Tuesday, August 12, 2008

And because I know everyone has been wondering...

I finished Breaking Dawn. My thoughts? Meh. I'm actually somewhat disappointed, but I don't think for the same reason as the thousands of screaming teen fans. (And by the way, I am going to try to do this without spoilers, so if you haven't read the book, it will probably make no sense.) Halfway through, I was IN LOVE. Meyer threw in a twist that I had not seen coming, but I felt like it was taking the book in a fantastic direction. I felt like the tension was going to build into something amazing. And then - it was done. It just felt so.....anticlimactic. I realize she wrote pages and pages of the great confrontation scene, but it just seemed so EASY for the result.

Okay, maybe spoiler here..................................

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Seriously, Bella has a power, and she can perfect it in two weeks, and that will save everyone? And maybe it makes me morbid, but I felt like someone needed to die. Not necessarily a main character, but how can they be faced with the biggest evil vampire horde in the entire universe and come away with NOT EVEN A SCRATCH?? I realize this is part of my own personal bias, but all the great fantasy novels that have really moved me have included a death, and I think that is part of what makes them great. Fantasy is such an amazing venue to explore emotions, and I think the really good stuff explores ALL emotion, not just the happy parts. I know this is written for a YA audience, but come on - it just ended so incredibly happily-ever-after-ish. And I really felt like Meyer had the potential in the middle of the novel to do something that would blow my mind. Instead, it was just okay. Don't get me wrong - I was entertained. I was just hoping for more than I found.

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I am still, however, firmly on Team Jacob, and would love a spin-off series featuring him! *grin*

2 comments:

Andi said...

Go Team Jacob!!!! I totally relate to your reaction. I really expected that someone would bite it. The anticlimactic ending was probably my biggest quibble. The rest worked well enough for me.

Alea said...

I was fairly positive that 2-3 people would die. I was pretty disappointed. They was no sacrifice at all!