Al
Well, I finally finished the last installment in the Twilight saga. My review might include some spoilers, so read ahead at your own caution.
It seems to me that the quality and wow factor of this series has diminished incrementally from the first book. Twilight was by far my favorite; seriously, I loved it. New Moon was alright, Eclipse definitely lacked something, and this final book was a disappointment. I felt that Breaking Dawn was far too long for the material that it contained. Either the editor should have cut down on the number of pages, or Meyer should have developed the plot more intricately and fully.
At the beginning, I was hoping for a better wedding scene, and of course, a much more descript honeymoon. Bella was still being petulant about the marriage, and that ground on my nerves. Once that scene was finished, bam, they're at the island. I'm not a romance buff by any means, and I hate smutty writing, but Meyer could have given us readers just a bit more in terms of the whole honeymoon sex scene. Don't get me wrong, I just think that Bella and Edward's relationship on the island could have been even more solidified through Meyer writing about it just a tiny bit more in depth. Instead, it was like, wham, they have mysterious sex and suddenly Bella's pregnant, of course after the first time.
After she finds out she's pregnant, the novel DRAGS. Seriously, I'm sorry, but the whole middle section of this book was a bore. Finally the baby's born, given a ridiculous name (both her first and middle names annoy the heck out of me) and Bella becomes the vampire that we've all been waiting for her to become.
I'm also a bit disappointed in how easily Bella overcame the whole newborn thing. I know, she had a shielding gift, and I didn't want her to kill anybody, I just thought that there could have been a little more struggle to her vampire initiation.
The ending was also a letdown. The whole meeting fo the vampires was great and all, but if the Volturi are coming all the way there and all that animosity is going around, why was there not a battle scene? I thought it was far too easy that the Volturi just saw another half-vampire and were like, ok, let's go back home. This means that the Volturi are still around. I wanted them to be destroyed, or at least made to fight with the other vampires. It's the whole good vs. evil thing. When Edward mentioned something like, oh, the Volturi are really just bullies, but cowards underneath' I was like, WHAT? I mean, they were this huge threat, and there was supposed to be a huge confrontation, and suddenly they just walk away to go live in their castle?
It seemed like all the action was crammed into the last 200 pages of the book, and everything before it was far too drawn out and dullingly descriptive. I think Meyer could have done a better job, had she been given time to let her plots thicken and develop, and time to trim down on useless pages of nothing.
The book had so much potential; I just wish it could have been a better finish to the series.
I was a little wary of reading this at first...all the hype and rabid fan-girls were somewhat off-putting. But now that I've read it, I can honestly say that I'm a huge fan :) Stephenie Meyers' writing style is immensely easy to get into; the story is nicely paced, not too fast or slow. And oh mah gawd: Edward. Overall I really enjoyed reading Twilight and can't wait to get my hands on New Moon.
I thought Eclipse was better than New Moon in some ways, but still didn't have the same impact as Twilight. Despite the ever-growing number of pages, I read through this one pretty quickly. I was a bit disappointed in the confrontation...I was looking for that part of the plot to be a bit longer, have more detail, be more exciting or something. I thought the end of the book was sped through a bit too quickly. Meyer could have added a bit more so that the ending wouldn't have felt rushed; I mean, what's another 15-25 pages in addition to 629? I would have read it.
And I'm glad that there was at least some sort of resolution between Bella and Jacob....though I'm still a bit confused about their relationship and why Bella was acting so whiny and confused in herself.... I guess I can understand the bit about how they're “human world” soul mates, etc....but I never really liked Jacob all that much, so I suppose I'm a bit biased and in favor of Edward XD
And even though Bella's attitude at the end bothered me, I'm glad that she can maybe think about someone else beside herself and let Alice do something that will make her happy. I just wish that Bella would be a little more sincere about it. Oh well.
Although a little difficult to get into at first, I really ended up enjoying this novel. It was interesting to hear the different points of view from the two main characters, one written in letter form and the other in simple bursts of thought. I liked how social expectations were reviewed and scrutinized by Abraham, and how he grew as a person as his time in Pegu passed. I also loved the overall historical setting, not something that is covered in many history classes.
This book was actually a pretty good read. The cover is what initially caught my eye (I know, that's not what you should judge on...); there are also really great illustrations at each chapter. There's a bit of adventure, mystery, suspense, and stuff about plants, Brazilian natives and wacky creatures...a different book, but still good.
I don't think it's possible to read a book with a Beatles-esque title and be disappointed. For the author's first novel, I didn't think this book was too bad; I absolutely loved her combined concepts of cryogenics, space travel, and dystopian society. The setting was very creative and well done, definitely nothing like I've ever read about before. Aside from the good points, I thought that the mystery of the murderer was a little too easy to solve, the characters could have been more developed and consistent, and the ending....Well, the ending wrapped up way too quickly, and wasn't quite what I was expecting. I don't know if the author has a sequel in mind, but if not, it was kind of an abrupt finish. Overall, a pretty good read.
DNF at 177 pages. Dull, one dimensional characters. Hated Loreda and felt like the way she spoke sounded too modern for 1934.
DNF p. 128. I started out enjoying this, even though I wasn't expecting an autobiography of a beginning. However, after a while things got repetitive and I found my focus wavering. Not enough interest to keep me going.
Blech. According to my Kindle, I'm 75% through....but I just don't think I can go any further. Writing is okay, but man, has the plot become boring. Not believable enough for me and the author seems to be trying to develop a love triangle. A dystopian YA book with a love triangle. Not cliche at all...