annecal's Full Review: Stephenie Meyer - Breaking Dawn
Ooh, how to write this without giving anything away. Ok, first of all, I'm assuming you've read the previous three novels in this series, so if you have not, there may be some spoilers, but I won't give anything away from this most recent and final book in the Twilight Series.
The basic premise of this book revolves around the heroine, Bella Swan, an 18 year old girl who has fallen in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. Edward belongs to a 'family" of vampires who have made the decision to become 'vegetarians,' abstaining from human blood and hunting from animals, instead.
Also in Bella's life is her best friend, Jacob, a werewolf who is also hopelessly in love with her. Bella has choices to make. Big choices, and the decisions of those she loves will dramatically alter the course her life will take.
This book finishes the series. Who does Bella choose as her love, Jacob or Edward? Will Edward give in to Bella's desire to have him change her into a vampire, and if he does, will Bella survive the change? What happens to Bella's human family? How will the rivalry between Jacob and Edward conclude and will they both survive it?
Ok, since this is a non-spolier book review, I'm not going to tell you any of that, and since it is actually harder than I thought it would be to write this review, let's look at what I can tell you.
First, I had a hard time putting this book down, as you can probably tell, and read the entire massive tome in more or less one sitting. I was lent the first book in the series, Twilight, by a friend, and not expecting much, found I loved it. I was so anxious to have this final book come out, and I, for one, was not at all disappointed.
This book quite literally made me laugh out loud, and it also made me cry. The characters you know well are flushed out quite well, and some new interesting characters are also introduced, with interesting results.
The book is written from the perspective of both Bella, and at times, Jacob. The first time this switch was made, I found it a bit odd, but soon found that I really enjoyed getting both sides of certain issues. (It is my understanding that another book will be released telling the saga from Edward's point of view- can't wait for that one!!!).
This book, for the first time, also made me really like Bella. Not that I disliked her before, but I just couldn't see what the big deal about her was, I was more interested in a lot of the other characters in the books. In Breaking Dawn, for the first time, I really felt like I understood Bella, sympathized with her and found myself routing for her, which was nice.
The book is wonderfully descriptive, rich in emotion and landscape. I often found myself totally absorbed with the film in my head, of what I was reading.
I would also say that the book really does a very nice job of tying up a lot of loose ends and giving the saga a proper ending. I was very, very pleased with this final effort, and I really think the fans of the series will be, as well.
Meyer has been criticized for writing this book to end as the fans would want it to, and though there may be some truth to that, I say, so what? Why wouldn't she want to see the sort of ending many of us would want to have? I don't think anything is missing from this book, I'm totally and utterly thrilled with it. If anything, I'd have liked to have had even more back story on some of the 'people' we meet near the end of the book!
As this series is marketed toward teens, I'd also make a note that most parents should be thrilled to have their children reading these lengthy volumes. Although the subject matter has to do with vampires, werewolves and the like, Meyer takes a very straight edge on morality. Her characters, being so young, do not engage in sex before marriage, there isn't drinking or drug use, very little swearing (and of a mild sort), and the general mood toward violence is that is should be a last resort, etc...
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the odd love scene, and the ones in this book are very moving, passionate, but they do not get into the gritty details of things, if you know what I mean, it's all very appropriate and tastefully done.
I'm running out of things to say about this book, because there is SO MUCH that I want to talk about, but I can't, because I am so determined not to spoil this for anyone!
If you haven't read any of the series, check out Twilight- it's a great summer read, and I think you'll enjoy the series. As I said about the Harry Potter books, I don't care who a story was written for, good writing, good storytelling, doesn't know age, and this is a damn good read.
Kudos to Meyer for getting it so completely right, at least for this reader!
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