Sunday, September 28, 2008

REVIEW: Eclipse


Title: Eclipse
Author: Stephenie Meyer
ISBN: 9780316160209/Little, Brown & Company
Protagonist: 18-year-old Bella Swan
Setting: Forks, Washington, a small town on the rainy Olympic Peninsula
Series: #3
Rating: B

First Line: All our attempts at subterfuge had been in vain.

Since I received a small complaint about not including a spoiler alert with my review of New Moon, let me say this: I try my best not to give away major plot points in any of my book reviews. If you're a reader who doesn't want to know anything that happens in Eclipse, it might be a good idea for you to skip this review--or at least skip down to the last paragraph!

At the end of New Moon, Bella and Edward had been reunited, but there was still a serious threat from a revenge-seeking vampire focusing on Bella (which didn't live up to all the hype and suspense, if you ask me). In Eclipse, Bella just wants to graduate from high school and become a vampire so she can be with Edward for eternity. She also wants her friendship with Jacob Black to continue. Since Edward and Jacob are enemies, this isn't going to be the easiest thing to accomplish.

Once again, Meyer managed to suck me into the story, and I wasn't content until I'd finished the book. I'm still not quite sure how she does that because Eclipse had a huge "irk factor" for me. In the first part of the book, Edward is so controlling that I wanted to hit him upside the head with a tire iron--which just so happens to be a weapon that's mentioned later. Even as a teenager, I was fiercely independent, and if I'd hooked up with someone as controlling as Edward, it wouldn't have taken me long to point to the door. Hit the road, Jack...er...Ed. You may think you're the zoo keeper, but I'm not one of your big cats. Bella's low self-esteem also annoys me. Yes, it's pretty much guaranteed for most teen aged girls, but she goes overboard with it. It also doesn't help that I'm firmly in the camp that believes Bella has chosen The Wrong Guy. Yes, folks, I prefer Jacob. He's tall, he's good-looking (not beautiful--gag), and he's got a good sense of humor. (He made me laugh several times while reading Eclipse.) Edward is just too much a Pretty Boy and way too serious! I'll be reading Breaking Dawn with some interest. I know Jacob's going to get the short end of the stick, but I don't want it to be too short, if you know what I mean!


2 comments:

  1. Hiya Cathy, I reviewed this a little while back and it also had the 'irk factor' - I'm irked at me, how am I still drawn into these books despite all my misgivings, the writing's not even that good .... but I am, so Breaking Dawn's on the TBR pile. Ho hum, life is confusing!

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  2. Somehow Meyer sucks me in with the story and the characters. As you said, the writing's not all that good, but I still keep turning those pages. Definite Irk Factor!

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