Ok all you Twilight fans out there... I'm sure many of you have finished Breaking Dawn by now, and if you haven't, bookmark this post to come back and leave your thoughts when you're done. I am dying to know what everyone thought about this book.WARNING... MAJOR SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW! PLEASE DON'T CONTINUE IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE BOOK YET!!
I admit, that I have gone online, and looked at MANY responses from people young and old, and the only reviews that I am surprised by, are the ones that say they "absolutely LOVED it!". Ok, so first off, I will say that I didn't HATE the book. There were parts that I enjoyed, and there were parts that I hated, and then there were parts that were somewhere in-between. I really enjoyed the first book. I was glad that Edward and Bella got married, and more than that, I was glad that she wasn't a total whiner the entire time. She was actually happy to be married, and it was so sweet, lovey and romantic. The honeymoon was great, and then... she turned into a total crazy person with her pregnancy. At first I was so excited that she was pregnant (even though it's even more impossible than many other things in this series), because I always wanted to see Edward as a dad, but then once I saw what it was doing to her, and that she was possibly putting others in danger because of it, and that she was drinking blood... through a straw!!!???!!!... I thought that she was a moron. But then of course, you see that she was inspired, or whatever. I still wasn't satisfied with Edward getting to be a dad, because they didn't even get to grow together as a couple, and experience all the challenges of having a new baby, and having to change it's diapers, and get spit up on, etc. Renesmee (the stupidest name in all of history, by the way. How do you even pronounce it?) was pretty self reliant, and then all of the sudden, Edward and Bella are like an old married couple, it was weird! I did like it from Jacob's perspective though, he is funny and made me laugh, which was good, because the information he was presenting was so far fetched, I think it would have only made the situation more annoying coming from Bella.
After the craziness of all the baby stuff...
I was excited that Jacob imprinted on Nessie, then that whole relationship and love triangle made sense and came together, and Jacob was happy. Of course, that also meant that Bella didn't really have to sacrifice ANYTHING for true love... NOTHING! She got to have a child, got to keep her father and Jacob around, didn't have to struggle being a newborn, and of course, just happens to have the most amazing super power??... PA-LEASE! I understand that these were all things that we wanted her to have. It made me sad to think that she wouldn't be able to have a family, made me sad to think of her not seeing her dad or Jacob, etc. I guess the problem I have, is that it all just came together a little too perfectly... it was too convenient, and basically sounded like she was just pulling stuff from her rear. (like, oh yeah, FYI, vampires can impregnate humans, and FYI, half human half vampire children totally exist, and don't worry, Alice knows exactly where to find them and of course makes it back in the exact right moment). I know that the whole series is fictional and impossible, but I think what most of us loved about the first 3 books, was that even though it was impossible, she almost made it seem like it could be possible, and you wanted it to be possible. But this whole book was just super crazy.
I actually like Bella as a vampire. I forgot how much I had wanted to see what she would be like as one, so was excited when we got to see that. I was a little disappointed in the change in hers and Edward's relationship... he was no longer her hot and sexy protector, but her equal. They just seemed so different to me, definitely not the "Edward and Bella" relationship that I loved. I mean, Edward tearing Bella's uterus open with his teeth, is not exactly romantic to me.
Then... the fight-that-wasn't, at the end... huge let down. I know no one wanted anyone to die, but the end was seriously boring. I wanted suspense and action. From the moment Bella discovered she could extend her shield, it was totally predictable. I wanted to see Edward in some serious vampire action. Oh well, the book is what it is, and I will have to take it for what it's worth. At least there was resolution, I can give it that much. I will say though, that after I finished it, the whole series felt so different to me, almost like I couldn't remember the characters that I had fallen in love with. So I am now re-reading Eclipse, so that I can get a little of that feeling back. Hopefully I will like Breaking Dawn better the second time around, but as Nate has forbidden me from reading it again until we move, I guess I will have to wait to find that out. I hope I didn't put a damper on the book for anyone, or ruin good feelings you had, I just had to share my opinion. Feel free to put me in my place... nicely!
So please, leave your comments and thoughts, as I am dying to know what all of you thought. If you loved it, please share and please tell me why. Like I said, it's not that I didn't like it, it just wasn't what I thought it would be, or as good as it could have been, and, it was seriously crazy. But I am still a devoted Twilight fan, so no worries there, just a little disappointed. Ok, now...
Discuss!
13 comments:
I actually really enjoyed Breaking Dawn while I was reading it, but the more I read other reviews and the more I think about the book, the less thrilled I am by it. I'm rereading the other ones now - half way through Twilight again - and it's even more clear how weird and not the same BD was. Alas.
that's actually kind of how i was too. i enjoyed it enough while reading it, although very differently from the the other books. but when i finished, just wasn't satisfied, and had to think of why i wasn't.
Okay, so i probably won't make this very long, because I have already spent too much time on this book. Yes, I liked it, but I kept hoping it would be like the rest of the books - somehow - so that's why I kept reading. It was like reading a second rate novel -don't get me wrong, they can be good, but predictable and sort of okay, and clearly - not real. I agree about liking the other books because while we knew they were fake, they seemed so impossibly real, and here, I could take it or leave it. I just wish she'd kept with the true spirit of it all. I think all of those things could have happened, but wouldn't it have been cooler if there was a little drama associated with the coolness? Sort of anti-climactic.
And seriously? A 25 chromosomer mating with a 23 chromosomer? We can't even cross-breed animals that have the same number of chromosomes, let alone different ones.
I hadn't really been able to touch what made me feel weird about this book until reading your opinion. I totally agree with what you said. I think that it was good... but it could have been better. It seemed like she was hurrying to get it out and finish the story. I think that she could have made 2 more books and made a lot more like the other books. I did love her love scenes, I think she did that really tastefully and I have to admit that it was about time that they did it!:) (I'm glad they waited till they were married... blah blah blah) Even though it was so weird that she became prego with Edward's baby it was kind of predictable. My sister called everything that was going to happen. I do think it was so cute that even though they seemed like "old married people", while she was pregnant a bit of the Edward we loved came shining through when he was so worried about her and asking Jacob to give her a baby if that's what she wanted. Who does that?? Only Edward would be selfless enough for that. Anyway, I have mixed feelings about it. I am glad no one dies, but like you, a little disappointed with the ending. Stephenie Meyers did say that this is the last book for Bella, so she might come out with more on Jacob and Renesmee.
ya, i didn't totally love it... i mean i did enjoy it and i had fun reading it, but mostly i was just disappointed with the end... all that build-up with no fight? i just don't think it makes a good story unless there are sacrifices. everyone living happily ever after doesn't really cut for me personally.
OK, so I actually really liked this book a lot...maybe I'm just a sap, but I liked that it ended happily. So here are some of my thoughts about your thoughts...child birth is not the most romantic thing in the world for anyone, so that didn't bother me. It was gross, but it just made me think about when doctors do emergency c-sections, so I wasn't bothered too much by that. There was the drama in the beginning with her being pregnant, etc and Jacob imprinting...I would have liked to know the histories of the new vampires that came into the picture. There were so many of them that I just wanted to know what was up with that...I needed more to the story in some parts too, like, what were the Volturi thinking when they were deliberating? I wish we could have heard more of what Edward heard. I was thinking the ending was a little anticlimactic in that there was no fight. I also think that she could have added more to the story and made it into two books. That would have been fun...like a little cliff hanger that happened at the end of New Moon with Victoria, etc. I also don't really believe that the Volturi would have left just like that for reals. It seems to me that it's more in their character to just obliterate everyone that stands in their way to power. So those are my thoughts on the subject. I liked it, but I wish that there was more to the ending with the fight (either more action or more information or both). Michael also loved the book.
I love me a happy ending and good closure! So I really liked the book. Some parts were a little rushed and I wished she would have gone into more detail but overall I thought it was a good read.
Well, I have to second the comments of everyone else. I have to say that I did still enjoy the book, even with all of the mediocrity. Her writing has improved, but her constant use of contractions with the 'd drove me nuts! The ending was waaaaay anticlimactic. As the book progressed, I was able to peg the outcome of every situation. It became totally predictable; however, I was still holding out a glimmer of hope that the ending would have more action and excitement to it. Too bad for us it didn't. I still am a sap for the romantic though.
i know that having a fight in the end would have been exciting (i guess), but then it would have been just exactly like her other books. theres a problem, a fight, and then they triumph. i personally liked how myers mixed it up. it made the story different, interesting, and it ended happily like we all love. and i thought bellas power was so cool! i dont know about you, butr i was expecting it to be something way more obvious like x-ray vision or something. but it wasnt and i liked how it was all put together at the end. it was good. stop trying to find things that are wrong with it!
-Hailey
Hails~ I'm not TRYING to find things wrong with the book. When I finished, I was seriously bummed and disturbed. you think i want to have problems with the book? anyway, i already think i will like it more the second time around. i have been reading eclipse again, which by the way, i forgot how good it was, and i think it will be better to have the book fresh in my mind this time around. and i like a happy ending as much as the next person, but i like an earned happy ending. and of course i glad they have their happy ending, i just wish it would have come about a little differently. but like i said, i think it will be better the second time!
I am still laughing at your description of Edward ripping Bella's uterus open. I try not to think of that part - although I thought that scene was really good. Basically, my thoughts are that I liked the book. It still kept my attention to the point that I couldn't focus on anything else until I finished it. However, I agree with what bothered you too. I was getting so annoyed with Bella's self sacrificing I wanted to puke. Who is honestly like that! But in the end, although I wanted more action and suspense I was kindof glad that it all tied up nicely into a perfect package and I could put the series away and not think about it anymore. I hate when I book ends and it doesn't feel over. Stephenie made sure this story was perfectly done. Although, one of your other comments said maybe a book about Reneesme (seriously worst name ever ever - no one likes to read a word they can't pronounce!) and Jacob. Anyways - I liked reading your thoughts on the book.
Okay, so I didn't comment originally when you posted this because I hadn't read them... but there has been so much hype that I read them all last week and I have to say that maybe I'm the only one that feels this way, but I didn't like the first three AT ALL, and the fourth one was much more tolerable... probably because it DIDN'T feel like the first three to me :) It was weird that it was so supernatural and X-men-like at the end with all the freaky powers, but the author didn't bother me as much (neither did Bella) as she did in the first three. So that's my opinion, I still don't even see why people like the first ones ;) All in all, I don't think I'm that impressed with Stephenie Meyer... she's only an okay author in my eyes.
I finally got around to reading the book, and I am glad to know that I wasn't the only one who felt the way I did about the book. I read it really fast - in about 2 1/2 days - so I could go to a Twilight party and not have anything given away, and I thought maybe reading it so fast was why I didn't really enjoy it, but it seems like most people I have talked to felt the same way. The problem I had with the book is that I am a HUGE Jacob fan, and I kept secretly hoping things could work out with him, so when the book started out immediately with her getting married, it basically took away all the suspense of that love-triangle. I really liked Jacob because he was much more "real." He was more raw, prone to mistakes, etc, and he totally adored Bella. Anyway, I thought there was a lot of character development in the first books, which made you fall in love with them, but this book just felt like it was throwing all the pieces together, with no real emotion, and no sense of feeling connected to the characters. It felt like she wrote this book with a deadline and was hurriedly trying to get through it. There were several parts that I thought were drawn out that didn't really have any impact on the story. For instance the whole thing with J.Jinks or whatever. That went on and on, but in the end it didn't even matter. She could have got her point across in some other, shorter way. I was also disappointed in that she kept throwing in swear words - I don't remember that in the first books. Also, although she was fairly "clean" with the sex scenes, there was just too much obsession with it, and it felt too much like she was trying to fit in more with what the world wants from a book and not standing above that. I could go on and on I think, but overall it was definitely disappointing and I'm just not as excited about the whole series anymore. I hope the movie turns out to be good, though!!
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