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August 11
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New comment on Lisa's review of
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4)
(see all 3 comments)
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August 09
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Lisa
gave
 
to:
Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4)
by Stephenie Meyer
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in August, 2008
Lisa said:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
My brain pulled me out of Stephanie's world of make believe when Bella conceived. I cannot make any sense out of her conclusions that a male vampire can father a child, yet a female vampire cannot conceive. Umm, let me count the ways this does not work for me - mostly it doesn't work because sperm have to live in a warm enviornment, not too hot and not too COLD!!! And of course, I suppose I should just turn my brain back off at that point because I AM reading about VAMPIRES! What's a little fact about science got to do with anything at that point. ;-)
Next, I knew that Jacob would end up imprinting on someone in this story as it was the only way to really ease his pain and give him a happy ending. As the story progressed I kept hoping he would imprint on Leah. I know they had already seen each other plenty of times and that the imprinting should have happened if it was to happen at all, but I thought that perhaps Jacob was just too hurt to see what was in front of him, and he just needed to let go of Bella, and then he would be able to see that he was really made for Leah. And also that Leah just needed to be away from Sam long enough to realize what a great guy Jacob is, and that he should be her mate. The story line led me along this train of thought as Leah and Jacob started getting along, having deep conversations and accepting each other's points of view - there just seemed to be a romance building there - and what great babies they would make getting the wolf gene on both sides! I was VERY disappointed with that outcome! It was creepy enough when one of the other wolves had imprinted on a small child, even though there was nothing pedifilish about their relationship, it was weird and Jacob could see that before he imprinted on a baby hybrid! Creepy. (And BTW RENESMEE?!! You have got to be kidding me!! It's sweet that she wanted to honor the two mothers in her life, but really couldn't she have just named her Renee Esme or better yet Esme Renee? Renesmee is the worst name ever, and made it very difficult to read the book. Someone really needed to talk some sense into that girl - Bella AND Stephanie!)
I have loved the other books in this series, and despite being in Jacob's camp, I knew that Edward and Bella would end up together, and I was good with that - despite the fact that neither one of these great guys really should have been in love with her to begin with. Bella has big time self-esteem issues, and I understand that is part of the draw of the book because as readers most of us have had, or do have, issues in which we don't believe we are the wonderful people that we truly are, and it is our dream to have someone believe in us and fight for us. That said, I think Edward's character wasn't as wonderful in this book, he was more shallow somehow, although I can't explain it. He was 17 again, not the wise 107 year old he was in previous books. Also, I believe that Edward lost his backbone when he got married. However, that said, I've just remembered some of my own experiences being pregnant and sometimes there is no reasoning with a pregnant woman, and it is best to just back off and say "yes dear." But the idea of Edward being so desperate as to tell Jacob to offer Bella stud service was outrageous! I can't believe the editors let that one through!
And lastly, the battle at the end of the book was disappointing. There was a lot of build up to it and the battle was resolved too easily. Certainly after all the trouble Alice put into getting a criptic message to Bella to get Jacob and Nessie ready to run, they should have at least run, even if they were back soon after. I understand the authors point that the bad vampires were just a bunch of bullies who don't really like to fight but want to put on a big show to scare everyone into giving them their lunch money, but please, it was just too easy. Certainly Bella couldn't protect everyone - life happens and we can't protect everyone from it, but again, time to turn off the brain and remember this is fiction!
Okay, now that all MY issues are out there, I have to say that I didn't dislike the book so much as to put it down and never pick it up again. I enjoy the romance between Edward and Bella, and wish them a happily ever after, however, if I were clever enough to come up with the whole idea I would have written it differently, and perhaps it wouldn't have been as successful. In the future, I'll probably buy the next book in the series, and hope that Stephanie Meyer's writting is as fabulous as it was in Twilight. Here's to hoping - *clink* (that was a toast made with apple cider! ;-))
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Lisa
read and liked
Syl's
review of Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4):
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
I hated it.
My friend --who stayed up reading the night it came ou...more
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 honestly, I'm starting to wish I'd agreed to the spork idea. I haven't even been able to finish reading it (not in the 'I'm-a-slow-reader' sort of way either... more in the 'I-have-to-take-a-break-every-few-pages-to-retain-my-sanity' kind of way)
I wont even go into the whole awful message stuff -- and their is quite a bit of awful messages. Truthfully, I'd be totally happy to over look all the imprinting shit along with the married and pregnant at 18, the way Bella can't survive without a boyfriend (be it Edward or Jacob), or... well never-mind, you get the point. I'd overlook it, if the plot had been good. Quite frankly, calling all the nonsense in that book plot would be pushing it a little bit.
Now, I have no problem with Mrs. Meyer's writing style -- in fact, I think she's a very good writer. She has the potential of writing a great book if only she put more thought into her plot. I was kind of hoping that there'd be some big, dramatic plot tie-up -- like Harry Potter. JK Rowling had obviously thought about her plot -- in fact, the plot of all the stories came together for the ending. It was brilliant.
That was obviously not the case here. I felt almost like I was reading a bunch of half-hearted fan-fiction -- 600-plus pages at a time. None of the four books had much to do with each-other, save for the characters (scratch that, the characters might as well have been different people for all I recognized them in the end), and Bella's wish to have sex with Edward and then be turned into a vampire. I mean no offense to fan-fiction.
I read this book with very little expectation because I didn't much like the 2nd, or the 3rd installment of the series. Somehow, I still managed to be very disappointed. I can't even begin to imagine the utter horror of someone who'd actually expected it to be good.
Another one of my huge complaints: the Characterization. Where oh where did it go? We were getting some in the first book -- as in the character's actually seemed a bit like real people -- but it slowly began disappearing. You can't even relate to Bella because she's so... irritating/whiny/clingy/dependent/indecisive/totally unreal. Pick a word -- they all work.
My main complaint: the Short Cut -- and by that of course, I mean the baby. Because, admit it! The baby was just a way to wrap up the series and tie it with a pretty, red bow. Jacob gets his girlfriend (never-mind the fact that she's Bella's daughter and less then a year old), and Edward gets to turn Bella into a vampire, guilt-free. I can't even begin to express my unhappiness for this particular plot development.
I was shocked when I found out Bella was pregnant -- though, it was more of a 'Please shoot me now and spare me' kind of shocked. I honestly thought (hoped) that it wouldn't happen because it was so unrealistic. Hell, she didn't even try very hard to make it seem plausible. ::cries:: I wanted to see Bella freak out -- because come on! She's 18, just married, and has never expressed any desire to have children of any sort (much less mutated half vampire children). Add in the fact that the baby was totally unplanned and is slowly killing her... But nope, no biggie -- her heart just "swells to twice it's normal size" -- and here I'd hoped that that was the start of a heart attack or something.
Mrs. Meyer's totally screwed over her own rules -- from start she'd made it quite clear that vampires could NOT have children. Now, while I am aware that Bella isn't a vampire so ok, sure, it's possible that could work... she could have done way better. Couldn't they have introduced the possibility sooner? Like Charlisle could have brought it up? Or Edward could have worried about it? Then it would have seemed more realistic. The two sentences it used to explain the pregnancy revealed it as the desperate short-cut it was.
Also, I just have to say... Bella would NOT make a good mother. This is the girl who jumped off a bloody cliff just to hear her boyfriend's voice. Honestly, she should probably work on protecting that poor baby from herself. Perhaps it's lucky that Jacob imprinted on it? Maybe together they can work on not dropping it on it's head?
The name also needs to be mentioned (though I promise it will be briefly). Why would they name their daughter after the Loch Ness Monster? If it knew, I'm sure the poor thing would be insulted (the monster, not the kid).
I totally see the attraction of this series, it represents every teenager's dream romance -- I really wanted to like it, but Mrs. Meyer made it a bit difficult for me.. Every book became steadily worse -- and every single fan-fiction mistake can be found on the pages of this series, horribly enough. You know the author doesn't know their character well enough when the readers begin to complain about them being out of character.
I hate to rain on the parade and all that, but I really did dislike the book. It was slow and boring and the (very small) plot-line was much too drawn out for it to be anything but a painful read.
Promising... but overall very disappointing.
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Lisa
read and liked
Karene's
review of Breaking Dawn (Twilight Series, Book 4):
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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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July 21
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Lisa
read and liked
Ginnie's
review of The Tao of Pooh:
"Somehow I got linked to the audiobook version by mistake. Even now after inputting the correct ISBN I am linked to a paperback edition. Before I dare pasting in my hard drive notes, I'll have to do some Goodreads librarian prowling. Some success ...more
Somehow I got linked to the audiobook version by mistake. Even now after inputting the correct ISBN I am linked to a paperback edition. Before I dare pasting in my hard drive notes, I'll have to do some Goodreads librarian prowling. Some success I got the correct cover but the ISBN, publisher and date still refer to the paperback. Ah, to hell with it. Back to my review notes.
This cute book combines the Taoist philosophy in conjunction with Pooh's interractions with his friends, with Christopher Robin being the kind but serious teacher who tries to teach Pooh about what he represents--Taoism.
In contrasting Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, Confucius is described as a sour-faced man, Buddha as one with a bitter expression, but Lao-Tse being the smiling one. Basically, the laws that govern the heavens are the same one that govern earth and man, and that if we go with the flow, we'll be in harmony.
The concepts of wu-wei is also explained. Wu-wei means "not doing" but of doing nothing against the natural flow. Here, it's called the Pooh Way, because Pooh has a "mind that merely sees what's in front of it, and follows the nature of things." In other words, put the round peg in the round hole, the square peg in the square one.
The characters who make up Pooh's friends demonstrate the flaw of knowledge and cleverness, and I was fascinated and sobered by this because their personalities reflect me, and I realize the bad side in knowing too much.
Dig this: Owl, the modern equivalent of a Confusionist, Dessicated Scholar, is described as someone who gains Knowledge for Knowledge's sake, or for the sake of appearing wise. A bit harsh because that's me to some extent. Rabbit is described as someone who gains Knowledge for the sake of appearing Clever, and I had to wince, because to my shame, I fully admit that's also me to some extent. And Eeyore is someone who gains Knowledge for the sake of Complaining. Given my political stance, yes, me too again. And as Pooh says in response to Owl having a brain, "I suppose that that's why he never understands anything." Maybe that's my problem too.
But Pooh, the lucky bear, may not have much of a brain, but he embodies the Simplicity of the Uncarved Block, the Taoist equivalent of John Locke's tabula rasa (blank slate). Basically, Pooh can't describe the Uncarved Block, he just IS it. "That's the nature of the Uncarved Block."
And he's got the right idea in not being a Bisy Backson, or (Busy Back Soon), you know, rush-rush-rush. I wonder why we don't have an American equivalent of a French sidewalk cafe or Chinese teahouse. Now that I'm getting on, maybe I value the message of "You're important. Relax and enjoy yourself."
A cute book on the explanations of Taoism, and how maybe simplicity, wisdom (as opposed to knowledge) and contentment is the best way to go. But it makes me wish that I was a tabula rasa or an Uncarved Block once again. Oh, just to be, not to know or be clever, but just to be.
But be warned Ten years later the author came back with The Te of Piglet ostensibly about further virtues of the Tao but in reality a paranoid rant against the modern world, women, scientists, critics, technology, businessmen, microwave ovens, negative viewpoints, unhelpful opinions and bad thoughts and anything else that pushes his buttons. Some Way to Peacefulness! Avoid like the plague....less
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Lisa
gave
to:
The Host: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Stephenie Meyer
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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read in July, 2008
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July 12
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New comment on Ali's review of
The Heavenly Surrender
reply to this comment
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Lisa
gave
to:
The Heavenly Surrender (Paperback)
by Marcia Lynn McClure
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my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
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recommended to Lisa by:
Jill
read in July, 2008
Lisa said:
"What a great read. Predicable but very enjoyable! Couldn't put it down.
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July 10
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Lisa
read and liked
Melinda's
review of Austenland:
"I crept quietly up the dark stairway, entered my room and tried my very best to shut the door silently behind me. It thudded despite my best efforts and I cringed, but Phil didn’t stir in his 3 o’clock-in-the-morning slumber. I sighed, relieved...more
I crept quietly up the dark stairway, entered my room and tried my very best to shut the door silently behind me. It thudded despite my best efforts and I cringed, but Phil didn’t stir in his 3 o’clock-in-the-morning slumber. I sighed, relieved.
I felt so entirely sneaky. I felt as if I had cheated and there was a sting of guilt as I looked at the distorted red figures on the alarm clock through the empty glass on the night stand. “Please don’t wake up and look at what I see” I silently begged to the shadowy outline that was Phil. He didn’t. I climbed into bed and gave up all caution trying to snag a bit of the blanket so tightly wound around him. He turned over, releasing his tight hold on the blanket, and rested his leg on mine- still asleep. I relaxed and tried to sleep… but after reading for 5 hours on end- my mind was a frenzy of literature and as I closed my eyes, I could see words giving description to my every action.
From the satisfying moment I closed the book that I’d begun only hours prior and ascended to the sleepy second floor of our home- my motions were narrated perfectly in my head. I laughed it off, and enjoyed the silliness of my thoughts. It reminded me of how Phil had once told me about a fishing trip with the guys’. They’d spent so many hours cleaning their vast catch that when he went to bed he continued cleaning fish behind his closed lids. That had to be what was happening to me, luckily it was prose and not smelly fish guts stealing my rest!
Finally, I did sleep, though it was a heavy, dreamless-sleep. It is rare thing, for me, not to dream. It was as though I had traded, for the night, my own colorful, unpredictable imagination for the author’s. I needed no dreams or contemplations tonight.
So, this is my curse. I cannot pick up a good book and put it down, I must read it’s entirety before I can rest. I had gotten the call from the library yesterday afternoon that the book I had requested from a neighboring library had come in. Yes, yes… another Shannon Hale masterpiece, if you must pry! I wasn’t so sure I would like this one. I like Jane Austen, but wouldn’t call myself a fan (yet). I haven’t read any of her books, and while I enjoyed some of the movies based on them, I hesitate to admit I’d felt they were dry and hard to follow at times.
So, I used the excuse that I needed to return a few of the books (which, I had only borrowed last Friday), so I could sneak over to the Library on my way to work. I don’t know why I felt the urge to keep this a secret. Phil doesn’t mind in any way, that I love reading. Perhaps it heightened the appeal and experience of reading it? I knew if I worked quickly I could have time to begin the book before heading home, and how wonderful a thing- to read without any interruptions.
Maybe that’s just what it was. If I am openly preoccupied with something- it’s a trigger. That is when everyone needs some-thing! So, I read the book from start to finish, unburdened by distraction.
And why am I publishing these thoughts to a review? Does anyone actually care? Probably not so much- but I had the urge to type out my own thoughts to cleanse my eyelids so that I might relinquish my own dreams tonight.
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