Book Review: ‘Breaking Dawn’

By HEATHER SKRIP

Bella, Edward and Jacob return in the final book of the “Twilight” series, “Breaking Dawn.”

The series left off at “Eclipse,” with Bella making the decision to become a vampire through Edward’s venom. For Edward to agree to the arrangement, Bella had to promise to marry him.

“Breaking Dawn” has more twists and turns in its already tangled plot than the other three books combined. While a notorious sex scene, a pregnancy and the imprinting fiasco may make the story more interesting, it also makes it more confusing.

Stephenie Meyer’s writing has always been consistent, using descriptive, yet understandable language. For whatever reason, Meyer decided to throw readers a curveball in this book.

The story was broken into three sections, with the first and last being told the standard way, in first person, from Bella’s point of view. The second part, however, is written from Jacob’s point of view.

This becomes very irritating because the key points of the story that involved Bella, such as her pregnancy, were described by Jacob. This was the same situation in the third section, when it was Bella describing the way that Jacob imprinted upon Renesmee.

The fact that there was an absurd amount of vampires that visited the Cullens was overwhelming. Over 40 new vampires were introduced, or mentioned in this book. Meyer did an excellent job of trying to portray each one of them, but it seemed like her descriptions ran out after telling of the horrific and infamous birthing scene.

One major aspect of the story that stood out was the fact that the characters have been consistent throughout the entire series. Bella and Edward were always concerned that they were not good enough for one another, and that fact did not change in “Breaking Dawn.”

Even Jacob, the lovable brother figure in Bella’s life, remained the same. He maintained the same stubborn attitude that he has had since “Twilight.”

“Breaking Dawn” was a good book, not a great one. Every “Twilight” fan should read it, but not expect it to be as good as its predecessors. If the book were to be taken apart, there would be three major themes: sex, pregnancy and the superpowers of the undead.

The story was confusing and drawn out in parts, but provided a happy ending to the best-selling series.