Breaking Dawn Spoilers Thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jamimb]

I think you've hit a lot of it right there. Problem is, this book & this series are marketed as YA. They are shelved in YA. Yeah, there are a LOT of adults reading it, probably just under a third of the audience. But they are not the intended audience. And teens don't get that concept of maternal love, as you said, and apparently many are NOT interested in getting it or reading about it or having it be the focus(perfectly natural & understandable).

Meyer wrote this book for herself, as she has said, not her audience. In that way, she let her audience down in some respects. We as adults may love or hate it based on our perspectives, but I feel bad for the teens who bought into the series and had it switched in tone, development, and plot at the last minute.

Ah well, she is crying all the way to the bank I am sure. Everyone has a fall if they rise high enough--she will get right back up again, no doubt.

I loved it but I agree BD was not YA at all! I went to the release party here and most of the girls in line were probably around 13 and 14 yrs old and as I was reading the book I gasped a few times thinking that the book was way too mature for that age group. Even though I loved it I felt like it was taking place a few years after Eclipse not a few months!

 

[jobhunter]

I loved it but I agree BD was not YA at all! I went to the release party here and most of the girls in line were probably around 13 and 14 yrs old and as I was reading the book I gasped a few times thinking that the book was way too mature for that age group. Even though I loved it I felt like it was taking place a few years after Eclipse not a few months!

Exactly! I was not a fan of this book at all (but still love SM!) but I thought the same thing while reading in the birth scene. It felt a lot like Alien!! Too much. (not for me but I have a high tolerance)
It did feel like it happened years later!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

I think you've hit a lot of it right there. Problem is, this book & this series are marketed as YA. They are shelved in YA. Yeah, there are a LOT of adults reading it, probably just under a third of the audience. But they are not the intended audience. And teens don't get that concept of maternal love, as you said, and apparently many are NOT interested in getting it or reading about it or having it be the focus of a YA book (perfectly natural & understandable).

Meyer wrote this book for herself, as she has said, not her audience. In that way, she let her audience down in some respects. We as adults may love or hate it based on our perspectives, but I feel bad for the teens who bought into the series and had it switched in tone, development, and plot at the last minute. They probably feel like the story belonged to them too, considering the cost, time, and passion they put into it these past years.

Ah well, she is crying all the way to the bank I am sure. Everyone has a fall if they rise high enough--she will get right back up again, no doubt.

As it should be. Every author should write for himself, never for an audience. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. I'm glad Stephenie hasn't lost her normality because of this. She keeps her head leveled and doesn't have dilusions of grandeur. She ended it how she wanted it to and that's what she did, hate ir or love it, it's the way it was meant to be.

 

[jobhunter]

As it should be. Every author should write for himself, never for an audience. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. I'm glad Stephenie hasn't lost her normality because of this. She keeps her head leveled and doesn't have dilusions of grandeur. She ended it how she wanted it to and that's what she did, hate ir or love it, it's the way it was meant to be.

Yup. And when you let some down, some might not come back. That is the risk you take. She can afford to take that risk & she did. Good for her!
And as I've said, she will not hurt from this. She does not have delusions that she can please everyone, nor does she try. And she definitely has maintained her sense of normalcy & remains down-to-earth!
I think the book was poorly written but I will definitely keep my mind open for the next one. They can't all be winners!

 

[Shyvioletisme]

ok, clearly I"m in the minority here, but I LOVED it...It didn't feel like fan fiction to me at all. I like the ways the characters changed, you can't keep having characters be the exact same throughout an entire series, to me that gets really old, really quick.
Ok, so the babie's name is a little lame...but other than that, I thought it was a GREAT finale to the series... Each to their own I guess...but I feel completely content and happy with the way the series ended!!

(For what it's worth, I also though Deathly Hallows was great...since I"m seeing some people compare the two as both being bad endings...)

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Yup. And when you let some down, some might not come back. That is the risk you take. She can afford to take that risk & she did. Good for her!
And as I've said, she will not hurt from this. She does not have delusions that she can please everyone, nor does she try. And she definitely has maintained her sense of normalcy & remains down-to-earth!
I think the book was poorly written but I will definitely keep my mind open for the next one. They can't all be winners!

It was the last book, she could take any risk she wanted. I don't think this will affect Midnight Sun at all, it's a completely different story than BD was.

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

ok, clearly I"m in the minority here, but I LOVED it...It didn't feel like fan fiction to me at all. I like the ways the characters changed, you can't keep having characters be the exact same throughout an entire series, to me that gets really old, really quick.
Ok, so the babie's name is a little lame...but other than that, I thought it was a GREAT finale to the series... Each to their own I guess...but I feel completely content and happy with the way the series ended!!

(For what it's worth, I also though Deathly Hallows was great...since I"m seeing some people compare the two as both being bad endings...)

I loved Deathly Hallows too. To this day I still don't get what people hate about it.
It's starting to become a trend though, to hate the last book in a series.

 

[jobhunter]

It was the last book, she could take any risk she wanted. I don't think this will affect Midnight Sun at all, it's a completely different story than BD was.

I meant even farther-reaching than just it was the last book--at the level her career is at, she can take any risk she wants. She is established.

You're right, it won't. I don't think it will affect any of her books, actually. She hasn't said she will write any more in this world (MS doesn't count, it's basically a retelling of Twilight) yet. And the Host brought in a ton of new & different kinds of readers.

Count me in as another who LOVED Deathly Hallows. Rowling did an outstanding job of staying true to her characters and her mythology!! Those books will stand the test of time.

 

[RC Fan]

(For what it's worth, I also though Deathly Hallows was great...since I"m seeing some people compare the two as both being bad endings...)

Me too! You definitely can't make everyone happy though.

 

[PrincessDeb]

Stephenie acted like there would have to be two movies made from this book to really get it right-I knew exactly where the break would be-in between Jacob's section and Bella's 2nd section. I liked Jacob before so I didn't mind that he was in there. I have to admit to feeling a little disappointed with the way that it was going initially. The whole baby thing floored me, then I hated the name, then I was disappointed that Jacob imprinted on it-not sure what I expected though. By the end of the book, I had to admit that I liked it though. I really got reattached to the characters by the end-I had lost some of that earlier in the book. I'm sure I'll read it again soon and feel differently. I loved the Deathly Hallows, btw.

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

My full thoughts, very long post:
http://candy-003.livejournal.com/32468.html

 

[nkjzmom]

Alright...it's taken me a few hours to post this while trying to decide how I feel.

Bella's first book was good. Somewhere in Jacob's book is when I felt it got weird. I didn't feel connected with the characters...it felt too sci-fi, etc. I had to put the book down and leave the house. I didn't want to keep reading. Then when Bella's last book began I felt like I was breathing again. I felt like I'd been holding my breath and had been tensed. I began relaxing all the muscles I hadn't even realized were tense.

What if the reason we felt it was too weird, too disconnected was because it was told from Jacob's perspective and it WAS weird and wrong and against everything he had ever imagined. I realize that my emotions were probably mirroring his. (I have loaned the book to my sister so I can't flip back and be sure...)

I loved Bella's transformation. I loved the hunting scene with Bella and Edward. I'd been hating to see that and Stephenie wrote it quite nicely. I was completely in love with Bella's special ability. I had been waiting for that and I agree with another poster who mentioned loving the fact that little helpless, whiny old Bella had saved them all.

I still feel very opposed to Edward and Bella having a baby...but I see how it was important to Stephenie. I have to keep in mind that she had this ending in mind for years. She knew where their story was going all along.

Now, Stephenie has said she is done with Bella and Edward's story but not with others'. Will she write about Jacob and Renesmee??? hmmm...

BTW...Stephenie never did write these books with the thought of gearing them towards YA. I believe it is up to the publisher to decide how to market these books. I have never really felt comfortable knowing that young girls were reading these books. I have told my 11 year old that she can read them in a few years. I just think that while they're clean enough for her she needs to be a little more mature.

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

I thought Jacob's book was one of the best. I loved getting in his head for a while and his sense of humor is freaking awesome.

 

[PrincessDeb]

Thanks for posting your blog, Laura-very well said!
I too loved Jacob's sense of humor-especially the names of the chapters. I hope that people don't get all negative on Stephenie. I will read anything she writes!

 

[nkjzmom]

I thought Jacob's book was one of the best. I loved getting in his head for a while and his sense of humor is freaking awesome.

Don't get me wrong...I love Jacob. I really enjoyed hearing things in his voice. I just think that's why I felt weird about the baby and the way the story was going in general. Because he felt that way. Maybe if we'd heard more from him regarding his imprinting on Renesmee I would feel even more satisfied with the story.

 

[team weasel]

I'm finally done.....

I definately thought is was a little weird. Weird in the fact that, like so many of you have already said, the book didn't follow the same flow of the others. Was that a bad thing? I don't know. It just wasn't what I expected.

I saw the pregnancy and the imprinting coming a mile away. More the imprinting than the pregnancy. It was if when I read Bella was pregnant, Jacob imprinting was an obvious turn.

I absolutely loved Jacob's chapter. I did not like him before this book. Reading the story from his perspective changed that. I loved his humor, his strength to do what was right, and his loyalty.

Even though it wasn't my favorite, I'm still glad I read it. I needed the closure. SM still left it open though, IMO. I think the chapter is closed on Bella and Edward, but left wide open for Jacob and Nessie (blech).

 

[BratTink]

I definitely didn't love this book as much as the others. It was ok, but not great. It was absolutely too different from the others. I do feel like the characters were different, but its because they grew, albeit very quickly. I was absolutely floored about the baby and didn't see that coming at all; I did figure out early in the Jacob chapters that he'd imprint on the baby...she foreshadowed that with Quil. Renesme is the worst name I've ever read and I hated hated hated it. (Sidenote, Jazz was used as a nickname in the other books.) I am happy that she tied it all up in a little bow.
I agree with the previous posters who wrote that this book was more about Bella's love as a mother not as a girlfriend/wife. I think that was the biggest "downfall" of this book. The love story is what initially sucked me in and this book was not that at all. I'm sad because I'm not swooning over Edward...
Specifics that moved me: the honeymoon. When Bella woke up happy and finally sated. Edward's reaction and her bruises had me laughing out loud. I can't say much more because I'll get points, but being sore and a little bruised can sometimes be a very good thing!
And, at the end when Bella placed Nessie on Jake's back so he could run, Edward leaned into Jake and called him son; I teared up.

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

I'm just happy that in the end Bella, Edward and Jacob can be together forever in their own way. That's what they always wanted.
Plus, the Volturi are certainly not done with Nessie, that's for sure.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

I loved this book! I started off hating Bella's character. I really disliked her relationship with Jacob and how she seemed so selfish in the other books. However, that completely changed for me in this book. I loved how her character matured after being married and becoming a mother. She really evolved and became far more likable. I really liked reading about her interaction with Nessie (I HATE THAT NAME!!!) and Edward as a family.

I also agree -- I knew Jacob was going to imprint on Nessie. I figured something like that would happen after the foreshadowing with Quil's imprinting. I was really happy that we got to experience Jacob's imprinting in his own words. I have to admit, I was slightly creeped out by Quil's imprinting with a child but after seeing the interaction w/ him and Claire and then later with Jacob and Nessie I really understood it. I really hope that SM writes about Jacob and Nessie's story. There is so much she could do with that.

 

[Jennasis]

Hooo boy, what a couple of days it's been. Like most reports I'm hearin/reading, I was happy with the "everybody happy" ending, but felt that the story suffered gretaly throughout.

1. A pregnancy?? For real? THAT'S your big angle?? Come on! And we're to believe a KID who was vehemently opposed to getting married young because she MIGHT be perceived as a typical stupd teen who made a big mistake and got knocked up...is THRILLED about being knocked up???????

2. I was really disturbed by the whole keep the baby/abort the baby theme early on in the book. I found it inapprpriate and distracting from the book.

3. Renesmee????????? That was the DUMBEST name every introduced in a book EVER...and I include Slartibartfast of "Hitchhiker's Guide". I suppose Meyers brain is running on empty while writing.

4. As soon as the baby was shown to be a girl, I saw Jacob's creepy imprint coming a mile away. It's still totally gross.

5. Rosalie and Bella were completely obnoxious throughout the pregnancy.

6. All that FRIGGING BUILDUP to a massive awesome vampire throwdown spectacle at the end and NOTHING HAPPENS????? Gypp!! GYPP!!! Like foreplay with no sex.


Things I liked:

1 I actually enjoyed the Jacob POV, and sort of wanted him to imprint (late I guess) on Leah.

2. I love Bella as a vampire. Way less whiny, way more empowered. Very much what she was meant for IMO.

3. Speaking of, I was thrilled that her love/lust for Edward (and his for her) magnified after the change. I was worried it would be "less".

4. Loved the way Meyers handled the honeymoon and all sexual scenes.

5. I was happy none of the main characters were "offed".

I'm sure I'll think of more as time goes on, but now I'M fried from reading no0nstop for two days.