A Review of 'Breaking Dawn' by Stephenie Meyer

Jude! Why can't you ever go in order! Gosh...

Sorry guys...

“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 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.”

I had a babysitting job when this came out, but my mumzy was nice enough to go out into the craziness and get it for me so that I could read it on my trip to the Boundary Waters. It survived that trip too, though I’m not sure if the people carrying the Duluth packs were very happy that I brought a book that was three or four inches thick.

The concept of a vampire having a child with a human was an interesting concept. It was gory and violent, but that part was well-written. Bella was crazy enough to go through with giving birth to this parasite that was growing rapidly inside her (seriously, the growing of the fetus only a few weeks at most). She ended up killing herself over that half-vampire child, so she also got her wish to be a vampire, although it was the last thing that Edward wanted to do.

It was different to see Edward genuinely helpless. In every other situation that he was in from Twilight through Eclipse, he was able to rescue Bella and reverse the problem. This was not the case in Breaking Dawn. He can’t help Bella without killing his offspring and hurting Bella or killing her. He can’t make the situation better because whether or not he wants it to happen, Bella has wanted to be a vampire since Twilight. Nothing is going to stop her from getting that and Edward will do very little to deny her.

Finally, after the whole ordeal of giving birth and figuring out what was going to happen to Bella, there comes a time when the baby has to be named. What does Bella name her child? Renesmée Carly Cullen. She combines her parents and Edward’s parents’ names together. Renee and Esmé and Charlie and Carlisle. Really? The gesture is sweet, but it sounds like Stephenie Meyer was running short on ideas and couldn’t think of a new name entirely, so she used existing characters’ names. I do give her credit though, because the name could have been so much worse… bad combinations must have been plentiful. It’s not an ugly name, it just feels slightly unoriginal, if you see where I’m coming from.

What was cool was when all of those other clans (or are they called covens?) of vampires come to Forks from around the world purely because there is a threat from the Volturi. It was really cool and then the build-up is great. There’s a stand-off and everyone is staring each other down. You think there’s going to be an epic battle. You look at how many pages are left and you think, “Well, Mrs. Meyer could certainly fit a decent battle in there. There won’t need to be too much wrap-up.” If you thought that, you would be wrong. Everyone stares at each other, somehow (I can’t really remember) they decide that they don’t want to fight any more and everything is well with the world.

Huh? Wait, what did I miss?

One thing I’m not too sure about was how each part was in a different perspective. It switched between Jacob and Bella. While reading it, I felt like Jacob’s part added a good amount of what was happening, because Bella probably wouldn’t have told us this part, being that she’s incredibly pregnant and getting sick a lot of the time. I can’t say that I was terribly excited about reading Jacob’s part though.

This was an okay book. It had a strong beginning with a beautiful wedding, a wonderful honeymoon with a good romance scene, and tons of gore and violence. After the first two hundred pages or so, everything started to falter and the ending fell flat.

I give ‘Breaking Dawn’:

Thanks for reading!

--Jude