Book Review
Title: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight Book 3)
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Romance
Rating: 3.5 Stars
The opening to Eclipse reminded me of how much I hated Edward as a character and why he screams red flag at me every time he appears. From the very first page seeing Bella enamoured with him made my blood boil especially when he is repeatedly trying to coerce and manipulating Bella into staying away from Jacob even though Jacob is probably the reason Bella is as sane as she is right now and he knows this. He constantly preaches to Bella that Jacob is dangerous when I would say Edward is more dangerous than Jacob because he constantly looks human even when doing evil things. He even goes as far as manipulating Charlie into letting him and Bella go visit her mother even when she doesn’t really want to in order to get her away from Jacob. Even when she decides to sneak out and go to La Push, he uses Alice’s gift against her and vandalizes her car to physically prevent her leaving the house and what makes it worse is Bella recognises this manipulative behaviour and brushes it off because “that’s just the way he is” and I seriously want her to grow a brain. I am scared of reading Midnight Sun because it is told from Edward’s perspective but at least because of his ability to read minds we might see more of other characters that don’t get a lot of page time in the main series.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Bella does end up going with Edward to see her mother in Florida which doesn’t seem like a good idea since he literally sparkles in the sun and Bella gets the feeling there is more to this visit than he is letting on. Her visit with Renee goes well as her mother supports their relationships and sees something in the way they are together but Bella is also concerned as her mother sees more than most people as she doesn’t bother with the minor things in life and it seems for a minute like Renee is going to figure something out but Meyer cheats us out of this. We get a lot more Jacob, Bella and Edward content since Edward promises to work on his issues about Jacob and to let Bella see him but almost immediately breaks this promises when he bribes Alice to essentially kidnap her for the weekend which Bella isn’t happy about. Despite this, it is important she is around the Cullens right now as this is when she learns Rosalie’s story and comes to know why Rosalie doesn’t want her to become a vampire and this scene is made out to be much darker in the book than it was in the movie which I appreciated since none of these vampires had easy introductions into their new lifestyle apart from maybe Alice since she doesn’t remember anything about her human life. Edward’s controlling behaviour is getting worse and at times it made me want to throw the book out of the window but I’d never treat a book that badly but I have to say if I was forced to choose between pairing Bella with Edward or Jacob, I’m picking Jacob all day long because he admits that he isn’t perfect and he is genuinely trying for Bella’s sake even though he doesn’t understand her choices whereas Edward doesn’t even seem to care and it’s driving me mad.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, over the course of the weekend Bella’s anger settles down especially after she lets slip to Jacob that she is going to be changed in weeks not years. Edward has also managed to calm himself down and realise that Bella is safe at La Push with the wolves guarding her, however, things are getting more complicated. Bella being a normal teenager is pushing for a more physical aspect to their relationship and Edward is denying her this even though he can see it is hurting Bella to do it. If you think about it logically, he lives with an empath that can manipulate emotions, so realistically Jasper could keep Edward’s emotion i.e. his thirst in check and if things seem like they are going to get out of hand there are several vampires stronger than Edward on hand to get him out so it just doesn’t make sense to me at all. Despite this Edward is the first to notice that an unknown vampire has been in Bella’s room recently and she doesn’t think to mention the fact that several items of her clothing has gone missing as well as her room being a lot tidier than when she left. The Cullens agree that this new vampire might not be a threat since they didn’t harm Charlie who was in the house and Esme makes the logical assumption that they might not have approached because they are such a large coven which is unusual for vampire. However, from watching the movies we know this is one of the newborns that Victoria created in order to track down and kill Bella but she is staying out of the way most likely because the Cullens and the wolves know her scent and she might know that Alice is watching her decisions. I didn’t like the way Edward spoke to Alice though, like she is supposed to know everything when he already has her watching several people which is straining her gift to its limits.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, we get to see some major changes from the movie that I actually really enjoyed. First off, the treaty between the vampires and wolves to deal with newborn situation in Seattle hasn’t come into play at all yet despite Edward and Jacob briefly discussing it. The Cullens know that the Volturi will step in soon and that isn’t something they need right now with Bella still being human so they know they are going to have to deal with it which is something none of them want but Jasper does have experience fighting them. The reveal of Jasper’s history was handled with a lot more care in the books as it is an intimate moment between family members that really helps Bella understand the upbringing Jasper had as a vampire and explains why his control isn’t the best and she empathises with him. We also know that is the Cullens take on the newborns alone then some of them are going to die so they ask the Denali’s for help. However, their relationship is strained since the wolves killed Laurent and they agree to help under the condition that they give up the wolves for death which Carlisle being the caring man he is can’t do. This moment on the phone was so heart-breaking since Carlisle is genuinely conflicted since he knows he needs the Denali’s help but can’t send innocent young men to die and yet if he doesn’t get their help he is sentencing his own family to death and Bella realises this in a stunning and soul destroying moment especially after Carlisle refuses the Denali’s offer.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, we see the Cullen’s continuing with their plan even though it leaves them with very few options and graduation for Bella is getting ever closer. Bella is having conflicting emotions since she wants to become a vampire but wants Edward to do it, but she doesn’t want to agree to his condition of marriage since she has never had a great experience with marriage in her own life, even though others like Carlisle and Alice have offered to turn Bella if Edward can’t do it. She is also conflicted about leaving people like Jacob and Charlie behind for good because she loves them so much but she knows it needs to be done if she wants to be a vampire. Things are scheduled for a week’s time after the graduation party and Bella is nervous since she won’t be going with the Cullen’s despite asking to be turned before the battle but she does understand she wouldn’t be of much use to them given her newborn state. Bella is also the one that joins the dots together and realises that the vampire that took her clothes is connected to the newborns and possibly Victoria as well because it suits her style more than the Volturi’s. The pact with the wolves comes soon after and actually it is Alice and Jacob who come up with it and make it happen which was surprising to see since Alice in the movies is often shoved into the background. As their training with the wolves begins I really liked how it was different from the movies since the wolves mainly watched the training since their control isn’t good around the vampires. Jasper also comes off as quite nervous and unsure around the wolves rather than the confident, cocky vampire we see in the movies and Bella understands this is because of his history which she already knows.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, we are gearing up to the battle with the newborns and Bella is still trying to find a way to be useful to the family even though her scent alone should be enough. We also see Bella and Edward learning to compromise with each other but not in a healthy way since Edward refuses to acknowledge Bella’s stance on marriage and in return she baits him. Bella makes Edward the offer that she will marry him if he sleeps with her while she is still human even knowing that he could seriously hurt her or even kill her and eventually they decide that Bella has to marry Edward first but he will do it before changing her. It was nice to see that they originally planned a shotgun wedding in Vegas but Bella eventually caved to Alice pleading to do the wedding herself since she can’t say no to Alice as that would have been a really nice touch in the movies and would have shown how close Alice and Bella actually are. Obviously I am aware that the big battle sequence we got in the movies isn’t in the book since Bella isn’t present at the fight and that books are told from her perspective so I am intrigued to see how Meyer is going to handle that situation since the entire book near enough has been about the newborns and everything leading up to the battle that we aren’t even going to be able to witness first-hand.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we finally get some character development which was a god send after the first two books. The growth was amazing as Edward finally admits that he is over-bearing and controlling of Bella and makes a conscious effort to relax around her, Jacob admits to using underhanded and manipulative methods to try and make Bella like him back which doesn’t work until right near the end of the book but it doesn’t change anything between him and Bella only causes them both more pain and suffering. Bella also finally admits to herself that she does love Jacob but she loves Edward more and that she strung Jacob along all throughout the second book because she needed someone to lean on not even considering how he felt about her. Now all this is out in the open it means that all three of them can move on with their lives and even though Edward tells Bella that he will try sleeping with her without the condition of marriage since he feels he forced her into it considering her views, Bella does a 180 flip and decides that she wants to do things right, she wants her father to walk her down the aisle and say a proper goodbye before she is turned. Honestly, this is my favourite book of the series so far but I am looking forward to seeing what happens in Breaking Dawn since there were some big changes between this book and the movie adaptation of it that I actually preferred.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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