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August 19, 2009
Omg an update. And do you know what it's going to be about? Breaking Dawn. I finally read it. I'm not sure if anyone will still read this, but I will go ahead anyways. And as hard as I seem to be on it, it wasn't as bad as this makes it sound like I thought it was. My organized thoughts just sound harsher than the thoughts in my head I suppose.
BREAKING DAWN SPOILER ALERT
First and lasting impression: WTF IS GOING ON. And not in the way that I felt when I tried to read Eldest after having put down Eragon months earlier (as in, too many names of characters and places, continuing on from the prequel too quickly for me to comprehend). This kind of wtf was more, Am I still reading the same series?, with an undertone of, BellasexedEdwardsexedBella. Continuity was hugely absent, I felt. The only things that are really necessary for you to know before reading Breaking Dawn are that the Cullens are vampires, Jacob and company are werewolves, Bella is not a vampire yet but desires to be, Edward-Bella-Jacob is the love triangle of focus. I couldn't help but compare the Twilight series to (you probably guessed it...) Harry Potter. The books in the Twilight series could probably be read individually or together with the same dispense of emotion from the reader. Breaking Dawn, though the end of the series and thus also the end of the journey of the characters (in print anyways), did not leave me feeling fulfilled - I wasn't particularly uplifted, hopeful, or contemplative, which is usually how stories leave me feeling. And even if it wasn't a "usual" ending, it was truthfully, worse. It was cliche (omg I said it - but actually Stephanie Meyers pretty much did too, it's in the chapter title). Harry Potter on the other hand builds upon each installment and more importantly, I find it builds upon the characters that are introduced in each installment. This leads me on to my second Twilight-Harry Potter comparison which will lead to my ultimate Potter > Twilight conclusion: reality. Yes, I do know that both series belong in fantasy fiction, but reality is always being channeled through this genre (just read my Extended Essay...). In reality, not only bad people are punished; the good get their beating as well. Both series picked up on that but do I really even have to ask if you care more that Irina died or more that Dumbledore died? I guess that's not even a fair comparison, but what about Remus? Tonks? Fred? Dobby? Even the numbers speak for themselves. This is really what made the end of Harry Potter so much more (TEN THOUSAND MILLION BILLION TRILLION TIMES MORE) emotional than the end of Twilight, the way that Rowling creates characters that you care for to die for the greater good and the way that Meyers creates characters to die for the more important characters in the series (so maybe I'm biased). And to be honest while I was reading, I didn't remember who Irina was and I still don't remember when or why she came into the picture.
Okay so now that that comparison is done, I will comment on Breaking Dawn on its own. I must agree with Tori's assessment from a while back - it felt rushed. I mean it's okay that it was fast-paced - I admit to not wanting to put it down, though this time around it was more out of a kind of morbid curiosity - but all of the conflicts in the novel and even in the entire series were resolved for too quickly and far too easily (imprinting will solve all of your problems! Yah!). Actually, there were some things about the Jacob/Nessie imprinting that pissed me off, but I won't discuss them because I just tried to type it and it got too long and weird. I found that while Bella was pregnant and was being expected by everyone around her to die, I wasn't scared for her in the slightest. It'd have been more interesting if she hadn't had any of those prophetic dreams, which basically seemed to guarantee that she would live past the labour. And actually, what was the point of the dreams? Also while she was pregnant, I'd have thought that feeding the fetus blood instead of regular nutrients would have occurred to the genius vampire minds FAR before it did, and it was Jacob who really thought of it anyways. I mean, I even thought about it right after she got pregnant. But I guess that's just building suspense for ya, need to almost kill the protagonist first.
Now, Bella after her transformation into a vampire. I've gotta say, it was quite convenient for newborn Bella to be so self controlled. Or was it more convenient for Meyers? Ah well I guess I wouldn't have been that interested in reading about Bella's crazed hunting sprees either. Anyways, after her transformation and after things are all great for a while, the spirit of the Twilight series seems to return to its final installment - danger is near! I must say that I was completely thrown when Alice and Jasper left. And the way that Bella was preparing herself mentally and emotionally, as well as Nessie and Jacob materially, for death, I actually thought that maybe, just maybe, the lives (so to speak) of Bella and Edward would be given to save the children (ish) of the future. But naw, that wouldn't happen. But even though that didn't happen, a more meaningful ending could have been worked out, couldn't it? I like a happy ending sure (Harry Potter did end on an up note after all), but there needs to be a balance between light and dark. The series that had once stressed the ferociousness, painfulness, suffering, and bloodiness that comes with a vampire's life ended so lightly, I could barely even feel it.
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