I’m sure you all know what Breaking Dawn is (if not, what rock have you been living under?), so I’ll skip that. The midnight release party was a surprising non-event considering the fan base these books have, but many of the people there were incredibly into it all, dressing up for a book in which people dress normally (hmm…), and there were tasty special drinks at the Books-a-Million coffee shop.
Anyway, the book itself. Well, this was exactly what I expected the end of the Twilight Saga to be, in some ways. It was a wonderful brain-candy type of book–something I couldn’t put down, something I loved the experience of reading, but, well, nothing about it is dazzlingly brilliant. It’s something I absolutely loved reading, but now that I’ve finished I don’t feel like I’ve gained anything. Stephenie Meyer’s writing is not too impressive, honestly. I love her characters, though, and when what I want is something that I will absolutely devour and something that won’t take anything out of me, that’s perfect.
I hope I explained that well enough. Anyway, this book what exactly what I expected and wanted out of the end (I think) of the Twilight Saga. I loved finding out the fates of my favorite characters. My thoughts on Bella’s fate are below and spoilerific.
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* Note: I’ve edited the end of my review a bit because my prediction that fans would enjoy it was completely mistaken. I have seen book-burning campaigns, and book-returning campaigns. Anyway, yeah, I don’t usually edit reviews after they’re posted but I felt the need for a bit of clarification here.
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* Another note: Please don’t take this review the wrong way if you link to it. Do not take it to mean that I loved this book. I did not love this book. I enjoyed myself while reading it. No, this review is not intensely negative, but I didn’t have very high expectations.
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* HERE COME THE SPOILERS:
Bella’s transformation is what I expected and hoped for, knowing the characters, but I was afraid that the author would find some way of avoiding it, some crap reason for Bella to hold on to her humanity or her soul or whatever. Luckily, she didn’t. What happens between her wedding to Edward and her transformation into a vampire is unexpected, though, and I appreciate Stephenie Meyer’s ability to throw such a curveball, because I usually have an idea of where everything is headed in her books. Predictability and formulaic stories are nice, though, to an extent. Stephenie Meyer’s books are exciting, but not particularly thought-provoking. They’re fun to read, even addictive sometimes, but not something I feel a need to revisit often. I enjoyed finding out the fates of my favorite characters, though I’ve always wanted to hear more from Alice, and she was absent during much of this book. I was a bit disappointed at not delving deeper into my favorite characters, except Jacob–I loved his part of the book. It was by far my favorite. Jacob is fantastic.
*SLIGHTLY SPOILERY PARAGRAPH OVER.
Overall, reading Breaking Dawn was a pleasure. Stephenie Meyer is great at what she does, great at writing for her audience, and if you can recognize that, can see that this book is exactly what it is meant to be and not expect more from it, you’ll love it.
Edited to say: Spoilery comments, more so than this review, so beware! Also, I thought the nicknames were stupid, too.
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