Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)
by Stephenie Meyer
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Book Reviews of Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)
Book Review: All's fair in love and war...
Summary: 4 Stars
Bella is between a rock and a hard place. She loves Edward, wants to become a vampire so that they could be together for all eternity, but she misses Jacob and craves his company more than anything. But the feud between the vampires and the werewolves is as strong as ever, and Jacob wants more than just friendship with Bella. Bella wants both men in her life, regardless of their treaty. She feels like Cathy in Wuthering Heights: selfish. What is she supposed to do, split in half? On top of everything else, Victoria is still on the run, waiting for the right opportunity to kill Bella and avenge her boyfriend's death. And there is a new threat in the horizon -- a serial killer is on the loose in Seattle. But the Cullens know that it isn't a serial killer, but several killers. Vampires. Newly turned ones. It seems like a war has been declared in that area, and Bella is right smack in the middle of it. The vamps and the werewolves will have to find a way to protect Bella together and fight the urge to rip each other to shreds (literally). Amid all the madness, Bella discovers that her feelings for the two beautiful creatures in her life run deeper than she had thought and that things are more complicated than ever. She has seen the dark side of being a vampire in more ways than one, but she is adamant about becoming one as well. She is more confused than ever. Will she be happy with Edward? Will he let her become a vampire? What about Jacob? How does he fit into the equation?
Eclipse is a great third effort in this engrossing series. There is so much conflict here, so much complexity and potential twists in the making. You don't know what will happen next, and that's what makes this series so much more fascinating than the other vampire/paranormal books out there. The love triangle is a great one. You feel the tension between the main characters and how torn Bella is between Edward and Jacob. She wants to follow her heart and do the right thing, but how is that possible when there's so much going on? I don't like the way the direction the story took toward the end, but it couldn't have taken another direction. This makes the conflict between Bella, Edward and Jacob much more... conflicting. The characters annoyed me though. Jacob and Edward, especially Jacob, fight over Bella during the whole novel, treating her as if she were a prize horse or an object to win over. Not that Bella is any better. Was she this whiny in the previous two books? For a while, I couldn't tell if Meyer was comparing her to Cathy in Wuthering Heights or Cathy from the Cathy comics. I know she's torn and doesn't want to hurt the people in her life, but ugh! Turn down the whining a notch or ten, please! Jacob should grow up and realize he can't have Bella just because he wants her and Edward should be a little less perfect. Of course, I prefer Edward over Jacob, but I'd like for him to be more like a vampire and less like a love-struck martyr. I would have loved to see some Heathcliff in him, but I think that role went to Jacob (not the villain part of Heathcliff, but the wild and impulsive side). I don't mean to criticize the novel. The series is wonderful, which is why it awakens such feelings in me. Perhaps, since I'm an adult, I'm analyzing the characters from an adult's perspective. Anyway, the best part of this novel is that it focuses on the three main characters and Bella's annoying high school friends hardly make an appearance. (She graduates from high school in this one, and Meyer made the whole thing seem as something irrelevant and uneventful, which, unfortunately, made Bella as self-absorbed as she fears she has become.) I also enjoyed all of the character development. Three characters tell the stories about their pasts -- Rosalie, Billy (about the werewolves) and Jasper. Rosalie's story is the most fascinating, but after she tells her story she sort of vanishes from the rest of the book. There is also an interesting twist regarding Sam and the werewolves in general. And I like that Meyer uses classics as examples of what the protagonists are going through. First was Romeo and Juliet in New Moon, and now it's Wuthering Heights. I wonder which other classic she'll use next. All in all, Eclipse is another wonderful offering in the Twilight saga. I can't wait for Breaking Dawn.
Book Review: So awful, I wanted to burn it. I sold it instead.
Summary: 1 Stars
I will be blunt from the get-go, I hate this book. I was a fan of the series before, even though I thought New Moon to be boring, I enjoyed the series and wanted to continue being a fan of Stephenie Meyer. Of course I was as excited as anyone else to read Eclipse, but by the time I finished I found myself looking for others who disliked it as well.
*The following will be quite spoilery. Continue at your own risk.*
The book begins naturally where New Moon left off. Edward has returned from a near-suicide and Bella has taken him back after all those months of moping (such harcore moping that some pages in New Moon are mere the titles of months and nothing else). First off, I could not possibly understand why Bella took him back so quickly. Edward left her in a very cold-hearted manner, stole her things because he decided it was better for her to heal without them, and ends up being a completely dramatic idiot who tries to commit suicide. Yet these are the characteristics of true love? I don't buy it. The character of Bella is a complete idiot, and I wish girls all over the country didn't look up to her so blindly. It's clear that in essence all she is is a self-insert Mary Sue.
Naturally this book was all about a love triangle. As with the other two, it was never about vampires, it was never a coming of age story, it was never even truly about love. It was about a girl and a guy's obsession for each other, and their horribly disguised lust. But let's suspend disbelief for a moment. Let's say Bella and Edward truly are in love- how on earth was it possible for her to suddenly be deeply in love with another man? This girl has got to be the most selfish creature in the world. I understand that Jacob helped her through the ugly times when Edward dumped her, but why couldn't she renounce him when Edward returned? Better yet, why couldn't she tell Edward to bugger off? Instead we get a load of angst where she stubbornly tells the readers that she is indeed NOT in love with Jacob, no matter how much he insists upon it. We get chapters and chapters of Edward and Jacob behaving like dogs with Bella as their bone. I swear, I thought any minute now one of them is going to urinate on her so as to claim indesputable ownership.
Spurred on by this love triangle issue, Edward becomes the most horrible fictional man I've ever known in my life. Abusive would be an understatement. He was creepy, disgusting, and foul. I wanted to kill Edward so many times. Specifically during moments like the time he dismantles Bella's engine so that she can't see Jacob. He does this in a very creepy way too. He knows she won't be able to hear him doing anything, so he sneaks over to her car before she can. Dismantles the engine, sits in the passenger seat KNOWING he's going to startle her, and eventually does exactly that. He scares her, then quietly tells her why he's there, and she returns to her room.
Then there's the times Bella had to think quick in order to escape Edward and Alice in order to see Jacob. There's the time Edward buys Alice a new car so that she can keep Bella hostage. I ask you, how can so many girls be in love with this man?
The whole time you've got some sort of idea of a plot going on in the background, but it's being drowned by all the annoying angst. At some point the characters figure out that there might be an army being built against them, and then we have this huge build up of a battle that's going to happen. The battle happens, and we see none of it. Instead we get Victoria somewhere farther away trying to kill Bella- though she gets quickly done away with by Edward. Yet another moment where Bella seems like she's entirely useless. She tries to imitate a person from an old werewolf legend, but regardless ends up looking like an idiot when Edward tells her that he and Seth had everything under control the entire time. It's like you could almost hear Edward thinking, "Silly woman, you know you know you're only supposed to sit there and be scared while I act the hero."
What's terrifying is that a woman wrote this. What's even more terrifying is that many more women, young and old, eat it up without question.
I wouldn't recommend this book to my worst enemy.
Book Review: Ahh...guilty pleasures...
Summary: 1 Stars
I wasn't really sure how to rate these books, because in terms of literary quality they're certainly one star. Yet, they're so delightfully cheesy that in terms of entertainment value, they probably rate a 5-star review. Of course, I'm the girl that adores awful monster movies on the SciFi channel, so maybe you shouldn't trust my judgment. :)
But really folks these books are absolutely ridiculous. They're so over the top they read like parodies of supernatural romance novels. The characters' motivations and reactions defy any sort of real world logic. These books just don't make any sense. Like here's my main problem with the series: What in the world do all of these people see in Bella? And I'm not just talking about Edward and Jacob. That also includes Mike Newton, the entire Cullen family, Angela, and even Victoria and James from the first book. The entire Twilight universe revolves around Bella. Everyone is obsessed with this girl. Why? She's whiny, hypocritical, self-obsessed, co-dependent, moody, childish, sulky, I could go on, you get my drift. She has no goals, ambitions, hobbies, dreams, or talents. She shows no interest in the world around her. She basically shows disdain and/or contempt for anyone in her life who isn't impossibly beautiful or superpowered--including her own parents. Her one goal in life is to become a vampire so she can live forever, be impossibly beautiful and strong, and never age. Yes, this is our heroine, people. Was I the only one rooting for Victoria to knock the hell out of her?
Then of course there's Edward. I believe I've read in SM's own words that Edward is her idea of the perfect man. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. And let me just say that I don't care how beautiful and gorgeous and perfect and wonderful a character is--NO ONE deserves to have 300 pages telling us these things. If a character is supposed to be beautiful then I only need to be told that once, and then I'm looking for their more interesting aspects. If their beauty is brought up more than once than I'm going to assume that it's signficant to the story somehow...it relates to the plot, it's an ironic contrast to their not so beautiful inside, it serves as commentary for cultural perspectives on beauty. I don't want to get the idea that I'm reading about Edward's crooked smile, or bronze hair, or perfect chiseled features, or muscular chest over and over again because the author is imagining herself as the object of his affection and likes reminding everyone of how gorgeous he is.
And Jacob...how did he go from a sweet kid to a rapist-in-training? And why is SM so convinced that we're all going to adore this twerp as much as she does? That said, as a character, he's still 1000 times more believable and better developed than Edward.
Basically this book had so many unintentionally hilarious moments that I was imagining it as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. There was Charlie's utterly bizarre reaction to Bella's breaking her hand...(What's that? You tried to sexually assault my daughter? And she injured herself? Way to go tiger!) Bella's stupidity after Rosalie's backstory (Hmm...I think she's trying to tell me something about life and humanity and family, but all I can really focus on is that some hot vampire chick once came onto Edward..WAAAHHHH Edward!) Edward's rather psycho definition of love( He basically says "I don't care about anyone else. I only care about you. Only you matter.") And the vampires' reactions (or rather non reaction) to the murder of the new vampire Bree disturbed me. They basically do nothing and have no reaction when a teenage girl is ripped to pieces right in front of them. Six months ago she was probably a normal teenager and now she's a pile of ashes and not one of the saintly "good" vampires even bothers to say "Poor girl. I wonder if her family is looking for her?" And these are the people that Bella wants to hang with for eternity?
Hey I won't lie, I'll probably be buying the 4th book, but I have no expectations of quality or literary value, only that I'm going to entertained by more cheap melodrama and cheesy, pseudo-sensuality.
Book Review: Utterly horrendous
Summary: 1 Stars
I read this book in a total of three days, right after I finished New Moon, and I am extremely disappointed. Most of the book was very slow. It was difficult to find something that was interesting and not stupid. I apologize for being so harsh, but the plot really bothered me.
The main plot of this book revolves around a love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob. It just got ridiculous. Sure, Meyer added in a newborn vampire fight and kept Victoria around, but that hardly made up any of the story. It was clear that the author's main focus was the love triangle. I liked some parts, like finding out about the third wife, the newborn battle, Rosalie, and Jasper, but overall it was just difficult to get into the story.
The main characters all go completely downhill in this book. Bella is still annoying and whiney as ever. She has made no character developments and her praise of Edward is really starting to get quite old. Then we have Jacob who becomes a manipulative jerk. I understand that he cares about Bella and doesn't want her to make the wrong choice, but in the end it is up to her. If he truly cared about her, he would have calmly explained to her why he thought she was making a mistake, and then let it be. But no. Instead, he acts like a jerk, forces himself on her, and then tricks her into making out with him. How horrible. And then Edward. Oh boy. Not only is Edward just a complete bore in this book, he is scary and stalkerish! Alice sees Bella heading off to La Push in a vision, so Edward disables her truck! And then he is just sitting in there like a creeper when she tries to start it (very stalkerish)! This was completely unacceptable, yet Bella still leaves her window open for him later that night! What is wrong with her! And then when she did make it out to La Push the first time, Edward is following her in his car as soon as she leaves (again, very stalkerish)! This also creeped me out. And then he has Alice kidnap her ...what is wrong with him?! That move was creepy, psychotic, and stalkerish. I understand that he is worried about her and is trying to be protective, but that is going too far and it is creepy. And then Bella just forgives him for all of this creepy and unacceptable behavior! She doesn't even tell him off once! Why doesn't this girl have a backbone. It is just silly how Edward can do no wrong. It makes the story boring, predictable, frustrating, and makes both Bella and Edward look like mary sues and gary stus. Edward and Bella's relationship has become perfect to the point of boredom. They aren't interesting to read about anymore because we all know what will happen. Everything Edward does is perfect. He can do no wrong. End of story. Like I said, the main characters all went downhill completely.
Bella and Edward are finally together. Bella finally made her choice and got engaged to Edward, but not without destroying the magic of the characters and the relationship. Bella should have never fallen in love with Jacob. There is no excuse. This just proves that Bella is still too young and too immature to decide who she really wants to be with. What was the author thinking here? It makes no sense. I get that she wanted to emphasize Bella having to choose a side in this book, but she did not have to have Bella fall in love with Jake. It could have stayed friendship. Also, the whole imprinting thing with the wolves was weird and a bit creepy (a two year old!?!? Ish!!!) Overall, this book was a huge disappointment. It just dragged on and on about Bella's conflict over Jacob and Edward. With the dull plot plus the dull characters, this book is almost impossible for me to like. I understand that the book is fiction, but it was really frustrating to see the characters fall apart like that. I became attached to them after reading the first two books in the series, and to see them become complete idiots almost makes me want to cry. Where was the epic love story I fell in love with? This felt like a bad daytime soap opera between a bunch of messed up mythological creatures. I'm very upset.
Book Review: No, No, No, 1 Stars
I have never in my life been more upset and disappointed in a series. The first book was great. It really was, but I cannot believe for the life of me why the author didn't EVOLVE or PROGRESS the actual story line, or main characters in any way throughout a span of 2 EXTRA, UNNEEDED books.If you enjoy reading books about powerful, helpful, strong and smart women do NOT read these books. The main character, Bella, never grows, never becomes any stronger, or any more useful. She stays a pathetic wreck the whole time. As a young woman myself, I am utterly disgusted that the author is (in my eyes) promoting unhealthy, dangerous, and emotionally abusive relationships to young, growing, impressionable high school aged females. The ONLY reason why I read the end half of New Moon, and the whole book of Eclipse was because I truly wanted to see pathetic Bella make the right choice, and become a happy, healthy woman.
But obviously, by the tone of my review, she failed to do so. Just as she failed to set a good example for young women. If you have self respect, self confidence, usefulness, a sense of worth, a healthy emotional boundary or common sense, you will not find ANYTHING in common with Bella. I would have stopped reading these sequels all together if it weren't for Jacob. Having that said, there was NO reason to bring him so deeply into the story. There was no HEALTHY reason why the author should have brought Jacob in the way that she did. It got messy, stupid and ultimately, he was just EXTRA because he has nothing to do in the "outcome" of the book. NOTHING. He's just there to show how extraordinarily crappy Bella really is, even WITHOUT Edward.
It is hard enough for young women these days to get a handle on their teen years, and even harder for women of ANY age to get away from a bad relationship even though a good one is staring them in the face. I'm only 20, but I've been through enough to know that this book's messages are wrong. There are a lot of harmful things in life that love can do to a young woman. Unhealthy and hurtful things. If I knew that this series would have gone this route, I NEVER would have read it. If I were a high schooler again, reading these books, the messages would have sent me down a completely different path, an unwise and unhealthy path.
Here are some things that I believe, that the books send opposite messages about:
Unhealthy relationships are not good.
Emotional abuse is not okay.
Getting back together with someone who put you in a catatonic state for close to year is not the right choice.
Reckless behavior should be avoided. Not sought after.
Using people for your own selfish benefit is never okay.
Love triangles are not healthy for anyone involved.
A boyfriend at age 17 is not more important than friends, your mother, your father, and especially not your life!
Disobeying, lying and sneaking around your father is not good. Police chief, or otherwise.
Putting yourself in dangerous situations where you could be raped or killed is not going to send a prince charming barreling to your rescue. You will just be raped or killed for being reckless, helpless and stupid.
Being pathetic and WEAK will not get you multiple strong and caring boyfriends! It's ludicrous!!
Yes, this is a fictional book, but there are morals and lessons to be seen and absorbed. Examples to be set. I finished reading the series 2 days ago, and after I read the last epilogue about Jacob Black I launched the book sailing across the room into a door frame, thus cracking the spine. I have YET to cease being FURIOUS.
In conclusion, there are ridiculously irresponsible lessons for young women to walk away with, the whole series could have been ONE book because the main characters do not GROW or PROGRESS in anyway, and the only character I ever sympathized or cared about is screwed over in the end.
I apologize if any of this is incoherent. I am still trembling with RAGE.