Monday, October 29, 2012

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)Title: Breaking Dawn 
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: August 2, 2008
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 756 
Source: Library
Read: September 2-4 2012
In A Few Words: Fell Flat
My Rating: 3 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
WHEN YOU LOVED THE ONE WHO WAS KILLING YOU, IT LEFT YOU NO OPTIONS. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to a werewolf Jacob Black, she has endured a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife to reach the ultimate turning point. her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fate of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating and unfathomable consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed...forever?

The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.



Melissa's Musings:

There's not much I can say that hasn't  already been said about Breaking Dawn, so this review will be short and sweet. I'm so late on the Twilight train, having only started the series last year. I enjoyed the first few books in the series much more than I enjoyed this one.

The story just seemed to fall flat for me. It was more teenage angst, with the dialogue to go with it. For some reason the dialogue in Breaking Dawn seemed a lot more immature than it did in the other books. After the 4th or 5th time I read Jacob saying "'kay" I was more than a little irritated.

Plus the whole love triangle between Edward just seemed ridiculous, especially after Bella was pregnant and still breaking into a smile and wanting him to be around all the time. Of course, that made more sense when Renesmee came along, but even that whole dynamic was weird. He can't have Bella so he imprints on her daughter instead? Certainly a dysfunctional family unit if there ever was one.

I have to say that I was glad to see that Bella finally grew a little bit as a character. She was less whiny, and more decisive in Breaking Dawn. More than likely that's because of Renesmee, becoming a mom was a big change for her, both literally and figuratively.

I was actually most captivated by Renesmee, just like everyone around her. She seemed so interesting, so unique. Meyer definitely did a good job bringing her character to life and making her likeable. (Minus the whole being soulmates with Jacob thing.)

In the end, I think I was expecting a different outcome. While I liked the story, it all wrapped up a little too neatly for me.

3 comments:

Ashna said...

I'm just 'okay' with this whole series, except that I think it's well written.
Though, I did enjoy the second half of this book. A Lot. If I ever talk about this series, I say I liked Breaking Dawn second half best of the lot. I guess because it has a lot of action, new characters and the end was good. I'm a happy-endings-lover ;)

Anonymous said...

I found that I really didn't mind this series - while I was reading them. And then the moment I'd put the books down, my brain would suddenly shake itself off and be like, "Wait a second, what the hell did we just read?" and spend the next half-hour picking at it. I think that there's a lot that's wrong with this series, and a lot you can analyse about it, but in the end, it is what it is. A candyfloss book. You wouldn't want to eat it every day, but once in a while, it's OK.
I like your points about Bella getting more decisive and Renesmee being pretty interesting. And yeah - that ending was so neat, but I'm kind of a sucker for happy endings, so it didn't bother me that much.

Melissas Midnight Musings said...

@Ashna:
I'm a happy endings lover too, I guess this one was just a little too happy for me.

@Alex:

A candyfloss book is the perfect way to describe this one. :)