Twilight Saga ~ Book 3
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
YA Fiction, Published 2007
Read: Emme -July 2008, Mel – Aug. 2008
4/5
From the Cover:
As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob – knowing that her decision is potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?
Review:
As the release of book 4 of the Twilight Saga approaches, I’m finally finishing Eclipse which I pre-ordered last September. This says nothing about the quality of the book, but just my ineptitude to read in the order that I plan… In my book buying craze I’ve also pre-ordered Breaking Dawn which should arrive at my house Saturday. (This is directed at you bn.com…don’t send me any more e-mails telling me about your super awesome book clearance sale!!) However, after finishing Eclipse, I’m super excited that I may just beat my 10 month reading delay.
Coming from New Moon, I was excited to find out how Bella would deal with having both Edward and Jacob in her life. Mostly the book focuses on the push-pull love triangle between Bella, Edward and Jacob. It’s towards the end of Bella’s senior year in high school and like all graduates has some big decisions to make. Bella finally makes up with Jacob after their falling out in New Moon and starts to hang out in La Push, against Edward’s wishes. Jacob falls further for Bella every time they’re together and he knows she loves him too. Jacob even invites Bella to a bonfire with all of his were-friends and it is here that we discover more of the history and inner workings of the werewolf pack. Jacob’s character really started to come to life in New Moon and I really love him in Eclipse.
Jacob finally admits his true feelings to Bella and Edward knows he now has competition. Bella can see her life with Jacob, but not without Edward. She struggles with her feelings for both guys, for werewolf, for vampire, until the end of the novel and even then it seems not entirely over.
But bliss never lasts too long for Bella because soon Victoria, an evil vampiress, is coming after her with a group of newly turned vampires. The only way to make it out alive is for the immortal enemies to join forces and save their true love. Whose heart will Bella break and which side will she choose in the end?
“He’s like a drug for you, Bella.” His voice was still gentle, not at all critical. “I see that you can’t live without him now. It’s too late. But I would have been healthier for you. Not a drug; I would have been the air, the sun.”
“I used to think of you that way, you know. Like the sun. My personal sun. You balanced out the clouds nicely for me.”
He sighed. “The clouds I can handle. But I can’t fight with an eclipse.”
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Mel’s Review:
The relationship dynamics in the third book of the Twilight Saga got a bit more interesting. Throughout the beginning of the book, the refusal of the Cullen family to allow Bella anywhere near her werewolf friends was nearly as aggravating to me as it was to Bella herself. Despite Bella’s denials, Jacob had a good point when he suggested that Edward was very controlling in his relationship with Bella, and it was not surprising that Bella rebelled against that excessive control despite her love for Edward. Even after Edward and Jacob reach a truce of sorts, Bella continues to be conflicted between those two opposites. In the face of seeming hopeless odds, Jacob continues to fight to pull Bella away from Edward, and he has my vote. It’s not often that I switch sides in a love triangle, but in this case, the more I get to know of Edward, the less I like him, or the strong-armed approach he tends to take with Bella. The interplay among those three characters was, to me, the most compelling part of the story.
