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Aug
04
Book Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
2008 at 10pm Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
I did it! I read Breaking Dawn and lived to tell about it. And while I still don’t really care for these books (click here for my review of Eclipse), I thought this one was better than the previous three. Since the results of my poll regarding how much detail to include in this review were inconclusive, I’ll start by talking about my reactions to the book, then I’ll move on to the spoilers so those of you who want to avoid them can.
The book opens with Bella & Edward’s wedding mere days away. I was really glad that Meyer decided to jump right into this instead of allowing Bella to wallow in her indecision and dragging the pre-wedding craziness out for too long. Since it happens in the first couple chapters, I’ll go ahead and tell you that they go through with the wedding, and everything happens pretty smoothly. Bella’s gushing descriptions of Edward’s appearance and her endless discussions of how irresistible he is annoyed me from the very first page, but, all in all, it was an OK opening.
After Bella narrates the first 200ish pages, Meyer switches points of view to allow Jacob to narrate. I think this change is part of what made the book slightly more palatable than the previous three. It was nice to get out of Bella’s head, to hear about Jacob’s experiences in the pack from his own point of view, and to have a change of pace. I think Ms. Meyer made a good call on that one. I can’t say much more without giving away important plot points, but by the time narration switches back to Bella, major changes have taken place, and it’s nice to hear from her again.
Though she seems to be trying to build toward the climax during the last 150-200pages of the book, Meyer fails to create the proper amount of tension. I didn’t really feel compelled to keep reading, and I was disappointed by the ending. Rather anti-climactic, if you ask me. I had imagined something much grander (and, honestly, something much more ridiculous), and I think I actually would have preferred it. I’ll be giving this one 3 out of 5.
AND NOW, FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW, HERE ARE THE READERVILLE CLIFFNOTES TO BREAKING DAWN–SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
So, Edward and Bella get married, and things go according to plan. He whisks her off to a private island (that, of course, his family owns) for their honeymoon, where they finally have sex, though Bella ends up with enough bumps and bruises to make Edward reticent to try it again. But they persevere and continue doing what newlyweds do.
A few weeks into the honeymoon, Bella starts feeling sick and really hungry all the time. Ravenously hungry. And she’s gaining weight. Noticeably. After doing some quick calculations, she concludes that, despite everyone’s belief that she and Edward could not conceive, she must be pregnant. After they freak out about the sheer existence of the pregnancy, Edward and Bella realize that something else must be going on if she’s already visibly pregnant after just two weeks. They rush home to Forks, Washington, where Edward’s “father” Carlisle, who is a doctor, confirms that Bella is pregnant…then Jacob starts narrating.
We learn from Jacob that Bella’s pregnancy is progressing amazingly quickly–she’s getting bigger and bigger by the day, and the baby seems to be developing at an amazing rate. It also seems to be sucking the life out of her, quite literally, as she becomes weaker and weaker while it takes over her body. After they’ve tried everything they can think of, it occurs to Jacob to suggest, albeit sarcastically, that maybe, since the baby is part vampire, what it really wants is blood. So, they make Bella drink blood (ew!), which turns out to be exactly what the baby wants, and the pregnancy continues progressing way beyond the normal rate.
When Jacob shares this news with the other werewolves, Sam, the leader, concludes that because the Cullens have, in a way, created a new vampire, they have broken the treaty and should be attacked. He riles up the pack and convinces them to seek vengeance on the Cullens and kill the creature living inside Bella because it represents a threat to his tribe and the humans living in the surrounding areas.
After Sam pulls rank to force Jacob into complying with the plan, Jacob remembers his birthright as the true heir to the Alpha position and breaks off from the pack. Though he intends to warn the Cullens and then set out on his own, his plans are foiled when Seth and Leah Clearwater break from the original pack and ask to join him. Jacob finds himself an unlikely and unwilling leader.
As the creature continues to grow inside Bella, it becomes increasingly active and violent–its movements leave her covered in bruises and with several broken ribs, and she and the Cullens begin to acknowledge that she may not survive the birth. Of course, this is where the possibility of turning her into a vampire and saving her from imminent death becomes appealing. All the while, the Cullens have been telling Charlie, Bella’s father, that she contracted a horrible disease on the honeymoon and has been quarantined in the house until they can cure her.
And so it goes. Bella goes into labor and nearly dies giving birth to the creature that turns out to be half-vampire, half-human. As he watches his wife dying, Edward injects his venom directly into her heart and gives her gentle bites all over her body, and the change begins. Narration switches back to Bella, as we see her spend three days “burning” through the transformation, and she emerges just as beautiful as her fellow vampires. She also gets to meet her half-human, half-vampire daughter, who, it turns out, is continuing to grow and develop much faster than a normal child. Case in point: she says her first word when she is just one week old.
Bella quickly learns that Renesmee (she combined the names of her mother, Renee, and Edward’s “mother,” Esme) has another way of communicating as well–she was born with a gift similar to those that Edward, Alice, and Jasper experience. Renesmee can share her thoughts and memories by touching others with her tiny hand. Though she is not venomous, she does prefer blood over human food, and she has extreme physical capabilities beyond those of a normal newborn.
It turns out that Renesmee isn’t the only one showing advanced skills, as the Cullens notice that Bella exhibits none of the impulsiveness and lack of control typical of newborn vampires. She is able to stop herself from hunting humans, even when presented with very desirable scents, and she begins to appreciate her newfound strength and her special ability to “shield” her mind and keep others’ powers from affecting her. And she also really (and I do mean really, quite graphically) enjoys the opportunity to have sex with Edward without worrying about either of them getting hurt. The fact that they don’t need sleep is also helpful in this. Ugh.
Things seem hunky-dory for a while, until Jacob imprints on Renesmee–yep, she actually went there–causing Edward to freak out, and the Volturi get word that the Cullens have created an immortal child (another vampire saw Renesmee and believed that one of the Cullens had bitten and turned a human child). Alice foresees that the Volturi will come, and she and Jasper break from the family in order to protect themselves and their loved ones.
Knowing that the Volturi will need to see strong evidence that Renesmee is not, in fact, an immortal child in the traditional sense of the word, Carlisle rallies many of their vampire friends to come meet Renesmee and stand as witnesses to the fact that she grows and develops and does not present the dangers of a newborn vampire. Bella begins training for the fight and learns that she can extend her shield to others, a skill that is sure to come in handy. Everyone is amazed by Bella’s remarkable control over her skill and over her newborn impulses. It seems there really is something special about this girl who, in her human life, was just pretty average.
On the day of the attack, the Cullens and their supporters, along with Jacob’s werewolf friends, gather in the clearing and wait. The Volturi arrive and are surprisingly open to hearing the explanation about Renesmee, though they kill Irina, the vampire who reported her as an immortal child, on the spot. It becomes clear that they’ve really come in hopes of breaking the Cullen family apart and acquiring some of them for their guard, as they are afraid the Cullens could overthrow them and take away their power. While the Volturi’s gifted vampires try to use their skills to harm the Cullen crew, Bella extends her shield around all of them, protecting them from attack and wowing everyone in the process.
Alice shows up out of nowhere to save the day, bringing with her a young male half-vampire, half-human who can attest to what Renesmee is and prove that she is not dangerous. Eventually, the Volturi, after concluding that Renesmee poses no threat and accepting the fact that they will not succeed in acquiring Edward, Alice, or Bella for their guard, slink away with their tails between their legs. Edward and Bella return to life with Renesmee and the happy Cullen family, with Jacob always close by to watch over Renesmee and make sure she is safe and happy until she is old enough for them to fall in love.
So, there’s no big battle scene, and Bella doesn’t become the queen of the vampires (as the cover of the book might be construed to imply), and things end on a generally rosy–and pretty boring–note.
I wasn’t wowed (or left breathless, as the publicity suggested) by the book, and I wished there had been more real conflict. I wished that Meyer hadn’t just wrapped it all up with a neat little bow and sent them on their merry way–it was too clean. I kind of felt this way about the end of Harry Potter at first, but I came to like that ending. I’m doubtful that my feelings about this ending will change with time, though. I just expected more of a bang; I expected Meyer to throw us some curveball that would prevent everything from ending up happily ever after.
But, I suppose when you’re writing books for teenage girls who think that love and marriage are perfect and happy and wonderful all the time, as long as you’re with your Prince Charming, this kind of ending is the only thing you really can write. Oh well.
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Lovedd this review!!! I agreed with you 100%. I know teenaged girl can be vapid, but I think Meyer missed an opportunity to raise the bar. My review of this book will be posted tomorrow if you’d like to stop by.
I read this series to fill an empty weekend. I’d heard so many positive things and was curious to see the catalyst for such passion in the masses. There are several things about the series as a whole that, frankly, just made me angry.
Paramount among them is the nature of Edward and Bella’s relationship. It seems unnatural, bordering on obsessive. I suppose one can attribute it to Edward being a vampire, but it’s more than that. Edward and Bella share nothing. They spend time together, but never really seem to share anything except a passion for complimenting each other constantly. Bella is bratty and ungrateful. Edward is arrogant and needy. Neither is someone I’d want to spend any extended period of time with.
I hate that in his presence, everyone else in Bella’s life is minimized to the point of not existing. Her family and friends are repeatedly ignored and injured because of their relationship. I don’t care how many meals Bella makes for her father, she does nothing to nurture any other relationship between them. Jacob is neglected and abused constantly. Mike and Angela are only used when she needs them. Half the time she doesn’t even pretend to listen to them. The real mystery is why they all rally around her when she needs them. Few, in reality, would be so forgiving to someone so self absorbed.
Secondly, I hated that both Bella and Edward pledged to commit suicide if the other died – even after the birth of Renesmee. Does that mean that those among us who lost spouses and managed to push forward and go on – somehow loved their spouses less? I think that’s an utterly false precedence to give to young girls. Especially at a time when war is stealing a lot of young husbands and wives too soon. The bravery and sacrifice of those who choose to go on should not be minimized. Those who, despite their heartbreak, manage to live complete lives and contribute something to a world larger than their romance achieve a heroism that far exceeds anything that Bella or Edward every exhibit.
Finally, love takes sacrifice. This has been discussed in most reviews and rightfully so. For the first three books, the price of eternity with Edward is Bella becoming a vampire. With this act she would suffer horrifically as a newborn, she would lose her family, Jacob, and her chance to have a child… the problem is… this never happened. She never gave up a thing. Everything simply fell into place. She would have love, money, beauty, athleticism, family, immortality, a child — the biggest sacrifice she would make is a loss of appetite for fried chicken. That’s not how the world works. This may be a fiction book – but it rings more falsely than most.
As this genre goes – give me Harry Potter or the Last Unicorn any day. There are traits within worthy of aspiring to. I didn’t find any here.
I just want to tell you that I (and a friend) loved your spoilerific review. We will probably never get around to reading the series—though maybe we will—and don’t think we would like it much, so it was a lot of fun reading someone willing to give away the plot and explain just why it’s not that great!
Glad you appreciate the spoilers!
H: I completely agree that Meyer really wussed out by giving Bella everything she wanted. It was a weak decision to placate readers rather than taking the opportunity to depict characters experiencing something resembling the real trials of life & marriage, of which sacrifice and compromise are vital parts.
I have to say, the complaints brought up in H’s comment are upsetting. I have seen so much praise of this series on moral grounds, but this hardly makes it sound deserving. The best sexual ethics won’t get you very far if the rest of your life is consumed by selfishness and immaturity.
Right on, Nicole…not to mention the fact that Meyer’s portrayal of their honeymoon perpetuates the myth that as long as you save yourself for marriage, your sex is going to be amazing and frequent right from the start…I also thought Meyer got a bit heavyhanded with the morals at times, particularly when Bella comments that she couldn’t imagine how anyone could have sex with someone who hadn’t made the ultimate commitment to them, and other things of that nature.
[...] Book Review: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer [image] I did it! I read Breaking Dawn and lived to tell about it. And while I still don’t really care for [...] [...]
[...] of my sidebar for links), when I saw a comment on my spoilerific (to borrow Nicole’s word) review of Breaking Dawn, indicating that I’m being featured on the WordPress Blogs of the Day! [...]
personnally, i LOVED breaking dawn.im your typical 13 year old girl and meyers suggested audience for the series.the twilight series is my favorite series (tops harry potter) and i give it way more credit then it got here.
I really liked this book and I personally think its still one of the best. I dont care what every one else say because I think its fantastic. People just dont like it as much because they like it more if its not that realistic because of the pregnancy.
Lissa & Jarmaine: Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I know a lot of people love these books, and frankly, I’m just glad to know that teenagers are reading, regardless of what they choose to read. Happy reading!
I’m going to have to disagree with H. You’re looking too far into the book, after all, it is a fiction. Of course it’s going to end the way everyone wants it to be, it’s not going to end with one of them dying, or leaving, because then that would open up the reason for her to write ANOTHER book.
I will say that she did wrap up their story a little too quickly. An expierience that could’ve been written in 2 or three books was written in a quick one.
The amount of sex in the book, was actually a very true thing. A lot of girls Bella’s age do become nymphomaniacs, and crave it. Especially after never having it until then. It’s even more special when you love the person unconditionally.
The baby part, didn’t seem very possible to me. If Bella couldn’t wear contacts for more than 2 hours, then how could Edward preserve sperm for 100 years? Yes I understand that Edwards body is preserved at 17 forever, but it just doesn’t make sense to me. The venom would have surely gotten to it in a century…
I also noticed very small things, like Bella breathing a lot even when she was a vampire, even though vampires don’t breathe out of need. Like her “breathing picking up” or however SM put it. But those are small things normal people don’t notice. lol
I’m sorry that SM didn’t get the reviews she really wanted for this book, I would be disapointed too. She probably thought that people would love the book, and getting slapped in the face with “I wish it was more” can be hard to deal with. Especially when it’s over a million people repeating it over and over again. So I give her credit for writing the book period.
Thanks, Chelsie :]
You said exactly what i was thinking – i wasnt quite sure exactly why i didnt really like Breaking Dawn, and came to the same conclusion as you, that it was totally anti-climatic and just could have had a way better ending. Its disappointing that Stephenie felt that she didnt need a fight, but the fact that all three of her other books have had a nail biting ending is one of the reasons that they are good. But i also thought that Breaking Dawn makes the other three books in the series irrelevant, really. If you think about it, there are barely any past connections, and someone could pick up Breaking Dawn and not have to read the other three, because once Bella is a vampire, her human life doesnt have relevance any more. Great reivew!
It’s true. The first three books could be completely disreguarded by the fourth. Which for a series, and in my opinion, isn’t quite normal. Cause in the end, Bella being a vampire and all, her human life doesn’t matter anymore at all.
I personally loved how bella got her happy ending and how well things turned out for everyone.
As for all of the mature content, I was only against it because two of my younger family members read the series and they definately won’t be reading the last book.
Why people were so shocked on that I have no clue, edward and bella are both teenagers no matter how long in edwards case.
Well, i haven’t read the book yet cuz i’m on holiday but i am one of those people who loves spoilers so i just wanted to say THANK YOU SOOOOO much for this review – i finally got what i wanted.
also, to comment – i absolutely loved the first 3 books and am sure i will love the last one. towards the people who dont like it, i understand completely. from spoilers, it does sound a bit stupid and hard to like. however, i am one of those young teenagers who will enjoy anything with a “happy ever after” ending.
about the comment from Liv (13) – i understand that after 3 nail-biting endings, a plain one is not liked as much. however, if u think about it, the first 3 had to be nail-biting so people would read on. but how could the last one (emphasis on “last”) be nail-biting? she had to END the series. she couldnt make it a cliff-hanger because then it wouldnt seem like the end and everyone would be even more dissapointed because they would want more from stephenie but have to know they will never get it. of course, if i misunderstood what u (liv) were trying to say, sorry! and i don’t mean this offensively at all, just wanna make that clear.
oh and the name renesmee is terrible!!
i read from other reviews that in this book edward is no longer so much of a “sweet gentleman” any more and am shocked!! how could it be?? and are people saying the truth?? please if anyone has time, describe to me what has happened to the beloved edward!! thanks!
i think that every one is not Getting that it is the last book and it has to end. so as sm said she tied up the loose ends and add things on to finish it happily so it will have a good ending and when it becomes a film it will finsh in a way we will want a movie to finish
oh and one more thing. i read in a lot of reviews that people were disappointed there was no big battle and no one died. for people who feel that way – think bout it this way – if stephenie had done what you wanted and killed one of the main characters (friendly alice or hugable emmet) – would you really have enjoyed it more? i personally might have actually cried.
[...] by readerville It’s been a full week here in Readerville. I started the week with a spoilerific review of Breaking Dawn that got so many hits that I spent 2 days in the WordPress Blogs of the Day (Top 100) and made a [...]
[...] 2008 by Rebecca It’s been a full week here in Readerville. I started the week with a spoilerific review of Breaking Dawn that got so many hits that I spent 2 days in the WordPress Blogs of the Day (Top 100) and made a [...]
[...] 2008 by Rebecca It’s been a full week here in Readerville. I started the week with a spoilerific review of Breaking Dawn that got so many hits that I spent 2 days in the WordPress Blogs of the Day (Top 100) and made a [...]
[...] 2008 by Rebecca It’s been a full week here in Readerville. I started the week with a spoilerific review of Breaking Dawn that got so many hits that I spent 2 days in the WordPress Blogs of the Day (Top 100) and made a [...]
[...] 2008 by Rebecca It’s been a full week here in Readerville. I started the week with a spoilerific review of Breaking Dawn that got so many hits that I spent 2 days in the WordPress Blogs of the Day (Top 100) and made a [...]
[...] 2008 by Rebecca It’s been a full week here in Readerville. I started the week with a spoilerific review of Breaking Dawn that got so many hits that I spent 2 days in the WordPress Blogs of the Day (Top 100) and made a [...]
[...] of my sidebar for links), when I saw a comment on my spoilerific (to borrow Nicole’s word) review of Breaking Dawn, indicating that I’m being featured on the WordPress Blogs of the [...]
SO glad to see someone else had the same opinion I did regarding the Twilight series!!!
I like the books, not all of them (New Moon didn’t work too well for me), but the others were OK for me. From the comment you left on my blog, you said you don’t understand why folks like the book. I think it’s OK if you don’t understand because some things have no explanation. We just have to understand that people have preferences, likes and dislikes, and that’s all there is to it. Let’s just enjoy our books. One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure.
[...] super-spoilerific review is about the closest this poor googler is going to get, and I didn’t even like the [...]
to begin, i LOVE the twilight books and almost all of the characters in them. some people do not like the ending to breaking dawn and that’s their oppinion so i will not tell them that is wrong but this is bella’s ending, not yours. sure she does not have the best judgment in the world but what one of us does? some may have done things different but the main character got what she wanted cause SM is not writing for haters, she is writing for the people like myself who want the best for her and edward. bella is a strong girl that knows what she wants and believes in people to get there. she goes with what she thinks is will work our best and is always worried about other people over herself. to be honest in the begining of the books because i kept thinking “come on edward, you can do better then that” but at the end i realized that she had the strength on her own to get what she wanted, to be with edward forever, and she got it. (plus she got a child, a few bruses, and immortalaty but i will not go into that!)