Eclipse

I fear Stephenie Meyer may be a bit wrapped up in herself and her popularity – and Eclipse suffers for it. The romance in this book gets heavy-handed and frustrating. The constant comparisons to Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights are glaring and pretty irritating – these books are engaging and fun to read, but they are by no means literary classics. Seems a little bit egotistical.

My problem with Eclipse is that Bella, after three books, is STILL feeling unsure about Edward, constantly making self-depricating comments, and generally being a totally irritating whiner about how inferior she is to Edward's shiny wonderful perfection. I'm sorry, but after three books worth, I think it's time for either Bella to get over it or for Edward to smack her upside the head for it.

Furthermore, I miss Edward! The Edward Cullen I adored in book one is nowhere to be seen – here he is hot and cold, either overprotective and intense or distant and wary.

The competition between Edward and Jacob is by far the most interesting thing about the book – it's 600 pages long, and while the battle at the end is surely climactic, it took FAR too long to get there – the scenes in the tent are probably my favorites, with Jacob helping keep Bella warm and bantering with Edward the whole time.

I hope Stephenie Meyer slows down and really nails the next book, because if the series keeps going the way Eclipse went, she's not going to get the reception she's undoubtedly expecting.