New Book! Finished too!

Book Choice: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

I know I am a glutton for punishment or some might say that maybe the Twilight series is growing on me. Well both are right and both are wrong. I read the third book in the Twilight series - I don't know why, maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was able to get them from the library at the same time, maybe I am genuinely interested in what happens to this strange family. Who knows for sure, but I did read it - all 629 pages of it.

I wish I could say that Meyer's writing gets better over time or than Bella becomes less pathetic, but I can't. The story had so much potential in the beginning, but then she had to over reach when it came to the conflicts in the story. In fact the book would have been 10 times better if she had just cut out the middle half of the book. The whole training sequence was so boring and didn't lend much to the story. While knowing more about the stories behind each member of the Cullens family did add something to their character she fell flat in too many places. Rosalie's story was pretty good, the writing could have been better, but the overall effect was nice. Unfortunately she bombed out with Jasper's story. It seemed too forced to fit with the coming conflict.

The triangle between Jacob, Bella, and Edward leaved something to be desired. Bella was always too willing to let Jacob get close to her. I understand that that was the point, but someone who is truly and desperately in love would not try to have it both ways. Even when she left Jacob she still tried to keep him for herself. The whole thing left me feeling like Bella was just a stupid teenager who had no clue as to what she really wanted and that she had no business deciding to marry Edward and become a vampire.

I really wanted this to be better - Edward and Alice are good characters, and the rest seem so one dimensional you don't really feel bonded to them in the story. Even Bella is very predictable in her behavior and her thoughts are always very selfish. She doesn't grow as a person or as a character, which is probably why I dislike her so much.

If you are interested in reading Eclipse, you can purchase it from Barnes and Noble or get it from your local library.