Monday 19 May 2014

Eclipse - Book Review


Eclipse (Twilight #3)
by Stephenie Meyer


What is it about:
As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf.

With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?


What did I think of it:
Because of Jacob I enjoyed New Moon more than I thought I would. So I was happy when my friend Beanie sent me Eclipse, so I could continue reading this series.

An this is yet another enjoyable read.

I will confess I really, really loathe Edward. He's possessive, domineering, stalkerish and overall creepy. Any sane girl should run for the hills if she ever met a guy like Edward in my opinion. The way he treats Bella, his ideas of a relationship... Just: No!

Jacob on the other hand: Wow! I really like him. He's funny, thoughtful and respects Bella. The one thing he needs to learn is that when a girl says no, it means no, but otherwise he's the most intriguing character in this series, I think. He outshines both Bella and Edward (although outshining Edward isn't that difficult in my opinion ;-)

And as usual I'm totally rooting for the wrong guy of course.

There are some really interesting other characters as well, some of which got a bit more back-story than others, and I hope to see those characters again in the next book, and to learn even more.

The story is considerably better than in New Moon, which was basically a Bella mope-fest that got saved by the presence of Jacob. I really liked getting to learn more about the werewolves. I did think that the building suspense could have been a bit more intense, but overall the story flowed nicely and kept me entertained.

I also learned what the vampires eat to survive: animal blood. I stand by what I said in my review of New Moon: I find it hard to believe that vampires who drink animal blood go totally crazy when they smell human blood. I don't go totally berserk when I smell really good chocolate after only eating an inferior kind of chocolate either.

And there's one thing I have to confess about this book: the epilogue actually made this piggy cry! If anyone would have told me after I read New Moon, that I would be moved by this book I would have laughed.

So all in all this book was entertaining and enjoyable. I already got Breaking Dawn from Beanie as well, so you can bet I'll be picking that up some day soon.

Why should you read it:
It has cool werewolves!


buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery

6 comments:

Beanie Mouse said...

Oh good! I'm glad you enjoyed this more!!!

Melliane said...

I think you enjoy them a little more than I did, I thought that each book was behind the other so well not a good thing for me.

Aurian said...

Great review Sullivan, I am glad you enjoyed it. I am not going to read the rest of the series though, 1 book was enough. But I do agree with you on Edward, not fangirl material at all.

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

Ah, the highly-anticipated Eclipse review has come at last!

Edward's controlling behaviour at the beginning also raised my eyebrows, but I confess that it didn't really bother me because there was a treaty that both the vampires and the werewolves recognised, even if Bella wanted to play blind and deaf. One thing I hated about Bella the first time I read New Moon was her unreasonable insistence on having things her way. There's a bit of that in Eclipse, too: it is hypocritical of her to demand that the Cullens make her one of them and that the vampires and the werewolves change a centuries-old tradition in order to accommodate her further. (Anything else you want from Santa while you're making your list, Bella?) There's a sense in which Edward's behaviour toward her is a logical consequence of her choice to be with him. It's not a foregone conclusion, of course, and he does let up without it killing him; but I can't hold it against him.

PS -- Have you seen the movies for Breaking Dawn or otherwise know about the end of the series?

PPS -- I'm rereading New Moon and know what you mean about Jacob saving the book-long Bella mope fest. LOL! Believe it or not, I'm still on Team Jacob! I wish the Cullens had left her alone. There are too many ex machina elements in the second novel. =/

Sullivan McPig said...

Even if Bella is being a little too unreasonable in her wishes, I think Edward should have treated that differently than he does. He just basically forbids her to do things, and stops her when she does them anyway. Instead he should have tried to act a bit like Jacob does: respecting Bella's individuality and explain things to her. He should have tried to find a solution that worked for both of them, instead of just saying no. No wonder Bella doesn't listen and runs off anyway.

PS: haven't seen them, but have caught rumors. Not sure which are true. Will start on the book next week I think.

PPS: Glad I'm for once not alone in the team I picked ;-)

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

I actually think that Jacob would be very similar if Bella had only given him the say she gave Edward. Jake did rat her out to Charlie at the end of New Moon so that she'd be grounded and unable to see Edward. Not that it made a difference, but that's along the same lines as disabling her truck's engine.

Granted, Edward will always be more intense . . . but I think that's built into his vampire nature. I don't want to complain that water is wet! LOL! On the other hand, my only real problem with Eclipse was that Edward seems to change his mind about La Push on a whim. Later, it's suggested that he may have done it because of something he read in Wuthering Heights, but the placement of both in the narrative is so awkward that we can't really say the latter leads to the former.