Eclipse (Twilight Sagas)

We read the first book in the series after I saw the movie on a plane ride home. Not epic, but not bad for a teen/young adult book. The concept was a great one, but the follow-through could have been stronger. We read the second book -- a little too long and drawn out, and by this time Bella had just become an unlikable character in general. BUT, hesitantly, we got the third book -- at this point, we sort of felt like we might as well see where this was going.

The answer? Nowhere. And extremely slowly. Was there a point to this book? Nothing happens! The whole "plot" could have been summarized in a chapter. Bella whines. Bella is horny. Bella graduates. Edward has changed from the Pattinson-proclaimed James Dean persona into a sniveling co-dependent wretch. Jacob and Bella are both disturbingly manipulative and sado-masochistic.

The only redeeming qualities were Rosalie's and Jasper's stories. Honestly, Rosalie has been one of my favorite characters so far because she is the only one who hasn't been entranced by Bella's...well...what, exactly? Bella is not independent or smart or talented in any way, she is not strong or interesting -- she is an empty shell. We have learned nothing about her so far -- did she have ANY friends in her entire life in Phoenix? Any hobbies? ANY ambition to do ANYTHING? The overall storyline for the entire series would have been SO much more interesting if there were some sort of struggle -- Bella as a fiercely independent-minded stubborn driven young woman, who is swept off her feet and has to deal with the internal struggle of following her dreams, or following her heart. Who fights back rather than whimpers. Her collapse after Edward left would have therefore been so much more profound.

Regardless, when Jasper finally opens his mouth and tells his story, it starts to get promising. Maybe there will be a really good, descriptive good vampire/bad vampire/werewolf fight in here. The chapter flashing between the scene in the clearing and the scene at Bella and Edward's tent. Finally, maybe no more "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HAVE SEX WITH ME" begging (which is a wonderful example to girls about how to manipulate guys, by the way...just beg and look pathetic and eventually they will give in? if this were a book geared toward adults, fine, have Bella be some insecure pitiful moaning flat character. But take a little bit of responsibility for the impressionable fan-base you somehow now have groveling at your feet). But no -- the fight itself is glossed over completely -- it is all over by the time we hear anything about it. The much-alluded-to and feared visit by the Volturi is, well, WEAK. And Victoria, with all of the build-up, turns out to be a simple kill.

Yay. Back to "I'll marry you if you will do me before you make me a vampire" for the rest of the book. At this point the whole thing is like a train wreck -- do we want to bother with even borrowing the fourth book? Or are we now caught up in the lurid fascination of seeing just how very much more nauseating things become? Spelling and grammar mistakes aside (I blame this on publishers so fanatically greedy to get that teenager money that they can't bother with proof-reading), this particular installment just felt like a vapid waste of time. Sorry.

First let me say that I think something "fishy" is going on. There are suddenly several new five star reviews from people that have only posted reviews on Eclipse. Hmmmmmm......

That aside, this book was a big disappointment. I wanted to read it before the movie came out and was looking forward to the continued day to day struggles of human & vampire. I could even tolerate Jacob in the mix as the antagonist. Part of the appeal of this series for me is the slow step by step development of the relationship between Bella and Edward. Suddenly, they've become super couple. Edward is an example of perfection, maturity and excellent decision making skills(even trumping Carlisle), and Bella is a whiney selfish crybaby who continuously makes things worse for herself and everyone around her by stupid decisions and comments.

Jacob is an abusive immature jackass, who suffers no consequences for his behavior. I have no idea what his appeal is for Bella.

Add the ongoing humurous but unintentional writing gaffs by Meyers (how many times can someone "roll their eyes" "smirk" "sneer" etc, and you have a pretty sad piece of literature.

I have low expectations for the fourth installment which I will be checking out from a library.

Update - I wrote this review before I completed the entire book. Let me just add that I had no idea how much worse it could get. I've never seen an author so completely destroy her "heroine" so thouroughly as Meyers has. I'm with the other reviewers that wish that Victoria had gotten Bella...she deserved nothing less then a violent death. Ugh.

I can't even express into words how strong my distaste for the entire Twilight Saga truly is. In my personal opinion Twilight is prefabricated, poorly written, shallow, demographic-forcing tripe. When I was a fourteen-year-old girl I was very obsessed with the vampire anti-hero Lestat from Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. And though Lestat had many relationship issues he was still a better defined and more well conceived character than that of Edward Cullen.

Edward and Bella are poorly thought out, two dimensional shells. This was a deliberate effort by the author so that every young reader could imagine themselves as the main characters but in the process she made them so superficial that the characters lacked any quality of definition. They did not feel like real people.

Not only is Twilight poorly written but it also hinders upon actual mythology. The notion of vampires glittering in the sun is laughable at best. It brings to mind the recollection of such toys as the My Little Pony dolls. The logic behind vampires sparkling in the sunlight is non-existent. A vampire burning in the sun has been a staple of Gothic fiction for many years. There are real diseases and disorders in the world that make sunlight harmful to certain individuals. Scientifically it's more plausible to be harmed by sunlight than to 'naturally' sparkle in it.

Another flaw in the mythos of Twilight is the definition of werewolf. I cannot tell you how many times I have come across Twilight fans who insist the characters who can turn into wolves are not werewolves. They say that these characters are shape-shifters. A shape shifter by traditional definition can take on multiple forms, not just one. Many Twilight fans also argue that within the mythos of the books a true werewolf only changes on the full moon and that's why Jacob and company are not actually werewolves. The parapsychology student in me winces at this. In many traditional werewolf folklore out of Germany and France there are werewolves that most certainly can change at will, are aware in their wolf form, and are not bound by the phase of the moon. The very word werewolf means man-wolf. It does not mean part man and part wolf. It comes from the notion of a man INTO a wolf. Most classic werewolf stories (before The Wolf-Man movie) had the werewolf changing from a person into an actual wolf.

The very first werewolf legend can be traced back to the Greek myth of King Lycaon. According to legend King Lycaon served human flesh at a feast for Zeus (the king of the Gods). Zeus was so offended that he punished Lycaon by turning him into a wolf. Only his eyes remained human. This myth is where the terms Lycanthrope, Lycanthropy and the more modern Lycan come from. I guess it's safe to say Stephenie Meyer does not do her research in regard to the occult before writing these stories.

Not only is Twilight poorly written and intellectually insulting to occultists (amateur and professional alike) but it also promotes very unhealthy relationships. Edward Cullen is abusive, stalkerish and obsessive. Edward has also had moments of physically harming Bella. Bella is equally so but that does not make it okay, nor does it make the relationship healthy. At one point Edward disables Bella's mode of transportation and has her kidnapped as a means to 'protect' her. If he was not a vampire this would be viewed as highly abusive of the character. There is a fine line between being chivalrous and sexist. Edward Cullen crossed that line miles ago. This sets a very unhealthy ideal of what defines romantic relationship for the young readers of Twilight. I am not saying not to read Twilight nor am I saying to burn the books. I am simply saying that it needs to be looked at in context for what it truly is and that there are far higher quality reads out there. If you want a chivalrous character who is NOT sexist, seek The Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher. The hero, a wizard named Harry Dresden, is very chivalrous without being sexist.

Bella is what modern writers call A Mary Sue. In fiction writing and role playing games Mary Sue characters are strongly frowned upon. A Mary Sue is a character of shallow quality who is nearly flawless. The character is so perfect that even her so-called flaws are endearing.

I have run online text based role playing games since 1999 and I can tell you there are plot points in Twilight I would not have allowed in my game. A major one would be when Bella and Edward finally had their daughter toward the end of the book series the child aged extremely fast and by age seven or so she was involved with her mother's werewolf ex-boyfriend. To me this is disgusting. I would never have allowed this in my online role playing game. She might have developed with supernatural speed but she still has only had only seven-years-life experience and I feel that is certainly not enough time to be in a romantic relationship with a grown man. That was disturbing to me. Supernatural speed aging does not give her enough life experience for that sort of relationship. That was simply not right.

In short Twilight is not what I would consider a good read even for those who truly love supernatural romances. Seek out the likes of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Twilight is not worth the time. There are higher quality works of fiction out there.

Edward and Bella are back together. Their only problems are Charlie's grounding Bella, graduation, applying to colleges, Edward's marriage proposal to Bella, Jacob, Bella's friend, being left out, and Victoria being on the hunt for Bella. All your typical teenaged problems.

I Liked:
I will never understand these books. They are the fluffiest of fluff and yet so enjoyable to read (even as you are bashing your head against a wall)!
1.Expanding Lore. One of the things I most loved about this book was how it expanded on all the lore that has been set up in the previous novels.
Firstly, Meyer expands on the Quileutes history. Uncle Billy and one of the other village elders gathers the Council together and reveals this story through oral tradition. I loved this story, it felt so organic, so real and it really kept my attention. I didn't want to set the book down at all.
Rosalie proves to be fascinating; she comes to Bella and begs her to reconsider becoming a vampire. Then Rosalie proceeds to tell Bella why: that Rosalie was a socialite, had everything, was doing great, but it was all destroyed when her fiance took advantage of her. It's a griping story, a heartrending story and it makes Bella's choice to leave the mortal world all the more serious.
Jasper's story is almost more fascinating than Rosalie's; he became a vampire to fight in a war of vampire covens. I loved this concept, I absolutely thought it was brilliant and scary all at once.
2.Characters. I found that the characters had even grown more to my liking.
Jacob continues to be one of my favorite characters. Even though at times in this book he comes off as an a-hole, Jacob, I feel, really wants Bella to be her own person, as he tells Edward:"Better frightened than lied to" (Page 81). And isn't it true? What woman cares to be lied to, even if it is to protect her? She isn't a child anymore and is fully capable (uh, maybe not? See next section) of taking care of herself. She deserves to be treated like an adult, not as a pet or a toy.
Charlie gets to call out Bella on her bad behavior last book, which I found absolutely delicious and had to include (Page 12): "I don't think you should dump all your other friends for your boyfriend...what happened in September...if you'd had more of a life outside of Edward Cullen, it might not have been like that."
Bella really grew up in this novel. At times, she seems to have finally developed a partial backbone. When Jacob makes advances on her, she tells him no, very firmly. Also, with Edward, I was pleased to see her reprimanding him vehemently for lying to her on multiple occasions and telling him that he won't lie to her again. Also, and I am not sure how to put this, I also commend Bella for not wanting to bend immediately to Edward's desire to marry her.
Edward got a scene where he was able to reveal more of himself to Bella, and for the first time, I felt I had an idea of who he was and why Bella liked him.
3.Action. There is quite a bit of action in this novel, starting much earlier than usual, around the halfway mark as everyone realizes that Bella is in danger. I enjoyed the battle preparations (if I did get lost sometimes), the actual battle, and how they meet Victoria and Jane from the Volturi.

I Didn't Like:
I have written this section so many times, and each time it grows longer. So I am going to try to truncate it, by using words to describe why I dislike each part and then quotes or a brief explanation.
1.Bella is...
Co-dependent. Her one goal in life is to be with Edward. She has no goals for an occupation, no goals to go to college, no dreams of accomplishing anything beyond becoming a vampire to be forever with her Edward.
"If I had my way, I would spend the majority of my time kissing Edward." Page 43
"I would never admit to him how hard it was for me when he was gone--how it brought back the abandonment nightmares. If he knew that, it would make him feel horrible and he would be afraid to ever leave me." Page 94
"Whats the point in waiting? He's all I want." Page 183
"It wouldn't be much of a life [if I weren't in love with you, Edward:]" Page 230
"He wasn't the one who was going to have to sit behind and wonder whether or not the core of his existence was going to come home." Page 312
"I love him, Jacob. He's my whole life." Page 330
"Jacob, I can't be happy without him." Page 333
"As long as I got to be with Edward, what else could I ask for?" Page 345
"You're in every thought I have." Page 413
"And I can't stand it if you leave me again." Page 419
"There was no question that he was fundamental to my survival." Page 420
"Because right now, physically, there's nothing I want more than you." Page 446
"I have to be with you. It's the only way I can live." Page 610
"Everything in my world was about him." Page619
Yes, ladies and gents, there is no life unless you have a man.
Boring. If Bella is not cooking, cleaning, dropping things, tripping at convenient plot points or nuzzling Edward...she must be dead. Bella has absolutely no hobbies and is never once shown doing anything by herself for herself. Apparently, she's supposed to be smart and interested in literature, but throwing in a random comment about Wuthering Heights absolutely does not a hobby make.
A complainer. If it can be complained about (even if it is for no reason), Bella will do it. Things she has complained about (that normal people actually look forward to) include: graduation, commencement, parties, marriage, and going to college.
Is overdramatic. She blames herself for everything, even things that she had no control over...and never stops.
Inconsistent. Its obvious that Meyer tried to write Bella one way, and yet she comes off completely different. Let me count the ways:
Meyer: Bella is mature. The reader: Bella is immature, ready to run out and harm herself instead of standing behind people who can't be easily destroyed. Best example is from Rosalie: "In some ways, you are much more mature than I was at eighteen. But in other ways....there are many things you've probably never though about seriously...you don't want to be rash about permanent things, Bella" (page 167).
Meyer: Bella is selfless. The reader: Bella is selfish, not thinking about her parents, her friends, or anyone but herself when considering becoming a vampire. She also whines until Edward backs out of the big fight, just so he can canoodle her.
Meyer: Bella is giving. The reader: Bella uses people. She uses Angela's friendship to get out of being with Edward and "getting in trouble" with him. She uses Jacob to get her away from Edward.
Meyer: Bella is considerate. The reader: Bella is inconsiderate. When people give her things, she whines and complains about it. She ripped out the stereo Emmet gave her, almost let her tickets from Carlisle and Esme expire, won't let Edward give her anything for graduation, and only consents reluctantly to Alice planning parties for her.
Meyer: Bella is thoughtful. The reader: Bella is not thoughtful. As Rosalie tells Bella how Rosalie was gang raped, Bella is wangsting about Edward being with other women in Tanya's coven. She doesn't care about hurting Jacob's feelings by dragging him along and then telling him "No" at his weakest moment.
2.Other Characters:
Edward is so...boring. He's always polite, always overprotective, knows every subject, can get admitted into Dartmouth on a sneeze, and is a virgin. He has absolutely no conflict whatsoever and is boring because of it.
"There was no end to his generosity" Page 521
Jacob is a would-be rapist. Now, I love this guy...mostly. But halfway through this book, he takes a turn into territory I loathe when he admits his love for Bella (not bad) and forces a kiss on her (VERY BAD). As Bella herself says (page 478): "You're an enormous monster who refuses to respect anyone else's personal space." And he doesn't get any punishment. In fact, he gets congratulated by...
Charlie is an idiot father. Number one, he is totally oblivious to his daughter. Number two, there is absolutely no subtlety to his hatred (justified--remember, it was Edward who made his daughter a zombie) to Edward. Number three (and most important), Charlie practically givaes Jacob a pat on the back for forcibly kissing Bella and then laughing about it. If that was my dad, I would have hit him so hard it would have made his head spin. Then, I would promptly have moved out.
3.Bad Romance. Edward is a control freak. He dictates whether Bella can visit Jacob, he lies to Bella about Alice's vision, he lies to Bella about why they went to Florida, he has Alice watch her, ruining Bella's plans with Jacob just so Bella "would be safe", he stalks her, he chooses what Bella should do without asking her permission...in short, theirs is the epitome of an unhealthy relationship:
"I sign your name better than you do yourself." Edward, talking about how he is going to forge Bella's name on an application to Dartmouth (page 23)
"There's really no point in discussing the matter further." Edward closing off a discussion about if Bella can visit Jacob (page 28)
"It wasn't so bad, except for the fact that I was being held against my will." Bella, about how Edward conned Alice into having a sleepover at the Cullens (pages 146--147)
This doesn't even include the scene where Edward removes Bella's spark plugs so she can't drive to La Push to see Jacob.
4.Inconsistencies. This book is riddled with them. Here are a few I spotted:
Jacob mentions Quil being on a scouting mission with the wolf pack, yet Bella is surprised to learn he is a werewolf now.
Bella asks Jacob about Sam's history, which she had already learned in New Moon.
Bella asks Edward why he doesn't want her to be a vampire. He already answered that it was because he didn't want her to lose her soul.
Bella loves Edward so much...yet doesn't want to marry him?
Bella doesn't care what people think about her (hence her 3 month catatonia) yet does care if people talk about her marrying right out of college (page 275)?
Bella's mother pushed Bella not to marry young (shouldn't this have been seen earlier)?
When did Edward develop the immunity to Bella's blood (page 471)?
The mountains near Forks have near-blizzard weather...in June?
Edward is able to start a fire with dry pine needles...when just the night before there was a massive snowstorm (page 555)?
5.Other.
What is up with the heavy-handed references to Wuthering Heights (page 517 and 611)? Did Meyer just finish reading the Cliff Notes version? Talk about no subtlety.
I understand this is a young adult novel, but I couldn't help but feel I was being talked down to.
Meyer has a tendency to set up an interesting scene then totally cut away from it and focus on Edward and Bella snuggling (for instance, the day before the Big Fight).
Meyer is hereby banned from using any of the following words or any of their forms: grimace, chuckle, flinch, wince, mumble, mutter, growl, moan, snort...I could go on.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
There is some swearing, but nothing beyond a few d***, h***, and p***ed.
There is enormous sexual tension between Bella and Edward and Bella and Jacob. Between Bella and Edward, Bella is constantly trying to get Edward to sleep with her, and Edward is always holding back. Jacob and Bella kiss twice: once, Jacob forces kisses her, the second, he tricks her into kissing him.
Seattle has been plagued with numerous murders. Rosalie reveals that she was gang raped before she became a vampire. Jasper was brutally attacked as a young vampire. Bella is in constant danger. The last 100 pages is rife with rather brutal bluntness about decapitations, ripping body parts, and other ways to maim vampires.

Overall:
This book is very hard to rate. It was sometimes just as enjoyable as the previous books, and yet there were aspects that bugged me (namely, Bella).
The story progresses well, even if there was an unnecessary romantic triangle and sudden revulsion to marriage thrown in. The aspect I loved was the vampire battle, but found myself also growing closer to Edward, Jacob, and even Bella.
I know when the next book comes out on paperback, I'll buy it and read it. And I'm going to see the Eclipse movie in theaters when it comes out. It's good, but definitely not for everyone.

Edward and Bella are back together. Their only problems are Charlie's grounding Bella, graduation, applying to colleges, Edward's marriage proposal to Bella, Jacob, Bella's friend, being left out, and Victoria being on the hunt for Bella. All your typical teenaged problems.

I Liked:
I will never understand these books. They are the fluffiest of fluff and yet so enjoyable to read (even as you are bashing your head against a wall)!
1.Expanding Lore. One of the things I most loved about this book was how it expanded on all the lore that has been set up in the previous novels.
Firstly, Meyer expands on the Quileutes history. Uncle Billy and one of the other village elders gathers the Council together and reveals this story through oral tradition. I loved this story, it felt so organic, so real and it really kept my attention. I didn't want to set the book down at all.
Rosalie proves to be fascinating; she comes to Bella and begs her to reconsider becoming a vampire. Then Rosalie proceeds to tell Bella why: that Rosalie was a socialite, had everything, was doing great, but it was all destroyed when her fiance took advantage of her. It's a griping story, a heartrending story and it makes Bella's choice to leave the mortal world all the more serious.
Jasper's story is almost more fascinating than Rosalie's; he became a vampire to fight in a war of vampire covens. I loved this concept, I absolutely thought it was brilliant and scary all at once.
2.Characters. I found that the characters had even grown more to my liking.
Jacob continues to be one of my favorite characters. Even though at times in this book he comes off as an a-hole, Jacob, I feel, really wants Bella to be her own person, as he tells Edward:"Better frightened than lied to" (Page 81). And isn't it true? What woman cares to be lied to, even if it is to protect her? She isn't a child anymore and is fully capable (uh, maybe not? See next section) of taking care of herself. She deserves to be treated like an adult, not as a pet or a toy.
Charlie gets to call out Bella on her bad behavior last book, which I found absolutely delicious and had to include (Page 12): "I don't think you should dump all your other friends for your boyfriend...what happened in September...if you'd had more of a life outside of Edward Cullen, it might not have been like that."
Bella really grew up in this novel. At times, she seems to have finally developed a partial backbone. When Jacob makes advances on her, she tells him no, very firmly. Also, with Edward, I was pleased to see her reprimanding him vehemently for lying to her on multiple occasions and telling him that he won't lie to her again. Also, and I am not sure how to put this, I also commend Bella for not wanting to bend immediately to Edward's desire to marry her.
Edward got a scene where he was able to reveal more of himself to Bella, and for the first time, I felt I had an idea of who he was and why Bella liked him.
3.Action. There is quite a bit of action in this novel, starting much earlier than usual, around the halfway mark as everyone realizes that Bella is in danger. I enjoyed the battle preparations (if I did get lost sometimes), the actual battle, and how they meet Victoria and Jane from the Volturi.

I Didn't Like:
I have written this section so many times, and each time it grows longer. So I am going to try to truncate it, by using words to describe why I dislike each part and then quotes or a brief explanation.
1.Bella is...
Co-dependent. Her one goal in life is to be with Edward. She has no goals for an occupation, no goals to go to college, no dreams of accomplishing anything beyond becoming a vampire to be forever with her Edward.
"If I had my way, I would spend the majority of my time kissing Edward." Page 43
"I would never admit to him how hard it was for me when he was gone--how it brought back the abandonment nightmares. If he knew that, it would make him feel horrible and he would be afraid to ever leave me." Page 94
"Whats the point in waiting? He's all I want." Page 183
"It wouldn't be much of a life [if I weren't in love with you, Edward]" Page 230
"He wasn't the one who was going to have to sit behind and wonder whether or not the core of his existence was going to come home." Page 312
"I love him, Jacob. He's my whole life." Page 330
"Jacob, I can't be happy without him." Page 333
"As long as I got to be with Edward, what else could I ask for?" Page 345
"You're in every thought I have." Page 413
"And I can't stand it if you leave me again." Page 419
"There was no question that he was fundamental to my survival." Page 420
"Because right now, physically, there's nothing I want more than you." Page 446
"I have to be with you. It's the only way I can live." Page 610
"Everything in my world was about him." Page619
Yes, ladies and gents, there is no life unless you have a man.
Boring. If Bella is not cooking, cleaning, dropping things, tripping at convenient plot points or nuzzling Edward...she must be dead. Bella has absolutely no hobbies and is never once shown doing anything by herself for herself. Apparently, she's supposed to be smart and interested in literature, but throwing in a random comment about Wuthering Heights absolutely does not a hobby make.
A complainer. If it can be complained about (even if it is for no reason), Bella will do it. Things she has complained about (that normal people actually look forward to) include: graduation, commencement, parties, marriage, and going to college.
Is overdramatic. She blames herself for everything, even things that she had no control over...and never stops.
Inconsistent. Its obvious that Meyer tried to write Bella one way, and yet she comes off completely different. Let me count the ways:
Meyer: Bella is mature. The reader: Bella is immature, ready to run out and harm herself instead of standing behind people who can't be easily destroyed. Best example is from Rosalie: "In some ways, you are much more mature than I was at eighteen. But in other ways....there are many things you've probably never though about seriously...you don't want to be rash about permanent things, Bella" (page 167).
Meyer: Bella is selfless. The reader: Bella is selfish, not thinking about her parents, her friends, or anyone but herself when considering becoming a vampire. She also whines until Edward backs out of the big fight, just so he can canoodle her.
Meyer: Bella is giving. The reader: Bella uses people. She uses Angela's friendship to get out of being with Edward and "getting in trouble" with him. She uses Jacob to get her away from Edward.
Meyer: Bella is considerate. The reader: Bella is inconsiderate. When people give her things, she whines and complains about it. She ripped out the stereo Emmet gave her, almost let her tickets from Carlisle and Esme expire, won't let Edward give her anything for graduation, and only consents reluctantly to Alice planning parties for her.
Meyer: Bella is thoughtful. The reader: Bella is not thoughtful. As Rosalie tells Bella how Rosalie was gang raped, Bella is wangsting about Edward being with other women in Tanya's coven. She doesn't care about hurting Jacob's feelings by dragging him along and then telling him "No" at his weakest moment.
2.Other Characters:
Edward is so...boring. He's always polite, always overprotective, knows every subject, can get admitted into Dartmouth on a sneeze, and is a virgin. He has absolutely no conflict whatsoever and is boring because of it.
"There was no end to his generosity" Page 521
Jacob is a would-be rapist. Now, I love this guy...mostly. But halfway through this book, he takes a turn into territory I loathe when he admits his love for Bella (not bad) and forces a kiss on her (VERY BAD). As Bella herself says (page 478): "You're an enormous monster who refuses to respect anyone else's personal space." And he doesn't get any punishment. In fact, he gets congratulated by...
Charlie is an idiot father. Number one, he is totally oblivious to his daughter. Number two, there is absolutely no subtlety to his hatred (justified--remember, it was Edward who made his daughter a zombie) to Edward. Number three (and most important), Charlie practically givaes Jacob a pat on the back for forcibly kissing Bella and then laughing about it. If that was my dad, I would have hit him so hard it would have made his head spin. Then, I would promptly have moved out.
3.Bad Romance. Edward is a control freak. He dictates whether Bella can visit Jacob, he lies to Bella about Alice's vision, he lies to Bella about why they went to Florida, he has Alice watch her, ruining Bella's plans with Jacob just so Bella "would be safe", he stalks her, he chooses what Bella should do without asking her permission...in short, theirs is the epitome of an unhealthy relationship:
"I sign your name better than you do yourself." Edward, talking about how he is going to forge Bella's name on an application to Dartmouth (page 23)
"There's really no point in discussing the matter further." Edward closing off a discussion about if Bella can visit Jacob (page 28)
"It wasn't so bad, except for the fact that I was being held against my will." Bella, about how Edward conned Alice into having a sleepover at the Cullens (pages 146--147)
This doesn't even include the scene where Edward removes Bella's spark plugs so she can't drive to La Push to see Jacob.
4.Inconsistencies. This book is riddled with them. Here are a few I spotted:
Jacob mentions Quil being on a scouting mission with the wolf pack, yet Bella is surprised to learn he is a werewolf now.
Bella asks Jacob about Sam's history, which she had already learned in New Moon.
Bella asks Edward why he doesn't want her to be a vampire. He already answered that it was because he didn't want her to lose her soul.
Bella loves Edward so much...yet doesn't want to marry him?
Bella doesn't care what people think about her (hence her 3 month catatonia) yet does care if people talk about her marrying right out of college (page 275)?
Bella's mother pushed Bella not to marry young (shouldn't this have been seen earlier)?
When did Edward develop the immunity to Bella's blood (page 471)?
The mountains near Forks have near-blizzard weather...in June?
Edward is able to start a fire with dry pine needles...when just the night before there was a massive snowstorm (page 555)?
5.Other.
What is up with the heavy-handed references to Wuthering Heights (page 517 and 611)? Did Meyer just finish reading the Cliff Notes version? Talk about no subtlety.
I understand this is a young adult novel, but I couldn't help but feel I was being talked down to.
Meyer has a tendency to set up an interesting scene then totally cut away from it and focus on Edward and Bella snuggling (for instance, the day before the Big Fight).
Meyer is hereby banned from using any of the following words or any of their forms: grimace, chuckle, flinch, wince, mumble, mutter, growl, moan, snort...I could go on.

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
There is some swearing, but nothing beyond a few d***, h***, and p***ed.
There is enormous sexual tension between Bella and Edward and Bella and Jacob. Between Bella and Edward, Bella is constantly trying to get Edward to sleep with her, and Edward is always holding back. Jacob and Bella kiss twice: once, Jacob forces kisses her, the second, he tricks her into kissing him.
Seattle has been plagued with numerous murders. Rosalie reveals that she was gang raped before she became a vampire. Jasper was brutally attacked as a young vampire. Bella is in constant danger. The last 100 pages is rife with rather brutal bluntness about decapitations, ripping body parts, and other ways to maim vampires.

Overall:
This book is very hard to rate. It was sometimes just as enjoyable as the previous books, and yet there were aspects that bugged me (namely, Bella).
The story progresses well, even if there was an unnecessary romantic triangle and sudden revulsion to marriage thrown in. The aspect I loved was the vampire battle, but found myself also growing closer to Edward, Jacob, and even Bella.
I know when the next book comes out on paperback, I'll buy it and read it. And I'm going to see the Eclipse movie in theaters when it comes out. It's good, but definitely not for everyone.

Brought to you by:
*C.S. Light*

I was completely enthralled with the original Twilight book. The characters were intriguing and the conflict betweent the vampire and human world was captiviating. However, I should have known after New Moon that this series was going off it's original track. The smart writing and sexy themes are gone; the intensity and intrigue are gone.

The vampire characters are the only characters with any depth or intrigue for the reader in Eclipse. Unfortunately, they play a much smaller role in this book. There are two chapters were Meyers awkwardly gives some history to two of the vampires, but it feels like an abrupt turn off the story and was clumsily fit into the book. The main conflict is Bella, who is now a ridiculous girl who is in love with a werewolf, as well as Edward. This theme flies in the face of of the original point to the series; the reason readers get so captivated by it in the first place; the once if a lifteime bond Bell and Edward share despite their differences and the struggle they have to be in the same world. Now the reader is left reading about Jacob and his friends, who are crude, crass, and shallow in comparison; the reader has a hard time even paying attention to them. They are shallow and overly simple and the reader is again confused why so much attention is paid to them. It's as if a new series started with completely new characters and themes.

Bella's character also seems to be a completely new figure; she's still clumsy, but not the smart, passionate person you see in the original. She's basically a weak minded doormat to Jacob as he manipulates her into spending time with him. She continuoulsy makes dumb decisions that take the story far from the origianl themes. This character is so ludicrous, you want the vampires to either eat her or send her away for good. Her relationship with Edward, that was so exciting in Twilight, is all but gone except for the occassional intense kiss. While she has dialogues about her love for him, every action demeans her love for him and the reader is confused. Why would Bella pay any attention to the pathetically shallow Jacob when her soul mate, the whole theme to the series, is waiting right there for her? Edward is left a passive bystander whom the reader wants to slap around to wake up. Their relationship becomes far more annoying as they weakly state their love throughout occassinal chapter, but it becomes increasingly shallow. They each suffer such indecision and manipulation, the characters's actions don't even make sense. The smart, clever characters are gone and the reader is left with wimpy shallow doormats in their place. A far turn from the smart sexy characters and writing in the original book Twilight.

I don't see how this book is so popular, other than the fact that celebrity actors are bringing attention to it and the 10-16 year old crowd seems to buy it. After reading the reviews for the last book, Breaking Dawn, which is so ABSURD I can't even finish the story concept, the series seems to be going downhill with each book. I've rarely seen a series change directions and themes so frequently; it's as if each book is a separate entity. If someone is looking for the end of the story to the intense themes of the original Twilight, mainly the Cullen family's existence and the struggle of Edward and Bella to find a world they can co-exist, you will only be more disappointed as your proceed through the series. Do yourself a favor, re-read the first book and call it day!

Love Lesson From Twilight #4,267: "Love" turns all guys into controlling jerks who don't do anything except compete to see whose dingdong is bigger.

Sadly that's most of what's going on in "Twilight: Eclipse." You would think that a vampire army out for revenge on the main character would be the distinguishing characteristic of this book... but no, it's smothered in a thick coating of phlegmlike teen angst, whining and bickering. It gets to the point where you WISH the bad guys would arrive and kill everyone else.

Edward is pestering Bella to marry him. Bella doesn't want to because she's not "that girl" who got married right out of high school. Jacob wants Bella to dump Edward and be with him instead, so he forces her to kiss him and has her break her hand on his face. Jacob is now as jerky as Edward.

Meanwhile, the evil Victoria is raising an army of newborn vampires to come to Forks and kill Bella. Yes, seriously -- she raised an entire army to kill ONE bland human teenager. Not the Cullens, or the people of Forks. Just Bella. And since the entire universe revolves around Bella, both the werewolves and the Cullens are desperate to protect her. So they overcome centuries of mutual hatred and join forces to protect her.

"Eclipse" is an appropriate title for this book -- a promising and exciting plot gets eclipsed by Stephenie Meyers' sexual fantasies about having two teenagers drooling over her. I honestly wanted to see more of the newborn army and all this mayhem they were supposed to be causing... but instead I got a bad teen soap opera that the CW would be embarrassed by.

As usual, Stephenie Meyers' writing is a slushy, plotless disaster -- rambling dialogue, clumsy literary references to make it sound "deep," endless whining and snobbery from Bella. And the dialogue is so cheezy you could spread it on crackers, especially Edward. The two worst examples are "Look after my heart -- I've left it with you" and "Sleep my Bella... you are the only one who will ever touch my heart. It will always be yours. Sleep my only love." Can anyone read that and not vomit?

And as usual, the characters are utterly repulsive. The only characters who get any good development are Rosalie and Jasper, both of whom are given complex, well-rounded backstories that make me like them much better than the actual lead characters.

Bella is completely passive, whiny and a huge liability to everyone else. And though it's obvious she'll never dump Edward for Jacob, we're tortured with endless posturing and squabbling from both of them. They both act like controlling, stalkerish jerks who do things like sabotage Bella's car or force her to kiss them (which gets kudos from Charlie).

"Eclipse" is suitably named -- any semblance of plot, action or characterization is eclipsed by the creepy love triangle. Give it a miss, and go read some Jim Butcher.

Let me start by saying I really hated this book. I'm not a "Twilight" fan in general, but I decided back in 2008, when the first film was coming out, to read the series to see what the big fuss was about. I read "Twilight" a few weeks before the film came out, and, for some reason, I actually thought both the book and film were OK. I'm not sure if that was because my taste wasn't as select as it is now, 2 years later, or whether the first book, and the second, "New Moon" (which I also read) were just better, but this book was a pain to go through. There is so much wrong with this mess of a story and the writing style that I feel Stephenie Meyer is probably one of the luckiest people to ever acquire success based on such horrible merits. Her writing consists of sentences made up of words like, "Ugh." and other 21st century phrases that really make this book easy to read. There's no doubt that it's heavily influenced by today's Internet-slang language. Meyer's tricks and turns almost seem predictable, but usually my own imagination was more creative and grandiose than the author's! I didn't feel suspense or shock at any point throughout this overly long (way TOO long) book, and most of the time I felt really underwhelmed. For the most part, it seemed like the book was dragging on to what could have been, at least, a decent climax, and instead the reader is left with a horribly boring, predictable and underwhelming ending.

Another big problem with this book is the story and characters themselves. Bella is a terrible protagonist, and character in general. I've never encountered such an unlikable protagonist. She's such a turn-off! Completely dependent on Edward or Jacob, incapable of making her own decisions and most of the time just whining and being a nuisance. The relationship with Edward is so ridiculously overdone that I had to roll my eyes every other page whenever they talked about how they can't "live without" each other. She comes off as a pathetic girl who overblows everything. She and Edward are just plain-old drama queens. The constant worrying over each other and not being apart for ONE SECOND is so annoying and unbearable. This girl sure is dependent.

After the first chapter, I couldn't help but ask myself why the hell I was reading the book. My inability to not finish a book kept me motivated to finish, and also the fact that I payed money for it. However, after this horror I've given up on this series and don't plan on bothering with the fourth or any other future books in this series. I do congratulate Meyer, though, on being able to create such a successful series, even if it does suck.

I confess. My favorite character in Twilight was Edward. I honestly could never understand what the fuss was about Bella. Sure, she may have been smart, but she had no interests, no hobbies, doesn't do sports, and is not creative. She has absolutely no interesting quality whatsoever. How dull can one person be? Those boys may have been attracted to her but I doubt if any of them would have gone for a second date. She would have bored the living daylights out of them! In Eclipse, Bella is even more horrified of any normal social interaction than ever before, sulkier, and ungrateful.

However, what really turned me off was the fact that the Edward I so liked in Twilight seems to have disappeared. Edward used to have a personality, and a sense of humor which are totally lacking in Eclipse. Where is the boy who blocked Bella's car to let Tyler ask her out, just to see her face while he laughed? Where is the endearing boy who was such a tease and got such a kick our of discovering he was a good kisser? This completely self-sacrificing, saintly, lump on a log did not resemble the original Edward in the least. His entire purpose in this book is to run himself ragged trying to keep an unappreciative Bella safe and seemingly lost his sense of humor and everything else in the process. Talk about a living statue! You really can picture them as a couple sitting unmoving on a porch somewhere. It was hard to remember that he's supposed to be beautiful, sexy, and edgy the way he acted throughout the book.

As far as Jacob. I had no problem with the fact that Bella could love and be agonizing about hurting her best friend, but he should not have been anything more than that. That soul mate nonsense was over the top and totally unnecessary. Please! What a crock!

All in all, not nearly what I expected and a bit of a disappointment not necessarily for the story, but the loss of the characters I liked.

I continued reading the Twilight series against my better judgment because I had really hoped they would get better. Unfortunately they got worse... Meyers continued to use the same descriptors as the other two books. Edward is now back in Forks and everything is just peaches like he never left? Bella never gets mad at him for what he did to her, without giving her a choice in the matter? It's not like he left because he didn't love her...that'd be different. No, he left to make her life better and came back and they just went right back to where they were before he left. No trust issues, no adjustment time...nothing.

Bella still has no character development, nor does the lump on the couch that she feeds. They go visit Renee and Phil and there is NOTHING about it. They just go...and two pages later they're back. What the hell is that?! She goes to visit her mom and nothing is said, but we read about every little detail of her life in Forks?! Her mom is apparently totally useless to the story and that trip was just a reason to get Bella out of Forks because Victoria was still hunting her! We don't know anything about the trip other than Edward stayed inside all day working on a term paper...but perhaps that's why, we never know anything about anything unless Edward's the center of it. Oh, and Renee did get upset because she thought the relationship was too serious, but then again, she'd already made that clear in Book 1.

Edward becomes to ridiculously controlling in this book that I almost hate him. How can you girls drool over what a wonderful guy he is? Oh, Edward is so fantastic, Bella can't even CALL Jacob and talk to him. And it's not because he's worried or jealous. Oh no, he's worried Jacob can't protect her. But...when Victoria was still alive for the entire second book it was ok to leave Bella alone before he knew Jacob was a werewolf and part of an entire pack. Makes sense...

And no one dies! I'm sorry but it's totally unrealistic to believe that they're going to fight off 20 newborn vampires and the worst thing that happens is Jacob gets pretty mangled, but we know immediately that he's going to be ok? Seriously, I'm sure it's hard as a writer to kill off a character you love, but this is so stupid! There's this huge battle going on that Bella is justifiably worried about...but for what? Meyers won't kill off any of her precious characters! That would have been something to make the next book on, the family moving on without one of their own. The wolf pack learning how to deal with a missing member. No one even got hurt but Jacob! It was so ridiculous! How anticlimactic! And then the Volturi show up and Bella's still human and nothing happens! They just...walk away! Why take the time to build up to this point when it's going to just be nothing?!

And Bella's aversion to marriage? Seriously...she'd rather tell her mom "Well, the truth is, Edward's a vampire and I'm planning on him biting me and becoming a vampire too. Then I won't be able to see any of you again because I'll be too dangerous and won't want to risk your lives. Oh and by the way, this decision is permanent in every way since you can't go to court and have vampirism annulled!" than say "Oh, Mom, Edward and I love each other and we're getting married!" I got so tired of her gushing about the wonderful fantastic Edward...BUT I CAN'T MARRY HIM!!! What the crap?! And this is the ONLY real opinion Bella has really had for all three books...other than how amazing all the vampires are. It makes me wonder if Meyers has issues with her attractiveness since the whole theme of these books centers on Bella becoming as beautiful as Edward...his equal.

And once again there is no character development, except for the Quillites in La Push as the pack grows and they continue to learn more about their legends.

Then I have a real issue with literature, real literature that is selling...not just fanfiction type stuff that's on the internet constantly talking about other literature! Listen, Stephanie, if you've done your job as a writer, and the reader has read Wuthering Heights...we'll draw the similarities on our own. I really don't enjoy you shoving down my throat Catherine and Heathcliff. If I want to read about them, I'll read the book! Don't compare your characters to other characters! Strive to make them stand alone and be Edward and Bella in their own right, not like Romeo and Juliet. We really don't need to have a list of literature you've read scattered throughout the books. I really could careless if you think Shakespeare is fantastic. I'm not reading you because you like Shakespeare or Bronte, I'm reading you because I hoped your book would live up to them without you telling me it does!

Finally, Bella seriously considers her life with Jacob, and she likes it! But...she still chooses Edward without taking any time to think about her decision... Yes, because Edward is...perfect. And if she marries Jacob she'll always just be Bella...but if she stays with Edward, well she could become amazingly beautiful too. It's a shame that Meyers has Jacob so wrapped up in this annoying girl. It's a shame this annoying girl is telling the story. It's a shame that these books really could have been amazing. And what really irritates me is that she completely ruins Jacob. Jacob was sweet, lovable and charming (for the age he is supposed to be) and she makes him force Bella to kiss him (at La Push) and trick Bella into kissing him (at the "climax") That is so out of character for Jacob! I'm ok with Jacob getting angry at Bella for the choice she wants, I'm ok with Jacob fighting for his chance with Bella. What I'm not ok with is Jacob being forceful and abusive with Bella. Jacob was the only character that seemed realistic and had any redeeming value in these books...and she ruined it.