Warning (again): I have finished the series and now plan to discuss it. If you are still reading and/or do not want to know how it ends, come back tomorrow. It will be a Shoeru day.
It took me awhile to finish Breaking Dawn, because, well, I just wasn’t feeling it. I think my friend summed it up for me pretty well. She said the last book was the toughest for her because even though the series is clearly fantasy fiction, the first three books could POSSIBLY (come on, take it for what it is) happen. If vampires and werewolves really roamed the earth. Or something.
But the last book? With this half vampire, half human “baby” that grows rapidly and talks? That just left me rolling my eyes.
To me, the last book felt rushed. Like maybe the series should have been a trilogy and this one was written quickly just to appease fans. The whole build up to the fight with the Volturi was so drawn out, only to end in…nothing. No fight. No drama. Just Bella and Edward happily ever after. I almost wish it DID end with them being separated. Or that Jacob ran off with his imprinted Renesmee (ehhh…) and started a new life. (I know it wasn’t a sexual love between them, but was anyone else a little creeped out by that relationship? Especially since it had to potential to become sexual down the line?)
Speaking of sex, I thought the sex scenes would be a little better. I understand that this series were written primarily for young teens, but if that’s the case, I think Meyer painted a pretty poor picture of what sex is like. When Bella and Edward consummate their marriage, Bella is still human. Now yes, young human girls are not going to be having sex with vampires (as far as we know), but if this is their introduction to a sexual relationship, it seems to be giving the wrong message.
The sex between human Bella and vampire Edward is violent. Afterwards, she’s covered in bruises and he’s ashamed he hurt her. Yet she begs for more and he gives in because he loves her.
I could be reaching, but doesn’t this sound a little like domestic violence? Yes, they truly love each other, but if my young daughter was reading this, I wouldn’t want her walking away thinking that’s what a sexual relationship was like.
If you look at it a completely different way and pretend it was written for adults — it totally wasn’t steamy enough. Haha, I guess I just can’t win.
As far as a series goes, I think it was OK. The original Twilight was still my favorite, and I was annoyed the whole way through New Moon because I was totally team Jacob. Eclipse was redeeming a bit and you know my thoughts on Breaking Dawn. Also, I was left with one question: what is Bella going to tell her mother? It’s never really resolved…she just kind alludes to the fact that they haven’t talked much lately. At some point, her mother is going to want to see her, no?
So there you have it. I’m glad I read them. I probably won’t read them again, and I’m interested to see the rest of the movies. Especially because I’m curious to see if they can really make Jacob look as mature as he is supposed to be by the end.
What did you think? Did the books live up to their hype?
23 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 18, 2009 at 9:20 am
Inna
I’ve been holding out from reading the twilight books… but based on this review, I really should only be reading the first one. Thanks for the heads up!
May 18, 2009 at 9:20 am
Megan
Twilight was my favorite of the four books; Edward was mysterious, and their love was new. After that, I kind of hated their relationship … and I figured they’d end up separated by the last book. Of course, the happy ending is great, but you’re right about the last book. The first three were as close to realistic as they’d get, and they were relatable. The last book? Far-fetched to say the least. Everything happened so quickly, and by the end of it, I was just unsure. I look forward to seeing how the Breaking Dawn movie ends up.
I agree with what you said about the way the sexual relationship was portrayed. If I had bruises all over me, I’d be terrified.
Supposedly, the series was only supposed to consist of two books orignally. I think Breaking Dawn was originally Forever Dawn, or something similar. I read somewhere that Meyer added New Moon and Eclipse to create more conflict (with Jacob–originally, he was just supposed to remain Bella’s friend and imprint on Renesmee).
Of course, all four of the books have flaws since they were Meyer’s first series. They aren’t perfect, but they’re good enough to please us. Let’s hope the movies can do the books justice!
May 18, 2009 at 9:59 am
Lisa from Seriously.
I hated Breaking Dawn. I agree with you, it did seem really rushed, like she was just throwing stuff out there, and I thought the ending was horrible. All that build up to the big fight with the Volturi that was nothing.
I also agree with you on the messages to young girls. I disagree with the ‘wait until marriage but get married at 18′ sentiment, and their first time was just disturbing.
May 18, 2009 at 10:34 am
Sue Young
That was a very nice and comprehensive review.
I bought the whole series some time a go, but couldn’t find the time to even read one of the copies.
Will likely give it a go during the summer holiday.
May 18, 2009 at 10:44 am
Britt
Hm. I liked Breaking Dawn. It wasn’t my favorite, but I still enjoyed it. The whole thing is so out in left field anyways…what’s a half human half vampire baby?
I really did enjoy the whole series – I’m amazed I put it off so long. I still love Harry Potter the most though
May 18, 2009 at 10:54 am
Amber
I wasn’t going to comment until I read Britt’s, I totally agree with her! Breaking Dawn wasn’t my favorite, but I still really liked it. Yes, it was far fetched but I wasn’t expecting the baby to happen at all (I know I probably should have!).
Harry Potter will forever be my favorite series though, nothing can top them!!
May 18, 2009 at 11:20 am
Breanna
Read The Host by Stephanie Meyer – it’s an adult version with the same kind of writing. I liked it.
May 18, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Viviane
As for their sex being violent… I don’t really think of it that way. I think Edward didn’t really do anything a human wouldn’t do. Except when he does it without focusing 100% on it (touching a human) he will use too much strength… Like he would just hold her arms, or whatever, but would end up using so much strength (because while they had sex he couldn’t focus 100% on not giving her bruises) that she would get bruises…
As for what Breanna said, I agree, The Host is the same kind of writing, and also a compelling story, I ended up only taking a day to read that as well.
As for the story being too out there, seeing as vampires and werewolves are just as real as a human-vampire baby that grows up fast, I didn’t really mind to suspend reality while reading that part of the book… because that’s what the reader does during the entire series anyway.
May 18, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Jessica
When Bella had the baby, I was like WTF? THEIR BABY IS BLADE! HA HA
[ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120611/ ]
The books were cheesy, but they were fun and kept me interested. I didn’t give them much credit to begin with, so I was happy with the entertainment value.
This is a hilarious review of BD: http://laineygossip.com/Breaking-Dawn-books-reviews.aspx
May 18, 2009 at 1:00 pm
spamwarrior
Really? Violent? Ouch. I never got that… I mean, I didn’t read the book, but when people described it to me… considering his strength and her being human, he’d have to use a whole lot of restraint. And it would have been easy to snap her in two. He could have KILLED her!!!!!
May 18, 2009 at 1:56 pm
PaulaS
I just saw the Twilight Movie for the first time (quite by accident) this weekend and loved it! Now I want to buy the books and read them. Thank you for this book review. It will be interesting to see if I feel the same way about each of the books.
May 18, 2009 at 2:36 pm
elizabeth
New Moon is my fave but it was really hard for me to read. I think S.M. portrays exactly what it’s like to lose someone, even if it seems totally overdramatic. It’s gut-wrenching. The pages with months but no other words? Ahh, i loved that!
And I love the relationship between Bella and Jacob. It’s comfortable, easy, laid-back… in Eclipse he is described as her “sun” while Edward is described as her “drug” and I don’t know, being addicted to someone seems unhealthy to me. However, I do believe in soul mates and I guess Edward and Bella are meant to be. Personally I would rather have Jacob, or at least the Jacob of New Moon and most of Eclipse.
Bella TOTALLY annoys me starting at the end of Eclipse until she becomes a vampire in BD. she turns into this super needy person. i still can’t believe she asked edward not to fight…i understand where she was coming from but really??
and the kiss(es) in eclipse btwn her and jacob are TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE and edward’s reaction is ridiculous, i don’t care if he is 117(?) years old!
and Breaking Dawn…yikes!? The first book is just eh and although I really loved reading from Jacob’s pov, book 2 ends weirdly. i could have done without the half human/half vampire thing. But I did enjoy reading the third book because Bella makes a great vampire and she stops being so whiny and needy.
When I think about the Twilght series I prefer to pretend BD doesn’t exist.
oh, and about the sex–if he can crush iron with his fist he is going to bruise her if he touches her hard enough. i felt like the bruises were expected, and i think meyer is using them to (AGAIN) show the majour contrasts btwn humans and vampires.
May 18, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Christina
I liked all of the books but the last one seemed far fetched for me too. But I didn’t go into it expecting anything, I hadn’t experienced any hype except from ONE of my friends. Otherwise, I was clueless about how big this series really was. So with that being said, I liked how it ended. I was kinda bummed that the Cullen’s didn’t kick the Volturi’s butt but whatev.
May 18, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Raz
I feel EXACTLY the same about (i) the sex stuff, (ii) the non-event of the fight and (iii) the name Renesmee. I mean, what is that? When I first read it I thought Bella was making a joke, BUT SHE WASN’T. She actually called her child that.
I was always in team Jacob, he made Bella laugh and that was just so much more appealing than hearing about the seriously serious love between Bella and Edward. Yeah, OK, I get it, you totally can’t live without him. Is that more pleasant to read about? NO!
(Can’t quite believe I care this much about Twilight, actually).
I was also disappointed that Bella turned into a vampire. She was always going to, but part of the appeal was the constrast, and also the vaguely human part of her life that remained. Also, the “when-Bella’s-a-vampire-Jacob-won’t-be-able-to-be-around-her” thing just evaporated. I’m guessing the imprinting was used as an excuse? That did irritate me a bit, but more because it just conviniently took the problem of Jacob away, rather than the fact that it was creepy. I thought it was too easy a “get-out”.
May 18, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Sarah
Twilight is definitely my favorite. I couldn’t stand Edward in New Moon, Bella was really annoying in Eclipse, and I agree with everything you said about Breaking Dawn! I wasn’t a fan of the ending!
May 18, 2009 at 6:27 pm
tia
i love the series. i’ve read it multiple times.
i think my favorite book, besides twilight itself, is eclipse, because i love that edward and jacob kind of get to be “boys.”
if that makes any sense.
breaking dawn did sort of wrap everything up with a nice shiny bow, but i was okay with that. i wanted bella and edward to survive and be happy because i felt like i had a vested interest in their relationship at that point.
and as far as the sex thing goes, i wanted MUCH more detail. and the domestic violence thing didn’t come across for me at all. i mean, he warned her MULTIPLE times that he wasn’t sure if he could control himself, and she didn’t notice the bruises at all or even care about them because as far as she was concerned it was just par for the course.
like, he wasn’t BEATING her or anything, just a little, uh, overexcited. hahah.
i’ve always thought that these were great books for young girls to read because it teaches them that you should not settle for anything less than what you really want.
i think everyone should want to be loved the way edward loves bella, which is unconditionally.
glad you liked the books!
May 18, 2009 at 8:42 pm
fromasesameseed
This post is precisely why I read you every day and have awarded you a LOVELY BLOG award!! Check out from a sesame seed for praise!
May 18, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Melanie
Girl, I think I had MUCH the same feeling as you did when I finished. I had decided to read them to see what all the hype was about a few months ago. Even in the middle of the first one I already knew I felt the books were a bit overrated, but I still got sucked in and had to read all of them.
In the end, I think the writing in all four books is incredibly drawn out. The storyline could have been presented in about half as many chapters. I totally agree with you on the whole thing about the sex scenes and the association with domestic violence.
For me? The biggest thing is what a terrible role model Bella is for teenage girls. A 17-year-old falling in love with a boy so fast and for really no apparent reason other than attraction? Selling her soul and becoming a vampire because she’s so sure she wants to be with him? Fiction or not, I’m pretty sure if I had a teenage daughter I wouldn’t want her reading this for that reason. I’d much rather see fictional characters like Hermione in the Harry Potter books because she’s intelligent, independent, respects authority and fiercely loyal to friends.
May 19, 2009 at 2:19 am
adriana
I’m totally with you on the sex parts. It’s like she couldn’t agree on what audience she wanted, and it was totally off. Bella’s totally a bad role model – she’s such a dumb ass, and kind of sheep-like, if you ask me. Weak and easily led. Anyway. The first one was good-ish, and then it just went downhill.
May 19, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Chelsea
I pretty much agree. Twilight was my favorite book, by far, and the rest of the books sort of just dragged on. I felt like the whole Victoria fight in Eclipse should’ve happened in New Moon.. it was too drawn out for my taste.
For some of the books, I was really bored reading certain parts.
Besides that, I thoroughly loved the books.. I’ve read them all multiple times, and plan to read them some more. Though I do wish she would’ve gone into the sex scenes a bit more..
May 20, 2009 at 1:03 am
fan
check out her website for outtakes and part of the 5th book. http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html
May 21, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Lisa
I agree, they were kind of a let down after the first.. .
and the 4th was just all hype.
June 3, 2009 at 3:29 am
LaLa
I am so having a hard time finishing Breaking Dawn. Its not what I expected. The book is too long, broken down into books and to much of the unexpected. We were all waiting to see how their first time would be after they were married, and NOTHING HAPPENED. For me anyway. I had to read the pages in that chapter again and check the page numbering to make sure I had read everything. I don’t understand how, she could paint this beautiful picture in all our heads of how strong their love was for one another but leave us clueless to what happened, how the felt, etc. I know its a teen love affair, but you must admit, they acted at times like adults. I really believe the baby part of the story could have been left out. Poor Jacob couldnt have the mother so was given the baby. AS IF.
New Moon started off great until he broke her heart. I was depressed for days and didn’t want to read it. LOL….at first I thought Jacobs addiction to the book was going to be boring, but boy was I wrong. He was more of what she needed. Poor Jacob was used in the entire book. She forgot all about him when Edward came back into the picture.
Eclipse had a great beginning, but Bella really got on my nerves about the whole vampire wanna-be thing. Then the way Bella treated Jacob about the kiss and Edwards overreacting to almost everything really became an expected cycle. The fight seen between the Cullen family and the young vampires left me blank as well.
Twilight was the best of all the books. I am eagerly awaiting MIDNIGHT SUN. Hopefully, I will finish Breaking Dawn before it is released….I’m just not feeling it.
I would love to have gotten to know more about the other Cullen couples. They did have a less complicated story to tell. I just know they did.