breaking dawn and why i think it's a failtrosity.
These are my thoughts on Breaking Dawn. This review is unpolished and hasn't been reread since I wrote it, so I apologize for the (probably) many grammatical or spelling errors that you may come across. Let me know of them, and I'll fix them ASAP. :) Also, I'm pretty sure that I switch from present to past tense a bit... just ignore that. My brain's fried.
This is a negative review, but it's not bashing. Just my opinion. Sarcasm does begin to creep in near the end, though. My attempts at a fair review went down the tubes.
Of course, there will be spoilers. And I cuss once (gasp!). Read at your own risk.
spoilers from here on out, for the entirety of breaking dawn.
When I'd read the first chapter of Breaking Dawn in the special edition of Eclipse on May 31st, and then saw the pile of negative responses online, I knew that Breaking Dawn wasn't going to please me.
I was right. I found that Breaking Dawn a disappointing, untidy, and poor attempt to wrap up the Twilight series and put a big bow on top.
Right off the bat, with the first chapter, I could tell that the book wasn't going to be promising. Bella is already whiny in the first sentence. She's upset because Edward, her gorgeous and "dazzling" fiancé: a) wants to marry her; b) bought her an expensive, new car; c) gave her an antique diamond ring that he'd like her to wear; d) made her apply to Dartmouth, and because of that, she's been accepted. Bella's attitude toward all of this is so ungrateful and kind of… snobbish. I know that Stephenie created Bella's character to be stubborn and generally defiant against gifts; but I think that there's a fine line between being stubborn and whining constantly about Edward's extreme generosity. And I feel like Stephenie began crossing that fine line in Eclipse, and has fully crossed over to the other side by the beginning of Breaking Dawn. It made me lose respect for Bella from the get-go.
Altogether, I feel like the first few chapters were choppy and didn't flow well into one another. We go straight from Bella at the gas station, to a memory of telling Charlie and Renee that Bella and Edward are getting married, to Jacob's disappearance, to Alice fitting Charlie and Bella for their outfits for the wedding, to Edward being dragged to his bachelor party, to a flashback of Bella learning of the Denali Coven's past, to a strange nightmare she has: all in the course of two chapters (thirty-eight pages). The beginning of Breaking Dawn was far too rushed, in my opinion, and could've been extended quite a bit to add room for detail and a slow, steady pace.
Then, of course, there was the wedding. A couple of things caught my attention that I want to point out. First of all, there was a complete absence of Phil whenever Bella is getting dressed in her wedding gown. Both Renee and Charlie peeked in to see how their daughter was doing, but not Phil? I found that that annoyed me more than it should. Also, this part: "Our vows were the simple, traditional words that had been spoken a million times, though never by a couple quite like us." I was fully expecting them to write their own vows. I distinctly remember them discussing the fact that there was nothing traditional about them to begin with (I believe that's a part in Eclipse, after Bella's failed attempt at seducing Edward). So for them to speak the traditional vows, even though there's "nothing normal" about them, felt a bit out of character for me.
The Denali Coven was practically an absence in the first part of Breaking Dawn, which disappointed me. I wanted to see more of them throughout the course of the book, and especially at the wedding. I was expecting a spat between Bella and Tanya, to be honest.
Jacob's appearance at the reception made me immeasurably happy. I always had the feeling that Jacob would show at the wedding or reception, so to read that he'd indeed showed up made me grin. And his reaction to Bella's plans for the honeymoon was perfect, I thought. I'd be worried too if my unrequited love interest told me that they were going to try having sex with a person that could kill them at any time. I can't blame him for feeling that way.
I knew that Stephenie was going to deny us any honeymoon scene that had a higher rating than PG-13, so I wasn't completely put-off when the ocean scene faded off to black and resumed the following morning. Being prepared for that rejection, I decided to take into count the little details that we were given. Possibly my favorite scene in the book was Bella's description of how Edward was standing in the water; the colors, the waves breaking around him, his stature. I've reread that little paragraph a couple times, and I still love it every time.
Of course, I'd been expecting for Bella to get bruised her first time. But the "I bit a pillow. Or two." part I hadn't foreseen at all, so that made me break out into laughter and caused my mom to look at me strangely and yell, "Don't spoil me!" (she's read the series, and was waiting for me to finish Breaking Dawn so she could read it). And when Bella has the erotic dream of her and Edward, and wakes up and then it happens… I found that perfection, and it's the page(s) that I reread most often.
All in all, the honeymoon section wasn't entirely unfavorable. In fact, I found it relatively well-written and in character, in comparison to the rest of the book. It was whenever Bella realizes that she's pregnant; that's when my slowly rising hopes for the outcome of the book completely crashed to the floor.
Stephenie did her best to foreshadow that sudden twist in the book, I know she did: Bella eating inordinate amounts of strange things, the crazy dreams, being tired all the time, getting physically sick. And Stephenie twisted around the words, to make us all believe that vampires couldn't have children. A female vampire and a male vampire couldn't conceive, but a female human and a male vampire could. But I still didn't see it, and I know that at least half of those who read Breaking Dawn didn't see it coming, either. After my mouth had dropped open and I gasped in shock, I sat back to think about what this would mean for the rest of the book. And I realized that this novel was taking the turn for the worst. Regardless, I kept reading, because I couldn't just quit the book like that -- no matter how much I wanted to. Her and Edward freak out (in the way that only they can freak out -- by being completely silent), Bella calls Carlisle (which I completely understood), and then… she calls Rosalie. Surprising, but I felt it made sense.
And then I saw the loveliest words I'd ever seen: book two. Jacob.
Breaking Dawn made me into a Jacob-supporter. He's so real and human and… ugh, I just adore him now. Not to mention, he has the best chapter titles ever.
The whole scene with Quil and Claire totally made me say "aw" and grin, because I love the relationship between those two. Many people find their romance gross or sick or disturbing, but I find it incredibly romantic. And I could just picture those two running around on the beach together, a big hulking man and a tiny little girl. Moving on, though…
I'm not sure I liked how Jacob regarded Rosalie: a mean, cold-hearted, blonde vampire that was just helping Bella because she wanted her baby. But I do know that the taunting and joking between those two was fantastic, and I learned some great blonde jokes to tell my friends.
Jacob becoming alpha of his new pack was… great. Ever since I'd read in Eclipse that he was born to be an alpha of the wolves, I'd always wanted him to overthrow Sam and become the new alpha. But his running his own pack was just as satisfying, as well. To be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone to join his pack, just because the thought never crossed my mind. But whenever Seth and Leah switched over, I both groaned and grinned -- grinned for Seth (because I absolutely love that kid) and groaned for Leah. Overtime, Leah and Jacob worked out some of their differences, which, I'm sure, made the Jacob/Leah shippers out there happy. I'm looking forward to some new Jacob/Leah fic, by the way… just so you know!
The best chapter title ever, because it makes my heart ache for Jacob: "What do I look like? The Wizard of Oz? You need a brain? You need a heart? Go ahead. Take mine. Take everything I have."
The few pages of Jacob walking around the park, trying to find his imprint, made me want to curl into a ball and cry. In fact, I think my eyes did get a bit misty as I progressed through the chapter. For a split-second, I hoped that he'd imprinted on Lizzie, because she seems like a really nice girl… but to no avail. I wasn't going to get that lucky, and neither was he.
(Nessie… sheesh.)
Stephenie then turned into a horror novel author.
I'm not really sure how I feel about the birth scene. Mostly, it just gave me chills and creeps. And the imagery was incredibly provocative; the twitching, the blood-spilling, the screaming. I just found it very… unnecessary? I think the entire scene would have worked better if it had been taken out, and Jacob had come home to see the baby already born and in Rosalie's lap and he'd merely heard what was happening, rather than experiencing it firsthand. That way, he would still feel the hatred toward Renesmee, but without seeing the blood gushing and everything. Maybe that's just my personal preference, but whichever.
To any of you that have seen the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie: do you remember at the end, whenever the two ships work together to shoot up the East India Trading Company's ship? And that twenty-second span of time when Beckett is walking down the stairs in slow motion, just before he's engulfed in flames? From page 353 to page 360, I'm reminded of that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Jacob has just seen Bella give birth to the most horrifying creature imaginable and then has witnessed Bella's death -- or what he thinks is her death. And he walks out of the room and down the stairs, where he sees Rosalie. I picture that all happening, in slow motion, like he's walking toward he's own death -- just like Beckett was.
Of course, there's the imprint, which completely and utterly shocked me. It was too… fortunate, in my opinion. He doesn't want to stay in Bella's life because she didn't choose him, and then again, he's still in love with her. What's the perfect compromise but for him to imprint on her child? It allows him to stay in her life, without having to go through all the heartbreak. It's such an easy end to his story.
Well, except for the fact that he's imprinted and in love with a girl whose name is Renesmee Carlie Cullen.
(Nessie? What kind of a name is Renesmee? I get what Bella was trying to accomplish by combining the two names, but still… honestly, it's worse than Albus Severus.)
Back to Bella's point of view… unfortunately.
I disliked the rest of the book. I won't point out everything that negatively caught my attention, but, from here on out, it's safe to say that I didn't approve of it.
First of all -- I realize that Bella has just become a vampire, so of course she's going to be a bit different. But I was expecting her to at least still sound like Bella. I didn't recognize the narrator's voice in the last four-hundred pages. She was some new character that I'd just met… not the Bella I'd grown accustomed to reading about.
Bella's ability to resist human blood just a few hours after she's fully transformed? Really, Stephenie. I get that it kind of makes sense, because Bella'd never liked the scent or sight of blood when she was human, but still… I was expecting Stephenie to be a bit more creative than that. It's something a fanfiction author would have as Bella's ability. Later on, then, her true ability shines through -- the ability to shield herself and others from any danger whatsoever. I do approve of that gift, one-hundred percent. That's something a little less common among the list of theories that were spread all across the internet.
Whenever Bella comes back from her first hunt and speaks with Jacob, I was astounded. They were talking like friends with absolutely no romantic background whatsoever. This probably annoyed me the most. Just because Jacob's imprinted on her daughter, they have no romantic feelings toward each other at all? I found that very unlikely, and again… a bit too fortunate. They just happen to think of each other as friends, and nothing more. That easily resolves the Jacob and Bella love issue.
Of course, we couldn't go too far without Bella becoming whiny again. Lyk ongg, you nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster, a strong and powerful creature that inspires awe and is loved by many? Son of a bitch! Just give it a rest, Bella. Yeesh.
Jacob just happens to spill a lot to Charlie, one thing being his ability to transform into a werewolf. This resolves a lot of issues quickly and easily -- Charlie can continue to visit the Cullens at their house, Bella's exceptional self-control keeps him safe, and he's able to see his granddaughter. How absolutely lucky they are. The happiness just keeps on growing and growing!
By far, the best part of Breaking Dawn was whenever Bella finally challenged Emmett to the epic battle of arm-wrestling. I'm glad that Stephenie kept true to something from Eclipse. After I realized that Emmett wasn't performing the wedding ceremony, I'd lost all hope for the arm-wrestle match.
Then things go terribly wrong when Irina spots Nessie in the forest and goes to the Volturi, and Alice sees that the Volturi will come to "visit" and she and Jasper run off. I was livid when Bella sincerely doubted Alice and Jasper in their intentions. She truly believed that Alice and Jasper had left just to save themselves… I felt it was really out of character for Bella.
The entire J. Jenks issue was useless, in my opinion. It didn't hold that much importance in the book, and it just helped to make Breaking Dawn that much longer. It could have been cut out entirely, and the book would've been a good amount of pages shorter and still have made sense.
I'd always been curious as to what Alec's ability was, and when I found out (that he could make people feel and do absolutely nothing), I neither approved nor disapproved of it. It seemed like an interesting talent, but not something as frightening as I had made it out to be.
The big battle scene, finally, at the end of the novel was… not a big battle scene at all. In fact, there was barely any fighting: Bella shows off her cool, new talent; Irina is killed for practically no reason at all; and Alec attempts to penetrate Bella's shield, with no luck. Alice returns just in the nick of time (luckily), and with a person who is much like Nessie, helping to prove their point that Renesmee should have the right to life. Aro finally decides, after far too many pages of nothing of importance, that Nessie is free to live and the Volturi are on their way.
No matter how awful I thought the rest of the book was (save Jacob's book), the epilogue was cute. Bella finally pulls down the barrier around her mind, and Edward is able to peer into her thoughts, and he falls just that much more in love with her.
Yay. Happy, happy. The end.
Overall, I felt that Breaking Dawn was too packed in the beginning, dragged on too long in the end, and wasn't all that exciting. There was no violence other than the birth of Nessie. Everything was too happy and resolved far too easily. Edward doesn't bring up the question of Bella's mortality once in the entire novel, whereas he spent most of Eclipse trying to prove that humanity was the best choice; Jacob imprints, and his imprint allows him to stay in Bella's family and life; Bella has remarkable self-control, which gives her freedom to see her parents without worrying about killing them; and the Volturi decide, after a long and not-hard battle amount of thought, that the Cullens deserve to live.
Breaking Dawn was a way for Stephenie Meyer to wrap up all the loose ends, messily package the happiness in falsely exciting wrapping paper, and then pop a bright red bow on top and ship it out with a smile on her face.
This is a negative review, but it's not bashing. Just my opinion. Sarcasm does begin to creep in near the end, though. My attempts at a fair review went down the tubes.
Of course, there will be spoilers. And I cuss once (gasp!). Read at your own risk.
spoilers from here on out, for the entirety of breaking dawn.
When I'd read the first chapter of Breaking Dawn in the special edition of Eclipse on May 31st, and then saw the pile of negative responses online, I knew that Breaking Dawn wasn't going to please me.
I was right. I found that Breaking Dawn a disappointing, untidy, and poor attempt to wrap up the Twilight series and put a big bow on top.
Right off the bat, with the first chapter, I could tell that the book wasn't going to be promising. Bella is already whiny in the first sentence. She's upset because Edward, her gorgeous and "dazzling" fiancé: a) wants to marry her; b) bought her an expensive, new car; c) gave her an antique diamond ring that he'd like her to wear; d) made her apply to Dartmouth, and because of that, she's been accepted. Bella's attitude toward all of this is so ungrateful and kind of… snobbish. I know that Stephenie created Bella's character to be stubborn and generally defiant against gifts; but I think that there's a fine line between being stubborn and whining constantly about Edward's extreme generosity. And I feel like Stephenie began crossing that fine line in Eclipse, and has fully crossed over to the other side by the beginning of Breaking Dawn. It made me lose respect for Bella from the get-go.
Altogether, I feel like the first few chapters were choppy and didn't flow well into one another. We go straight from Bella at the gas station, to a memory of telling Charlie and Renee that Bella and Edward are getting married, to Jacob's disappearance, to Alice fitting Charlie and Bella for their outfits for the wedding, to Edward being dragged to his bachelor party, to a flashback of Bella learning of the Denali Coven's past, to a strange nightmare she has: all in the course of two chapters (thirty-eight pages). The beginning of Breaking Dawn was far too rushed, in my opinion, and could've been extended quite a bit to add room for detail and a slow, steady pace.
Then, of course, there was the wedding. A couple of things caught my attention that I want to point out. First of all, there was a complete absence of Phil whenever Bella is getting dressed in her wedding gown. Both Renee and Charlie peeked in to see how their daughter was doing, but not Phil? I found that that annoyed me more than it should. Also, this part: "Our vows were the simple, traditional words that had been spoken a million times, though never by a couple quite like us." I was fully expecting them to write their own vows. I distinctly remember them discussing the fact that there was nothing traditional about them to begin with (I believe that's a part in Eclipse, after Bella's failed attempt at seducing Edward). So for them to speak the traditional vows, even though there's "nothing normal" about them, felt a bit out of character for me.
The Denali Coven was practically an absence in the first part of Breaking Dawn, which disappointed me. I wanted to see more of them throughout the course of the book, and especially at the wedding. I was expecting a spat between Bella and Tanya, to be honest.
Jacob's appearance at the reception made me immeasurably happy. I always had the feeling that Jacob would show at the wedding or reception, so to read that he'd indeed showed up made me grin. And his reaction to Bella's plans for the honeymoon was perfect, I thought. I'd be worried too if my unrequited love interest told me that they were going to try having sex with a person that could kill them at any time. I can't blame him for feeling that way.
I knew that Stephenie was going to deny us any honeymoon scene that had a higher rating than PG-13, so I wasn't completely put-off when the ocean scene faded off to black and resumed the following morning. Being prepared for that rejection, I decided to take into count the little details that we were given. Possibly my favorite scene in the book was Bella's description of how Edward was standing in the water; the colors, the waves breaking around him, his stature. I've reread that little paragraph a couple times, and I still love it every time.
Of course, I'd been expecting for Bella to get bruised her first time. But the "I bit a pillow. Or two." part I hadn't foreseen at all, so that made me break out into laughter and caused my mom to look at me strangely and yell, "Don't spoil me!" (she's read the series, and was waiting for me to finish Breaking Dawn so she could read it). And when Bella has the erotic dream of her and Edward, and wakes up and then it happens… I found that perfection, and it's the page(s) that I reread most often.
All in all, the honeymoon section wasn't entirely unfavorable. In fact, I found it relatively well-written and in character, in comparison to the rest of the book. It was whenever Bella realizes that she's pregnant; that's when my slowly rising hopes for the outcome of the book completely crashed to the floor.
Stephenie did her best to foreshadow that sudden twist in the book, I know she did: Bella eating inordinate amounts of strange things, the crazy dreams, being tired all the time, getting physically sick. And Stephenie twisted around the words, to make us all believe that vampires couldn't have children. A female vampire and a male vampire couldn't conceive, but a female human and a male vampire could. But I still didn't see it, and I know that at least half of those who read Breaking Dawn didn't see it coming, either. After my mouth had dropped open and I gasped in shock, I sat back to think about what this would mean for the rest of the book. And I realized that this novel was taking the turn for the worst. Regardless, I kept reading, because I couldn't just quit the book like that -- no matter how much I wanted to. Her and Edward freak out (in the way that only they can freak out -- by being completely silent), Bella calls Carlisle (which I completely understood), and then… she calls Rosalie. Surprising, but I felt it made sense.
And then I saw the loveliest words I'd ever seen: book two. Jacob.
Breaking Dawn made me into a Jacob-supporter. He's so real and human and… ugh, I just adore him now. Not to mention, he has the best chapter titles ever.
The whole scene with Quil and Claire totally made me say "aw" and grin, because I love the relationship between those two. Many people find their romance gross or sick or disturbing, but I find it incredibly romantic. And I could just picture those two running around on the beach together, a big hulking man and a tiny little girl. Moving on, though…
I'm not sure I liked how Jacob regarded Rosalie: a mean, cold-hearted, blonde vampire that was just helping Bella because she wanted her baby. But I do know that the taunting and joking between those two was fantastic, and I learned some great blonde jokes to tell my friends.
Jacob becoming alpha of his new pack was… great. Ever since I'd read in Eclipse that he was born to be an alpha of the wolves, I'd always wanted him to overthrow Sam and become the new alpha. But his running his own pack was just as satisfying, as well. To be honest, I wasn't expecting anyone to join his pack, just because the thought never crossed my mind. But whenever Seth and Leah switched over, I both groaned and grinned -- grinned for Seth (because I absolutely love that kid) and groaned for Leah. Overtime, Leah and Jacob worked out some of their differences, which, I'm sure, made the Jacob/Leah shippers out there happy. I'm looking forward to some new Jacob/Leah fic, by the way… just so you know!
The best chapter title ever, because it makes my heart ache for Jacob: "What do I look like? The Wizard of Oz? You need a brain? You need a heart? Go ahead. Take mine. Take everything I have."
The few pages of Jacob walking around the park, trying to find his imprint, made me want to curl into a ball and cry. In fact, I think my eyes did get a bit misty as I progressed through the chapter. For a split-second, I hoped that he'd imprinted on Lizzie, because she seems like a really nice girl… but to no avail. I wasn't going to get that lucky, and neither was he.
(Nessie… sheesh.)
Stephenie then turned into a horror novel author.
I'm not really sure how I feel about the birth scene. Mostly, it just gave me chills and creeps. And the imagery was incredibly provocative; the twitching, the blood-spilling, the screaming. I just found it very… unnecessary? I think the entire scene would have worked better if it had been taken out, and Jacob had come home to see the baby already born and in Rosalie's lap and he'd merely heard what was happening, rather than experiencing it firsthand. That way, he would still feel the hatred toward Renesmee, but without seeing the blood gushing and everything. Maybe that's just my personal preference, but whichever.
To any of you that have seen the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie: do you remember at the end, whenever the two ships work together to shoot up the East India Trading Company's ship? And that twenty-second span of time when Beckett is walking down the stairs in slow motion, just before he's engulfed in flames? From page 353 to page 360, I'm reminded of that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Jacob has just seen Bella give birth to the most horrifying creature imaginable and then has witnessed Bella's death -- or what he thinks is her death. And he walks out of the room and down the stairs, where he sees Rosalie. I picture that all happening, in slow motion, like he's walking toward he's own death -- just like Beckett was.
Of course, there's the imprint, which completely and utterly shocked me. It was too… fortunate, in my opinion. He doesn't want to stay in Bella's life because she didn't choose him, and then again, he's still in love with her. What's the perfect compromise but for him to imprint on her child? It allows him to stay in her life, without having to go through all the heartbreak. It's such an easy end to his story.
Well, except for the fact that he's imprinted and in love with a girl whose name is Renesmee Carlie Cullen.
(Nessie? What kind of a name is Renesmee? I get what Bella was trying to accomplish by combining the two names, but still… honestly, it's worse than Albus Severus.)
Back to Bella's point of view… unfortunately.
I disliked the rest of the book. I won't point out everything that negatively caught my attention, but, from here on out, it's safe to say that I didn't approve of it.
First of all -- I realize that Bella has just become a vampire, so of course she's going to be a bit different. But I was expecting her to at least still sound like Bella. I didn't recognize the narrator's voice in the last four-hundred pages. She was some new character that I'd just met… not the Bella I'd grown accustomed to reading about.
Bella's ability to resist human blood just a few hours after she's fully transformed? Really, Stephenie. I get that it kind of makes sense, because Bella'd never liked the scent or sight of blood when she was human, but still… I was expecting Stephenie to be a bit more creative than that. It's something a fanfiction author would have as Bella's ability. Later on, then, her true ability shines through -- the ability to shield herself and others from any danger whatsoever. I do approve of that gift, one-hundred percent. That's something a little less common among the list of theories that were spread all across the internet.
Whenever Bella comes back from her first hunt and speaks with Jacob, I was astounded. They were talking like friends with absolutely no romantic background whatsoever. This probably annoyed me the most. Just because Jacob's imprinted on her daughter, they have no romantic feelings toward each other at all? I found that very unlikely, and again… a bit too fortunate. They just happen to think of each other as friends, and nothing more. That easily resolves the Jacob and Bella love issue.
Of course, we couldn't go too far without Bella becoming whiny again. Lyk ongg, you nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness Monster, a strong and powerful creature that inspires awe and is loved by many? Son of a bitch! Just give it a rest, Bella. Yeesh.
Jacob just happens to spill a lot to Charlie, one thing being his ability to transform into a werewolf. This resolves a lot of issues quickly and easily -- Charlie can continue to visit the Cullens at their house, Bella's exceptional self-control keeps him safe, and he's able to see his granddaughter. How absolutely lucky they are. The happiness just keeps on growing and growing!
By far, the best part of Breaking Dawn was whenever Bella finally challenged Emmett to the epic battle of arm-wrestling. I'm glad that Stephenie kept true to something from Eclipse. After I realized that Emmett wasn't performing the wedding ceremony, I'd lost all hope for the arm-wrestle match.
Then things go terribly wrong when Irina spots Nessie in the forest and goes to the Volturi, and Alice sees that the Volturi will come to "visit" and she and Jasper run off. I was livid when Bella sincerely doubted Alice and Jasper in their intentions. She truly believed that Alice and Jasper had left just to save themselves… I felt it was really out of character for Bella.
The entire J. Jenks issue was useless, in my opinion. It didn't hold that much importance in the book, and it just helped to make Breaking Dawn that much longer. It could have been cut out entirely, and the book would've been a good amount of pages shorter and still have made sense.
I'd always been curious as to what Alec's ability was, and when I found out (that he could make people feel and do absolutely nothing), I neither approved nor disapproved of it. It seemed like an interesting talent, but not something as frightening as I had made it out to be.
The big battle scene, finally, at the end of the novel was… not a big battle scene at all. In fact, there was barely any fighting: Bella shows off her cool, new talent; Irina is killed for practically no reason at all; and Alec attempts to penetrate Bella's shield, with no luck. Alice returns just in the nick of time (luckily), and with a person who is much like Nessie, helping to prove their point that Renesmee should have the right to life. Aro finally decides, after far too many pages of nothing of importance, that Nessie is free to live and the Volturi are on their way.
No matter how awful I thought the rest of the book was (save Jacob's book), the epilogue was cute. Bella finally pulls down the barrier around her mind, and Edward is able to peer into her thoughts, and he falls just that much more in love with her.
Yay. Happy, happy. The end.
Overall, I felt that Breaking Dawn was too packed in the beginning, dragged on too long in the end, and wasn't all that exciting. There was no violence other than the birth of Nessie. Everything was too happy and resolved far too easily. Edward doesn't bring up the question of Bella's mortality once in the entire novel, whereas he spent most of Eclipse trying to prove that humanity was the best choice; Jacob imprints, and his imprint allows him to stay in Bella's family and life; Bella has remarkable self-control, which gives her freedom to see her parents without worrying about killing them; and the Volturi decide, after a long and not-hard battle amount of thought, that the Cullens deserve to live.
Breaking Dawn was a way for Stephenie Meyer to wrap up all the loose ends, messily package the happiness in falsely exciting wrapping paper, and then pop a bright red bow on top and ship it out with a smile on her face.