Sunday, August 3, 2008

"Breaking Dawn" Finally Arrives, Hot, Tender, and Perfect!

SYNOPIS from B&N.com:
Twilight tempted the imagination. New Moon made readers thirsty for more. Eclipse turned the saga into a worldwide phenomenon. And now, the book that everyone has been waiting for...
Breaking Dawn, the final book in the #1 bestselling Twilight Saga, will take your breath away











***WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS! CAUTIONT!***


After years of waiting, hoping, praying devotedly for this book, or at least for the next book, always the next book, to come out, it's finally here. And if you call yourself a true Twilight Fan, you will love this one just as much if not more than the previous ones, devouring it in hours, unable to sleep, unable to eat, until you find out what lies within the pearly white pages of this amazing book.

Mere hours afters after starting Breaking Dawn, I heard a few other girls talking about it. Though I have no idea how far they were in the book, I am pretty sure that it wasn't very much (I cannot say where or why without giving out major spoilers, which I do not want to do.) But the thing that annoyed me was the fact that they were both saying how they 'were disappointed in the book and could not possibly finish it' they 'hated it' that much. I was shocked! I was angry! I was afraid that at any moment I was going to fly at them in a flaming rage, embracing my werewolf/vampire side (Even though I am all for TEAM EDWARD, I still love werewolves because I am a fantasy freak like that.) I was able to grab control, barely, and walk away from the girls, leaving their face and body intact. But it was hard...And yes, I know I may sound insane, but I call it 'obsessed'.

Anyway, I had to tell that little 'story' in case there are more readers out there that feel this way. I have some very important advice, and if you care about Bella and Edward's story at all, if you are one that calls themselves a Twilight Fan, then you will listen to what I have to say and maybe do as I suggest. So here's my advice: If you find certain parts of the book to be annoying or 'disapointing' ****Which, by the way, I would NEVER call ANY part of the book, or any of the previous books, disappointing**** please, please, just stick with it and I promise, in the end, you will be more than satisfied, even if it's not in the way you've fantasized and wished over the years *Or shorter, if you are a newer fan*.

Now you are probably asking, why am I telling you this? Why do I feel so passionately about it? Well, as much as I hate to admit it, there were a few parts, very small and only fleeting moments at that, where I felt like the book was taking a turn that I didn't want, one that I may come to hate Stephenie for... but I stayed with it, of course, because her writing is so intoxicating, the plot line of Edward and Bella's love so captivating and adicting that I couldn't have put that book down if my life depended on it. I didn't hate these parts, exactly, but I wasn't the happiest. But after the story went on, and I started picking up the subtle hints and clues as I went, I realizes where Stephenie was taking it and I was happy again, probably more than before, because I knew that even if it wasn't what I had expected, what ANY Twilight fans had expected, to tell you the truth, it was still working out in the general way I had always imagined it.

I realize that everyone has their own opinions, and if you hate this series to begin with, there is no way that I can convince you to love it. All I can try to do is, maybe, convince you to give it another try, or if you are new, pick it up because I love the books so much (As do my friends, who are only into the series like they are because of me) and I am hoping that you will love it also.

The story is brillant, full of twists and turns that actually add to the story in a good way, not like some stories that are so confusing you hate it by the end or so choppy that you can't get past the poorly written structure. The love story of Bella and Edward transends mere fiction, pulling you in from the first book, making you wish you were in Bella's place, that you could feel a love like that, to enjoy the deep, intimate connection that they have from the beginning, that only grows as time continues. And the fact that he's a vampire doesn't hurt either, because even if it's meant ot be 'fantasy', you want to believe in it so much that sometimes you can actually picture yourself there, with Edward in the meadow, or talking to Alice while she plans more shopping trips. Stephenie Meyer makes all the characters seem real, believable, someone that you can *And, I believe, will!* fall in love with before the saga is over. The connection that she draws between not only the characters themselves, but also the characters and the audience, is wonderfully done, something that very few authors are able to acomplish.

The story has flowed, from page to page, from book to book, but now it has come to an end-- at least in Bella's point of view. By the end of Breaking Dawn, you will be blissfully happy, content with the ending. But a true Twilight fan, one that sees the books as not only entertainment but also something more, they will find themselves full of mixed emotions by the last page-- and I mean this in a good way. A true Twilight fan will be both happy and upset when they read the last page: Happy because it's touching and full of love, a true 'Happily Ever After', which is what we've always wanted for Edward and Bella. But underneath the happiness, there is a tiny bit of unhappiness because they know that when they close the book, the sags is complete, the story is done, and there is nothing left to tell.

Oh sure, there's still Edward's point of view to look forward to, but it's not the same. As great as an Edwards POV book will be, all it will be is retelling the story for us, which is a good thing, since you can never hear it too many times, but it's nothing really new, it won't cover the next step in their life. Breaking Dawn is our last tie to their story, to their love and devotion, and it ends the saga nicely, the only problem being that it is the end of the saga. And while she didn't leave us hanging, quite the opposite, in fact, a true fan will still want more. I think we who know Twilight best, those of us who have been with it since the very beginning, will always want more, no matter how many years go by. It's a story that sticks with you, in your heart and your memory, one that you will re-read over and over again, like visiting old friends from highschool. And yet every time, I think we will always fidn ourselves saying "But what will happen next?" And yet, we can't ask Stephenie to continue the series for the rest of her life, not only because she wouldn't, but also because everything must come to an end, even if we don't want it to. Instead, we can use our own imagination, our own dreams and hopes, to picture what's going to happen next, how their story will play out even after the pages have stopped being written.

And the thing is, that's a good thing. Because when an author leaves you at such a great place in the characters' lives, where you can imagine everything without his or her words written on paper, the possiblities are both endless and predictable. Any author can try to drag out a story indefinitely, thinking that they are giving the fans what they want. But only a great author, and even then, only very few, are able to realize from the beginning that what fans really want is for the series to end after the conflicts are resolved, after their loves and futures have been set, and allow them to go back anytime, anywhere, and picture in their own minds (Or is dreams?) what can happen next.

Stephenie Meyer is one of those authors, able to twist together every teenage girl's (Along with many older women and even the occasional boy's) wishes and dreams, fears and hopes, in one series, allowing us to connect with the characters, even with the story itself, because even if it's labeled as 'fantasy', it is still eerily close to some of the very things that every young girl, every romantic woman, dreams about at one point or another: Finding true love, unconditional and passionate and best of all forever, even after numerous accidents and road blocks. Knowing that sometimes, there really is a happily ever after.....

I could go on and on, giving out spoilers and examples, but what's the point when instead you could be reading this delicious book yourself instead of listening to me ramble on. And yes, in case you haven't figured it out, I am one of those 'romantic woman/young girl' that I just told you about, dreaming that something like this can really happen, while knowing in the back of my mind that I'll have to settle for a slightly different happy ending in my future.. one witout an Edward, without vampires and werewolves, one without immortality. But that's okay. Because whenever I want to, I can pick up the Twilight books again and live vicariously through Bella and everyone else in Forks, Washington, knowing that I can go back whenever I want to.

5/5 STARS! A great ending to a perfect saga! Stephenie Meyer has stepped it up, adding in the forbidden taste of desire and passion to the already deep well of heart-warming and gut wrenching love that Bella and Edward share together. And, best of all, you find out that Jacob will not have to be lonely and hurting for the rest of his existance.....And the connection that he and Bella share is very different from what all of us originally thought.......

~TBQ~

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

haha you rock couldn't have summed it up any better. the reviews I saw on Amazon where heartbreaking but what can I say people are entitled to their opinions. Thanks for making my day with your review ^_^


Tai

The_Book_Queen said...

Glad you liked it! :)