Emma, my goddaughter, then 12, had received the trilogy for her birthday and I like reading books the same time she does. I was quite surprised by the book, thought the concepts interesting, and it was a page turner! I had to keep reminding myself that this WAS written for a Young Adult audience, as the characters angst over things drained me a bit.
The year previous, my sister and I were on vacation and she was reading New Moon, with her daughter. She was up till all hours reading, so I figured the book was pretty interesting. New Moon was harder for me to get through than Twilight was. Again, that teenage angst is not something I relate to, as it is so far in my past as to be forgettable, and I have no children to remind me.I pushed on to book three, Eclipse, because I can't stand not knowing how something turns out.
Reading Eclipse turned into a struggle for me. There seemed little to admire in the characters, a lot of whining and faulty logic displayed. The story had turned dark and it made me uncomfortable. But I pressed on, because I thought it was a trilogy and I wanted it to end!! When I finally got to the end, and realized I'd been set up for another book, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.So, I waited for my turn to read the newly released Breaking Dawn.
I was 457 on the waiting list in the Madison Library system, but it went by pretty fast. The day I picked up the book, I read 100 pages. The next day I read 150 pages and was still only barely over a quarter into the book. Very quickly I found myself in the same dilemma with this book. I want to know what happens, but reading it is painful. I only have 100 pages or so to go, and I'm dreading finding that this may not be the conclusion. I don't think I can read another of this series.Oh the other hand, my goddaughter, now 13, loves these books. She is at that age where you Love to Scare yourself! She and her friends are into horror films. I remember that. Being scared made me feel alive (at 13, I didn't know about adrenalin) and I liked to scream. It's very cleansing, screaming. Gets all sorts of stuff out of your system. But I'm not 13 anymore. I know lots better ways to feel alive, I really don't like adrenalin rushes, and these constant reminders of the pain of growing into an interesting person are something I can do without. So it there IS another book about Bella and friends, I'll give it a miss.
That said, I do admire the author, Stephenie Meyer. She is prolific! I've been writing for 25 years, and still have nothing to show for it. Stephenie may not be a great writer, but she is disciplined enough to keep churning it out!
