'Twilight': A snap judgment on 'Breaking Dawn'

(This is spoiler-heavy. Consider yourself warned.)

It’s virtually impossible not to draw parallels between "Breaking Dawn," the concluding installment in the “Twilight” series, and the final “Harry Potter” book. Both involve revolve around mythic worlds and young, ill-prepared protagonists headed toward a supernatural showdown between good and evil. 

The problem is Stephenie Meyer is no J.K. Rowling. We who’ve enjoyed the work of both authors have known this since we picked up “Twilight.” (I like Edward too, but there’s only so many times I can read how “beautiful,” “perfect” and “dazzling” he is.) But with these final chapters, in which both authors really swung for the epic, Meyer’s bunted.

Things looked promising at first. The pace is swift and the curve balls surprising and frequent: Bella and Edward finally get busy, we get inside Jacob’s head, Bella joins the Cullens in immortality, Jacob finds his mate.

But all the while, a larger story arc is missing. The love triangle is, sadly, summarily dealt with, and once the romance is over we’re left only with Edward and Bella’s child Renesmee -- even the name, well, it’s no Hermione is it -- and all the conflicts she so quickly and disappointingly resolves. Edward versus Jacob? Over and done with. Vampires versus werewolves? One big happy family. Bella being a ravenous newborn? She’s not going to eat her kid!

So what to when you’ve written yourself into a corner? Meyer is forced to more or less start over and she spends the second half of “Breaking Dawn” going for outright thriller. The second half of the book singularly involves the mystery of Renesmee and shielding her from the threat of the Volturi, an enemy initially so full of literary potential. Bella, Jacob, Edward and the rest of the “Twilight” characters become little more than Renesmee’s anxious protectors. 

Bogged down in the new, too convenient mythology -- Bella’s new power is the only one that will matter -- the book winds up faltering under its own weighty aspirations. Bella’s covert operation, the additions to the Cullen camp, the unique powers of the new vampires are explained so thoroughly yet serve so little dramatic effect that “Breaking Dawn” could easily have trimmed off 200 pages and reached the same anticlimactic ending. What’s worse, the new guys are there merely to populate the side of good for a battle that -- the big spoiler -- never happens. That's right. No blood shed. No deaths of loved ones to kill readers in the gripping way Rowling did in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

At least when you get to page 735 -- where you’ll find the resolution neatly tied up -- it’s more a confirmation of what you saw coming rather than simply a letdown. And as for the final scene, Meyer writes this one like she's already imagined it on the big screen, with the swelling of sappy love song and a fade to black.

We would have much preferred the whole thing to end in book three, "Eclipse," with yes, some happiness for Bella, but also some angst, some heartbreak, and a dark, ominous future looming.

-- Denise Martin

Related:

'Twilight' video: Jacob and Edward fans sound off

'Twilight': Scenes from the 'Breaking Dawn' release party

Comments

[Helen]

I really hope they only film up to ECLIPSE. Just end on the wedding. I dont want Rob Pattinson boggedd down with filming this awful book. He can do much better.

[Megan]

Ok first off, please STOP comparing Twilight and Harry Potter!! I am SO sick of that! Not every Twilight fan is a fan of HP...Twilight and HP are two totally different stories...so STOP ALREADY!

Now about Breaking Dawn...I personally loved it! I was thrilled that Bella became a vampire, that Edward and Bella got married, that they got to have a kid, that Jacob imprinted, that Bella gets to keep Charlie in her life, and that none of the major characters that we love were killed! Granted, I wish Caius, Jane, Felix, and Alec would have died...and I was glad that out of anyone to die that it was Irina, a secondhand character that no one knew much about and therefore didn't care too much for.

We Twilighters wanted a fourth book, Stephenie gave us that....We wanted Bella to become a Vampire, Stephenie gave us that.....we wanted Bella and Edward to be married, Stephenie gave us that....and we (well, most of us) wanted Jacob to be happy and imprint and well, Stephenie gave us that!!

About how the characters supposedly changed, Of course they would change! I mean hello, book characters are just like real people especially in a book like this....People change as they get older and go through more stuff....so therefore the changes in the characters were supposed to be expected.

Anyways, I personally LOVED Breaking Dawn! :)

[AL]

Twilight sucks. Simple as that.

[KM]

I have to say, I have never read a book review that summed up my thoughts so exactly. Thanks Denise! We are passing your article around at work and a lot of people had similar reaction that you did. Keep up the great work! and make sure the LATimes gives you a raise since we all know newspapers aren't doing so hot ;-)

[Morgan]

I think alot of people accepted this book just because it was the final book in the Twilight Saga, and because Stephenie Meyer wrote it. Well, that doesn't make it good. This book had so much confusion going on. The characters didn't seem like the same people I had read about in the first three books, and the big letdown was that demon spawn baby, and the anticlimatic "fight scene". Breaking Dawn was just one big mess.

[PaganNavywife]

I loved the book. It was great, even if there was no "epic battle" not everything has to go that way for crying out loud.
People in real life manage to get a happy ending sometimes, with no epic battle what so ever, so why is it expected in a book? I can think of several very good books that had happy endings with no epic battles. So lets just get over it, whos to say this is the last book? Meyer said herself, right now shes burnt out but ask her again in two years...As far as the ending there is soo much left that she could write another book with, and then you would get your epic battle because that threat is still there at the close of Breaking Dawn.
Midnight sun is her next project, but she says ask her again in 2 years if Breaking Dawn is for sure the last book, so keep your options open, Heck I don't remember an epic battle in new moon...She saved Edward, they had a meeting of sorts with the Volturi, no ones bitching about that didn't turn into some epic battle or even a small fight.
It was a good book, return it if you want but it seems like people are determined to try and make everyone hate it, and god forbid someone disagrees...
I loved the book it was perfect, happy endings are always nice once in awhile.

[Ritt]

i completely agree with the article

[Araceli]

For those of you who think that the Harry Potter book's have no relevance and should not be mentioned with Twilight, think it over:

- Face it. Most Twilight fans are Harry Potter fans.

- Most of the fans of Harry Potter, and especially after the series ended, were looking for another series to get hooked on and obsessed with. Twilight happened to bounce along during the post-HP boredom and was accepted quickly, thus the millions of comparisons to Twilight.

- Twilight is a popular YA series by a popular female author. Harry Potter is a popular YA series by a popular female author.

- Even though all books are different, they follow similar story-patterns, allowing the execution of literary elements to be compared.

[Kimber]

Yeah, you didn't need to compare it to Harry Potter to know that Breaking Dawn was an almost unbelievably disappointing, terribly written and executed steaming pile of fail.
Yes, nobody's perfect, but even Stephenie Meyer should have known better than to publish this simply awful piece of literature. Conflicts too easily resolved, no growing, no difficult decisions, no heart-wrenching moments; nothing. The fact that she thought this was acceptable makes me, as a reader, feel slightly insulted. Is this the quality of work I'm going to have to endure from her here on out?
Twilight should have been a trilogy. Period.

[J_Brisby]

Wow, there's an awful lot of clueless reviews here. What's that all about?

I think this book was pretty much everything I could have wanted. I was so afraid that Meyer would end up copping out, and have Bella decide she wanted to stay human after all. Too many authors nowadays never bother to fire the rifle in the third act, if you get my drift.

I've always liked the metaphorical richness of this story. Vampires as a metaphor for male lust (with the refreshingly guy-positive message that having insatiable urges doesn't necessarily make you a bad person). Transformation into a vampire as a metaphor for becoming an adult. The Volturi as a metaphor for authority and control.

Who says Bella is impossible to identify with once she becomes a vampire? Or that she's a weak role model because she needs others to take care of her and make her complete? She's spent three books fretting about how helpless she is; who can't identify with her revelling in her new strength, her joy in finally being able to defend herself and those she loves? And who on earth could draw a message that Bella is anti-education? She's got eternity to go to school! Who says that nobody has to renounce anything or suffer more than temporarily? All the characters go through hell in this series -- but they come through it stronger on the other side. What's the title of the book, people???

This is a book full of positive themes; themes of family, building bridges, enemies becoming allies becoming friends, growth, freedom, and choice. I think people need to stop griping because Meyer told the story SHE wanted to, and read the book for what it IS and not for what it's NOT.

[Kirsti]

I agree with you so much! There were so many holes and problems in the book. It was so predictable. And there was so little plot that I could sum it up in a sentence, without leaving much out. I have no idea how she made it spread over 750 pages.

Also, Edward couldn't scientifically have had sex with Bella. [i]blood[/i] produces erection. Not to mention, wouldn't his sperm be dead?

Meyer mentioned in the story that Jacob isn't a real werewolf, but that real werewolves do exist. If so, where are they? Who keeps an eye on then Why do they keep to the shadows all the while vampire wars are going on? That brought up too many questions, which she didn't and won't answer.

The ending is what I hated most. I was all keyed up for a battle. Half the story prepared you for it. And then... nothing. It had the same feel as when you read a book, and the last lie is "And then she woke up and realized that it was a very long dream." Disappointed.

[starwild]

Thank you, THANK YOU for this post. I am so sick of all the raving and slavering over this sub-par, poorly written excuse for a "saga."

I hate the Twilight series. I hate it so much. Meyer is a hack, her characters are ridiculous, perfect caricatures and total Mary Sues/Gary Stus, and Edward and Jacob are controlling, abusive and so far from the "perfect" men that the fangirls think they are. It scares me that girls see obsession as true love, and it makes me very angry that Meyer not only wrote such a thing but seems to believe it herself. She's the Phyllis Schlafly of young adult "literature," and I do use the term literature lightly. The message she sends is that it's perfectly fine to discard all your life's ambitions (not that Bella ever had any, from what I can tell) and get married and pop out a kid at 19. College? Getting to know yourself? Bah, none of that matters when you have a sparkly, perfect MAN! A man is all you need to be happy, girls--but babies are peachy keen, too! Oh, and the life of your unborn child should always come before your own, even if it means you could die. It seems Meyer is anti-choice as well as anti-feminist.

And she tries to make us believe Bella is a "strong, independent" woman. Ha! Neither Meyer nor Bella would know a strong, independent woman if one punched them in the face. Hermione from Harry Potter, Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Princess Leia from Star Wars, Eowyn from Lord of the Rings, and Sabriel from the Old Kingdom trilogy are all strong female characters. Bella is a whining, egocentric, stuck-up, shallow brat who has never had to sacrifice a single thing in the course of these books. She gets everything she wants, and thus, becomes an unrealistic and horribly boring character. The entire Twilight series is one long continuous cycle of Bella getting in trouble and Edward saving her. How is that strong? How is that independent? It's not. It's as cheesy and predictable as a Harlequin romance novel.

I am simultaneously laughing and crying at the commenter who called Meyer's writing "magical." I'll say it's magical--it's as painful as a Harry Potter-style "crucio!" curse to the face. I truly believe her books would be about half the length they are if she cut out most of the descriptions of how hot Edward is. It disturbs me a little that this woman apparently took so much pleasure in writing about the physical features of a vampire who is eternally 17 years old. It also disturbs me that adult women obsess over a vampire who is eternally 17 years old. The teenage girls I can understand, but the adults...that creeps me out.

I'm sorry if this offends any fangirls, I suppose I prefer actual plot, actually strong characters and less saccharine, marble-statued perfection. I'll just go back to my Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, thanks.

[BoB]

Listen to all those fans who are upset about the fight should realize that the whole series is not an action series. there were a lot of part with some action but the book is about the love between Edward and Bella and how nothing can stand between it. Not the tracker James, Not James' partner Victoria and her evil hoard of newborn vampires, not even the Voltori, There was nothing that could stand in the way of their love. That is the whole points of the story. Harry Potter is a fiction book but you can only compare it to a point to the Twilight series because Harry Potter isn't a love story. All in all they were both good books but are completely different.

[jemma]

firstly im both a twilight and harry potter fan (more so with the latter-unsurpisingly) and allthough i agree with the whole"the two books are different stop comparing them" nonense i must add that its hard not too when both books just happen to have nearly the same amount of hype surrounding them......the twilight fans who rubbed meyers growing spotlight in others faces were asking to have their beloved series harshly compared too.
fair do's to meyer though, i have yet to read a book that describes love as passionately as she does (except maybe wuthering heights) and her description of say the cullens and jacob etc are much more appealing than the ones rowling gve for say....ron weasley..so big round of applause for stephanie meyers intrigueing describing quality.
i must also add that harry potter fans did not want rowling to kill off all the characters at the final chapter, however it was just that bit more reaistic dont you think? i highly doubt that if i met a vampire family as strong and as wise as the volturi me and my companions would come out unscathed...but this is not my world that i created it is meyers and for that i am increasinly grateful that rowling had the idea for harry potter and not meyer or the last chapter for hp would of had voldemort calling a council meeting to see whether harry potter should be killed or maybe just kept an eye on....how thrilling.
yes the characters are not the same as harry potter and yes the meanings are all different
but please i good book needs a good ending...and i failed to get hardly anything good out of breaking dawn,which is a shame as the other series were actually quite good.
those comparing need to remember that harry potter isnt just the only thing you can compare breaking dawn with...i find vomit works aswell.

[yay]

i cant believe that alot of people hated the "gathering covens" part, i think it was the best part of the book. with all those cool powers and stuff you know. i love the book. i like that nobody died except for one because i care for the characters so much even alec & jane

[Renee]

I am truly glad that I am not the only one who feels this way about the book, that it was not only I who felt let down by the highly anticpiated but highly disappointing book.

[Ariel]

For me, Breaking Dawn did ruin the series. Jacob was one of my favorite characters, and his relationship with Bella was key to the series, only second to hers and Edwards. The way Meyer dealt with their relationship was pathetic. He only liked her because the baby she was carrying would be his future love intertest? This portrays their relation through the last two books in a very superficial way, which I am very displeased with. And what Bella's affection for him? Eclipse resolved that she really loved him. But that, too, magically disappears. Bella herself loses everything that made her relatable and interesting and becomes perfectly boring.

I liked Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. I can now never reread them without thinking about Jacob falling in love with Bella's daughter, or Edward and Bella's lame happy ending.

[K]

Wouldn't it be an interesting if SM wrote a fifth book that showed the Volturi picking off the characters one by one? The entire book could show different people disappearing and how the characters left dealt and maybe end with a fight scene of some sort.

It's just a thought, but I think that would make a very exciting book.

[tracy]

I don't really think you should compare Harry Potter with Twilight they are two different stories and writing styles. It's about the love between two people even though he is a vampire and she is human. I love how she surprised every reader with the story line, because with all the podcast and theories i read nothing came close to the the direction she took the story, it had me on an emotional roller coaster, being a mom it definitely pulled on the heart strings. I for one am happy with the way the story ended and that it was a happy ending, it was a great closure to a wonderful love story.

[Keily]

I thought the book was great in my opinion. I was frusterated at some parts of it, but once things cleared up I liked it much more. I knew why Bella was being so stubborn about keeping her baby. She had an emotional connection that's just how being a mother is like. I just thought she was being a bit stupid because looking at things logically all I could see was it all going wrong. First off they didn't have any idea what that baby would be like. For all they knew the baby would be really powerful and could go destroy everyone. Now what would that mean. Bella has the baby the baby goes out and kills a whole bunch of humans and the voultri come and destroy her entire family. Edward would die for sure anyways cuz there was no doubt he'd kill himself if Bella died. I understood why she kept the baby and I doubted SM would write a book about them all dying =p just thought Bella was being kind of stupid at the same time. I remember being really mad when Jacob was so attached to Nessie. It was understandable, but Bella is Nessie's MOTHER and at first i thought Jacob should have really backed off. Bella walks into the room and her daughter is already growing like mad and she missed her first 3 days and the growing up she did. Jacob is worried about Nessie, but there were plenty of people to stop Bella if she got out of control. It annoyed me a lot... it was like Jacob was taking ownership. I felt better about it later cuz Bella got to spend much more time with her own daughter and I didn't hate Jacob as much, but at first it was rather annoying. What I started thinking about was Jacobs future child =p if he had one... His kid would be a vampire/human/shape shifter type of kid... of course not gonna end up being a werewolf off the bat... then i thought well they turn into werewolves with lots of vampires around... so if she/he was half vampire... i dunno I thought it would be interesting. Yes the ending battle wasn't huge, but I was still satisfied... i just wish she'd make another book ;__; make the voultri come again and they kill them all ahahahaha =p well that sums up my comment... yay for breaking dawn!! =D

[Megan]

OK.. my two cents..
Why does everyone think HP and Twilight are the pinnacle of fantasy book writing? I am almost disturbed hearing these two compared relentlessly while no one stops to think of other great works that might not of recieved as much attention but are just as good, if not better. (Terry Goodkind, *Robert Jordan*, George R.R. Martin, Anne McCaffery)... Which leads me to my next point... THEY CANNOT ACCURATELY BE COMPARED. One is clearly a strict love story with fluff mythology as more of a back stroy while another is more plot influenced and revolves on destiny, coming of age, etc... Both are good if not amazing in their own ways, but i certainly could complain about different things in both.

Breaking Dawn is definately not your typical drama/action/fighting saga and i dont think SM ever intended it to be anything more than it was. A character dying is just not her writing style and really the worse that happens in the whole series is a few broken bones, what exactly were you expecting? The backlash is crazy and for ppl to be personally insulted the book didnt turn out the way THEY wanted it is rediculous.. be disappointed, no one cares! It was not written for adults or "mature" teenagers who wanted an intellectually stimulating experience, it basicly was a FANTASY about the authors idea of life changing, powerful love (whether is shows the right moral standing or not is not our problems). And lets face it, MOST "falling in love" experiences are not like that... personally i read the book, took it for what it was, and MOVED ON! SM has been a character writer from the beginning and the only reason i liked the book was the dialog (which i did not even start to compare to real life) It was cute it was fun and sometimes moving and i even teared up a bit in new moon just cause i could vaguely relate but thats as far as it goes. I like the viewpoint of burn the book, keep it, return it, love it , hate it... either way most dont care...

And the name Renesmee...enough said I hated it at first but it grew on me probably because every book i read has the weirdest names ever came up with... ever. I do agree Bella's personality changed drastically and i was disappointed with the lack of "cheesy" E/B moments but then again i liked hearing about different vampires and their powers... the ending i was expecting cosidering the author. but all in all i was reading for the love story and so many of the books i read dont have that happy of an ending, it was almost a nice break.. you want a weird love triangle or rectangle that never ends or gets better read Wheel of TIme it should satisfy you for a LONG time.. I wont say this backlash reflects on us culturally but honestly people need to stop complaining and actually think about the different author's personalities that are writing these stories.. FANFIC.. please...

and for the anti feminist point of view, here is a good pointer... YOUR THINKING WAY TO MUCH INTO IT! Your smart facade is nice and thought provoking and TOTALLY POINTLESS! I doubt the author even thinks into that much considering she is not writing for literary merit to be compared to Bronte, Shakespeare, etc.. like i said take enthusiam for powerful women where they belong... and i will be reading Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman next i am interested... But really SM cant be compared to a genius like JRRT or other in debt writers.. I do agree though that those other books and heroines are better in the aspect of being strong and in control women as are those in goodkind and Robert Joradans books which will always be my all time favorites :)

[kate]

I loved the book. I personally thought it was fantastic. It was a little diffrent to what I expected, but it grows on you. And the last few pages really did create a sense of closure for myself. And as for people who didnt like it, I think SM didnt a fantastic job at keeping to what the story she saw, she must have been under ALOT of pressure. I think it was an amazing book, full of twisted plots and turns. It was a great ending... althought I hope one day, SM will return for another.

[Theresa]

I agree that I felt a huge letdown when Jacob imprinted on Nessie and everything was just neatly tied up. Perhaps I was more Team Jacob than I thought. Jacob which was one of my favorite characters in the previous books became somewhat annoying. I really enjoyed when Bella became a vampire and the description of how Edward and Bella's relationship could now deepen with nothing holding it back. For me these books are the materialization of a young girl's deepest fantasies. Some of it was over the top but it feels like Meyer is able to write about what we dream our lives/relationships could be which we are too afraid to actually express.

[Carrie]

First of all, the book was okay, they got married, she turned into a vampire and jake finally imprinted. So I agree in all those,

I also agree on the fact wherein I wanted the love traingle to show a bit more, but not much anymore because I wanted Jacob to have his life moving on. So the fact wherein the love triangle didn't show much was fine for me.

The part wherein the pack and the vampire coven become one big happy family, well.. I don't have anything to say, whichever would be okay for me, family or not, they would still have to be truced right? or things would not really work out.

The no dying no bloodshed part was sickening for me. I am not comparing HP books with Twilight because I love both series very much, but then bloodshed would've made it a bit better than what I've read.

The name Reneesme was okay, it was really.. unique. But Jake using Nessie was fine too, I had no problem with that, but I sometimes got quite confused with Renee and Reneesme (yeah.. I get confused cause there's always distractions around)

So overall, the book was fine. Not the best, the second best at least for me. But I almost agree with you. Stephenie can't be perfect, no one is perfect for that matter.

[Lily]

I agree and disagree with that review. why? I'll tell you why.

I agree with the fact that I loved it when they got married, got together, got into Jake's mind and saw things in his perspective. I also liked it when Jake finally imprinted on someone, because I love Jacob Black and I wanted him to get a life for goodness sakes. |:

I disagree with that review though, Harry Potter and Twilight series books shouldn't be compared, they are both great books and I love them both so much! I also don't think that J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer should be compared because they wrote beautiful books which made us fall in love with reading.

To tell you the truth, I was really relieved to find out that no one died, no one got hurt. I mean, I have always wished that it would end happy! Does it mean that if you read the HP 7 book, then you would really want someone to die in this book? I don't think so, I personally think that no one dying in this book was a great idea (though I excepted a good fight) :D

Other facts like, the coven and pack becoming a family due to Jake's imprinting was fine for me. The coven and the pack really needed to become friends in the end, I expected it really, I expected that Jacob with imprint, I expected these things. No more war.

I really thought the book was great. (My opinion) The book was just as great as Eclipse for me, nothing wrong done, I'm in love with the book, and I love Jacob Black. LOL. :))