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| Breaking Dawn: A Review By: Isabella Hecht Much of the young adult world has been held captive by Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, the story of a human girl who falls in love with a vampire. In this latest and last novel, Breaking Dawn, Meyer brings forth another enthralling tale. The Twilight saga has been called the Harry Potter of the teen world, and in some respects this is true. Twilight, though clearly more flawed than Harry Potter, has the same addictive quality. Once you start reading it, you are simply hooked, unable to stop. Our heroine, Bella Swan, has finally overcome all the trials the previous books have put her through, and now appears to have everything she wants. Marriage to the man (or vampire) of her dreams, as well as an unusually gifted baby (in that order). The book is over 750 pages long, and yet, once you finish reading it, you realize that not much happened. Meyer quickly wraps up the previous conflicts of forbidden love, and then spends the last 400+ pages building to a climax that never comes – a confrontation between vampires that never takes place. The storyline is quite linear, despite the fact that it is now told by two different narrators (a change from the previous books), and tends to drag in some places, sagging under its own weight. The characters, so well developed in the previous books, have become rather one-dimensional. There is little to no character development, and despite the fact that the characters were explored in the previous books, they have now become too stable and predictable. Bella is still the self- sacrificing heroine, and Edward is still the too-good-to-be-true handsome vampire. Even though Edward is present throughout the whole book this time, there is an odd feeling as if he is not really there – his reactions are now just too predictable to be of any interest. The story has lost a good deal of its dark edge, bringing very little conflict, and having the narrative tone of a happy ever after. Everyone gets everything they ever wanted. In some respects, it is easy to see that Meyer has become attached to her characters and wants them to be happy, but if there is no conflict in a story, it has very little interest value for readers. What started out as a beautiful tragic love story turns into a chipper Disney movie. Despite Breaking Dawn’s dragging plot, too stable characters, and rather disappointing end, it is still quite enjoyable to read, especially for fans of the series. There is a hypnotic quality about the words which draws you into the world almost against your will and makes you unable to put the book down. You have no choice but to keep reading, to find out what will happen next. It is this quality which makes its flaws so hard to find, and the book so enjoyable to read. So if you are a fan of Twilight, pick up a copy of Breaking Dawn. You may be disappointed, but you won’t be able to put it down. |
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