Title: Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
Published on: August 2008
Pages: 756 pages
Mom dropped him a lot when he was a baby, Leah told me. On his head, apparently.
Chapter 13: Good Thing I've Got a Strong Stomach
Remember when I swore off the Twilight Saga after Eclipse made me physically sick? And yet, here we are. What I wouldn't do for content, eh? But before I went off with my rant, let's recount the plot for a little bit.
Not that there's much to it anyway.
Breaking Dawn tells the story of Bella finally living her dream. She got married to Edward, went on a honeymoon to a private island in Brazil named after her mother-in-law (seriously, how come nobody ever suspected the Cullens as drug dealers? Or mafia?), gave birth to a satanic lovely daughter, being turned into a superhot lady vampire by her one true love, gained her newly-found power and confidence as a vampire, and living in harmony with her human family.
Did I miss anything?
EGGLYSIS
The above quote, which is a mind-conversation between Jacob and Leah, was chosen specifically because that's the question swirling in my head when reading this book. Was Steph Meyer dropped in the head when writing this book?
The story is told in 3 acts. First act, Bella's wedding and honeymoon, told from Bella's POV. Second act, Bella's pregnancy and giving birth, told from Jacob's POV. Third act, Bella's transformation and adaptation into vampire life, including the so-called climactic "epic" war, again told from Bella's POV. I'm not even kidding when I say that I groaned when I got back to Bella's head again in the third act. Jacob's POV is soo entertaining, not to mention the dynamic with his wolf-pack.
The plot is nonexistent -- if you can even call it a plot. Oh sure, Steph did try to inject some excitement into it. The Bella giving birth to a demon spawn who basically sucks the life out of her, breaking her bones one at time, then tearing her apart from the inside plot was the only time I felt a grim delight because she finally got what she deserved: consequences. This girl, who's been making stupid choices after stupid choices and wrecking the lives of everyone who cared about her in the name of her supposedly great love, finally faced the consequence to her selfishness. And by that, yes, Bella is the most horrid, egocentric bitch I have ever come across in literature. Steph kept on telling us that she loved her parents, but the amount of time she lied to Charlie and Renee, to the point of never telling them that by giving their blessings to her marrying Edward, they basically agreed for her to die and become a monster. At 18 years old, she decided she didn't want to live anymore (she's basically dead after being a vampire, no?), including not going to school and pursue a career. She was enough with having Edward and only Edward in her life. Because, fuck her parents who raised her, right? The Cullens are loads better than fragile, human Charlie and Renee. See, this is why you should never make any important, life-changing decision before turning 25, at least. Because your brain isn't developed well enough. Bella and her string of stupiditiness is exhibit A.
This part really got into me because Charlie felt so real in his awkwardness and love to his ungrateful dauhter. I got teary eyed everytime Charlie appeared on the page, expressing his concern over Bella, confused on what is happening but at the same time just wanted what made Bella happy. What did he get in return? A secret. A dead daughter. His life being thrown in the frontline of danger. How could a daughter treat her father that way?
After a very entertaining couple of chapters inside Jacob's head, we go back to Bella and see how much she was born to be a vampire! Because she didn't have any problem with control around human! She is sooo powerful and unique! Being a vampire is actually a dream comes true and highly recommended!
Excuse me, but how could someone be born to become a vampire? Did Steph basically imply that Bella's main purpose in life is.... to die?
The so called epic war at the end was also meh, though the buildup was good -- heck I was really energised by the time all those powerful vampires from around the world came to join the Cullens' coven. I wish Steph would tell us more about the Romanian coven who used to be the most powerful before the Volturi came around. Or Benjamin from the Egyptian coven, who could physically alter the alchemical elements of nature. Or even the Amazon coven -- how could vampires live in a tropical country? See, these side characters who were only introduced to us in the last one-third part of the book are way more interesting than Bella and Edward in four books.
I seriously think Steph chose the wrong main characters to focus on. I would be glad to read the story from Rosalie's, even Carlisle's, POV.
Overall, Breaking Dawn...
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