Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher/Year: Hachette / 2008
Date Finished: 22 November 2011
Source/Format: B&N / Print
Book #: 90
Buy | Borrow | Accept | Avoid
The Short and Sweet of It
Bella's entrance into vampirehood is altered by an unexpected consequence to her and Edward's hot and heavy honeymoon. Now things may fall apart just as they were getting to the good stuff.
A Bit of a Ramble: Here There Be Major Spoilers
I don't know if it's my fault or not. I mean, I did read all four books of the Twilight series back to back in record time. So it may have been burn out. But OH MY GOD I WAS SO FREAKING BORED THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE STORY. Seriously, bored. First we have Bella and Edward's wedding which then morphs into what I refer to as their Coupling Sequence. Then we get a giant chunk of Jacob Angst. Followed by our Happy Family Scenes which precede The Main Volturi Event (which is really a very tiny part of the book). And then we all live happily ever after.
The whole time I was reading the book felt like a bridge to me. Instead of reading like the culmination of a series, the story seemed like the lackadaisical third book, only there to bring together books 2 and 4. The central plot line was all over the place, the action sporadic and not-quite-dramatic, and well, blah blah blah is about what I was getting out of the story. Everything felt like a giant, jumbled mess. And hence the reason I won't be writing much for this one. I just don't have much to say outside of eh.
This is a downward spiraling series it seems. I loved Twilight, but things took a quick turn for the worse, and I found myself less thrilled to pick up each subsequent installment. I wish I could put my finger on exactly why this is so.
Question: Did anyone else feel this way about the series?
You've restored our faith in you by being bored! LOL
ReplyDeleteI have heard some awful things about this book, particularly the birth scene. The more of your reviews I read on this series, the more I am sure that these books are not for me. I can't fathom being entertained by all this, and think it might be perfect for all the angsty teen girls out there, but not for me!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this, I felt the exact same why, and I continually asked myself, "Was Stephenie Meyer on something?" I think so.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even like the series so I can't say much, but after the third one I lost interest and never did read the fourth. Maybe they do get worse and worse as they go on.
ReplyDeleteI very strongly disliked this one so I'm going to have to agree with you!
ReplyDeleteI'm re-reading it to see what Bella is like as a vampire (because I totally forgot) and, yes, it's a pretty freakin' boring re-read. Oy!
ReplyDeleteI think that reading them all back to back is probably not a good idea. I went to see the movie of this (part 1) and it was AWFUL. Like laugh out loud awful.
ReplyDeleteOne of my students wrote a summary of this book -- Holy Crap! -- I have post-traumatic stress just from reading her quick synopsis of the birth. I hated Twilight, so if this series is in a downward spiral, I'm definitely glad I got out when I did! :-)
ReplyDeleteI actually liked this book the best out of all the Twilight books, but maybe that is because things just got so absurd. I think Bella is much more interesting as a vampire.
ReplyDeleteYes, the movie was quite boring. It probably would have been better if it was not spit up into two; however, I doubt that Summit is really interested in making good films.
Your recaps have me curious to re-read the series though. I was ambivalent about the series the first time around but I couldn't stop reading them. I'd like to know what I think about them now. As Izzybella says, trainwreck.
-jehara
Burnout may be the issue, though I'm not sure. I think they were all riding on the Twilight high and so kept getting progressively worse. Speaking of which... see this movie yet? lol
ReplyDeleteI was so disappointed in this book. I had to muscle through all the awkward sex scenes and the Jacob angst, and just as it was getting ready to get totally awesome with a battle with the Volturi, BOOM, the damn thing ends. There was this huge build-up of tension and then it just ended, and I was like, "Whaaa?" Such a lame ending.
ReplyDelete