Breaking Dawn Review

The grand finale to the whole Twilight saga is here! And I’ll admit, I was a lot more aware of the major plot points that the other books because I had saw Breaking Dawn Part 2 (yes, just Part 2, I was only interested in the big Voluturi fight. Apparently I have as much bloodlust as Emmet).

Anyway, this finale brings about Edward and Bella’s happily ever after, and their enlarges their unique family. . . however there’s one more battle to be fought. And it kinda drags the whole thing down.

The wedding and honeymoon were very romantic and provides a nice vicarious read for everyone as the Cullens spare no expense for the occasion. There’s also a sense of relief and bittersweetness as almost everyone knows what is to come making Bella’s interactions with her parents very moving. I also enjoyed the honeymoon that had actually made Bella reconsider her choice to become a vampire. For one shining moment, it seemed like they’d be able to handle a human-vampire romance where Bella gets the love she wants and Edward is satisified with Bella waiting a few years to enjoy college before “damning” her to a lifetime of immortality. Such a struggle.

It was also a grand moment where Bella finally calls Edward out on “harshing her buzz.” I’ll admit it, it made me smile as it is so accurate. When will that boy ever get over the fact that Bella is committed, she doesn’t care about the pain, just him.

And all that contentment goes off the rails when it turns out Bella is pregnant with the world’s first half-human, half-vampire baby.

I was totally surprised by the book’s shift into Part 2 as entirely from Jacob’s perspective. I do admire Meyer’s writing in that each voice sounds distinct with Bella’s being verbose and dramatic in contrast to Jacob’s straightforward albeit biased descriptions of everything. Even his chapter titles are humerous as he acts like the only sane man reacting to all the crazy events around him.

I wrote in the last book that Jacob had gotten on my nerves with his hot-heaed temper and manipulative attitude and this did a tiny bit too assauge my feelings towards him. It’s clear that he’s hurting and he does do better this time around to help Bella even though she wants to stick by her decision to have Renesmee.

It helps that we see a more independent Jacob, breaking out to form his own pack made up of Clearwaters even though his pack works differently. He still doesn’t want to be alpha and won’t use his alphaness to bend anyone to his will. He begins to bond a bit with Leah and Seth continues to be my favorite character.

We also get a horrific scene of Bella’s labor which is truly something out of the Exorcist with a vomiting arc of blood and the child clawing out of Bella’s stomach. . . just euggh! Meyer really channeled horror movie aesthetic for this scene as an homage to the real Dracula legends.

Then Part 3 returns to Bella’s perspective and I felt like we could have done without a majority of the chapters.

First thing, Jacob’s part ends with him imprinting on Renesmee which is so incredibly uncomfortable. I know Meyer is trying to wrap up the love triangle nicely by keeping Jacob in their lives but it’s weird. It’s also unnecessary. Bella’s change into a vampire seems to have completely wiped any of her intense feelings for him so does she really need his friendship anymore? She can barely remember those dim human memories as she calls them or her strong connection with Jacob. She doesn’t need him anymore and it’s annoying that Jacob has to stay in their lives instead of moving on.

And Jacob imprinting on Renesmee is just. . . I know Bella always saw Jacob as a boy at heart but does he have to imprint on a little girl. Yes, it was explained in Eclipse that he doesn’t have romantic feelings for her, that the imprinting just makes him want to be her father figure, protector etc. Anything to make her happy but it’s just the knowledge that it will eventually become romantic is gross. Why can’t imprinting be a protector or father figure or romantic mate, not and.

It also feels unfair to Jacob because he had been so against it, literally calling the imprinters slaves to love, brainwashed into happiness with no free will of their own. And it’s true, Jacob’s personality fades as his life revolves around Renesmee, he can’t even bear to leave her for long periods of time. It’s just not the happy ending that it is made out to be.

Especially as Meyer seems to set up a potentially great relationship with Leah that understands his heartbreak, feelings of unrequited love and burden of being a werewolf. Someone who is willing to support him and call him out on his moping. I mean, the woman chews out Bella’s selfishness (which could have come at a better time when Bella was not hormally and fatally pregnant) in front of a roomful of vampires. This was off the page but it would have been awesome to see.

And then Leah is almost never mentioned again, such a disappointment to me.

And while seeing Bella as a vampire is interesting at first, it becomes tedious. I suppose this was supposed to be a vicarious experience for readers who too want to be sparkly, inhumanly powerful vampires but I just got annoyed. Or I have vampire jealousy if you want to be Freudian about it. But I was annoyed. There were so many pages dedicated to how beautiful she is now, how strong she is now, how she has designer wardrobe and a fancy car and a cottage made for her with valuable art hidden from the ages.

I know vampires like luxury and if you’re rich, why not buy coveted pieces of everything but also what is the point? She doesn’t even care about these famous artists or designer clothes that haven’t been released from fashion houses yet? Why bother showing up all the puny mortals that you feel so superior to? It’s all so ego-stroking and eye-roll inducing. At least her forshadowed powers aren’t as easy for her and she has to work for it.

And her daughter is no better with everyone bound by pot convenience to fall in love with her (imprinting aside). Honestly, I don’t have too much annoyance with Renesmee as she’s a child but I found the instalove from others obnoxious as I personally had no investment in the child as I do with other characters.

So, of course, anyone who doesn’t fall in love with her is the enemy and Voluturi’s threat to attack forces the Cullens to find any vampire witnesses they can to protect their family. Now this was an interesting plot point but only takes up the last two hundred pages and feels rushed. It’s filled with interesting side characters but as it’s all about Bella, Edward and Renesmee, so it dragged on.

On the topic of interesting characters, four books in and there’s still no real expositional backstory for Jasper. I had to read the Twilight wiki about that since Meyer hints so much about the south’s newborn wars, and some mysterious estrangement with his creator, Maria and his friends. I thought it was bound to be revealed by now with how much they needed Jasper’s war skills but nothing! We learned almost everyone else’s backstories but not Jasper’s just. . . there’s potential there especially with how Bella was interacting with Jasper’s close (if fearful) associate, J. Jenks.

And there was no actual fight even prophecy-induced which was a let down.

Also what is with the Children of the Moon and the Quiluetes aren’t actual werewolves. It added nothing, explained nothing and wasn’t even a big plot point. It was like five meaningless sentence thrown in there for nothing. Why? I didn’t get it.

While it ends well for all the Cullens and Meyer manages to spin a heartwarming ending, the book has its flaws with its abnormal length, padding and bittersweet ends for several of my favorite characters.

Anyway, I’m glad I finished the saga and I wonder if Edward’s POV will add a new perspective on this popular universe.