Saturday, August 16, 2008

Breaking Dawn Discussion

As usual...Spoiler Alert!


I really enjoyed reading Breaking Dawn, but I am so sad that the series is over!! I felt like there was so much suspense building up to this book and I had so many theories and there was so much speculation as to what would happen, but I NEVER would have guessed anything that actually did happen! (Well, I did guess about the pregnancy part, but I figured that it would be impossible and wouldn't happen).


Here are a few points that I hoped we could discuss because I am interested to hear how you felt...


The honeymoon:
I thought that Stephanie Meyer was very tactful and tasteful in the way that she presented the sex scenes. We all knew that there would be some since they got married and all, but I was curious how she could still keep this a book appropriate for teens but include that in there. I appreciated that she was able to show us their "desires" but just skip over the parts we didn't need to read. I have heard a few people say that it was really inappropriate and that they wouldn't be allowing their daughters to read it. What do you think about that? I feel that what Edward and Bella were doing was completely moral and acceptable within the confines of marriage and that Stephanie Meyer kept it clean enough for me to allow my daughter to read it (well, if I ever have one...but I know that my Young Women at church have read it and I think it's fine).


Jacob:
For all you Team Jacob fans out there, I am curious how you felt about how everything turned out for him. At first, while I was reading and I flipped to book 2 where Jacob was going to begin narrating, I was really disappointed. I couldn't believe that I was going to be left hanging and not know what was going to happen with the baby!! However, after I read on, I really began enjoying being in Jacobs head. I liked that we could hear more of what the pack was thinking and seeing Bella and Edwards relationship from the outside. I think that it also smoothed things out for me when Jacob ended up imprinting on Renesmee because I probably would have been mad like Bella and Edward were at first if I wasn't rooting more for Jacob at that point. I was excited that Jacob imprinted on Renesmee, I believe that was what was the main thing that helped everything end up so well in the end. What do you think about Jacob's imprinting??? How did you react when you figured it out?



Renesmee:
Where do I start? Can you believe they had a baby?! What is up with the name Renesmee??? Couldn't she have named her after her favorite sister Alice or something? Yuck. Although, the name did end up growing on me more by the end of the book, but I am still with Bella and hate the nickname Nessie. I liked her talent and thought it would be interesting how she would use it when she grew older. Speaking of that...I wish there was another book where we can see her grown up.

Talents:
Did you expect that Bella would have the same talent that she had when she was human? I kind of did, but I always wondered if there would be something more. I loved how at the end she was able to pull back her talent and let Edward read her mind.

Charlie:
Do you think that now that Charlie is dating Sue that Sue will eventually tell him that Bella is a vampire? How do you think that he will react?

Did you like the book?
I read a few reviews where the readers were very disappointed in the book. What about you? Did you like it? Did you hate it? I liked it and I think that it had a happy ending which was what I had hoped for. I am reading it again to my husband right now and it has been just as fun to read the 2nd time around. The only thing I hated was that it was the last book!!!

5 comments:

melissa gargalis said...

loved your review. I did really like this book, but I loved the other three more. I could've done without the baby, especially the name, but I understand why she did that-so that Bella could experience everything before turning vampire girl.
I loved the way she wrote about the sex scenes. I've read some spicier books-so I thought this was really tame. I don't think I'd let younger girls read this. Maybe 14 and up? I don't know, maybe it depends on the maturity of the girl?...

I totally thought Jacob and Leah were going to hook up until he imprinted on Renesmee. I'm glad him and Bella still get to be friends, in an awkward sort of way, but ultimately glad that Jacob gets to be happy too. But apparently Leah is really a genetic dead end-so sad for her.

I thought Bella's talents were great, that she could save everyone she loved. I kind of thought she'd have some premonition talent, cause she always had those foreseeing dreams as a human.

I love this series though. Can't wait for more from Stephenie Meyer. I could see her writing more books about Renesmee's life and I totally look forward to Midnight Sun-Edwards perspective.
-Melissa

Anonymous said...

Okay, so I don't usually check this sight, but Natalie told me you were reviewing Breaking Dawn and I thought I'd share my input too.
I loved this book! I thought it was a great way to end the story, although I think she could continue Renesmee's story in the future. I thought the whole honeymoon stuff was very tastefully done. I think it's appropiate for young girls to read. I don't find it at all offensive and I would totally allow my daughters to read it. The physical relationship between a husband and wife is a natural thing and when it's written properly I don't see anything wrong with it.
I had two theories when it came to Jacob. I thought that either he would hook up with Leah and be happy (but not imprint b/c that would've happened a long time ago) or he would end up imprinting on a vampire. I was blown away by him imprinting on Renesmee. At first I was a little disturbed by it, but it grew on me. Again, tastefully written. I was sad that Leah didn't imprint on anyone. I was hoping she'd find a vampire guy and get over her uneasyness...(if that's a word) :) oh well, hopefully she'll be happy!
I loved Bella as a vampire! I loved when she said that she went through her human life as mediocre and when she turned she knew what it felt like to shine. That was my favorite part!!
Anyway that's my contribution!!

c-natalie-l-k-l said...

EXCELLENT review, Jen! I had to open up another window so I can respond to everything!
I didn't love the first half of the book...I just kept reading because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I'm a Jacob fan, so while I was fine with Bella marrying Edward, it wasn't my dream come true! :) One of my main problems with Bella becoming a vampire was that she might never get to be a mother. I didn't think vampires could have children, and Edward and Bella are immortal, so how would a child age with them? Meyer solved that issue for me! But I found the whole pregnancy very disturbing!!!! Bella was just so sick and in so much pain. I LOVED it when Edward could finally hear the baby's thoughts, and he let us know that the baby loved and adored Bella.
The honeymoon/"sex scenes" were perfect. I am not a fan of details. I agree that it was very tastefully done, and Edward and Bella ARE married! However, I did find it rather funny that sex was how vampires filled most of their awake time at night!
I was very happy with how everything turned out with Jacob. I thought that he might have some kind of relationship with Leah. I really started to like her. I was COMPLETELY shocked when he imprinted on Renesmee, but I loved it! Then it made him part of the family, which was what Bella always wanted him to be. His chapter headings were great!
Once again, I didn't want Bella to become a vampire, but once she became one, I LOVED it!!! She kicked butt! Like Megan, I liked that it was finally her turn to shine. She had an excellent talent. It was fun to watch her develop it! Especially when she showed Edward her mind!
Renesmee (I'm not really a fan of the name either) was wonderful. She had such a neat talent, and I loved how much she loved Bella. I was soooooooooooo happy in the end that they were able to stay together as a family and discover that Renesmee was also immortal. I would like a 5th book too! It would be interesting to see Jacob and Renesmee together when she's older.
I was soooooooooo sad about Charlie "losing" Bella, so I was very glad we he decided to accept how things were without asking questions. The scene where they were talking about who Renesmee looked like made me teary-eyed. He's a great dad. I think he'll eventually learn the whole truth, especially being with Sue.
I thought the end of the book was great. I would have liked it to be longer. It was really interesting to learn about all of the different vampires and learn more about the Volturi. Alice was awesome!
I loved the book. Meyer did a great job answering questions and tying up loose ends. I didn't think she'd be able to make me so happy with the story being a Jacob fan!

Steelefamily said...

I LOVED This book. I was so excited for it and it did not disapoint! Every twist and turn I thought was delightful. I heard a lot of criticism but I could not have been happier with the conclusion. I did not think it could have turned out as happy as it did. I loved that Jacob imprinted on Renessme. I needed him to be happy because I loved him so much, and he was.

Lisa said...

The honeymoon:
I thought too that the sex parts were tastefully done... but not for a young reader (i.e. 11-17) If you aren't having sex, then you should be reading about it :)


Jacob:
I was very happy for Jacob in the end. I was very upset with Bella for still clinging onto Jacob (before he imprinted) when she knows that he wanted to marry and be with her. I still think it's a little weird imprinting on a baby...

I was thrilled when Jacob "started" his own pack. I think he should have been the leader all along!

Renesmee:
So far no one has said "Oh what a great name!" Everyone hates the name. What was Stephenie thinking?

Renesmee was a cute baby/child, but the entire pregnancy thing was too much for me. I also didn't like the hunting parts. I don't want to imagine that cute little girl with brown eyes and ringlets down her back sucking blood out of an animal!


Talents:
Bella's talent was awesome! Loved it!!

Charlie:
I don't think Charlie will want to know the truth about Bella.

Did you like the book?
I hated the first half and liked the second half and was trilled with the happy ending!