Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
- ISBN13: 9780316087360
- Condition: New
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The #1 New York Times bestseller is available with a striking movie tie-in cover. Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will keenly devour the paperback edition Eclipse, the third book in Stephenie Meyer’s riveting vampire like saga.
Rating: 
(out of 1981 reviews)
List Price: $ 12.99
Price: $ 6.98
Review by S. Lichens for Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
Rating:
Let me make myself clear that I am an avid reader and a HUGE fan of the Twilight series. I found the first novel, Twilight, to be a gorgeous like tale so inspiring and unusual that it blew me off my feet. The relationship between Bella and Edward seemed very different, and I found one chapter in particular in the first book allowed me to become entranced by the two lovers. Bella Swan comes to Forks leaving sunny Arizona to find herself on an alien green planet where it rains every day. At her new High School she finds herself perplexed by the Cullen family, which we then learn to be Vampires. Edward Cullen and Bella Swan fall madly in like. A like so passionate it could place Romeo and Juliet to the test.
Eclipse is the third novel in the series. After looking at a few reviews and acknowledging the rating of the novel I started to have my doubts. Many people found the book to be the best of the series or found it entrancing. While some reviewers were immensely disappointed. It is very hard for an author to make a third novel that will live up to the first novel’s expectations and in my opinion Stephanie Meyer did not truly deliver. This is understandable since many authors cannot even write a decent sequel, which Meyer managed to do. The second novel New Moon was nearly as excellent as the first. The middle part, to be quite honest was a small dull, but none the less kept me going. But Stephanie Meyer had so many expectations to live up to it is understandable that it wouldn’t be simple.
The third book starts with Bella and Edward discussing college with Charlie , who has just released Bella from the house. The novel continues to mention Bella’s choice to join Edward forever and her relationship with Jacob Black. Stephanie Meyer has mentioned many times that she found Jacob to be her favorite character and after reading this novel I found myself disliking him more then I did in the second novel. The Edward-Jacob-Bella like triangle continues to play out through all the 626 pages in which the reader will want to throw the book on the floor because they are so annoyed with how stupid Bella truly is.
I have never personally liked how Bella is always described as the damsel in distress and I found that part of her character a terrible influence for young women who might otherwise look up to her. Many feminists would be appalled at how Bella reacts. She makes herself vulnerable and at one point in the book she even says, “IF YOU LEAVE ME I’LL DIE.” Which I found to be silly and very sexist. I know that the traditional like tale is that the damsel is rescued by the man but at least one like tale should not have that stupid shallow thought. This book was by far the most inappropriate in that sense since Bella is manipulated heavily by Jacob in such I cruel way I wanted to grab Stephanie Meyer and question her why she took pleasure in writing such a sexist book.
The book is the poorest written of the three books. I have never considered Stephanie Meyer an brilliant writer but she does tell a fantastic tale that makes the reader want to turn the page to see what is coming next in the tale. The whole tale seems rushed even though the novel is indeed 626 pages. It seems the publisher may have rushed her to write so it is a small sloppy. I also noticed many typos throughout the novel.
The characters are extremely one dimensional. Even Edward seemed too dramatic and fake with his passion for Bella. I cannot recall a single sentence he spoke to her that didn’t have the word like, honey,sweet, darling or something sappy like that. Edward also lost his cocky sexy arrogance that I loved. He was obsessed with Bella in an unnatural way that disturbed me. His character was completely different. Jacob became such a nasty manipulator I was surprised that Edward didn’t sink his teeth right into his neck. All Edward ever said was “If you’re pleased Bella, I’m pleased.” – please give me a break! Bella became a shallow even more selfish girl. She became so confused with her emotions I nearly pitied her because Meyer had robbed Bella of the strength that made her such an fascinating character in the first book. Rosalie, Alice, Emmett and Jasper were also turned into different characters all of which seemed out of character from the first two books.
The first two books were incredible and inspiring. The right like that possessed Bella and Edward left after book two. I feel this new book is incomplete. I do not reckon I will buy the fourth book. I’ll borrow it from the library, and if I could I would go return this book. This book is no longer a like affair so deeply passionate between a Vampire and a human. It is now about having to make choices when you should already know what the right answer is.
I started this review with mixed opinions but now as I conclude I find myself so disappointed I shall try to remember the Edward and Bella I know from the first novel, Twilight, keeping those characters who are so deeply in like nothing could tear them apart.
Stephanie Meyer I’m worried you disappointed a right Twilight fan till the very end. My only hope is that you can rekindle the gorgeous tale you had with Edward and Bella in Twilight. Excellent luck on the next book, I hope it’s an improvement! If a movie is ever to be made may it only be the movie of Twilight.
Goodbye Edward and Bella. I’ll miss you!
Review by Olivia for Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
Rating:
My Original review on Aug. 10:
After finishing this book, I have no thought why it was written other than an excited writer’s desire to fulfill a publisher’s request as soon as possible. The writing was unevolved, and the sheer number of editorial errors proves how quickly both editor and author worked to release this book. Most of the issues that were brought up in the first two books were dropped in this one. To make matters worse, new issues abound that make the “willing suspension of disbelief” impossible, plot points are picked up and ignored randomly without any real twists or conclusions (except Vicky, of course), and you aren’t really left with a character to like: Jake’s forceful and annoying, Bella’s negative and a martyr, Alice is pushy and superficial, and Edward is far too selfless.
The first and last part of the book is filled with bickering and grumbling which is used to set a stage for Meyer’s gorgeous and witty sarcasm, but does small to enhance the plot. Without ruining anything, I’ll just say that there really comes a point where Bella has to resign herself to being with Edward. In general, the relationship between them is so obviously codependent and unhealthy, without any basis in a reality, that it’s lost all of its original touching reluctance. By the end of the book, Bella’s constant victim-stance, her bickering, complaining, whining, and general inability to be pleased has ruined the book.
UPDATE September 3, 2007: I am now absolutely DISGUSTED with both Meyers and her publisher. As soon as the rating fell below four stars, and nearly all of the reviews commented on the same negative attributes, suddenly the reviews are flooded with five star, four sentence reviews from people who have nearly identical reviews on every other books they’ve posted for – falling in line with the newer trend of buying reviews for books. Shame on you Ms. Meyers for not letting your product stand on its own, and shame on you for disrespecting the loyal followers of your series in such a manner by telling them that their opinions are worth as much as cheaply bought props.
Review by Mara E. for Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
Rating:
To preface this, I’ll say up front that I loathe like triangles. They’re trite plot devices that are very rarely executed well, and that’s just one of the huge problems with Eclipse. It’s a like triangle that, according to the author, was designed for Bella to make a choice. Really? Was there any shred of doubt over what option she was going to go with?
Unfortunately for Eclipse, about three quarters of the book involved pitting Edward and Jacob against each other in a quarrel over who Bella likes more (and again, really?). Sure, it’s fantastic to be loved, but in this instance it just makes everyone look terrible. Jacob comes off as too sexually forceful, Edward looks like a lump on a log reciting the same “if it’s excellent for Bella, it’s excellent for me” line, and Bella looks more selfish and whiny than usual. Sure, Bella was whiny and annoying way before Eclipse, but she puts on a grand show here and it makes one long for a point of view change. Anyone. Jessica’s point of view would probably be preferable.
The rest of the book is about some killings in Seattle that, of course, mean Bella is in danger, which, naturally, means Edward has to act like a psycho boyfriend intent on saving her from herself. Early on he attempts to keep her house bound by ripping the spark plug out of her car, and while I thought that was a small melodramatic and creepy he one ups himself constantly after that. No wonder Bella kept grumbling and sighing whenever he kept swooping in to tell her where not to go and why. Then there’s the marriage issue — he wants to, she doesn’t (it’s embarrassing, you see…far more than having to tell one’s family you intend to become a vampire in the near future because marriage is so much more shocking) — but it’s not like Bella has a say in the day that’s supposed to be hers. She literally doesn’t. It reminded me a small of an arrangement than a celebration with the amount of groaning and wincing Bella does concerning the upcoming nuptials.
What disturbed me more, besides the rickety plot, the endless comparisons to Wuthering Heights (the author studied literature in college, I get it. most of us college educated people did and I still don’t see the need for comparisons to Heathcliff and Cathy), and the annoying like triangle, was how self-deprecating Bella was. How she constantly went through the book saying how unworthy she was of everyone, how at fault she was of everything, how clumsy, stupid, selfish (that one I really don’t argue with), immoral, weak, helpless, pathetic, and frighteningly normal she is. Sure, it’s hard to have immortal, strong, mostly male friends, but as a woman I’d like to see Bella shed that “oh well, I’m just a small weak girl, woe is me, I’ll just sit in the corner and die now” attitude without having to become a vampire. At every turn in Eclipse Bella depicts herself harshly, and the tale does nothing to turn that around. She’s the one that wants to have sex outside of marriage (which is too immoral for virtuous Edward), she’s the one that’s too weak to do anything other than be babysat, and for the most part the tale agrees with her. The men (with the exception of possibly Alice) are the selfless heroes by the end, and the women are selfish (Bella), shallow (Rosalie), and bitter (Leah). Where have the strong female role models gone?
Review by gaimangirl for Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
Rating:
I wasn’t really sure how to rate these books, because in terms of literary quality they’re certainly one star. Yet, they’re so delightfully cheesy that in terms of entertainment value, they probably rate a 5-star review. Of course, I’m the girl that adores dreadful monster movies on the SciFi channel, so maybe you shouldn’t trust my judgment.
But really folks these books are absolutely ridiculous. They’re so over the top they read like parodies of supernatural romance novels. The characters’ motivations and reactions defy any sort of real world logic. These books just don’t make any sense. Like here’s my main problem with the series: What in the world do all of these people see in Bella? And I’m not just talking about Edward and Jacob. That also includes Mike Newton, the entire Cullen family, Angela, and even Victoria and James from the first book. The entire Twilight universe revolves around Bella. Everyone is obsessed with this girl. Why? She’s whiny, hypocritical, self-obsessed, co-dependent, temperamental, childish, sulky, I could go on, you get my drift. She has no goals, ambitions, leisure activities, dreams, or talents. She shows no interest in the world around her. She basically shows disdain and/or contempt for anyone in her life who isn’t impossibly gorgeous or superpowered–including her own parents. Her one goal in life is to become a vampire so she can live forever, be impossibly gorgeous and strong, and never age. Yes, this is our heroine, people. Was I the only one rooting for Victoria to knock the hell out of her?
Then of course there’s Edward. I believe I’ve read in SM’s own words that Edward is her thought of the perfect man. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that one. And let me just say that I don’t care how gorgeous and gorgeous and perfect and wonderful a character is–NO ONE deserves to have 300 pages telling us these things. If a character is supposed to be gorgeous then I only need to be told that once, and then I’m looking for their more fascinating aspects. If their beauty is brought up more than once than I’m going to assume that it’s signficant to the tale somehow…it relates to the plot, it’s an ironic contrast to their not so gorgeous inside, it serves as commentary for cultural perspectives on beauty. I don’t want to get the thought that I’m reading about Edward’s bent smile, or bronze hair, or perfect chiseled features, or muscular chest over and over again because the author is imagining herself as the object of his affection and likes reminding everyone of how gorgeous he is.
And Jacob…how did he go from a sweet kid to a rapist-in-training? And why is SM so convinced that we’re all going to adore this twerp as much as she does? That said, as a character, he’s still 1000 times more believable and better developed than Edward.
Basically this book had so many unintentionally hilarious moments that I was imagining it as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. There was Charlie’s utterly bizarre reaction to Bella’s breaking her hand…(What’s that? You tried to sexually assault my daughter? And she injured herself? Way to go tiger!) Bella’s stupidity after Rosalie’s backstory (Hmm…I reckon she’s trying to tell me something about life and humanity and family, but all I can really focus on is that some hot vampire chick once came onto Edward..WAAAHHHH Edward!) Edward’s rather psycho definition of like( He basically says “I don’t care about anyone else. I only care about you. Only you matter.”) And the vampires’ reactions (or rather non reaction) to the murder of the new vampire Bree disturbed me. They basically do nothing and have no reaction when a teenage girl is ripped to pieces right in front of them. Six months ago she was probably a normal teenager and now she’s a pile of ashes and not one of the saintly “excellent” vampires even bothers to say “Poor girl. I wonder if her family is looking for her?” And these are the people that Bella wants to hang with for eternity?
Hey I won’t lie, I’ll probably be buying the 4th book, but I have no expectations of quality or literary value, only that I’m going to entertained by more cheap melodrama and cheesy, pseudo-sensuality.
Review by Dahlia for Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
Rating:
Now there’s only like in the dark…
Yes, my friends, just like the song, we’ve reached a new level of cheese. The melodrama of this third installment of the Twilight series is over the top, outrageous, and at times hard to stomach. But I’m not going to lie – I loved Twilight. New Moon made me sob. And I read Eclipse in a matter of days. Still on a high from Twilight, I was initially only mildly disappointed in Eclipse and overall pretty forgiving. But as time has passed, and particularly as I’ve picked up the book again to re-read it, my opinion is less favorable.
—WARNING SPOILERS—
Generally, I found the premise of the Seattle killings obvious and not all that fascinating – a newborn vampire army is just cheeseball to me. I’d much rather read about the Volturi.
In terms of character development, I was disappointed all the way around. I found Edward’s overly-controlling “protectiveness” disrespectful and hugely unattractive. While it may not have been out of character in the sense that he was always controlling, it was disappointing for this to be the side of him expounded upon. Gone was the Edward we loved – cool and sexy – instead, replaced by an icky control freak. Only to then be replaced by martyr-boy who lets his fiance make out with another guy and only complains with “I wish you hadn’t questioned him to kiss you.” Hunh? I guess we can chalk this up to him being traumatized by the mess he made in New Moon and dealing with it in a myriad of stupid and dysfunctional ways. But waaaah! I miss the Edward of Twilight – snarky, cocky, arrogant, warm-hearted, vulnerable, loving.
As I re-read this book, I found Bella’s tolerance of his condescension extremely frustrating. If any guy bribed his sister into kidnapping me, physically disabled my car so I couldn’t go anywhere, and made constant snide remarks about my predisposition towards clumsiness and attracting danger, I’d get pissed. Maybe the teasing was cute in the beginning, way back in Twilight, but it goes beyond teasing in Eclipse and at some point any self-respecting girl would get mad.
Bella… well there’s much to be said there. Mainly, what on earth is she doing? I grasp that she’s a teenager and still learning/growing but rather than relating to her like I did in Twilight and somewhat in New Moon, I felt so aggravated with her this time around that I couldn’t fathom what Edward even loved about her anymore. It didn’t bother me in Twilight that her leisure activities or outside interests weren’t discussed – I assumed she had some and that we’d find out more about them in later books. Since Twilight was about her falling in like, it made sense to me that it was all about Edward. In New Moon she was devastated and nothing sounds excellent when you’re that depressed so I was willing to overlook the fact that she was mourning and not interested in anything. But what the heck is her excuse this time? I realize that by making her as non-descript as possible, more readers can inject themselves into the character and vicariously makeout with a couple of hot guys, but is that really the only reason Bella is so bland? The only character points that even stood out in this book were her reluctance to get married, her inability to stand up to Edward (except by passive aggressive means) and her obsession with Jacob.
The marriage issue irritated me to no end. She’s perfectly content to spend eternity with Edward but doesn’t want to get married? I would reckon that her like for Edward, so sweeping and all-encompassing in Twilight, would supersede something as silly as her dread of appearing irresponsible to others. Since when does Bella care so much about what others reckon that she’d alienate the person she’s willing to give up her life for? If you’re willing to give up your humanity, family and friends, why balk at marriage? I realize that extending the series requires the creation of new complications, but I just don’t find the reason for her reluctance to marry Edward a believable one.
And the like triangle… I could see a certain amount of sexual tension between Bella and Jacob in New Moon. Edward screwed things up by leaving and left her suffering. Jacob helped her heal and just happened to be excellent looking on top of it. I never got the impression that on Bella’s end it was anything more than friendship like with a mild physical/emotional attraction. Not anywhere near the same ballpark as the aforementioned sweeping and all-encompassing like with Edward. If she had developed deeper feelings for Jacob, her internal dialog right before he was about to kiss her in New Moon would have been very different.
Yet this is the backdrop for the realization at the end of Eclipse that she’s in like with Jacob too? I just didn’t find enough of a draw between her and Jacob on her end. Jacob is obviously in like with her, but I don’t see where she’s in like with him. Her only reasons for seeking him out were because she missed her friend and despised to see him suffer; not because of romantic feelings. Maybe they would have gotten together if Edward never came back, but he did come back so there’s no question of who she’s going to be with. Therefore, what is she doing kissing Jacob and realizing she’s “in like” with him? Especially after he manipulated her into this epiphany. And if she was willing to let him manipulate her, then how serious could her like and commitment be to Edward? While she was making out with Jacob she knew she loved Edward more, so what the heck was she doing? Exploring other possibilities? How is that justifiable when you’re already in a relationship and engaged????
Then there’s the whole Jacob pushing himself on her. I get that he’s young and a werewolf and his emotions/hormones are out of control, but having him physically force himself on her in the middle of the book and then emotionally manipulate her at the end is just not okay. I want to like Jacob – I want to sympathize with him – but I can’t like or sympathize with a character who sexually assaults another character. (Yet Bella’s own father was really fine with it? Charlie was an idiot in this book.)
I reckon if SM really wanted to make a compelling like triangle, it should have been handled differently. We can clearly see who Bella’s going to choose and the fact that Jacob hasn’t imprinted on her is an obvious sign that they’ll never be together. So there’s really no mystery or lure to this triangle. It was just an aggravating side-bar that caused me to lose respect for all three characters – Jacob for forcing himself, Bella for tolerating it (and exploring other options while committed to Edward), and Edward for being such a martyr.
Overall, I found the characters frustrating in this book. I suppose my three-star rating is a result of it being the Twilight series. If this were a stand-alone book that I read without the previous two, I might have given it one or two stars.
I still credit SM with making a tale compelling enough that I’m taking the time to write this long of a review. She obviously did something right. But at this point the series is gliding on the magic wrought by Twilight and I’d like to see more depth and growth in these characters in the next book. I do delight in her writing style – the flow of action, dialog and descriptions of setting (though I was less impressed with the dialog in this book). I am keenly awaiting Midnight Sun and will gladly read Breaking Dawn and anything else she writes for this series because, aggravated as I was with this book, I still want to know what’s going to happen.