PLEASE READ (and hear me out):
I never hated BD but, like all of you, there were a lot of things I did not like. I felt robbed and dissatisfied with many aspects of Breaking Dawn. I almost lost the compulsion to continue reading half-way through…talk about an unexpected letdown. Reading those books is like an obsession to me. The sudden pregnancy, Edward being miserable and pushed aside, Jacob’s POV, Bella practically dying, the bloody delivery… I had to chew it over and accept the book for what it was before I could read on. Once I hit Bella book 3, I found the pieces really falling into place, but still not without some disappointments. Ex: Charlie's acceptance of ignorance on the whole matter... I mean really.
I urge everyone to listen to her interviews or visit "
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bd_faq.html" if you haven’t already, and read SM’s responses to some of our irritating questions.
This helped me gain a new appreciation for the book. The “Rob Effect” was actually true for me in both senses: now I love Robert as Edward and BD as the last book. Please don’t cast away my opinion or disregard me because I’m posting on the “I didn’t like it” thread – I WAS one of you, and you are who I’m trying to reach.
I am certainly not implying that SM’s insight will change your opinion or alleviate all disappointment; I just hope it will shed some light on Breaking Dawn (no pun intended). We’re all original Twilight fans and this kind of disappointment is frustrating and heartbreaking. Lessoning that, even if just by a fractional amount, might help you be more at peace with the end of an amazing series.
First and foremost, we wrongly assumed that there would be an epic
battle . The cover of BD not only depicts Bella’s transformation, but it alludes to the “anticlimactic” ending. Like the art of playing chess, the battle revolved about mind tricks and manipulation, not a physical attack. It was a power game: which pieces could be used effectively? I was initially angry about it too, but SM would be a joke-of-a-writer to have the fight and let the Cullens win (or not) without huge losses. There is no denying that the sheer number, experience, and ability of the Volturi would have made many deaths inevitable. I don’t think I could live with any deaths in the Cullen family, except maybe Rosalie, so I would have been much angrier with
that kind of ending. SM even used a page from
The Merchant of Venice as a place for Alice’s clue - another story that centers on impending doom but does not end in bloodshed. In BD, each side uses a strategy to hold the other’s words against them. Edward in particular did an excellent job with this. Also, Carlisle repeatedly told everyone that there would not be a fight, only a chance to prove their innocence. They achieved their goal without violence and exposed the Volturi for what they really are. That’s a pretty big feat.
These tidbits helped me be at ease with the anticipated battle, or lack thereof.
My biggest issue with the entire plot, however, was different than most. Of course I had a problem with Bella becoming pregnant (and why so soon?), but I simply could not wrap my head around how Edward was able to have sex, which ultimately led to the meat of the book - Renesmee and the Volturi conflict. SM offers a well thought-out explanation for this on that website. She never said vampires can’t impregnate; obviously, as this was the case with Bella. A lot of you are upset because you think she went back on her words in the previous books. SM said vampires can’t have children. Well, Bella was not a vampire at the time.
As stated in the book, a woman vampire’s body could not adjust to having a baby. Vampire men may not have what we call blood or sperm (they don’t have what we would call skin, either) but in SM's world, they do have genetic makeup in their venomous fluids, which act like blood. She had this figured out from the beginning of the saga when Bella did her vampire research. SM herself stumbled upon the Incubus and knew that’s what Edward would be. She kept it a secret for the element of surprise, but that was at the heart of the story SM wanted to tell. At some point, whether we liked it or not, Bella
would get pregnant and have a mutant-like child with Edward. So for the remaining books, SM planned the inevitable and was careful with her words; you can see this when you read those conversations between Bella and Edward. Saying BD was written hastily or sounds like fanfiction might be your opinion but, rest assured, she had the story made up in her mind a very long time ago.
SM said: “It's a hard thing to have people unhappy with you, but there's nothing I can do. Either Breaking Dawn entertains you or it doesn't. If I could go back in time, knowing everything I know right now, and write the whole series again, I would write exactly the same story. (The writing would be better, though—practice makes perfect.) This is the story I wanted to write, and I love Breaking Dawn. It's everything I wanted in the last novel of my saga. People's reactions don't change that.”
You probably disagree, but that gives me a lot of respect for her.
Don’t lash out at me for writing this. I’m simply trying to lesson some of the disappointment, if at all possible, that I initially felt. If this didn't help... then by all means, rant on!