Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

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Pel
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Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by Pel »

This is the place to post your review of Breaking Dawn if you didn't like the book. You can only post on ONE review thread once.

In other words, say your peace on the one thread (liked, didn't like, in between) that most applies to you. You can edit your reply if you want, but not commenting back to other posters on this particular thread. Also, no trying to convince people on the other review threads over to your side this is where people get to say what that want in a respectful manner regarding how they felt on the book.
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Celia~Ashe
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by Celia~Ashe »

Since the old Lex ate my original post....

Breaking Dawn just didn't do it for me, period, full stop.

Yes, I understand it's where she has wanted the series to go since the first book. I can respect that she had this idea early on and decided to stick with it. More props to her. I just.....well, in the most honest terms, it reminded me of sub-par fan fiction. And I'm not exaggerating/being over dramatic.

There were aspects of Breaking Dawn that I did like: Jacob's book for one (save for it's end). I was always on the fence about Jacob, and usually leaning more towards dislike. Reading a decent chunk of the book from his perspective enabled me to really get a grasp on his character, as well as see the other character's from a less biased pair of eyes. The second part that I liked was the whole expierience of preparing for the wedding, such as telling Charlie and dealing with the townspeople's expectations.

In the fan fiction respect, the plot was the main point that bothered me. It seemed as though a LOT was smushed into Breaking Dawn. Then again, the same could be said for the other books in the series. What niggled at me was the sheer amount of what had previously seemed like long-shot plot point to me. Given, my memory of Canon was a bit rusty, but I had assumed I would be all right without a read through. Thanks to that though, the whole pregnancy plot point threw me for a loop. It seems like my brain developed a few holes and had forgotten that SM had only mentioned two vampires regarding pregnancy, not a vampire/human couple.

Still, I was always (and will still most likely be) the person who skipped over the story whose summary was along the lines of: Bella' and Edward are somehow able to get pregnant and must now deal with all the issues that come from it. The pregnancy, along with the Jacob-imprinting-on-Nessie, Charlie's understanding of the supernatural world going on under his nose, and the lack of newborn issues for Bella reminded me a bit too much of the stories I tried to avoid. That, and I felt that Nahuel was more of a deus ex machina than was needed.

As for the rest of the book, I had varying feelings ranging from disgust to creeped out to pure, unadulterated What The Fudge?! I won't go into more detail than that, but suffice it to say that I will only read Breaking Dawn if I'm going through a full reread of a series.

Will I read Midnight Sun? Heck yes. Will I read other books from other character's perspectives? Sure, I'll give the series another shot. Breaking Dawn was merely the low point of the series for me.

Breaking Dawn : 4.75/10

~Celia~Ashe
Last edited by Celia~Ashe on Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:43 am, edited 2 times in total.
It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.

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irunwithvampires
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by irunwithvampires »

I hope some of you recognize me on here. I've gotten into various discussions over everything and I think some people here know that I'm pretty easy when it comes to the books. Stephenie's a talented writer and I basically love everything that she writes. The majority of the people hated Jacob, but I fell in love with him instantly. I was always huge fans of all three of our chacters - Edward, Bella, and Jacob. People were also very angry with Bella's actions throughout Eclipse, but I forgave her and tried to see all the character's perspectives through everything. That helped me a lot, so I was convinced that when Breaking Dawn came out, I would be very pleased with it. Especially considering since I already knew it was going to have a happy ending, which also meant that Jacob would have his own happy ending.

However, I'm...confused. And shocked at the events in Breaking Dawn. I wouldn't say that I didn't exactly liked it, but I was just a little bit disappointed. I like that everything was a surprise, but a little bit angry that everything happened in the book that seemed completely impossible. I was shocked at how much Edward and Bella's relationship changed after the wedding - during their honeymoon, they said things that seemed out of character for both of them, but I liked the change. But when Bella pulled out her box of tampons and assumed she was pregnant, my mouth literally dropped. I didn't believe it, I thought there had to be a mistake. I still had hope that she wasn't pregnant until Carlisle said that he thought she was right. My heart was thudding like crazy throughout the entire pregnancy. I just couldn't believe it. Usually, I'm the person to skip right over the fanfiction that says Bella gets pregnant, because I thought it was entirely impossible.

Also, I mean, I know that Edward would do anything for Bella, but my mouth opened again when he talked to Jacob about getting Bella pregnant. I realize that Edward thought he was taking something extremely huge away from Bella, but doesn't he know Bella well enough to know that she doesn't want anybody's child but his? Don't attack me, but I believe Edward's right - Jake does know Bella a lot better than Edward does in some ways.

Then Jake imprinting on Renesmee? Wow. I'm very happy that Jacob got his happy ending, but it kind of creeped me out. He's going to be Bella's son-in-law now. And I was glad when I thought about how Jacob fit in with the Cullens now, how he and Bella can always be a part of each other's lives, be best friends, and still be there for each other - but then when I thought about the last pages of Eclipse with Jake and Bella's kiss, I can't help but cringe. He imprinted on her daughter? Eek. But then again, I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised. I always knew Jake was going to imprint and it wasn't going to be an easy letout.

The pack was around the Cullens a lot more, especially Jacob. And when he came to visit Bella while she was sick - it just seemed like the whole enemity between vampires and werewolves wasn't as pronoucned in Breaking Dawn. The stench of each other didn't seem like such a huge issue anymore, and they just simply got used to being around each other, which I didn't think was something easy.

Also, I realize that Edward and Bella have found a different part in their relationship - the physical aspect. I liked their honeymoon, even though Bella started begging again like she did in Eclipse, it made me feel embarassed for her, especially when she gets rejected. But when Bella became a vampire, I was glad that Edward and Bella could actually have sex without having to worry about hurting each other...but the part that bothered me was that almost every single time that they were together or started kissing, it would end up turning into sex. It seemed like the special connection that they had, the powerful love, that ruled over everything was gone. Don't get me wrong, I know it's there, it just wasn't shown as much.

Also...Bella gets to see Charlie after she became a vampire? Jacob told him almost everything? And he phased right in front of him? That seemed really far fetched. I thought she was going to have to cut out all her family and friends, but she didn't. I was just surprised that it happened that way.

Bella changed a lot, and I'm glad that she totally kicked butt as a vampire. It's true that she's not exactly relatable, but it had to happen sometime. I think the good part is knowing that we were with her from the beginning and she was relatable then and now she's become like this superhero. That part doesn't bother me, it's just the fact that I feel like I don't exactly know her the same way anymore when the story ends.

That's just my opinion right there. I hoped I phrased everything the right way. Like I said, it's not that I didn't like the book, it's just that I'm a little confused, and shocked, and this seemed like the right place to post here. If anybody's still reading this...thank you very much :)
hayweh
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by hayweh »

What I thought about BD was pretty much the same as irunwithvampires.

I can't say I don't like BD, because I do and I love everything that has to do with the story of the Twilight universe. But I think that it was just too much of a change when compared to the other books. There have been three books in which most of what happens takes place in the human world, on human time. Suddenly, after Bella gets pregnant, everything goes supernatural and its just a huge jump and a little bit too odd.

A huge part of the book that bugged me was the fact that it's never explained how Bella gets pregnant. I can remember looking at fanfiction for almost two years now and ignoring the ones where Bella gets pregnant because by facts said in the book it was not physically possible for Edward to get Bella pregnant. It also seemed extremely out of character to me that Bella wanted to keep the child after she told Edward numerous times that she wouldn't miss out on having kids if turned into a vampire.

Also, I was just starting to like Rosalie after Eclipse. Breaking Dawn ruined any hope of me ever liking her. The fact that she would let Bella die so that the baby could live, even if Bella wanted the baby, seemed so selfish to me. Mainly because she seemed to care about the baby and not Bella.

I love the fact that Bella becomes a vampire. I think that it finally puts her and Edward on even ground and it's one of the best things that could have happened for their relationship. But some unique piece of their relationship was lost when Bella became a vampire. They don't seem as emotionally close.


Edited by Pel to include the items from your second post.
BAM!it'sMIMI
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by BAM!it'sMIMI »

I really really envy the people who liked this book b/c I wish that I could too, I LOVE TWILIGHT, I’ve told so many people to go read these books. I’ve defended it against Haters who judge it before reading it, and I’ve been a huge Stephanie Meyer supporter in the past. Whenever I saw her on TV I’d shriek and get all excited whenever something Twilight related came on tv. However, with that being said.
Breaking Dawn was a huge disappointment for me. There was so much hype b/c this was the first twilight book that i had to wait for. The anticipation, theorizing, and going to the Midnight Release Party was so fun. It reminded me of how i felt when a Harry Potter book would come out. However, unlike Harry Potter, i stepped away from this book feeling let down. I have a lot of problems with BD.
My biggest problem was Renesmee. I think she’s the reason why I hate this book. I wanted BD to be about Edward and Bella’s relationship. However, BD seemed to center all around Nessie. I must say, I don’t really like Renesmee at all and NO it’s not ONLY b/c her name it’s b/c she seems really creepy to me, not cute at all, she’s sort of a monster honestly and I probably will always think of her that way. I blame ALL of BD’s mistakes on Nessie. She ruined the book for me. The honeymoon was going great until Nessie messed it all up. Then, we got to Jacob’s part. OMG, at first I freaked I was like WTF?? I don’t want to hear Jacob whining about Bella. But it ended up being my FAVORITE part of the book. I never knew how funny he was. My hate for Jacob disappeared at that moment. Jacob’s POV reminded me of Twilight and why I fell in love with these books. It was going great, UNTIL he imprinted on the baby. Then I went back to hating him. He turned into a love-sick puppy and he was so annoying. So yah, basically, every single problem that you could think of in BD probably goes back to Renesmee.
I’ve read many negative reviews and they all basically say the same thing so I can’t really add anything else. I still love Stephenie, I still get excited when I see her on TV, but her “rob effect” explanation SUCKED. I know she can’t go back and fix BD, and I don’t expect her too. But I would like her to acknowledge some of the criticisms about the book, and to stop all this “rob effect” nonsense, and calling her fans that didn’t like the book a “vocal minority”. That really hurts.
Hopefully Midnight Sun will be WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better. I really realllllyy hope that it won’t suck. But I’ve learned my lesson. I will NOT expect a lot from Stephanie. B/c I just don’t want to be disappointed again.
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I don't really want to focus on all the bad things so i'm trying to thing of the positives.
I loved the wedding
I loved the Honeymoon. (wish we could have had more details)
I loved Jacob's chapter titles (lmao "life sucks and then you die")
I loved all the times it was only Bella and Edward alone.
I loved the ending when Edward got to see into bella's mind.
like i said b4, i loved Jacob's POV.
I loved Emmette's dirty jokes. (hilarious)
I love Seth and Leah (i didn't like Leah b4 but now that i got to really understand her more, i like her alot)
ummmm that's about it for the positives.
Everything other than the above mentioned i didn't like so much. I think after the movie comes out i'll just go back to obsessing over HP, until Midnight sun comes out. I just need a break from Twilight for a while to recover from BD.
Lie
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by Lie »

I was completely numb reading Breaking Dawn.
I'm not sure what my opinion is, but I think it falls here.

The mutant hybrid Loch Ness Mary Sue thing...no. Just no.
Bella became a supermommy. I mean, last time I checked, Edward was the most important thing in her life and now it's the...the THING??!?!

Renesmee is a perfect little thing, just like it's mommy. Aww (Kill it! Kill it!).

Then, B&E relationship was all about sex.
In the other books, a touch, a kiss...was so much, that their love was obvious.
AND NOW ALL THEY DO IS HAVE SEX?!!?!

Another thing that's REALLY ticking me off. Steph's response.
Stephenie Meyer, stop acting like there are no hates of Breaking dawn, stop giving us this CRAP about the "Rob Effect". You know what? Don't name a effect after a actor ever again. Don't write five novels in one year, that ois why Breaking dawn became a piece of crappy fanfiction full of typos, consistency errors, and horrible canon-breakingness. Breaking Dawn broke our hearts.

This book was like a young adult Disney novel, no conflict, and a crappily-ever-after.
I can't read this book ever again, so it's back to waiting for Storm Glass and Inside Out and Bubbly to Bogus.

Overall Rating: F-
livelikexMUSiC
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by livelikexMUSiC »

I've had this written for some time, since for some reason people kept asking me my opinion on the book, and then I came on here tonight (after joining the forums for the first time), and saw this topic. I figured it would be a good place to post it. :]

Overall, I did not like Breaking Dawn. I respect Stephenie for sticking true to herself and writing it how she wanted it written. And I commend her for being able to with-hold a good fanbase after four books. She still hasn't faded from the headlines, which is outstanding considering all the unknown authors out there.

However, the book was still not exactly the type of book I like. I loved Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse for several reasons, and all of those reasons disappeared in the fourth book.

Firstly, I loved how natural it seemed. Even though the books involved vampires, they almost seemed plausible. As soon as I heard that the baby had to eat through Bella's uterus to be born... it pretty much went down hill from there. (I can, however, say that anyone who is attacking the book for being innapropriate for the 9 year old readers out there, Stephenie DID categorize it as a YOUNG ADULT book. That means it's not written FOR nine year olds. Just because the first three books weren't too adult-ish, the fourth book always had the possibility because of its categorization. Just putting that out there.)

Secondly, her writing. I still find it beautiful. I loved the Host, even though it was entirely different from the Twilight saga, and, of course, I loved Twilight. The plot flowed consistently, there wasn't too much crammed into one book, and the way Stephenie seemed to make her characters relate to you (specifically Bella).. it just got me hooked. In Breaking Dawn, though, there were some major plot holes. The loving, relateable characters seemed to act completely differently than they had in the other books. Bella became a vampire, and lost pretty much any relateablity (did anyone else notice how many times Bella stated how clear her vision now was and how much she wanted Edward?). Stephenie stated in an interview that she knew that as soon as Bella became a vampire, people wouldn't be able to relate to her anymore. And I understand that. Really, I do. But when I can't relate to the main character, I usually lose interest in the books, because, really, I'm not a big fantasy reader... and that's kind of what Breaking Dawn turned into for me. And there was way too much crammed into one book. The good parts were rushed (i.e- the wedding, the honeymoon, any time when Renesmee was the center of a scene, etc) and the not-so-great parts dragged (i.e- training for the battle with the Volturi, Bella struggling with the pregnancy, Bella's waking up and hunting, in which she constantly described her clear vision, etc)

Lastly, the climax. In every other book, there was a nice conflict and resolution. Usually, Bella had to go through some struggle (internally or externally - or even both) to be able to solve the conflict and end the book peacefully (or semi-peacefully). In Breaking Dawn, there was a huge climax... and then nothing. It was a huge lead-up, and then a big let-down. Bella didn't have to struggle... all she had to do was train and then have her perfect life handed to her on a pretty little platter. She didn't even have to go through the normal newborn phase. As much as some people might like books like this, I don't. I like the character having to sacrafice something before they're able to get what they want. It's more like real life (again, with the fantasy thing...)

So basically, I didn't like the book. And, contrary to what most people are saying, the only thing that kept me from really loathing it was Renesmee. She added a new dynamic and, heck, she was cute. Even if she seemed to mess up the Edward/Bella chemistry a lot, she was a great character. One of the only characters that stayed consistent throughout the book, in my opinion.

I think that I actually might have liked the book if the characters had stayed in character or had at least remained consistant. But they didn't, at least that's how I interpretted it, and the book was a big let-down after falling in love with the rest of the series.
"So thank you for holding my hand, and thanks for letting me go."
whylight
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by whylight »

I'll keep it short.

I was appalled that Meyer made Bella a vampire. She had such a wonderful story set up. I was fully expecting and hoping Bella to change her mind. It would have been such a good story about the beauty of the human experience, even though it is riddled with imperfections.

When Bella was about to Edward about her dream of them on the beach, I thought the dream would have been her and Edward sitting together, having grown old, both of them, together.

Well...that's not how it went.
kateandpookie
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by kateandpookie »

I can honestly say that I was disappointed in BD. I loved the last 3 books (New Moon wasn't great but I still loved it, because, like most people on here, I love all things Twilight) but this one just felt different. Stephenie's tone was off and it was kind of a let down. (Side note: I am in no way saying that Stephenie is a disappointment as a writer. She worked very hard on this novel, and I'm sure she put her heart and soul into it. These are just my opinions/beefs :) )

My issues with BD:
1) First and foremost, I really don't like the fact that Bella was turned into a vampire. Though I think SM did a really good job with the conversion and Bella "discovering" her new self, I thought it was so odd that she would abandon her main story: a human falling in love with a vampire.
2) The whole relationship between Rosalie and Bella. What the heck? Rosalie didn't even care if Bella died! All she wanted was the little monster. And whenever Edward tried to save Bella by killing the thing growing inside of her, Rosalie was like "No, let her die...i want the kid" (in so many words :roll: )
3) Renesmee. Nessie. Nessa. Whatever! I was so mad at the little monster. And why, all of a sudden, would Bella want to be a mommy? Especially to a freak who was killing her!? Oy.
4) Jacob hated Renesmee because she was killing Bella and then he IMPRINTS on her. And he turns into a lovey-dovey-mushy-goo-bag and he would do ANYTHING for her and can't stand to be away from her and ARG!
5) A lot of characters got left out of this book. Like Esme, for example. And Carlisle. I always loved those characters and the warmth they brought to the novel.
6) The part where all the covens were introduced and the friends of friends of friends who had to be introduced to Renesmee got so repetitive and it took FOREVER.
7) Again, it took forever for the Volturi to decide what to do with them. Kinda annoying.
8) Jacob phases in front of CHARLIE. Isn't that against the rules? AND, when Bella is writing the note for Jacob (telling him to run away with Nessie when they die or something) she says something like "tell Charlie everything eventually" EVERYTHING? Great....cause the Volturi wouldn't come after them then!

Enough with the negative...things i loved:
1) The first chapter and the wedding. I just adored Bella's POV.
2) The honeymoon was pretty good (except it kinda focused a bit too much on the sex)
3) Emmett's jokes. :lol:
4) The house for Bella's birthday present <3
5) Though i am strictly Team Edward, and i hate Jacob in New Moon and Eclipse, i really loved the part where it's Jacob's POV. I think SM did a great job with this because, really, how could it have been from Bella's POV when she's giving birth and passing out and drinking blood?
6) The J. Jinks (Jenks? i forget) stuff. That was great!
7) The ending. :D

Thats pretty much it ...
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Re: Breaking Dawn-I didn't like it

Post by erincx43x »

Wow, so I'm not the only one who feels like this! When I started reading Breaking Dawn, I could tell right away something wasn't right. The whole book felt like there was too much crammed into it, like she really didn't want to write another book, even if it meant making everything that normally wouldn't happen in the series, or anything impossible, happen in this book. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the series and Stephanie Meyer, but the whole Edward/Bella passionate love relationship thing wasn't there in this book. If all went so fast, jumping from one big event to another, not really following a story line. It was more like an outline, with details about each big event. The one thing I did really like about the book was Jacob, and his whole point of view. I have never been against Jacob, just against him being with Bella, and his character was really interesting in this book. I felt like Edward, as well as Bella, did and said a lot of things that were really out of character for them ,like their whole relationship was out of character. It didn't really FEEL like ...the regular series. Too much too fast, I didn't fell the passion. Edward was different, Bella was different, and they didn't feel like..Edward and Bella in their relationship. I was just,,,disappointed. I wish she would have just split it all up and made it into more books like the others, it would have been better not to cram it all in and rush it.
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