If curious, see previous entries for thoughts about the first two Twilight books.
There will probably be plot spoilers.
Whew! I am so glad that the books improved. The relationship drama of the first two books drove me batty; there is still relationship drama in these books, but it is entertaining relationship drama. I actually laughed out loud while reading these two, and it wasn't in a "ha! the vampires sparkle!" sort of way. It was genuine "haha! Good one, [insert character's name here]!"
The main difference between the first two books and the last two books is that there are multiple plot lines happening at once, so the relationship plots happen alongside other action. This takes it away from the tailspin moments of narcissistic romantic problems that made me continually think, "Maybe I am too old to read this book."
Another thing that helps: Meyer got out of Bella's head for a while and into another character's mind. This broke up the monotony of Bella's thoughts (Oooh, vampires are so awesome! They are the only thing that makes me happy...except Jakob. He makes me happy. Ooooh, Edward. He's the best person, er, vampire, ever to exist. Except for Carlisle. He's so benevolent. But Edward is like marble. And he has topaz eyes. I love him irrevocably.)
The last two books were good because they were delightfully complicated with a couple of possible outcomes. It didn't seem like everything was driven by inevitability or teenage love/lust.
Some random thoughts:
Wolf packs have some pretty serious relationship drama of their own. And it must get very tiring trying to feed and clothe wolf boys.
I don't get Jasper's character at all. I feel like there is supposed to be something more to him, but when his back-story is given, it was like, "meh, okay...I guess that explains him a little...I guess." I felt like his story was given just to make the possibility of Bella becoming a vampire seem more dangerous, but the loose ends just didn't come together for me.
Is it supernatural canon that every character who receives a superpower must receive the superpower that their personality craves or life circumstances demand? I first noticed this when watching the show Heroes. Characters that are prone to receiving superpowers for whatever reason (spiderbites, lab accidents, genetic mutations, etc) get the ones that most fit them or that they most need. In Heroes, when she was a small child, Claire was in a house-fire and her body became impervious to lasting injury. Peter was a nurse and could heal people. In Twilight, Alice was born into vampirism without a past, so she is able to see the future. Jasper apparently was around a whole bunch of volatile newborn vampires, so he can control the emotional vibe and get them to chill out. (This theory is especially entertaining when applied to the characters in The Incredibles.)
Victoria has to be the most two-dimensional character ever. "Edward kill my vampire love. Must make Edward hurt. Have nothing else to do. Must swim through the ocean with my hair flaming red like Merida's unruly mane in Brave." I don't know why Victoria sounds like a cave woman in my head. I don't think she had many real lines.
Is the vampire house all white and glass because Carlisle likes being a doctor?
What the heck is up with the golden king-sized bed? Fantasize much, Stephenie Meyer? Were there mirrors on the top? Was there a champagne-glass-shaped-bathtub nearby? The cheese factor just went up too high there for me. Don't get me started on the bed-breaking sex scene. Because, of course, vampires have to have super sex too. Enough with all of the hyperbole!!!! (There was enough hyperbole to merit those 4 exclamation points, trust me)
Supposedly, everyone thought Renesmee was the most wonderful child ever, but I'm thinking creepy. That may just be me still trying to get over her birth scene, though. Ick.
I like that Bella gets her own kind of strength in the final book, but it was too little too late to reverse all of the codependency throughout the rest of the three books. And it only took its true shape after she gave her life completely over to the Cullen family.
Jakob's imprinting= gross. (PLOT SPOILER-- hover over the next part with your cursor to read it)
It seems a little incestuous too...not that that is the right word for this. He was in love with Bella, so he imprints on her newborn daughter. Does this mean he was in love with part of Bella's essence that carried through completely to Renesmee? Or does that mean he was in love with one of Bella's eggs? And Edward didn't want to kill him?
I think Charlie and Carlisle were the only characters that I liked completely. But what tragic last names. An author can create any name combinations in the world and she chooses Charlie Swan and Carlisle Cullen?
And one last thought: referring to classic literature like Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights does not give a story literary heft unless the story has been imbibed with that heft. It seemed like a cheap move, especially after all of the hyperbole.
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