Eclipse
[ Warning- May Contain Spoilers ]
Eclipse, a novel by Stephenie Meyer continued the Twilight Saga in a way that was both frustrating and pleasurable. As a fan of the series, I have always had a love-hate relationship for the books, formulated from my own reading experience, and not from anyone else's opinions but my own.
For me, Eclipse was a novel that I couldn't bare to read because of its weak beginning that carried out towards the middle, and one that I couldn't stop myself from reading when it picked up beyond the middle, and started showing some intriguing potential. I found myself consumed with amidst the deeper message written into Meyer's overly exaggerated story, and began to find myself connecting- much like I did with New Moon, to an intense level where I no longer cared about the cliche's and read for the sheer pleasure of the experience.
As a passionate writer myself, I found their were parts of the story that I wished I had written myself, while there were other parts that disappointed me as a writer and a reader. Most of the issues I had with the story were fairly minor, but ones that I believe as a writer should not be practised, especially in a series of someone highly regarded as a best-seller, and in general if you respect the readership of your fans.
Chapter Three – Page 62- Motives
“You can get used to the rain, too,” I countered.
She elbowed me playfully and then took my hand as we walked back to her car.
Other than her worries about me, she seemed happy enough. Content. She still looked at Phil with go-go eyes, and that was comforting. Surely her life was satisfying. Surely she didn't miss me that much, even now...
Edwards icy fingers brushed against my cheek. I looked up blinking, coming back to the present. He leaned down and kissed my forhead.
“Were home, Sleepy Beauty. Time to wake up.”
Chapter three started fine, leading on from a major semi-plot point on the novel, but Meyer failed to live up the the scene she had hyped up, and thus left me baffled at her writing skills. The scene in which Bella visited Renee in Jacksonville, was cut abruptly short without barely any in-depth movement towards the story at all. Meyer failed to progress the story in a skilful manner, cheating the scene by using Bella sleeping as a mechanism for sloppy writing. In my beliefs this cliché, and hack-yard choice of blending the scenes together is a sin in the writing world, and did nothing to place trust in Meyers novel.
Chapter Eleven – Page 230-231- Legends
Just a human woman. With no special gifts or powers, Physically weaker and slower than any of the monsters in the story. But she had been the key, the solution. She'd saved her husband,her young sons, her tribe.
I wished they'd remember her name...
Something shook my arm.
“C'mon, Bells. Jacob said in my ear. “We're here.
I blinked, confused because the fire seemed to have disappeared. I glared into the unexpected darkness, trying to make sense of my surroundings. It took me a minute to realise I was no longer on the cliff. Jacob and I were alone. I was still under his arm, but I wasn't on the ground anymore.
Chapter Eleven followed the same disappointment as chapter Three did. Without repeating my cause into great length, I believe she cheated her way out of writing with another sleeping scene which leaves no indication that Bella was in fact sleeping, but is suddenly awakened by Jacob who has taken her to his car. I am still unsure, as the scene does not make it clear whether she has fainted, or fallen asleep; the scene itself is confusing. However as the reader I saw it the way I have expressed, and was not impressed.
Despite the flaws mentioned above. I had my favourite scenes. One being the scene in chapter Twenty Two where Jacob, Edward, and Bella are all squished into the tent. I loved the humorous nature of the scene and found myself smiling when Jacob acted so smugly about being able to warm Bella, when Edward could not. The scene was a well executed break [ the calm before a storm] and I admired the way both characters managed to put their bravado, and differences aside to have a honest conversation about their feelings. This brought some reality to the novel, and offered a glimpse into both creatures that made it impossible to put the book down.
Over all Eclipse was a moving read, especially towards the end. For readers out their who are dying to see the Twilight saga through another characters eyes, a little spoiler at the end. You will follow the story during the ending through a well loved characters eyes. I thought this was a brilliant technique to finish the novel, and it only furthered the need to read on to the next book in the saga – Breaking Dawn. While I wished some parts could have been written better. I give Eclipse four stars - ****
