Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)

I hade to read this book after reading the first two books in the series because I didn't want it to end and I wanted to know what was going to happen. I wouldn't say that Stephanie Meyer is the best writer but she really knows how to captivate you with the telling of her stories. I don't currently own this book but I hope to when it comes out in Paperback.

Bella and Edward have been through a lot in the last two books so this books feels like it should be about them getting to be together and things going their way. Of course, they have to deal with Jacob, the werewolf best friend to Bella who is continually claiming his love for her.

One of the things I love most about Bella is her inability to stay unharmed. She is the biggest clutz I have ever encountered in any story and it really does make things funny. Edward on the other hand is the most moral vampire you will ever come across because he wants love, marriage and intimate relations in that order. And you would think with all his concern and straight forward honesty, Charlie (Bella's dad) would just love him, but alas he can't get over the heartbreak in New Moon.

I have to mention Jacob again because I really liked him and I guess I still do but in this book he really steps over the line. He pretty much forces a kiss on Bella and then gives her an ultimatium about his life which doesn't go over very well. He also forces Bella into an assumption about her feelings that doesn't really ring true to me. Yes, Bella loves Jacob because he is her best friend but somehow what Jacob wants her to feel doesn't see so plausible because no matter what he thinks she wants Edward and there is no stopping her.

There are some really great mischeivious moments with Bella and Alice and we get to know the La Push Werewolves a little bettter which I like. I'm a total fan of Seth because he's such a sweetie and he paw high-fives Edward. We also learn a little more about the whole imprinting thing and while it is strange and in some cases really wierd it is also a nice touch and very similar to what the vampires experience when they find their mates.

This has to be one of the best of the series. I loved Twilight but this one is right up there with it because I like Edward's overprotective nature and his bride to Alice. I also love that we get to know a little more about the Cullen Clan.

This series is totally worth it. Go for it.

Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series, had a redeeming quality to it that was necessary after having read New Moon, the second book. While I love both stories, the second book hurt and I needed reassurance that the characters were still the same ones I had fallen in love with in Twilight. Fortunately, I received that reassurance, and it has solidified my love for this series.

One of the best things about this series, for me, is that the characters are always the primary story. This is true in Eclipse as much as the other two novels. There is an interesting plot to the third book, which ties in nicely with the second, but the focus is always on Bella and Edward and their relationship. The events that are going on always link back to how this will change things between Bella and Edward (if at all). Jacob Black still plays a prominent role in this one, though not as much as he had in the second, but with a completely different attitude. The triangle--Edward, Bella, and Jacob--is the central issue throughout the book. It can be frustrating at times.

This book in particular also has quite a bit of back-story. You learn about Rosalie's and Jasper's pasts, as well as more stories of the tribe in La Push (I can't remember how to spell it). As a result Jasper has become one of my favorite characters, and now, having gone back and started to re-read the series in preparation for the release of the final book, I feel like I better understand the characters and their actions.

Overall this is just a fantastically entertaining series. People should be wary of the "vampire" label that it has been given, because this is such a secondary aspect of the books. They are so much more than the traditional "vampire" novels. Meyer is a fairly religious person and brings some aspects of this to her books (most noticeably Edward's preoccupation with a soul) creating a depth to certain characters that otherwise may have been lacking. The books definitely suck you in to their world, in a way that many have compared to Harry Potter. In fact, most people consider this series to be the "life after Harry Potter" series, and it has exponentially risen in popularity since the release of Eclipse and the news of a movie in December.

I'll end my review with this disclaimer: Edward Cullen will ruin boyfriends everywhere. :)

The romance intensifies, becoming very poignant and bittersweet, in this third installment of The Twilight Saga, which I have read for the third time, because I simply can't get enough of it! In fact, I have embarked upon a third re-reading of the entire Saga.

Edward has returned to Bella's life, so Jacob informs her that he can no longer be her friend...

Initially, Edward forbids Bella from trying to go to La Push to visit Jacob so as to heal their friendship. He even 'bribes' Alice to 'kidnap' her, which ultimately doesn't work. Edward finally decides that trying to prevent Bella from seeing her friend will only make her suffer, as she cares deeply for Jacob. Just how deeply, however, she herself is not aware of....until very dramatic events ensue toward the last third of the book, and Bella has to admit, at last, that she's in love with Jacob, as well, although she does love Edward more.

Conflict is slowly brewing in this novel, and not just because of the love triangle. It seems that someone is rapidly creating a small army of newborn vampires that have begun to ravage Seattle. The Cullens decide they must intervene, fearing that the Volturi will step in. They don't do so right away, however, as other, more ordinary human events, prevent them from leaving Forks unnoticed.

This novel gives the reader more background on the two groups that have become open antagonists -- the Cullens and the Quileutes. I was fascinated by the stories of Rosalie's and Jasper's transformations into vampires, although the acts of violence in their individual stories did make me quite uncomfortable. These were, thankfully, glossed over in the movie version of the novel. The stories did serve to flesh out these two characters, though. (Besides, they finally came across the Cullens, and embraced a non-violent lifestyle, refraining from killing humans.) I wonder why Meyer didn't do the same for the other members of the Cullen family, but then, perhaps the book would have become too cumbersome.

Equally fascinating were the Quileute legends, told by a roaring campfire, with Bella in attendance. Billy started the storytelling, which was then taken over by old Quil Ateara, grandfather of the younger Quil, one of the werewolves. The stories dealt with the origin of the Quileute tribe, of how they had spirit warriors that later on became werewolves. These warriors were always protectors of the tribe, and their mission continued when they became able to shapeshift into wolves.

I was especially interested in, as well as saddened by, the story of "the third wife", which, ironically enough, would have later repercussions in the novel.

The dialogues between Edward and Bella, as well as those between Jacob and Bella, are the most poignant I've yet come across in this series. Edward loves Bella so much that he refrains from hurting Jacob, so as not to hurt her. Although it's painful for him to realize just how much the werewolf means to his girlfriend, he endures the pain, even going as far as asking Bella if she is truly happy with choosing him over Jacob.

Bella realizes, for the first time, that Jacob would have been perfect for her, had Edward not been in the picture. Meyer gives her readers a fleeting glimpse of what could have been. That brief scene is a very touching one, too.

As the danger from the vampires in Seattle escalates, an unusual and uneasy alliance is formed between the two groups that had until then been total enemies. They trust each other rather grudgingly, but still, it's very gratifying to see them working together. As Bella herself states, at several points in the story, there's no need for the Cullens and the Quileutes to be at war with each other. And so it is that Meyer begins to cleverly set things up for the events of the last novel in the Saga -- Breaking Dawn. I love that she did this! It's beautiful to see this alliance unfolding, as well. And it's Bella who is the catalyst in this developing state of affairs.

Although the pacing in this book was a bit slower than that of the two previous ones -- at least for the first third of it -- I enjoyed it immensely! It's just that Meyer is tremendously skilled at creating very real, very believable characters that the reader can come to love. This reader certainly did! The conflicts and entanglements these fictional people are involved in became my conflicts and entanglements, as well. I know that, as I read, I felt their feelings, thought their thoughts, and was swept right along with them in the plot's intensely romantic angst....

The unfolding story of Edward, Bella, and Jacob -- The Twilight Saga -- is the romantic masterpiece of our time. It is also a dramatic tale involving complex existential themes that engage the intellect just as much as they enthrall the heart and mesmerize the soul.

There will definitely be a fourth re-reading in my future! Stephenie Meyer has woven a permanent spell for me, one I have no desire to break....