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| Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Category: Book
List Price: $22.99
Buy New: $12.50
You Save: $10.49 (46%)
New (59) Used (11) Collectible (9) from $12.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  3522 reviews
Sales Rank: 1
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 768
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 2.5
ISBN: 031606792X
EAN: 9780316067928
ASIN: 031606792X
Publication Date: August 2, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 what about jacob? November 30, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
i finished BD just over a week ago and still find myself wondering how it all went so horribly wrong... for jacob. you can read the other reviews for all the details on bella and edward's perfect happy ending, the lame non-battle, the impossible baby. but i for one decided at the end of new moon that i didn't even like bella and that jacob was too good for her crazy self (and i mean that literally, i was so hoping for a logical reason for the audio hallucinations of edward's voice in that book. when it didn't come i realized just how much psycho bella belongs with stalkerish over-controlling edward, but i digress). so i pretty much read the rest of the series knowing that she and edward would end up together but really wanting to see how ms. meyer would make it all up to jacob. therein lies my disappointment. in the end he ends up with a child as his soulmate... sure he has less time to wait for her to grow up than quil and his 2 year old child love. and maybe it could've been alright if not for the introduction of nahuel, another half human/half vampire, and the allusion that jacob may have some competition for renesmee in the future... so it wasn't enough that he had to give up absolutely everything in his fight for bella? he now may face yet another battle? oh and apparently renesmee is immortal... and jacob is not (no members of the original werewolf pack are still around, right?). and jacob cannot become an immortal because vampire venom is actually poisonous to wherewolves (and even if it was possible that would be sick). what the hell? was this the best she could do for him after everything he did for the vampires? she really missed the mark with this particular plot twist.
the only reason i'm giving this book two stars is to acknowledge the storyteling talent of stephanie meyer. because i cannot deny that i was sucked into the story ... especially since i was spit right back out of it at the end.
 BD, You might love it or hate it... it's still an ending. November 30, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
_Breaking Dawn_... Twilight Book 4. Wow. As much hoopla as I'd read about this book being horrible ans plot-holey and un-realistical and lengthy and unresolvedly unviolent...I still wanted to read it, because I needed closure of some kind. Reading this book was worth it for:
***SPOILERS***
1. Watching, in my head, as Bella somersaults off Carlisle's table right into her vampire life. That sums up the change for me. (Why people got upset that Bella lost her clumsiness amazes me... we expected that. Bella's still clumsy in her head....she doesn't realize half the time all the things she can do. She's still trapped in gracelessland. :)
2. Reading the description of Edward's mind being blown when he realizes that he impregnated a human. It's like, woah dude, didn't see that one coming. (Why people want to pick apart how a mythological creature could possibly DO this is silly. Obviously the baby ain't normal, anyhow... Probably the baby and mother's chances would be nonexistent in "normal" circumstances. But think about it. We halfheartedly refer to Edward et al as the "undead." But they're technically just "changed." Before their human body reaches the point of death, there is the magical insertion of vampire venom which transforms their weak human forms into superstrong bloodsucking machines. Is S.M.'s breed of vampire actually dead? If dude can swallow down wedding cake and use blood to run cellular processes and have living DNA, why in the world couldn't he knock somebody up? Just because he's not supposed to sweat don't mean his other plumbing don't work, it's just not usually necessary. I figure that the advent of the new breed of Quileute Wolves wasn't the only genetic mutation that came about because of the vampire clan's proximity. Bella was around Edward enough to spark some kind of vampire body mutation.
3. Charlie happy: SUE :) RENESMEE :) BEER :) FISHING :) STEAK!! Yay Charlie :)
4. I know that all the new vamps were a bit much to take in, but I was glad to meet them no matter how short the acquaintance was. I smell spin-offs :)
So those reasons, and more, made me satisfied with the final chapter of this saga. I was glad that Bella's playing field was finally equalized from her perspective, making her a strong character who found not one, but several objects of true love (Edward, Renesmee, Jacob, family-ies, Forks, etc.) That's more realistic than anything else that SM wrote. I read a few reviews that sorta badmouthed Renesmee's character, calling it a usurp-tion of Edward's place in Bella's heart. But it seems to me that that tiny, weird, fast-growing half-myth is the culmination, not the denial of their love... and I, for one, would like to see her grown up story told.
 ZZZZZZZZZZZ November 30, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not going to bother with a plot summary here, because half the universe already knows all there is to know about Bella and Edward (and Jacob) and the other half doesn't care. I read all four of the books in this series over the past week because I wanted some light escapism while recovering from surgery - nothing too serious or requiring much concentration. Meyer's candyfloss vampire romance seemed ideal.
Well, the first three books were fine: certainly escapist fun, not to be taken seriously at all, and ideally catered to her target audience. We had the accident-prone, ugly-duckling teenager and her handsome, clever, brooding vampire boyfriend. We had his 'I can't stay with you because I'll hurt you' break-up arguments. We had her 'make me a vampire now or it means you don't love me!' teenage pouts - all very in-character for someone of Bella's age. We even had a love triangle with Jacob the werewolf, who actually manages to get Edward to like him when he and his pack combine to help save Bella's life. All entertaining stuff.
With _Breaking Dawn_ I get the sense that Meyer was carried away with her own success and actually believed her own publicity. This book is a mess. It should have been sent back to her by her editor with a polite note recommending that she tear it up and start again. Rule one of writing a series: keep your characters in character, though give them some growth. Rule two: remember other minor characters you've had along the way and use them too - readers like them. Rule three: avoid plot developments that require that your readers do twenty somersaults of disbelief-suspension. Rule four: don't introduce two dozen new characters more than halfway through the final book. Oh, and rule five: if you're setting up a scenario in which your characters have to fight for their happy ending, make them... y'know... fight!
The pregnancy required a huge suspension of credibility to begin with, and its progress made me wonder if I was somehow reading a very, very bad fanfic. The birth scene also felt like something written by a 12-year-old fic writer - and I've read far better stuff by 12-year-olds. The imprinting was entirely predictable - read the last two books, people! It was obvious that Jacob was going to imprint on a baby somewhere along the line. But *this* baby was annoying in the extreme. Superkid, with a ridiculous name and a fast-track childhood... good god, can you get more idiotic?
Worst of all, though, was the battle with the Volturi that never happened. Anti-climactic? Oh, yes. Add to that all the extra characters who appeared throughout the book, characters we had no reason to care about - why should we, after all? Final book in the series; we know we won't see them again! - while we don't get to spend time with characters we have got to know and like. Who cares about Arum from wherever? I'd rather see more of Carlisle, and what about Bella's mother, who we barely even got to see at her wedding?
Readers who suggested that the wedding should have been an epilogue to the third book and this one scrapped are right; this was a massive waste of readers' time and money.
 A good ending for a great series November 30, 2008
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
When I first discovered the series itself, I didn't think I would like it. I was never into vampires, and frankly, I hate most vampire stories I have encountered because they usually end up being extremely dark. When I read a story I want to be uplifted. Fortunately, with this series, there was a perfect balance of darkness and there was enough happiness that it was satisfying. When I read the reviews about Breaking Dawn (a vast majority of them being negative) I was reluctant to purchase any of the books because I thought it might be a waste of money. However, I decided to see for myself and I'm glad I did. These books are written in such a way that you will either love them or you will hate them. If you have mixed feelings about the first story (which I still think is the best even though I also loved Breaking Dawn) then do not continue reading the series. If you are the type of person that thinks that all the characters should continue to suffer through three quarters of the story before finally getting what they want, then most likely this book will disappoint you. Personally, I think that in this story the characters all suffered enough. They had all had their own troubles in the other three stories and the way the author tied up all the loose ends made this story satisfying. Although there were a few typos and there were a few scenes that should have been shortened to quicken the plot, overall the story is very well-written. The problems I had with it were to do with bad editing, not bad writing. I look forward to reading more from Meyer.
Didn't fit with the series at ALL. November 30, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
To start off, I loved Twilight & New Moon. Eclipse was still good, but not as exciting as the first two. I strongly disliked Breaking Dawn, and even though Twilight & New Moon are two of my favorite books, I will probably never read them again based on Breaking Dawn.
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW.
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My first reason for disliking Breaking Dawn so much is that it doesn't at all fit in with the previous 3 books. What happened to Edward? He was always so romantic and protective to Bella. I was disappointed with Alice as well. She had always been so cheerful and close with Bella, but in Breaking Dawn her character was hardly mentioned, and when it was, she way different. (except for maybe the wedding).
I think that everything was way too rushed. In the beginning of the book, Bella is has just gotten engaged to Edward and by the end they are married, have a child that Jacob has imprinted on, problems with the Volturi, Alice leaving, Jacob switching packs, etc. And if you think about it this all happens in just a few months. (Bella & Edward got married in late August, and the book ends in like the beginning of January) which is COMPLETELY unrealistic, even if it is a book about vampires. The time lapse completely annoyed me and had me confused.
I didn't like the honeymoon scene. It seemed like all Bella cared about was sex and in the other books she had just been happy being with Edward and didn't cry if his clothes weren't off. Also on their wedding night, Edward gives Bella bruises from "doing it" and says he is not going to make love with her again until she is immortal. But then Bella somehow convinces him into it and they do it a few days later. First of all, Bella has never been able to convince Edward into doing anything in the earlier books, especially if Edward had hurt her. I just thought this was way out of character for him even if it was to make Bella happy.
Along with a lot of people, I found it completely unrealistic how Bella got pregnant. If the vampires have no blood or anything how would that work? And wouldn't his venom been inserted into her instead of "other stuff"? I know this is a fantasy book and all, but I think it should atleast make SOME sense biologically.
About the Jacob book - I had no problem with this at all, especially since Jacob is my favorite character, but after he imprinted on Renesmee, his whole point of view being thrown in there was completely pointless. Most of his book talks about his troubles as a werewolf (I hate the term shape-shifter). What I really liked was the part with Leah. I was totally hoping they would end up being together - him imprinting on her or something. They both understood each other really well, considering they had the same type of pain (Sam and Bella). I thought it would be cool if Leah helped Jacob get over Bella instead of him imprinting on Renesmee, speaking of, I found disgusting. Not just because Jacob is like 17 and Renesmee is a baby, but he was so in love with Bella and now that's just completely over with because he is head over heals for her daughter? It mad no sense at all, and like I said, him and Leah getting together would make a much more interesting twist.
After Bella turned into a vampire, she lost her character. She wasn't the clumsy, embarrassed type she always was, so I think Stephenie Meyer should of added this toward the end. Then again, Edward only turned her into a vampire to save her life when she almost died in giving birth to Renesmee. It would of been interesting to see what would of happened if Renesmee never existed.
Another thing - Bella finally tells Edward she does want to enroll in classes at Dartmouth before being turned immortal and Edward disagrees with her. Again, out of character for him. In Eclipse, this was Edward's whole battle - to get Bella to go to college and be turned immortal after and now he doesn't care any more. Speaking of Edward, since Renesmee had to be thrown into this book, I think they should of had more interaction. I can't remember one scene where Edward was talking to her or anything. I didn't get it at all, considering he is her father.
The Volturi/Ending - Probably the worst part of the book. I got so bored that I almost quit reading it - just chapter after chapter talking about the Volturi coming, all the Vampire clans at the Cullen's house, etc. and then nothing happens. All they do is kill Irina, which I think is the last person who should of been executed, considering they believed her and came out there to kill Bella and Edward. I didn't understand why Bella would be killed also - she was now immortal, and it was Edward who got her pregnant. I didn't understand the reasoning behind it. There wasn't even a fight - just them leaving, which I think didn't make sense considering the Volturi's previous behavior in the other 3 books. But then again if Renesmee was never born, Bella wouldn't (but maybe) be immortal yet and the Volturi would of never came. So if you change one thing, the whole book changes.
I didn't like this book at all, in a sense it almost ruined the saga. I'm not sure if you agree or not, but this is my personal opinion.
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