Breaking Dawn

I loved the first three books. I have always been a fan of Bella and Edward, but I liked how Meyer introduced the Jacob/Bella dynamic to show the complexity of relationships, and that love means SACRIFICE and making a CHOICE. Plot, character, and substance related issues I've had with the series were compensated by the message I believed Meyer wanted to make--Bella choosing to give up a normal life (and everything that comes with it) in order to be with Edward.

Now, I don't know what message the author wanted to say or what she was thinking.

(Spoilers Below)

Bella didn't have to sacrifice anything apparently. She gets Edward AND a baby AND immortality as a vampire. What about poor Jake--not a problem, he IMPRINTS on the baby, which I find disturbing not so much because it is a baby (though that is creepy just as it was with Quil) but because it's Edward and Bella's baby. Can we say cop out? Life doesn't turn out so neatly. People love and lose (and don't fall for the object of their affection's daughter). But in Meyer's world everyone is one big happy family.

So, girls don't worry. If you have problems, they will ALL work out. Is that what the author wants to tell her fans?

Or is it marriage and family by 18 are the way to go, forget about college, developing as a person, all you need is a husband and a child. No disrespect to people who marry at 18, but Meyer paints a glorified picture of the situation; most 18 years old aren't going to have an endless supply of money and never worry about how the lack of an education will affect their future. Yes, this is a novel, a fantasy, we shouldn't expect or require realism--then why go the mommy route at all? Just focus on Bella and Edward. Bella didn't want children, yet when she finds out she's pregnant she doesn't even freak out; she's carrying a vampire's child and it's just "my heart had grown, swollen up to twice its size in that moment."

Or is the author's message be passive and let others take care of you (what if there is no one else--no, no, girls, there is ALWAYS someone). One of my big issues with the series is how Bella has never had outside interests beyond Edward (or Jake), that she's not an independent person. I hoped Meyer would finally have Bella come into her own in this book, have her lack of personality be the result of high school immaturity or something, but obviously the author thinks a person's entire existence should be defined by others, not themselves. Another great message--not.

Don't even get me started on Bella's power. Again, another major opportunity to strengthen Bella's character is wasted. Also, the explanation of why Edward can get Bella pregnant is ridiculous considering the rules Meyer originally established for her world. The story may be dealing with supernatural/fantastic elements, but it still has to have internal consistency.

I wanted and expected a happy ending. I wanted Bella to become a vampire. I wanted there to be a resolution with Jake. I wanted and expected the Volturi to return. I also expected an intense exploration of pain, sacrifice, vampire Bella having to cope with giving up her family/old life. I wondered if Charlie and Renee would find out--wouldn't it be odd if their child just disappeared--and though a parent does find out (sort of), it was hardly the way I imagined it, especially with the way "newborn" Bella played out.

I wanted Jake angst about her being changed, him maybe not accepting her at first (or at all) but him coming to deal with it in some fashion so you felt there was closure at the end. I would have been fine with Jake moving on, but not with Edward and Bella's daughter.

Finally, why must Bella get everything? So much for a powerful message, I guess.

"You can't expect a message with vampires and werewolves!" I disagree. The best fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories all have a morality/deeper element to them. Fairy tales, as they were originally designed, were meant to teach children a valuable lesson. This does not (and should not) lessen the entertainment value of a story, but I think it's a cop out to say "it's a fantasy," as if that excuses anything. If you look at Lord of the Rings, The Hero and the Crown, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Last Unicorn, Harry Potter, Stoker's original Dracula novel, The Prydain Chronicles, The Little Prince--all of them deal with themes of sacrifice, choice, gaining wisdom, growing as a person, and/or are thought provoking/contain deeper messages.

Sure Twilight began as a dream, but three other books have followed it. Even getting away from message issues, I still have a problem with the plot and character developments of Breaking Dawn.