Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) (original 2008; edition 2008)

Not as good as the other three but still a relatively good read. ( )

After Eclipse I wondered where the story was heading and wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this last book in the saga. The book is split into three parts and that made for interesting reading. In my opinion I think this is the best of the lot. Having had my head turned by Jake during the New Moon and Eclipse books I fully expected that I would feel exactly the same when reading Breaking Dawn.
By the time I had finished reading this book I was definitely back in the Team Edward camp. Everything just made sense, all the loose ends are tied up nicely - well, with Jake and Renesme being an exception - and the reader gets a sense of the characters being able to move on from what has troubled them in the past.

I really think that the author excelled herself this time.
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I haven't been able to put it down! I stayed up til 3AM and got right back up at 9 to continue reading! ( )

I haven't been able to put it down! I stayed up til 3AM and got right back up at 9 to continue reading! ( )

My favorite of the series by far. The best writing, editing, character developement and plot of the four in my opinion! Loved it...so shoot me! I don't care if it's a tween book, I loved it!

When she says she's done, I don't buy it. She'll either come out with another one, or we will see a spin-off series with Nessie and Jake as the main characters, there will be more Edward, Kimmers! She's too attached to her characters, you know ideas have to be bouncing round that head of hers. She's not done!

Edit: So, what...is she taking an actual 6 1/2 years IRL for Nessie to reach maturity? Get on with it Meyer! ( )

Watching BREAKING DAWN: PART 2 (accompanied by the Rifftrax comedic commentary), reminded me of how much I did enjoy this book. BREAKING DAWN is the volume of the Twilight series I've read more than once, and this most recent re-reading helped me articulate what I really enjoyed.

I pretty much only re-read the parts from Bella's perspective, and her account of waking up a vampire is where my interest sharpens. It's just so much fun to read about her newborn vampire experiences. Yes, she's a Mary Sue with ridiculous, magical powers, but I liked how much of her inexplicable, awkward characteristics flower beautifully into vampirism. ( )

First...I liked it. But it seemed to be missing something. I felt that SM was too afraid to GO there. For example, at the end, there's just something missing. One shouldn't be afraid to kill off some characters to give the story that emotional punch. Totally something missing. ( )

These books are so addictive. I did not mind the outcome as i know a lot of people do.

Planning to buy The Host.
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Horrifying. Not simply the gruesome birth scene, but everything subliminal that came with it. Meyer had done a fair job of keeping her beliefs out of the story, only have them rear their ugly head in the series conclusion. It makes me nervous that a woman with this much influence over the young female population is telling them, in order for them to be happy and live a full life, they have to have a baby, even if that means dying in order to do so. And not only will that baby be indifferent to you almost dying to bring it into the world, upon its arrival it will actually try to eat you itself. Is that enough underlining message for you? ( )

(spoiler alert!!)

i had to give the final book 4 stars instead of 3 because i really think it is significantly better. it was very weird/interesting/gripping to read the pregnancy scenes while being pregnant myself. the description of bella's transformation and especially of how different life is for her as a vampire (the enhanced sensory perception, the running, etc.) was so cool. i found it to be a very creative and unique story. i was kind of waiting for the series to pick up and was so pleased to find that it did in the fourth book. ( )

I got to a point in reading Breaking Dawn where I had a decision to make- I could throw the book across the room or I could embrace the absurdity.

I embraced it. I really only had 2 problems with the book- one was that I couldn't deal with Jacob's "imprinting" on you know who, the one with the ridiculous name. And two, all the vampire lineage just became tedious for a while. Really the book could have been much shorter.

The love story part was delicious. (And was served in the right order)

Twilight and Breaking Dawn were the best books of the series, the other 2 just seemed to "pale" in comparison.

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Read it, fling it and forget it. Thoughts are extremely valuable. Save it for masturbation. ( )

I enjoyed this series far more than I expected, and the last book was good. It had some definite twists I didn't expect. I loved Jacob's chapter headings -- they were hysterical. ( )

Gotta say, I did not hate this at all, although I can see the points that are made about its failings. I sort of felt like it was just a really long epilogue, and I kind of don't mind that. I enjoyed Jacob's POV and I thought Leah was interesting, and I wasn't really creeped out by the imprinting bit. Except a little when I thought about it while watching Jake and Bella almost kiss in New Moon. But mostly because I wanted her to choose him, and then that would have screwed everything up.


***
For the record, I don't rate books at all unless they are unequivocally five stars–books I would stand up for, possibly get involved in light fisticuffs in their defense. Books like The Outsiders and Chronicles of Narnia and A Wrinkle in Time. Otherwise, I just let my review (or lack thereof) speak for itself.

Yay! I finished the series. Definitely worth reading! ( )

I read this book on campus while waiting to be picked up one day. Someone approached me and asked if I was reading anything good. (My first answer: "Not yet.") I can't express in words the shame and displeasure I took in having to show that stranger the cover.

Anyway. Book Four.

I can't talk about how bizarre this book was without ruining it for someone. Again, it was shamefully compelling. Every time I'd go to set it down, something completely random happened.

Instead, I want to tell other people like me (pushing 30; hates vampires) how to go about reading the series:

1) get the paperbacks. After I finished book one, I was done. But the paperback additions the first chapter of the next book at the end. I'm glad it happened that way, especially because I ended up liking book 2 better than book 1.

2) read during the summer - the season of frivolous books.

3) turn off your rational mind. You don't analyze Harlequins for messages (unless you do, in which case... actually, I don't know where I was going with that.) If you can't do that, you will not like the books, period.

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Breaking Dawn didn't play out as I expected, but overall was a decent ending to the Twilight Saga. It had its problems, as many have mentioned. The story-line seemed a bit 'off' and didn't have that 'can't put down' feeling to it, which the other three books had. At points, I thought the characters statements or actions seemed a bit off, as well.

Edward and Bella's relationship was definitely different than in different books, which is too be expected, but with the loss of Bella's morality comes the loss of all sexual tension between the lovers. I was reminded of the "Moonlighting" effect while reading this book. (Moonlighting was a TV show that had two characters who loved each-other, though they would never admit it. It was a hit. When they finally did get together, the ratings fell-- there was no more tension in there relationship, leaving a boring normal romance between them.) Breaking Dawn reminded me A LOT of that. We finally get what we want, what we expect, and then the characters just don't seem as interesting. (And we learn Bella has a bad taste in choosing names!!!)

Meyer did a great job writing Jacob. And this is coming from a person who wasn't such a huge fan of the werewolf!

Overall, though I didn't expect the story-line as it played out, I did enjoy this book. It was a nice conclusion to an excellent series. ( )

OMG!!! I adore this series!! This was such a great ending to the series! The drama and Suspense had me hooked till the last page! Stephenie Meyer has totally outdone herself! ( )

My review of these books is a bit late - finished them a couple of months ago and I read them all really fast. Loved them as a series. My favorite was the first when looking at it as a romance. My favorite in terms of action would be the last. The second book was problem my least favorite - I got tired of her being depressed and yeah, I realize the whole reason the main hero wasn't hardly in the book was so that the ending of the series worked out well, but still...I can't say it worked for me. But over all as I said, I loved this series and could see myself reading it again. ( )

I TRIED MY BEST TO LEAVE OUT THE SPOILERS!!!

8/4/2008 (later in the day, after reading other people's reviews)

I think some of my favorite parts are other people's least favorite parts. (Like what's wrong with Seth's hero-worship of Edward? After the end of Eclipse? I thought that was lovely! Plus, it reminded me of how little children could care less about a person's race... a young werewolf doesn't care what species another person is.)

I'm in love with the book though. I think I'll start reading it again tonight. :)

Mind you, I did say THIS to my sister earlier, who said she just wanted it to end happily: "It ends better than I ever could have imagined... I'm surprised no one broke out in song or dance... ;) Seriously... Disney eat you heart out..." It's a bit... I don't know.... TOO happy. But I figure after all the COMPLETE CRAP Bella and Edward have gone through THROUGHOUT their lives, they deserve to be ridonkulously happy for a little while.

Now if only someone had broken into song.... *wishful thinking* "The hills are alive... with the sound of music! Aaa-aaa-aaa-aaah...."

8/4/2008 (read 8/3/2008)

Already, I can tell that there is going to be a LARGE group of people who will not like this book. The Jacob-haters, for one... My sister isn't done, but she already hates the middle third of the book. I think that's VERY SAD, since that part was FREAKING AWESOME!! My favorite part has to be the chapter titles themselves... *hahaha* Every time I came to the beginning of a new chapter, I'd laugh my ass off, even if the stuff actually happening in the story was sad or depressing or bad or whatever.

The other group will be the nit-picky ones. The ones who inferred too much (like I had previously) from the things Stephenie told us about her world. Already some are saying she broke her own rules. I don't think she did. I think she stated things VERY CAREFULLY before now so to avoid this. If you want me to elaborate, call or e-mail me.

One thing I'm not a big fan of: the name of the new character that group two is not happy about... *makes an "Are you freaking serious?" face* That's all I'll say on that subject.

As for the other thing I thought was important: There's no bad feeling in my gut this morning. I woke up thinking about Breaking Dawn after dreaming that Embry imprinted on my sister, Suzi. Don't tell her. She doesn't like werewolves. But there is no part of this book that leaves me uneasy. And I love Stephenie for that.

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7/2/2008 - ONE MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!! Is anyone else secretly nervous as all get-out????? ( )

November 28-30, 2011

I really think this book gets better with every read. I saw the movie, so I wanted to reread the book again. :) Can't wait for BD, pt 2 to come out in theaters!! Yay!!


February 19, 2009

I liked this book even better the second time through. It was adorable! :) The 16.5 hours went VERY quickly!! The name Renesmee is even growing on me. I like "Nessie" better... :) ( )

oh yes, so VERY many spoilers! and unladylike language, sorry.


p.1: god help me. Here we go.

p.8: yep, Edward is already "going overboard" protecting Bella.

p.20: Her parents think it's a good idea for her to marry this weirdo at 18? They never think ANYTHING is a good idea.

p.33: Vampire babies! creepy! in a good way.

p.58: Jacob!

p.72: I swear Bella never just goes anywhere, you always have to DRAG her like a toddler.

p.85: I think they just had sex!! OMG!!

p.86: now of course we have to suffer through pages and pages of Edward being "guilty" which means basically he is an asshole.

p.108: she MAKES him have sex with her again, on their HONEYMOON. What a slut.

p.121: oh, please no. Don't be pregnant.

p.123: God dammit.

p.124: The pregnancy is already showing??? huh?

p.132: Edward cold and furious for the 1985674th time

p.145: Jacob POV!

p.151: This whole thing with the imprinting on a two-year old is just so fucked up.

p.153: However, "I'd seen Quil play peekaboo for an hour straight without getting bored"--HAHAHA!

p.174: Oh, I get it, the vampire baby grows really really fast! And also: EW.

p.177: Edward racked with guilt for the 7893902057th time.

p.274: GAH! It broke her rib?? I am NEVER getting pregnant. Ever.

p.327: Haha, she wants to name it either Edward (of course) or..."Renesmee"? Really? No, really??? Oh please let it be a girl.

p.333: I hope we see this red-haired chick again; I like her.

p.350: OH MY GOD. I know I said "ew" before, but I truly had no idea. EW EW EW EW EW.

p.353: I am still horrified, but HAHAHAHA! RENESMEE!! Awesome.

p.354: Wow, I really didn't think she would actually have Bella become a vampire!

p.360: THIS HAD BETTER NOT BE WHAT I THINK IT IS, THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY.

p.377: So apparently becoming a vampire feels like the worst torture imaginable, ever ever, but she's not going to scream because it might upset Edward.

p.405: Well, thank god she is able to find a flaw in her looks even though she's a goddesslike beauty now. It just wouldn't be Bella if she didn't hate herself.

p.409: Bella is the most gracefulest, loveliest vampire ever! She can even walk in heels now!

p.420: Really, she is THE MOST AMAZING VAMPIRE THAT HAS EVER EXISTED. Everyone is very impressed.

p.449: Oh lord, it WAS what I thought it was. Okay, so you are a teenage werewolf, and you form an unbreakable soul bond with the HALF-VAMPIRE DAUGHTER of the girl you have been in love with forever, who is ALSO now a vampire, and married to another vampire with disturbing rage issues, and you know you are going to marry this VAMPIRE BABY when she grows up (I suppose she doesn't have any choice in this), so how do you feel?

Fulfilled, apparently.

So what is going to happen to Leah now? I thought she and Jacob might end up together, but of course that wouldn't be DISTURBING ENOUGH, would it. Maybe she and her brother can get married or something.

p.463: Waitaminute. If Renesmee (heh!) is growing that fast, does that mean...?
Probably she'll be married to Jacob in a couple weeks.

p.474: Bella is relieved that even though she's a vampire now, her "essential core traits" of being a killjoy and a whiner are still intact.

p.485: Hee! Edward is a much better musician than the rest of his family, because while he was practicing, and reading about science, and learning languages, they were too busy having sex all the time! For real! Because vampires never get tired, so they never have to stop! Awesome.
Apparently they also can only have sex if they're married.

p.504: Coldly furious.

p.532: Coldly furious.

p.567: This entire series encapsulated in one sentence: "Wasn't shielding her more important than answering her questions?"

p.586: Wouldn't it make more sense to explain first, and THEN show them the vampire baby?

p.602: This whole thing about the different vampire powers is cool!

p.608: AWESOME. There is a fat vampire who is beautiful and the leader of her clan!

p.611: HAHAHA "someone is going to have to provide an index* (*see page 756)"

p.612: Huh. New word. "ferine" adj. Untamed; feral.

p.704: Coldly furious.

p.736: Oh good, so Renesmee should be able to get married by age seven and avoid the extra ten years of tedious waiting to be joined with her soulmate.

p.753: "No one's ever loved anyone as much as I love you." Yeah, yeah.

p.755: THE END. Okay, it started out pretty horrifyingly, but I enjoyed the last third or so. I still think Edward has no personality, but I guess that's what some people like.

And the red-haired girl never showed up again. Boo.




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This book is just as addictive as the first three. I couldn't stop reading, and stayed up MUCH later than my work schedule permits just so that I could finish the story and know what happens. Honestly, I sometimes am really annoyed when books suck me in like these did. And, we all know that these aren't great literature. Yeah, they might be around in 50 years, with all the teenage mothers handing it down to their daughters to drool over (and that's scary, isn't it?), but these are not classics. But all the same, they hooked me and I didn't even know it until the third book was under my belt.

I knew that Bella was going to get pregnant all along. (Don't think that I have some magical knowledge of things that haven't yet happened or that I'm trying to sound like I called some twist that nobody could have called. I'm saying that this little plot point was spoiled for me thanks to the Never-Ending GR quiz. I don't hold it any grudges though. It's not the quiz's fault that users make up spoilerish questions.) Anyway, I knew it was coming, somewhere in the story, I just didn't know when it would be. Or HOW it would be. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Bella gets married, with no Volturi interruptions, and no Jake storming down the aisle and demanding for her to not make the mistake of her life... I was waiting for that, and so it shocked me even more that it didn't happen than it would have if it did.

Oh, I must say that I was concerned about Edward's reaction when he heard that Bella was pregnant. He scared me a little. His abrupt assumption that it must not be something that she wants (even though she had done her best to assure him that having no children would not be an issue that she would have trouble overcoming) concerned me. But I'm a woman, and I know how easy it is to see something that you want once it's in front of you and unavoidable rather than some hypothetical maybe theory wavering all fuzzy in the distant future.

Just a bit more about the pregnancy. It was NOT believable that it should be such a shock to the Cullens that the half-vampire baby would want blood. Really, I had to roll my eyes at that one. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Anyway, moving on. After Bella's change, she felt like a different person to me. Of course I know that this is because she really IS kind of a different person, but it's strange to see someone so insecure and shy and awkward all of a sudden become sure of herself and confident. She was still Bella, still thinking of everyone else first, still trying to make sure that if anyone should suffer, it should be her and her alone, but it's strange to think of her as the strong, confident type.

I wanted to see more of Jasper and Emmett in this book, and I was disappointed that they did not have bigger roles. I also wanted to see the Volturi get their asses handed to them, but that was not to be. The ending was actually kinda lame. ( )

yay leah!thanks for the borrow!

Meyer definitely weaves a story with unexpected twists. I liked this one, finished it quickly. But I still say Twilight and Eclipse were my favorites. ( )

The first three were okay but this one made me a fan! Loved it!! ( )