** spoiler alert ** I liked that Bella finally became a vampire, but the rest of it seemed like Stephenie was trying to tie up all of her loose ends as quickly as she could. I also had a hard time getting throught the chapters that were written from Jacob's point of view. This was my least favorite of the series, but there were enough interesting twists in the book that I liked it overall. ( )

If you haven't read my previous Twilight series reviews, it may benefit you to read them so you know where I stand with this series.

As with all of the other Twilight books, I didn't enjoy this one. However, this fourth and final installment in the Twilight series was definitely the most interesting. In this book, Bella officially joins the Cullen family. This book is definitely aimed towards an older audience than before. Sex scenes and allusions to sex occur in various parts of the book. From the beginning, it was obvious that this book would be even weirder than the rest. I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to say unnatural surprises and the formation of bizarre relationships were the groundwork of the final novel in the series.

The book had a painfully slow start, and for the first 138 pages I had to fight off immense boredom and force myself to read through. Most thankfully, the book is then interjected with a section told from the perspective of Jacob. In a series of books where you are constantly stuck listening to the insane blathering of Bella's mind, Jacob's rational thought processes offer a refreshing reprieve.

Had this book been written by any other author, I feel that it would have been relatively enjoyable. Unfortunately, we are stuck with Stephanie Meyer, who possesses the writing skills of a fourteen year old girl. Stephanie Meyer's books would be about 10 pages long if she didn't repeat herself as much as she does. As I said in my review of The Host, there is something in her writing style that reminds me of students who write term papers and add adjectives and repeat themselves a dozen times in an effort to make their papers longer. I could sum up her entire series, not just a single book, in less than a paragraph:

Bella loves Edward. Edward loves Bella. Jacob loves Bella. Bella loves Jacob. Vampires are beautiful. Bella can't live without Edward. Bella has a near death experience in every book.

I mean, seriously... in this book, when Bella becomes a vamp, Meyer goes on for pages upon pages about how Bella's senses are heightened and the Cullens are even more beautiful than ever. She then goes into describing just how beautiful each individual Cullen is with her new vampire eyes. Would it not suffice to just say something to the effect of, "If it were possible, the Cullens were even more beautiful with my new vision than they were when I was a human."? Perhaps not that cheesy, but just about anything else would work! How many times does Bella have to tell us she's freakishly strong, or that she has incredible self control before Meyer trusts that we've got the point? The answer: the entire book. To the end, she continues to repeat such details.

As if repeating herself a hundred times weren't enough, Meyer turned to redundancy in this book! Not only can you learn every five pages that Edward is beautiful, but you also get to experience statements such as this one

"I'm laughing because I am in shock. And I am in shock because I am completely amazed."

Let's pull a thesaurus on this one

Main Entry: shocked
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: startled
Synonyms: aghast, amazed, appalled, astonished, astounded, dismayed, offended, stunned, upset

At one point in the book, Meyer tries to subtly provide an excuse to mention the index at the end of the book so the reader can follow who is who. Many books have means for the reader to follow along, so I'm not knocking the index. My issue is with her feeling the need to add a line in the book. Why not provide the index at the beginning, as most books do? The addition of the line "[Jacob] grumbled to Renesmee that someone was going to have to provide an index if anyone expected him to keep all the new bloodsuckers' names straight.* (The * leading to a footnote regarding the page you could find the index on)" The line almost seems like an afterthought, as though she decided to randomly drop in a paragraph about Jake as an excuse to mention the index (or perhaps an editor commented that it was too confusing).

The end of the book was relatively exciting, but couldn't make up for the slow start or poor writing. As with every other book in the series, danger is always averted and the "Happily Ever After" ending was painfully predictable. I am happy things worked out for Jacob, who was in my opinion one of the only tolerable characters in the series. In the end, the reading was not enjoyable enough for this book to be considered a "good read" in my honest opinion. I was hoping the series would pull it out in the end, but alas, it was a dud!

Clearly teen novel but fun and many messages to be gleaned from the story. ( )

How is it possible that beings over a century old, with the wisdom and experience of several generations of history, never wondered what might happen if Edward, a vampire, and Bella, still a human, consummated their marriage? It’s not a stretch folks, but it seems to have caught everyone by complete surprise, that an unnatural, and quite dangerous, child is conceived. The child upsets not only the balance in the Cullen coven but also the whole vampire world.

My incredulity at Edward and the Cullen’s naiveté aside, Meyer’s choice to have the rest of the vampire culture descend on the story added a good deal of interest. A ton of new characters, mostly vampires, are introduced and carry the story through some very captivating moments. And Bella is forced into the human world to meet and interact with a couple of colorful humans, all the while learning how to wear her new beauty, strength, and thirst. These portions of the story could have carried the book into a dozen new places. Sadly, Meyer doesn’t give enough room to these parts of the story.

Rather, she very abruptly changes narrators, choosing to give Jacob, the wolf, his own first person account in the middle of the last book in the series. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have had more perspectives or narrators. But throwing a new one in at the end seemed a little disjointed. You really should dance with the one who brought ya.

And Meyer’s penultimate clash between the evil vampires and the good vampires at the climax of this last book promises violence and action that never develops. How is it possible that nearly dozens of blood thirsty, power hungry vampires can stare down dozens of righteous, noble vampires, and a pack of super-wolves, with only one vampire dismembered and charred? The final battle is more of a whimper than a bang.

This brings me to the final thought. The final battle never develops into a battle because of the amount of intellectualization between the opposing vampire forces. This is why I’ve always been more of a werewolf fan. A lot of vampire stories cast vampires as superhuman beings, with superior thinking capabilities on top of their superior physical capabilities. But werewolves are almost always more superanimal, superferal, and superinstinctive. A part of me wishes that Jacob or one of the other wolves had just let loose and followed their baser instincts.

Bottom Line: A little disjointed, but some captivating new characters and storylines. An ending that begs for more action and less intellectualizing. ( )

Was a great book wrapping up the series. Was read for Fall Semester 09 for Youth Lit.

Sherry and Jennifer, Fall 2009

....

I'm not really sure how to review this one. To be frank, the whole Twilight Saga is really awful (in my opinion). The stories are really addicting and fun to read (I read the whole series) but the writing is just bad. This novel in particular is really stupid. I didn't like the switch between Bella and Jacob and back to Bella again for the narration. If anything, I would have thought Stephenie Meyer would have included Edward. Nonetheless, it was nothing that I would have wanted for the main protagonists. Personally, I thought it was really anticlimactic and would not read it again.

Gets a little weird - but did not break addiction :) ( )

I have never in my life finished a book, turned it over, and started reading it all over again. But that's what happened when I finished Breaking Dawn (and then I read it A THIRD TIME - thank goodness for the four-day Thanksgiving weekend). I won't defend this book, the series, or the whole vampire genre to anyone who doesn't think they're any good, because I have no arguments. This isn't literature - it's pure wish fulfillment.

Unlike J.K. Rowling, who inexplicably punished her fans with the crushingly disappointing seventh book in the Harry Potter series, Stephenie Meyer seems to still like her readers enough after four books to give them everything they wanted - an equisitely happy ending for the characters, and some truly magnificent chapters after Bella awakens. The chapters of Bella's first newborn day are just vivid and charming, as are the hilarious chapter headings to the passages narrated by Jacob (they're so good there's no Table of Contents for his section). Jacob and New Bella have wonderful voices, though they are so polished and different from the sputtering, simple Human Bella's narrative voice that I wondered often whether Stephene Meyer had a ghostwriter on this one. It goes way beyond good editing, though that shows too.

I think maybe I've strayed from romance novels too long, and that's why this book left me shaky and altered - and debilitatingly addicted. I really loved the story of Edward and Bella, and I have a feeling I'll read it a few more times before I move on to something else. ( )

An interesting conclusion that ties up all the ends and is a happy ending for everyone. I kept thinking that even though Stephenie Meyer doesn't watch R rated movies, she's practically writing an R rated novel… and little kids read it! ( )

Finally finished the last book of the series. Hmm..interesting! Not sure if I am a huge fan of this series, but did want to finish it since I read the first installment. Glad to be done with it, though! ( )

This has got to be the best book ever. Its definetly my favorite of the Twilight Saga. I can't wait for the movie. ( )

I really like this book. Renesmee is a good character, I like Alice a lot and Jane is creepy but cool. This book is awesome! Most of the characters are Dynamic and Round. The Voultri are the antagonists and Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, Jacob Black, Alice Cullen, Carlisle Cullen, Esme Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Emmett Cullen, Jasper Hale, Renesmee Cullen, and a lot of othercovens/nomads are the Protagonists. ( )

The best one of the saga for me. I liked them all alot, and am sad that I've come to the end and there are no more. ( )

Being in my late twenties, I did not think that the Twilight series would be so entertaining. If you coud get pass the fact that this is not considered to be the highest rating literature out there, then you'll enjoy it for its face value, mere entertainment. In this last enstallment, Bella experiences two life altering experience, faces death again, but his time she actually feels defeated but becomes the central role to maintain everyone she loves alive. A surprising twist is that we get several chapters with Jacob's POV. This book is most intense and keeps you wishing for more by the time you close the book. I would love for Meyer to create another series involving Renesmee and Jacob. This series is definately one of my favorites that I will revisit again. Maybe one day I'll enjoy reading it alongside my daughter for more years to come!! ( )

This book was kinda annoying. After all the hype and excitement over the last Twilight book wore off, I realized that this book wasn't that good. The ending was horrible because nothing happened! After chapters upon chapters of hearing of the fight and the Volturi no one did anything. I absolutely LOVE Edward, but the fact that he kept saying that their triumph over the Volturi was because of Bella annoyed the crap out me since again: nothing happened. Although the book was annoying, it had it's good moments between Bella and Edward's relationship and the funny comments thrown in. ( )

Breaking Dawn is a book of a vampires love for a girl. Full of suspence and is action packed. My favorite book and is the last in the saga of four. ( )

I think Breaking Dawn was probobly the best book I have ever read! It always kept me excited. It is also scary in some parts of the book. It is the last book in a series. I would also recomend the other books! ( )

A great conclusion to a very entertaining series, I'm glad that I finally decided to give the Twilight Saga a chance, I was not dissapointed and I feel in love with the characters like the rest of the free world. But that said, I'm glad that I've made my way through the Twilight-mania (save the movies) and I can get back to my regularly scheduled program. ( )

POTENTIAL SPOILERS

The fourth and final installment of the Twilight series, I felt it tied up all the loose ends, however maybe a bit too perfectly. While the book came to a satisfying ending and answered all the questions that seemed to need to be answered, nothing seemed to happen to merit the huge following it has. I'm not sure I'd want to read it again, right now it just seems to be taking up space on my bookcase. ( )

This final book of the Twilight series opens with Bella and Edward's wedding and subsequent honeymoon, and covers the first six months or so of their life together. There's a bit of drama here and there, but by and large it's not nearly as suspenseful as the earlier books - and those were pretty tame. As I'd expected, imprinting was used as a convenient solution to the love triangle. The idea is that when a werewolf meets his soulmate, he "imprints" on them and suddenly has eyes for no one else. Bella can't be with Edward without breaking Jacob's heart? Simple: Jacob imprints on somebody else and ceases being interested in Bella all together. Problem solved. Pretty cheap, if you ask me, but hardly unexpected. It's not like I ever thought Jacob ever had a chance with Bella, even when Edward was out of the picture in New Moon.

And you know, I was okay with the invulnerability to sunlight and the extra-sensory powers and even the sparkling, but vampire pregnancy is something I can't quite wrap my head around. I mean, they're supposed to be physically dead - or at least permanently unchanging - right? Your body - male and female alike - has to be doing something inside there if you're going to be able to make babies. That said, I still have to give props to Meyer for the hilarious dichotomy between the teen romance and the graphic horror. I just could not stop laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. I also enjoyed Jacob as a temporary narrator; even when he's being angstful he's amusing. Oh, and for the record: Renesmee is a terrible name, and Nessie is a really unintuitive nickname.

The ending is happy, of course, and thorough to the point of absurdity. Everyone finds love, peace, and joy, untainted by regret or danger or even, in most cases, mortality. It's also a fanfiction gold mine: loads of new characters (and creatures) introduced with only the barest of backstories. A talented fanfic writer could really go to town here. As for me, I felt a profound and somewhat embarrassing sense of freedom as I finished this book. The Twilight universe has devoured my brain for the past few months, but now it's done, and I am free at last. It's a very sudden, very weird sensation. I don't even feel a desire to reread any of the books. I'll see the movies, though I'm not in any particular hurry anymore. I enjoyed the story, laughed more than was probably appropriate (oh come on, these books are silly), and now I'm on to the next one. Rock on. ( )

I LOVED this book. I know there are a ton of people out there who think Stephenie Meyer’s writing is bad and these book are stupid, but there are probably more people who agree with me and say her writing is captivating (I’d like to see her critics write something better) and her books are amazing. Ahhh, I loved this book.

**SPOILER ALERT**

If you haven’t read Breaking Dawn and you don’t want to know any details, stop reading right now. I usually try not to give anything away when I’m reviewing, but I’d like to open this book up for discussion and that’s pretty hard to do without discussing any details.

Did anyone else think it was weird (or bad) that there was no huge battle scene at the end? All that build-up and then . . . peaceful conclusion. Not what I was expecting, but what I wanted to happen. Then again, I’m used to Harry Potter where there’s always a huge battle scene and someone has to die. So let me go ahead and say that while the Twilight saga has been dubbed the next Harry Potter (complete with obsessive fan base), these two series are nothing alike. I’ll re-read Harry’s adventures when I want something thrilling, and I’ll re-read Twilight when I want love and romance (which, at the moment, I do, so I’m going to take my time and savor every moment of re-reading the entire series). In fact, I’m going to go ahead and classify Twilight as “teen romance fiction.” They’re not really romance novels, but only because they’re aimed at teenagers and many, many people would complain (more than they already have) if certain moral values were not upheld.

As for the book itself, I was skeptical when I heard that it would be broken up into three parts, one of which would be narrated by Jacob Black. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. Jacob’s book wasn’t my favorite, although I’ve heard it is for many readers, but it was definitely interesting and nice to get another viewpoint when you know Bella’s side of the story would have been all about sleeping and feeling ill. Meyer really stepped it up a notch when she wrote Jacob’s story, and it was a cool way to understand what was going on from different angles.

Did anyone see any of the plot twists coming? I’ll be honest: I really didn’t even try to imagine what would happen in this book. I really wanted to be surprised. Of course I guessed that Bella would become a vampire (seriously, four books and she doesn’t get her wish? please.) but I didn’t know if that would include the whole marriage thing and if she was going to be in danger before or after the transformation. To my delighted surprise, she was in danger for both, and that made for a more exciting conclusion (ahem, middle of Deathly Hallows).

However, I was not expecting a baby, and I have a little bone to pick with Ms. Meyer about which bodily fluids stay with you when you become a vampire and which don’t. But I digress. The baby was definitely an interesting angle and I certainly wasn’t expecting it. I think I liked it, though. And there had to be some way to get Jacob to stop loving Bella (although I think her being a vampire still would have done the trick – maybe. Thoughts?).

I was truly sad when the book ended. I can’t believe the series is over. I know, I know, Midnight Sun will be out eventually, but that’s just another angle of Twilight, so it’s really not the same (not to say that I’m not extremely excited about its release). This has been a series that I fell in love with unexpectedly and continue to love through the twists and unpredictable turns it has taken. I really am planning on reading all four novels again just for the cozy, nostalgic feel of it, and I know I’m going to enjoy them just as much as, if not more than, the first time I picked each of them up. I still think Edward is perfect and it’s no wonder every girl (maybe a slight exaggeration, but not by much) who reads these books falls in love with him just a little bit (or a lot, probably depending on your age – have you seen the ridiculous amount of Facebook flair dedicated to Edward?). I still relate to Bella, and think I would have made many of the same decisions she did throughout the books (maybe minus the whole Jacob fiasco in the second and third books). I love all of the characters, and I think Meyer has really brought them to life throughout the series. While I know writing another series as long as Harry Potter is not only ridiculous, but unneccessary as well, I still kind of wish she would. Just so I could hold on to their stories a little longer.

4 out of 5 stars because, without reading the other three books recently, I want to go ahead and say this is my second favorite in the series, after Twilight. ( )

ME Enculo!! xD por asi decir que me facino, muy bueno el libro de JAcob :S no me hubiese imaginado por todo lo que el pasaria para estar con su amiga, los libros de Bella :O en serio q me facinaron aun mas, muy bien detallado al sentimiento de madre, y sobre todo al amor de la pareja ;) [ aunque me viene a sorprender lo ninfomana que se vuelve Bella ] debo admitir que toda la Saga me puso de lo mas Gay :[ con todo el buen sentido de la palabra :'( .. Excelente dudo mucho volverme a enamorar tanto de una saga como me sucedio con esta. ( )

** spoiler alert ** Although I enjoyed the rest of the Twilight series, this book left me a little frustrated and feeling let down. Bella's pregnancy was only a short time in the book, but it seemed so long and drawn out. I think it was more painful to read about than it was for Bella! I was thrilled that Edward got all he wished for, but the child should have been sainted for as perfect as Meyers had created her (oh please!). Jacob's imprinting was predictable from earlier on in the series. There were no surprises...more Although I enjoyed the rest of the Twilight series, this book left me a little frustrated and feeling let down. Bella's pregnancy was only a short time in the book, but it seemed so long and drawn out. I think it was more painful to read about than it was for Bella! I was thrilled that Edward got all he wished for, but the child should have been sainted for as perfect as Meyers had created her (oh please!). Jacob's imprinting was predictable from earlier on in the series. There were no surprises and a blah ending. All in all, the title should have been "Twilight According to Disney". ( )

Very creative take on the vampire world, and also original. I enjoyed this series because of these two elements. The characterization was great also. ( )

The first half of this book is awesome. I couldn't put it down to begin with. When you get through the first half, it kind of seems like she drug it out too long. I think it would have been better if it was a couple hundred pages shorter. However, it was still great. ( )