Twilight saga, book one: Bella the human and Edward the vampire meet and fall in love.

Book two: Edward takes off in order to ensure Bella's safety, and Bella spends 500 pages moping around.

Book three: Things really start to get interesting. I mean that sincerely; the book is truly interesting. After Edward's return, Bella is convinced that he is her heart and is willing to do whatever it takes to spend eternity together. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Her best friend, Jacob Black, harbors deep feelings for Bella and can't bear to see her falling for "the bloodsucker."

Into all of this relational tension comes Victoria, a furious vampire, nursing a grudge against Edward--with Bella as the obvious target. Add to that an army of newborn vampires ravaging Seattle, a pack of teenage werewolves, and Edward's insistence on keeping Bella's soul intact. Can the vampires be defeated? Which boy will end up with Bella's heart?

After gritting my teeth through most of New Moon, I wasn't exactly thrilled about 600+ pages in the next of the series. Thankfully, this book was a very fast read, and an entertaining one.

Stephenie Meyer is not the Michelangelo of wordsmithery; she's somewhere on par with Ann Brashares (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), which doesn't exactly equal literary greatness but does have a lot of appeal. Her writing is understandable, even for those who aren't really into the whole vampire sci-fi scene. With Eclipse, the reader doesn't have to have a deep knowledge of the supernatural; Meyer explains revamps old stereotypes and legends to share the "truth" of who these creatures really are, spinning her own version of history. It's easy to follow and moves fast--except for a few portions, in which she chooses to divulge huge histories about werewolves and about several of the Cullens. The Cullens' stories were intriguing; the werewolf part started to drag on.

For me, this book is where Edward finally became deserving of the praise readers give him. His old-fashioned values really shine, and I loved that instead of being the good-looking, arrogant womanizer he could be, he is unassuming and particularly cautious with Bella. What she calls "love" is mostly an emotional reaction to him. When he says "love," he means sacrifice--and goes to every extreme to do what is in her best interest. He also initiates an interesting conversation about his soul-lessness and standing with God, which could've been super interesting had Meyer probed a little more. This topic trails off disappointingly.

Bella is a little more likeable, finally showing some of the maturity that the other characters always claim to see in her. I still can't figure out why all these men are drawn to her, though. She's pretty, she's nice enough, but she's also rather selfish, downright dramatic, and she's cut herself off from nearly everything else that's important in the world so she can focus on Edward. Oh, yeah, and she likes to grumble whenever people do nice things for her. And she hates the idea of getting married, even though she's ready to give up humanity and plunge into vampire-world firsthand. And she's always throwing herself into the middle of trouble, then acting like the victim. Oh, and finally, she's always leading poor Jacob on, doing this wishy-washy I-just-want-to-please-everybody thing when she already knows what the results will be. She's not someone I'd ever want to be friends with, so it's unfortunate that she's the protagonist!

Sexual tension is running high throughout the novel. There's constant conflict between Jacob and Edward, as well as a war going on in Bella's heart. She knows that choosing Edward means cutting off her best-friendship with Jacob, and it provides fascinating insight into such a relationship: is love just a strong, one-time tie to someone else, or can you choose to love someone you aren't attracted to but feel comfortable around? I really warmed up to Jacob in New Moon, and I kept rooting for him here, even when he makes rash decisions and taunts Edward immaturely. This conflict is probably the meatiest part of the plot, though. The actual "action"--with baby vampires on the loose--is thinner, less climactic than the "love story" portion. Perhaps that's okay; it's just that the book stretched on a little longer than necessary thanks to all the fighting. Just, oh, a few hundred pages or so.

I liked that Eclipse had more emotional depth than the first two books. Also, though Bella is constantly playing Delilah to Edward's unwilling Samson, I was so pleased that Meyer didn't just chuck in a few sex scenes to spice the story up. It's commendable that, for as often as Bella tries her hand at seduction, Edward retains his sense of honor and his desire to be married before they try anything. Call it out-of-date, but I think Meyer gets bonus points for creating a character who is honorable, gentlemanly, and stands his ground. Sex sells, but the lack of sex adds more delicious tension to the whole thing and makes me like Edward even more. (Conversely, Bella's incessant attempts to seduce him make me like her even less. Annoying! Just let the poor guy be already!)

This book does have its fair share of blood and gore. There's lots of fighting and ripping creatures apart, so beware if you have a weak stomach. Also, there are more language issues in this book than in the previous ones. Considering the violence and the ever-growing sexuality, I would definitely reserve this series for more mature readers. (I'll let you define "mature," though, since you know yourselves and your children better than I do. :)

Overall, I thought Eclipse was a huuuuge improvement over New Moon. New Moon felt like a forced necessity, like something that should've been just a chapter or two in the overall plot but got dragged out into its own book. But Eclipse evened things out, providing action, suspense, frustration, and lots of answers to lingering questions. I admit it: I'm sucked in now. Meyer did a lot of things right with this book, and I'm eager to get to the conclusion of the saga.

Saga Reviews:
Book 1: Twilight
Book 2: New Moon
Book 4: Breaking Dawn

Recommended: Yes