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Tags: twilight birthday
Published : 3 months, 3 weeks ago (Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:15:52 PDT)
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First off … Happy Birthday, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) whoajessica and ravnclw_lioness!!!!
I hope you both have wonderful days full of cake and smiles. :)
Second, if anyone wants one more really long Breaking Dawn response, here’s my two cents’ worth. ;)
By the end, I was satisfied that I got most of what I wanted. I am still a fan. I will keep writing Twilight fanfic. I did like it overall, though there were parts I truly despised. I shall try to give you a fair and balanced review, with equal parts srs bzns and lulz.
I went into reading Breaking Dawn certain that there would be things I wouldn’t like; given Meyer’s track record, I would have bet money on it. So, I prepared myself to read with an open mind. Here are my reasons why I had to make that choice:
1. I’m no writing expert, but I did recognize that Meyer’s writing was limited. In the other three novels, she often made choices that seemed (to me) to be grossly out of character. I knew that, and I was prepared to see more of the same. There were structural problems as well, and I knew that going in; so my expectations were not super high.
2. I had my own theories about what I hoped would happen, and I’d read many other fabulous theories, too. I had grown rather fond of some of those ideas. But I knew the chances of Meyer giving me exactly what I wanted were slim. I was hoping for at least partial satisfaction (which I did get).
3. I’ve written the characters in my own fanfic and have gotten attached to them. Of course affection for my own Edward and Bella would color my perception of what Meyer then did with hers. So before I read the book, I had to (temporarily) divorce myself from my own attachments.
Having done that, there were still moments when I wanted to throw the book away. Here are a few lowlights, followed by a few highlights. Keep in mind that I’ve only read it once, so my list might change after a second reading. Who knows if I’d become more tolerant or less so. I’m sure I would notice things I hadn’t noticed the first time around. Overall, I did feel reasonably satisfied by the end. It was a long journey to get there, though.
Anyway, to start, the Bad Stuff:
1. Bella’s not growing up before marrying and becoming a vampire. There were tons of opportunities for her to mature before the wedding. If Meyer had chosen to let Renee be angry about the wedding, Bella could have stood up to Renee and defended Edward, her love for him, and their choice to marry, thereby discovering herself that she did indeed want the union and – shocker – that she was adult enough to stand up for herself. Instead we got more whining about the wedding, the car, etc., and we saw a passive Bella sitting and sweating while Edward explained the marriage to Charlie. It felt like a huge missed opportunity to me. That said, she must have done some growing up after the wedding, but we didn’t get to see that, either. By the time the first major crisis arose (the pregnancy), we were shunted off into Jacob’s POV, so we never got to see Bella stand up for herself then, either. Instead Bella resorted to subterfuge with Rosalie and let Rosalie be the bodyguard. Again, too passive, especially considering how powerful Bella ended up being later. For as “stubborn” as Bella was always purported to be, she remained awfully passive for the first half of the book. Bella did seem to have grown up in book three after the birth and transformation, but we didn’t get to witness that slow transition, again thanks to the Jake POV. Once we were in her POV again, her maturation had already happened.
2. The pregnancy. Dead sperm = no pregnancy. I tried to justify it in my head, that somehow the magical combination of human/vampire organs awakens some sort of mystical spunk. But even I didn’t believe myself. Of course, a few people knew that my personal theory was that there was NO fluid from a vampire male’s sexual organs, not even venom, because what would be the evolutionary point of a predator having venomous sperm when they’ve got venomous teeth? Anyway, that theory is officially blown (no pun intended). You’d think, though, with as knowledgeable as Edward was that he’d have heard of incubi and succubi and would know that there could be a chance of a pregnancy if he coupled with the human Bella. I mean, if he’d even at some point practiced self-love he’d have noticed the mess, right? Oh, right, mystical spunk, only appearing when copulating with a human female. I forgot. *sigh* Or perhaps in Meyer’s world he’d never had an orgasm. *rolls eyes* If everything feels so amazing to vampires, you can’t tell me he’d never entertained himself in that way. And I don’t quite buy Meyer’s after-the-fact explanation in interviews, that somehow females vampires’ bodies cannot change enough to carry a baby, yet male vampires’ bodies magically hold living sperm. Sorry, I just don’t.
3. The lack of communication between Edward and Bella during the pregnancy. I blame the Jacob POV, and more specifically the way Meyer wrote the Jacob POV. (Don’t get me started about why she chose to shift narrators when she’d never done it before aside from the little bit at the end of Eclipse, which also felt random.) Though I did like the Jacob POV in many ways (see the Good Stuff below), we didn’t get to witness much E/B during a very crucial time in their development as a couple. There was lots of desperation on Edward’s part, and I did like Jacob’s astute “burning man” image … but what I really missed was even a brief conversation in which Bella said to Edward, “This is YOUR baby, Edward, and I want it,” and Edward responded, “Yes, but it’s killing you, so I can’t want it.” We never got that; it felt like it was Bella-and-Baby in a vacuum versus Edward; it should have broken Bella’s heart that Edward was rejecting his own child, but I perceived none of that. Likewise, there could have been some interesting interplay between Bella and the other Cullen “mothers,” Esme and Rosalie. I would have liked to see Esme back Bella up … or, conversely, side with Edward despite her sympathy for Bella’s predicament. And Rosalie could have shown a softer side (though Edward seemed to think she was simply behaving selfishly, and I suppose he of all people would know :/). Instead all we saw was what appeared to be a monster that was killing Bella from the inside. No wonder the men wanted to get rid of it. And the women who had been or wish they could have been mothers understood Bella’s intense need to protect the unborn child, no matter the cost. And then there was the rift Bella's choice set up between the Cullens, a rift which was never explored and which Bella, oddly, never acknowledged.
4. Renesmee/Nessie/Scorpius/Albus Severus/whatever. The horrid name aside, it took me a LONG time to warm to the idea of Edward and Bella having a child. It felt incredibly forced to me, and it felt like Meyer’s religious/moral outlook speaking, i.e., you cannot have sex without procreation (even if you’re a vampire). There are plenty of families in real life who cannot or who choose not to have children, and they feel perfectly complete without them; you’d think that vampires, of all beings, would fall into that category (excepting Esme’s and Rosalie’s personal histories). Granted, Meyer did establish early on that Esme wanted children, and the “younger” Cullens essentially are hers. But I cannot ignore the fact that, up until now, this has primarily been a romance between two people. Two teenagers. There has never been the tiniest hint of foreshadowing of a procreative family. Bella never had an inkling of wanting a child, and Edward knew he never would. A child is something they never would have missed. Even in this book, there was only the briefest of conversations about what Bella was sacrificing, i.e., the chance to have children later. You’d think that would be one of the things Edward would have brought up FIRST, perhaps even at the end of New Moon. He wanted Bella to be with him forever, but he assumed he’d never be able to give her a child. Why the eleventh hour conversation about kids? Why the sudden revelation about the “immortal children” and the Denali clan punishment? The seeds for Nessie should have been laid BOOKS AGO. All I could do was roll my eyes. So I didn’t buy the sudden embracing of the pregnancy by Bella one bit. It should have taken her a little time to warm to the idea, because it certainly did for me, the reader. I couldn’t keep up with her sudden shift.
5. The ease of everything. It was too easy that Bella got everything she wanted. She made a monumental decision which should have taken a lot away from her, and she had to sacrifice NOTHING? She got the man of her dreams. She got a child. She got to keep her human dad in her life. She got to keep her best friend (by the most contrived of plot devices). She got to have sex for eight hours a night, over and over again. She didn’t have difficulty resisting human blood, even though she still wanted human blood (yeah, yeah, she was “prepared” for the urge, whatever). She was launched into her newborn status as if she were already an old pro, as if she were meant to be a vampire all along. Granted, I kind of like that idea (and have even implied it in my fic A Change of Heart), but I’m going to be tough on Meyer even if I’m not tough on myself (I mean, she’s getting PAID for this, and she’s got an editor ;)). There has to be SOME sacrifice, Meyer. Come on. Like Jasper, “I can’t bear it.”
6. Peripheral!Edward. His role in the final showdown felt very secondary. I wanted to see more of him. It felt as though the E/B relationship deepened and strengthened as the book went on (though we didn’t witness much of it, thanks to the Jake POV), particularly after her transformation, so I wanted to see more teamwork between the two of them. He felt marginal to me. I didn’t like that one bit.
7. The final showdown. Not.
Now, for the Good Stuff:
1. I think I am one of like two people in the fandom who actually liked the birth scene. A lot of people were grossed out by it. But I thought, “At last! Meyer is letting Edward do WHAT VAMPIRES DO, which is whatever it takes.” I mean, think about it. Vampires are NOT human. They have nerves of steel, and apparently just the right tools to rip open an otherwise-impenetrable vampire placenta. Edward did NOT eat her uterus. He used a scalpel (and his medical degrees!) to perform a cesarean section, and used his teeth for what he had to use them for. Finally, we got away from Vampires Lite and into the really dark stuff, which Meyer has been dancing around this whole time and never even stuck her toe in, until that moment. It had to be that graphic after all the damage the baby had done to Bella beforehand. This was no ordinary birth-and-delivery scene. I approved. I liked Jacob’s involvement in it, too.
2. Dangerous Jasper. Rawr. No, I do NOT think Bella was expressing fear in her thoughts. She was acknowledging that, through a vampire’s eyes, Jasper was a badass. He looked like a tattoo-covered ex-convict who could and would fuck you up. She was merely SEEING him for the first time with her new vampire eyes; the scars were everything now.
3. Incubus!Edward. As appalled as I was about the pregnancy and the child, I have to admit I was a little thrilled by how virile Edward was. One night, WA-POW, pregnant. Yeah, he tapped that. ;)
4. Teh sex. Uh-huh. That’s right. Lots and lots of it. All implied, of course, but I know several fanfic writers who could probably amend that situation in a jiffy. :)
5. Jacob in general. Comic relief. Seeing E/B from another’s POV. And Seth and Leah FTW. Jacob asserting his birthright. Jacob doing the right things for Bella and Edward, and learning to be nice to the Cullens. Jacob throwing a dish at Rosalie’s head and taunting her with dumb blonde jokes. Ah, Jake. You pwn. Even if the author did force you to imprint on a baby so that her heroine could always have you near.
6. The witnesses. Aside from some horrible stereotypes re: dress code (which I could have included in my list of “bad” above with the showdown), they were interesting, varied, and lots of fun. How about Kate/Garrett? The Romanians? Alistair? :)
7. Bella’s power. Very cool.
8. The final showdown. Yeah, I know it’s in my “bad” list, too; but I did like the verbal sparring in it. I just wish there had been more action in that scene.
9. Bella’s first hunt. Her vampire instincts kicked in and it wasn’t weird at all that she was drinking animal blood. And her recognition that that sexy beast of a husband was all hers, forever. It was nice to see her really admiring Edward’s vampiric nature and getting to see first hand how graceful he was in the hunt. Rawr.
10. Edward finally getting to hear Bella’s thoughts. *squee*
Well, that’s all I can think of for now, though I’m positive I’ve left out some thoughts. I’m sure I’m saying what a lot of other reviewers have said, and what a lot of you have thought. Forgive my rambling. If you want to discuss, feel free to add your own two cents’ worth! |
