Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)
by Stephenie Meyer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephenie MeyerBrand: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-02
ISBN: 031606792X
Number of pages: 756
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780316067928
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)
Book Review: spoilers!!! Take a deep breath, take a step back, and take another look
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure why some reviewers are reacting so negatively. This book doesn't go against the others in the series at all. It's a mythical ending to an already mythical series.
I know there are several people who have issues with "Breaking Dawn," but the story is very good if you're willing to really read it, put it in context of the other books, and not let the comments, of those who read the spoilers that got out early and perhaps judged them out of context, poison your view.
SMeyer specifically asked that people not take the book out of context. It needed to be read beginning to end to understand the whys and wherefores of the overall series plot.
Some people took whatever snippets they could find and blew them way out of proportion, ruining the book for a few others who apparently are weak minded enough to let others' views convince them the book is awful before even reading it. Way to go by the way. Way to be independent thinkers.
SMeyer has said that she had a complete story arc for this series. "Breaking Dawn" is the ending to that arc which she skeletally outlined when she wrote "Forever Dawn," for what, if I remember correctly, was a birthday present.
She's telling her story in its entirety. That's the key part right there. It's her story. It amazes me that some readers honestly think that just because they read an author's books that that gives them the right to dictate the story's continuation and to feel some kind of personal insult when they don't get their desired result.
I'm happy with anything SMeyer wants to give us because I love her writing style and her characters (yes, it's not classic literature, but it is very good entertainment and classic in it's own way, a modern way). She's shared five wonderful, fantastical novels with us, but there will always be people who aren't satisfied. Any "Breaking Dawn" she published would probably never live up to a lot of peoples' expectations simply because some people are just never happy with anything. To these people it could always have been better.
After reading "Breaking Dawn" I would recommend going to Stephenie's website (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bd_faq.html) and reading her FAQ for the novel. I think it will answer alot of questions people have about where she was coming from when she wrote it and understand the story better.
Bella as a young parent:
Where I went to university (Northwestern Texas in case you care) I knew several, several women who were married and/or had children. Some married at 18 or 19 and often had their first child before they graduated. Key word: they did graduate (on time I might add). It is completely doable. And no I wasn't one of them; I just witnessed it over and over again. SMeyer is not saying that the be all end all of existence is getting married and having a baby and not going to college.
She's telling the story of one young woman growing, becoming an adult, and finding happiness when she honestly believed her whole life she was completely boring and average. She doesn't realize how extraordinary she really is. Isn't that the message we want to give our daughters? You are exceptional. You can have happiness (whatever that is: career, love, family....all of it. Bella has hers, but yours is whatever you want it to be.) however you want it if you go out and find it. Apparently there are several people out there who equate Bella with a simpering valley girl who can't juggle a complex life.
It's never said that Bella and Edward won't go to college; they have eternity. They will go, but they have to take care of this crisis first (the plot remember?) How boring would the plot have been if it was just Edward and Bella get married, Edward changes her, and they go mess around at college for a few chapters? There'd be no conflict with the Volturi because the Cullens have complied with their wishes. There'd be no plot.
That makes for a very boring story, and yet it's exactly what some of her readers wanted I guess. I get a feeling (and maybe I'm wrong) that many readers seem to think this story is the O.C. or Gossip Girl. It's the story of a seventeen-year-old girl who falls in love with a VAMPIRE for crying out loud! A gigantic suspension of belief is a prerequisite to pick the first book up at all. That's why it's a fantasy. For some unknown reason some people now (I guess because the books have been out a few years and her fans are comfortable in her universe) believe that vampires and werewolves really exist in our world and damnit Edward should have used a condom. This isn't an Afterschool Special; it's romantic fiction.
I saw some reviews that the book is sending the wrong message to teenage girls about love and life. That this will encourage a girl to look for a boy to take care of her and having a baby will solve all her problems. Really? You mean there are hundreds of teenage girls out there right now reading this book and thinking: Now I just need to get my vampire boyfriend to knock me up and everything will be perfect.
Right. Any teenage girl who would let this series influence or make a decision like that for her would also probably let any other book, a movie, her friends, her boyfriend, her manicurist, her pet hamster....etc. make the same decision for her too. If she can't distinguish real life from fiction than she's got bigger problems; it's called psychosis and it requires a shrink not YA author.
At some point people are going to have to take responsibility for their actions. "The book made me do it" excuse is not only silly, it's laughable.
I also saw some comments that Bella would freak out if she felt something move inside her and was too calm when she realized she was pregnant. Well, we all know that Bella doesn't have what many would call normal reactions to anything. She does the opposite; it's part of what we all love about her (and part of what drives us crazy about her, too. Because she's not perfect.).
She really comes into her own in this book. She's funny and charming and just plain likable as our wonderful heroine.
She shows real growth and maturity in this book, much better than in the last couple of books where she's displayed, with aplomb, her ability to be the whiniest, most undeserving narrator in existence at times.
Here, however, she demonstrates a primitive and ancient strength: she bonds with her child and will do anything to save her life.
Is Stephenie saying this is the best course of action for everyone? Is this some kind of thinly veiled political statement? Of course not. Please, please remember that this is a work of fiction and romantic fiction at that. I seriously doubt Stephenie is perpetuating some hidden agenda.
A child who no one even thought was a possibility is actually a vividly unique and clever plot twist. But ultimately that's all she is, a fictional character in a fictional world.
I know SMeyer said vampires in her universe can't have children. That's right; they can't. She didn't say anything about humans and vampires having children. She was purposefully vague, like any good writer when she has future plot points that she doesn't want to give away.
And that brings us to Nessie:
Her name is a bit off putting (though by the end of the book I was used to reading and pronoucing Renesemee in my head). I might have nicknamed her May instead of Nessie, but I understand SMeyer's "sea monster" running joke through the story. And she is a very likable character (no small feat when children in any entertainment medium can sometimes easily become incredibly annoying).
Ok, Jacob: I know some people are thinking "ugh" to this, but it does makes sense.
Jacob went on and on in Eclipse that Edward was unhealthy for Bella. I actually thought after reading "Eclipse" that the unhealthy obsession was between Jacob and Bella. Jacob was quite scary at times in Eclipse. He was like the drunk frat boy standing by the keg waiting to put ruffies into Bella's drink. That kind of scary. And selfish to a fault. I found it irritating that Bella and Edward both thought they were selfish for wanting to be together (when they really weren't), and yet it was Jacob trying to force his will on everyone like some psycho ex-boyfriend from a slasher movie. "Breaking Dawn" explains why he was so crazy.
I'm not a Jacob hater. I *love* Jacob. Even when he's sometimes making an a** out of himself. He was wonderful in "Twilight" and up until he phased for the first time in "New Moon." I believe his affections were just mislayed and this explains it. He found his connection in Bella though he didn't realize it was with her future not her present. He figured out where his affections truly belonged, and he and Bella can have the relationship they're meant to have.
I'm sure some people have a problem with this book (or the whole series) as it deals with fate and soul mates. That it's too convenient that Jacob imprints, and it happens to be Bella's daughter. As I've said before it makes sense. I guess some would have been happier if Jacob was miserable for the rest of his life because of misplaced love.
Why do people bash a happy ending? Did you really expect a tragedy? There's no closure for these characters in that. The books are all about true love and soul mates. If you have a problem with that concept (which absolutely permeated the first three books) then why are you still reading the series?
Speaking of soul mates. Why do you assume that soul mate must have a romantic connotation to it? There are other forms of soul mate. Imprinting touches on it in fact.
Jacob and Quil will be whatever their imprints need them to be: whether it's a brother, a friend or a lover. I recommend a book called "Threads" by Nell Gavin Threads: The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn for a real, true definition of a soul mate. Bella says that Edward is her true love, and Jacob is her soul mate; why couldn't that need be as a brother or a son rather than a lover?
I will repeat: This story is a fantasy. Whether you believe that the concept of "one person meant for one other person" existing in our world or not doesn't matter. It definitely exists in the Twilight universe. Making plot elements and foreshadowing fit together into an intricate puzzle is part of good storytelling, and SMeyer does this very thoroughly and entertainingly.
Also, I don't think Bella and Edward are weak for not being able to live without each other. There are loves that are so profound that two people are irrevocably changed by it.
It's not about Bella not being independent enough or Edward being overprotective. Real love, marriage, and partnership is about supporting each other. It's not weakness to truly need someone else (or several someones including children, parents, siblings, friends etc.), to feel that deep connection and know he/she is part (notice I said part not all) of what makes life worth getting up in the mornings. The world is a harsh place; a familial support system works wonders. I think subconsciously that's why the Volturi feel so threatened by the Cullens.
Bella and Edward need each other, but they also need their family like we all do. That's why I think they fell apart when they were separated in "New Moon." Bella said it: She lost her true love (not some crush) and a large chunk of her family. How would you react if you lost the love of your life and your family all in one day?
Nessie's impact on Bella/Edward's relationship:
Edward tells Bella at the beginning to the book that he wishes he could have a child with her. It shows their growth and maturity as a couple to love their daughter and they do what good parents do: they protect her and are ready to sacrifice themselves for her to live.
On a final note:
I will share one part of "Breaking Dawn" I was less than thrilled with. Rosalie. She was doing so well. She had moved from being a shallow secondary character in "Twilight" to a sympathetic voice in "Eclipse" as we delved a little deeper into her past and her thought processes. Her regressive actions seemed just a bit too psychotic and totally self-serving. I guess despite my hopes for more character growth her mind can just never get past the infantile Id stage.
Futhermore, she can b*tch all she wants about her desire to be human again, but I don't believe for one second that if she got her wish she wouldn't be screaming for perfection and immortality after finding the first wrinkle or seeing the first pregnancy stretch mark. Her vanity is too ingrained in who she is despite her inane belief that her mind is deeper than the shallow pool Edward once referred to her as. I've always felt Rosalie is a "grass is always greener" kind of girl who needs to be run over with the lawn mower.
My hope is that people might just take a step back from the story, give themselves a chance to digest the unique twists the story took (I mean it is alot to take in; give it some time), come back to it, and reread it and enjoy it.
So, my advice is to sit back and enjoy the *whole* series for what it is, a delightful, very sensual (without being explicit) and fantastic fairytale with a wonderful and satisfying climax.
This book wraps up the series nicely and still leaves room for beaucoups of fun in the future if SMeyer decides to continue. I can't wait to see what else there is in this universe when and if she writes more.
Summary of Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)
When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?
The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.
Great love stories thrive on sacrifice. Throughout The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse), Stephenie Meyer has emulated great love stories--Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights--with the fated, yet perpetually doomed love of Bella (the human girl) and Edward (the vampire who feeds on animals instead of humans). In Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in the series, Bella?s story plays out in some unexpected ways. The ongoing conflicts that made this series so compelling--a human girl in love with a vampire, a werewolf in love with a human girl, the generations-long feud between werewolves and vampires--resolve pretty quickly, apparently so that Meyer could focus on Bella?s latest opportunity for self-sacrifice: giving her life for someone she loves even more than Edward. How close she comes to actually making that sacrifice is questionable, which is a big shift from the earlier books. Even though you knew Bella would make it through somehow, the threats to her life, and to her relationship with Edward, had previously always felt real. It?s as if Meyer was afraid of hurting her characters too much, which is unfortunate, because the pain Bella suffered at losing Edward in New Moon, and the pain Jacob suffered at losing Bella again and again, are the fire and the heart that drive the whole series. Diehard fans will stick with Bella, Edward, and Jacob for as many twists and turns as possible, but after most of the characters get what they want with little sacrifice, some readers may have a harder time caring what happens next. (Ages 12 and up) --Heidi Broadhead
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