handled the whole honeymoon-Bella-still-in-human-state about 97% tastefully. Still a squeak more than I would prefer, but a landslide better than the 3rd book! Later in the story Meyer still handles well Bella's post-human experiences in her "second honeymoon."

Yes! She becomes a vampire only halfway through the book! I had not expected so much of the book to talk about Bella adjusting to this new state of existence. It was fascinating! I'm not advocating the undead or immortality of course. But this is a make-believe story, though it still in a round-about way ties into an LDS theme of eternal marriage. :-) I loved experiencing new vampire life with Bella, because it wasn't anywhere what they had all expected it to be. She took to it like ducks to water! So much fun, and much more enjoyable to see her and Edward in an equal relationship with no reservations. He doesn't have to carry her to get somewhere fast. He doesn't have to worry about her breakable nature. She can finally start fighting for herself and her loved ones. She finds unique talents and skills. And you can FINALLY see that she and Edward did have a relationship beyond just the physical. What a relief.

But the biggest most unexpected and also most exciting twist for me in this book was Bella getting pregnant! I picked up from the very first hint and started thinking, "Absolutely no way!" And do you know how excited I got? I mean, I'd been so angry at Bella for consciously throwing away her ability to have kids because she didn't care. I went to school with too many of those girls, and it hurt even then when I was first learning what was wrong with me. Can you imagine my shock, laughter, and happy surprise to totally connect with a vampire and a female werewolf on this in the book?!?!

And the growth that both Edward and Bella make as they're becoming parents, albeit rather quickly. To see the struggles of both during the pregnancy. The pain and yet the happiness. I'm serious, Meyer wrote that all so well I was feeling all of that, too. I especially loved the scene when Edward could hear the baby's thoughts! Oh, it was so tender! I was just upset that we were in Jacob's point of view at the time because I would have loved to have been in Bella's or even moreso Edward's head. Goodness, and the agonizing delivery. Heart-wrenching scene. And then raising the baby. Both Edward and Bella definitely came into their own I was very opposite from thinking that Bella was shallow anymore. Relief, too. Because I'd pretty much not liked her since chapter 4 of the very first book! I admired her so much by the end of this book. And Edward wasn't all that nauseating anymore either. His love and concern for her seemed more genuine and not all barfy-gooshy. Although, he could have cut down on a few of the "love" nicknames to Bella. Ug.

Oh my word, and the twist with Jacob at the end of his section? Wow! I laughed for 5 minutes when I picked up on what happened there. Absolutely hilarious! But perfect, too. It fit in and connected in places that I just wouldn't have believed. Whoa. Meyer did a fantastic job with that twist.

Overall, I am so happy with the book. Grateful that it my fears and worries were all for naught. So excited to have read a great story and plot with fantastic twists and great characters. Even the minor ones were great. And the big climactic confrontation at the end--but hardly any violence! Totally unexpected and yet totally fitting in with realistic. Well, as realistic as a world with vampires and werewolves can be. I certainly sensed Meyer's joy and faith in love, marriage and family from this book. I do believe she has redeemed her self somewhat. I still find the occasional swear word annoying and completely unnecessary. And since they are so rare, they stand out even more. Annoying! She really shot down my respect for her in the 3rd book, but I think with how Breaking Dawn is written, the entire series overall is worth it. If you are hesitant for the same reasons I am in books, just ask me for a summary and then read the last 4-5 chapters of the 3rd book and you won't miss too much.(less)

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01/12/08

Christine rated it:

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Before Breaking Dawn was released, Stephenie Meyer had a countdown on her website. (stepheniemeyer.com (duh)) My best friend (Sam!) and I spent yesterday flipping between windows to check on said countdown. Needless to say, we were pretty excited.
We really wanted to go to the midnight party, but Daniel threw a wrench in our plans...(he wanted to go, too, but Sam's dad didn't want to take him...Buddy's weird like that). Eventually, we convinced him that he would get it by today (Although th...more