Nowhere near dazzled

Aug 04, 2008 18:03

I don’t think I ask much from my books.  I need dynamic, meaty characters-people whose voices don’t leave your head even if you put down the page.  Then I need juicy, page-turning drama that complicates those characters’ lives, making it hard for them to get what they want or to realize what they truly need.  Above all, I need the author to make me care about the characters, even if I end up like an unwilling prisoner and I have to be dragged to hear the end of their story.  To a degree, all of the above happened with the first three books, but then all of the above imploded-with brilliant fireworks--in Breaking Dawn.

THE GOOD
  • You all already know I’m biased towards Jacob, so let’s get that out of the way.  I loved his perspective, and wished it would never end…or at least resume before the 700+ pages ran out.  His teenage sarcasm was refreshing, yet you could see this was a boy who was changing into an Alpha, and coming to terms with it.  Even if Leah was too much of a bitter shrew in the end, the way he began to understand her and empathize represents the very best of Meyer’s skills at characterization.  I also loved that when Jacob was in wolf-form, we were constantly exposed to new perspectives and fresh voices, like Seth's.  In the me-me-me world of teenagers, being forced to listen to others is a great change, one that Bella should've been subjected to.
  • Well, that’s all the good I can think of.


THE BAD
  • Having a half vampire child and naming it “Renesmee Carlie.”  I would have rather she named her child “Hope” or “Redemption” or even “Forever,” since she loves to use that word.  But are you serious?!  Teenage mothers of the world should take offense that their naming abilities are no better than taking two names and putting them together into cutesy combinations.  (On a side note, I came across someone’s hilarious comment that she should’ve had a son named “Jaward.”)
  • Having a vampire child in the first place.  Especially one that has to chew its way out.
  • I can’t believe there are rumors that Meyer wants to release a novel from Edward’s perspective.  He is the most boring out of all the characters!  So overprotective, so Adonis-like, so flat. 
  • I’d never thought I’d say this, but the “sex” scenes.  Sure, any bride is entitled to her blissfully happy wedding night(s), but I was uncomfortable for pre-teens 10 years my junior when Bella was obsessed with her nympho-like needs.  Maybe I’m just a prude, but honestly, those scenes did nothing but add more sappiness and “Edward is a mofo GOD!” lines to the story.  And then there are disturbing lines like “Hmmm, I wonder how we’ll both stop because technically we can go at it forever and EVAR!”  TMI, Stephenie Meyer, tmi. 

 THE UGLY
  • Jacob imprinting with Bella’s daughter…Um, WTF?  Some are bothered by the age difference, but that’s nothing really new:  for instance, it happened in Emma.  (Sorry Jane Austen, for making you roll around in your grave, but that was the first pairing that popped into my mind.)  What really ticked me off is HE’S STILL CHAINED TO BELLA!!!!  UGH.  I had truly hoped that Meyer would preserve some measure of justice for this long suffering character, but to have him still her lapdog, albeit in a different form, is frustrating.  I started to half-hope Leah would be “the one” (I don’t know, due to some previous glitch in their vision?) but then that was shot to pieces.  Plus, it’s just so twisted:  her ex-boyfriend now with her daughter?  That’s almost as bad as Edward proposing that Jacob should be a father, too.  Nessie’s supernatural abilities aside, I wonder how I’d react if I found out my fiancé was first madly in love with my mother.  I’d probably kick him in the balls and run the other way, because that’s a whole box of Jocasta issues I really don’t want to sign up for.
  • The final confrontation.  There are some integral parts of fantasy novels, and in my opinion, a climactic, epic battle is one of them.  Instead, what happened in the final chapters was a board meeting.  Pink slips were waved threateningly in the air, and heated words were exchanged, but in the end, everyone still left in one piece.   

I’m sure I’ll come up with more in the days to come, but I think the wellspring of my disappointment is that Meyer seemed to turn her back on the core tone of her saga-a teenage girl dealing with supernatural things way beyond her league.  As much as I cannot stand Bella, her dependency issues, and how she mangles the concept of “heroine,” what kept me reading was the knowledge that she was only an average human girl, trying to juggle everything yet slipping up at the same time.  When she became a vampire, with perfect self-control and the perfect husband-the perfect everything-I felt like I was reading about someone entirely new and completely two-dimensional.  For me, the series and the characters I became invested in ended with Eclipse.

Stephenie Meyer, I need my brain cells back.

summer 2008, book reviews: ya novels, twilight

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