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Vampires, Werewolves and High School Graduation. What's a girl to do?
Date of Review: Aug 15, 2007
The Bottom Line: Recommended only if you've already read the other two.
Last week, Stephenie Meyer's highly anticipated (in some circles, yes, it was highly anticipated)
Eclipse was released. This is the author's third book, and continues the saga of star-crossed lovers Edward (vampire) and Bella (human). In the first two books,
Twilight and
New Moon, Bella has been adamant about her desire to be turned in order to stay with Edward forever, whereas Edward has been just as adamant that he does not want to destroy her soul and humanity by damning her. The beginning of this third books has our lovers compromising. Edward has reluctantly agreed and will turn Bella soon after high school graduation
if she marries him first.
One of my biggest complaints in the first two books was the pacing. Both books felt like a whole lot of set up, then the last twenty pages were the only action. Unfortunately,
Eclipse follows the same pattern, only the setup isn't nearly as enjoyable as it was in
Twilight (getting to know Edward and Bella, learning the Meyer's vampire facts) or
New Moon (watching Bella's childhood friend Jacob Black fall in love with her, rescue her from depression and struggle with the fact that he's a werewolf).
The entire setup in this book shows all three of the characters I've come to care about as nothing but selfish, whiny monsters, two of whom I don't care what happens to by the time the big finale roles around. It feels as though part of Meyer wanted to create a love triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob, but another part of her decided that wouldn't be a good thing, so all the conflict feels false. Bella loves Edward. Jacob loves Bella. Bella spends as much time as she can with Jacob, leading him on. Bella places herself in danger at every possible moment, all the while acting like a martyr. Bella finds out she's in love with Jacob, as well as Edward. And on and on and on.
To be fair, there is a vague sort of suspenseful subplot happening during these people's rapid descent into selfish oblivion. A series of murders have been happening in nearby Seattle. The Cullens are convinced they're the work of newborn vampires, who are stronger than normal vampires, due to the fresh human blood still coursing through their veins, yet unable to control themselves. Of course, they have something to do with Bella. After all, this is Bella's story, and everything and everyone revolves around her.
Though it sounds like I despised
Eclipse, I really didn't. Part of me just feels like I have to justify my continued fascination with this paranormal genre by finding wonderful books.
Twilight and
New Moon were both good enough to justify it. In that regard, this one was a sore disappointment. It was also disappointing to see such beloved characters move down instead of up on the ladder of dignity and humanity. But, that said, there were some good things too. Meyer gave us some back stories about two of Edward's siblings that were very interesting. Also, much attention was given to the werewolves, and the Quileute tribe, which has been my favorite part of all these books.
Like the first two books,
Eclipse was narrated from Bella's first person point of view. Where she seemed to be a smart(ish), independent, mature young woman before, she only felt selfish, silly and whiny in this one. Meyer writes these Young Adult novels in such a way that anyone over twelve could pick them up and read them with no problems, but beware before handing it over to your pre-teen. The sex and violence gets kicked up a notch in this one.
Final thoughts and recommendations: If you've read the first two, which really were worth reading, you must read this one. If this kind of thing holds no interest for you, well, then why are you even reading this review?
The Twilight Saga: Twilight New Moon Eclipse Breaking Dawn
