Another hardcover, which I began after getting back from my vacation! Really looking forward to how this book continues. I should probably watch the first two movies as well…

Read: October 2 – October 6, 2023

Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural
Audience: Teen/Young Adult
Book contains: kissing, SA (forced kiss), emotional manipulation, non-graphic attack, mentions of killing

Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca

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Really Ramping Up

Now, not only is Victoria still targeting Bella because of James’s death, but the Volturi, vampire royalty, are after Bella as well, and it will only end with her death or with her turning into a vampire. Tensions are rising between the Cullen family and the Quileute werewolf pack, but when a new danger threatens them all, can they set aside their differences?

While there’s still the love-triangle romance in this book, there’s a lot more action, which I loved. There is a real threat looming over their heads, and the plot of the book isn’t entirely moved forward by the relationship, though a big part of it is involved.

I was less worried about not enjoying this book than I was with book 2, but since I’m back home again and want to keep to a schedule, I continued with the readalong on YouTube, Julia Reads Out Loud. She sometimes pronounces the words wrong, or jumbles the words in a sentence, but it was quite enjoyable. My only comment is that some of the chapters were cut short, and I had to quickly pause the playlist so I could finish reading the chapter in my book (happened about twice).

Eclipse is told from Bella’s perspective in first person again, though the epilogue is told from Jacob’s perspective. Bella continues to be a good narrator. She’s still melodramatic, and sometimes unreliable, and she always tries to take blame onto herself, but I couldn’t imagine her being any better without being different (not Bella).

Now that Edward is back full time and Bella has a fresh time limit on her human life, the tensions are rising between her, Edward, and Jacob. Jacob is still holding out hope that she’ll be with him, though for most of the book, she only sees him as family, not as a love interest. Personally, though neither of the relationships seem the healthiest, I prefer Edward and Bella, mainly because of some of the tactics Jacob uses in this book which I didn’t appreciate. The love between Edward and Bella teeters on the edge of obsession for both of them, so they could definitely benefit from couple’s therapy, but Jacob has changed so much from the way he was at the beginning of New Moon, in which he was around as a good friend for Bella.

The quality of the writing remains the same: pretty good, but not the best I’ve seen. There weren’t any plot holes or such things that took me out of the reading either, so I’d say it’s still middle-of-the-road for me. I could probably do a further deep-dive into the story, but it’s not as bad as the internet makes it seem—aside from some of the stranger parts of the creature lore that made my eyebrows raise.

I’d still recommend this book for those interested in the series, though it’s definitely not a manual to follow in terms of healthy relationships.

Related Articles:

Vampires in Fiction
Vampires in Fiction II
Werewolves in Fiction

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The Twilight Saga Book 1: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Twilight Saga Book 2: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
The Twilight Saga Eclipse Novella: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
The Twilight Saga Book 4: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
The Twilight Saga Companion Novel: Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
The Mortal Instruments Book 1: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
*Dawned by Michelle Areaux*