Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer

Rating: 4 1/2

I think I must be one of the last people left in the blogging world to read and review this book! And yet, to my surprise, I managed to skilfully avoid any spoilers and thus my reading experience was entirely untainted. Since then, I have scanned a few reviews, and the inflammatory nature of some have been a great source of amusement!

Stephenie Meyer is huge in the USA. Far more so than in the UK. That is not to say she is unheard of here. Indeed, I went into my local Waterstones the other day and found that Breaking Dawn is the number 1 on the bestseller list at the moment, thus filled the front of store. The day I bought the book, they had to fish me one out of the window display as they had already sold out (and yet I managed to get a signed copy..curious!).

Needless to say, I am not the first to review this book, and thus am not too worried about spoiling the story for many people, but nevertheless I will warn you when spoilers are ahead.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series, which has been a special pleasure for me as I have never read a vampire series before. As with J.K. Rowling, Meyer is not the best writer in the world, nor are her ideas groundbreaking, but she is highly creative and imaginative and her stories are engrossing to say the least. For this reason, Twilight will always be my favourite of the series. It is where I was introduced to the characters and the story, and where I became hooked. New Moon was a fascinating exploration of loss, depression and what one person would do for love. Eclipse is about passion and friendship (as well as the newborn vampire attack story), but Breaking Dawn is where Meyer introduces a truly new vein of storytelling. Up until now, the Twilight series has been Bella's story. Breaking Dawn is split into three parts, telling Bella's story, then Jacob's story, then Bella's again. An interesting divergence from the author's usual style of writing, but very effective. The second part could certainly have been written from Bella's perspective, but probably would have become quite dull and repetitive. Using Jacob as the protagonist allows us some more insight into his mind and feelings, and allows us to see more of Edward also, as they struggle with the situation in hand (which I will get to!).

I found Breaking Dawn to be a mature exploration of family, as well as dealing with Bella's wedding and inevitably leading up to her transformation. As usual, Bella is faced with all kinds of obstacles, not to mention the self-proclaimed leaders of the vampire world...the Volturi. We are graced with the showdown that has been building since Bella first met the Volturi in New Moon, but it certainly wasn't what I had expected.

On that note..

~WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD~

Breaking Dawn starts where Eclipse left off, and we are rapidly swept through wedding arrangements into the wedding and then the honeymoon on a romantic isolated island. Here Edward has to fulfil another part of his bargain with Bella and attempt to safely have sex with her, without causing her injury or worse. I say safely, how ironic! Soon (very soon!) Bella discovers that she is indeed pregnant with Edward's child, and while he is fixed on aborting the foetus, Bella becomes ardently attached to it, and calls Rosalie to assist, who she knows will side with her decision to keep the 'child'. Upon their return to Forks, the story switches to Jacob's point of view, as he and the Cullens deal with Bella being pregnant, with the fact that the birth will likely kill her, and with the foetus itself, a truly unknown quantity. As the 'child' develops far more rapidly than a human, they discover that though it grows and has a heartbeat, it needs blood to survive, a true human-vampire hybrid. The birth draws nigh, and Bella is indeed mortally wounded, though the child itself survives. Edward is forced to bite and inject his venom into Bella in an attempt to save her, thus her transformation takes place.

I was not surprised that Bella becoming a vampire was a life-saving measure, it had been so for most of the other Cullens, Carlise, Alice and Jasper excluded. I was a little disappointed at first that Bella did not exhibit the famed newborn tendencies, the frenzied feeding and uncontrollable urges. However, her self-control seemed relevant, both for her and for Edward and his ability to be with her, without killing her, when she was human. This then leads to speculation about her 'special gift' which turns out to be far more special than anyone could have imagined. The child herself is irresistable, and everyone immediately falls in love with her, not least Jacob, who imprints on her, leaving him forever entwined in the lives of Bella and the Cullens, as Bella herself had previously suggested, he was meant to be part of her life. This was no huge surprise to me, and I was very glad that he did not end up with Bella. That to me would have been a huge disappointment, given Edward and Bella's supposed incomparable love for each other. I really like Edward, and am happy to say that I am not in and am nowhere near the Jacob adoring fan club! He really annoys me, less so in this book to be true, and though he and Bella probably deserve each others irritating nature, I have always wanted Edward to get his girl!

There was so much about this book that I liked. Alice's story sideline is interesting, as I always rooted for her and was glad to be proved right! The cottage that Bella and Edward are given is beautifully described, I only wish I could have had more time in it. And the vampires that join the Cullens to stand against the Volturi are all so varied and interesting. I particularly like the Amazon vampires, and Benjamin, but am glad that they were not all instantly likeable. No large group of people (or the undead) are all likeable, and the variety was more realistic, if I can possibly describe vampires as such! The ending was certainly not what I expected, but I was grateful for that, that after four novels, Meyer's story was not predictable (ok, except maybe the Jacob imprinting on the baby thing!). I have been rather amused by the uproar surrounding the conclusion to this series. It certainly was not perfect (there was never enough about Carlisle), but what series ever ends that way, and no author could ever please all their readers. I've enjoyed this little journey.

~SPOILERS END~

Though skeptical at first, I am now very much looking forward to Midnight Sun, the telling of Twilight from Edward's point of view. The first chapter (draft) can be found on Stephenie Meyer's official website, which has a particularly delicious banner very close to my heart! I am also looking forward to the film of Twilight (I think Robert Pattinson is perfect for Edward), though I am a little concerned that it will be a disappointment. Perhaps I should lower my expectations, just in case.







Other blog reviews:
Melody's Reading Corner
Becky's Book Reviews
Rhinoa's Ramblings
Maw Books Blog
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Tripping Toward Lucidity
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