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Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: ATOM
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
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Rating:  170 reviews
Sales Rank: 32
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 768
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.6 x 2.4
ISBN: 1905654286
EAN: 9781905654284
ASIN: 1905654286
Publication Date: August 4, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 One word: Amazing! *NO SPOILERS* for those of you who havn't read it yet! August 6, 2008
Elizabeth (Brighton, UK)
52 out of 67 found this review helpful
Breaking Dawn is a fitting end to the story of Bella, Edward and Jacob, and all the other characters we have come to know and love. Meyer really has a way with words, painting a scene exquisitly without boring the pants off the reader with too much detail! It is a very long book, and in fact it has three 'mini' books within, from the viewponts of Bella, Jacob, and then Bella again repectively, and yet I felt that every word was required, and I actually wanted more and more - I didn't want to let go of the story, and I read the whole book in one sitting (losing some sleep along the way too). The POW switch to Jacob is interesting, if not a tad irritating at first, because the reader gets that much more of an insight to is suffering and (in his mind) rightful hatred of the 'bloodsuckers'.
There are lots and lots of unexpected twists and turns in BD (perhaps a reason for some of the very harsh reactions against Breaking Dawn - it's not the book many fans expected it to be, however for me it had everything I expected and more, so surely that's a bonus?), with new plot lines and ideas, and new and old characters; in particular, I really felt that the reader comes to know the Cullen family properly, and to love them too. They have always been interesting minor characters in the previous three books (with the exception of Alice perhaps-she was always more of a major character), but in BD they all come to life beautifully.
Some readers would argue that the characters change personalities in BD, Bella in particular; I would say rather that all that she has been through is finally making its mark. She goes through two life-changing events in this book, and comes out all the more stronger for it. She was always stubborn, and I found that her personality developed and sharpened, which seemed a more natural development than if she had stayed exactly the same as the Bella we all know and love in the previous three books.
Other characters that undergoe a welcome development and grow from the 2 dimensional characters that they were before, are Jasper and Leah. We get an insight into both of their actions and behaviour in the previous books, and I for one found Jasper to be all the likeable instead of the cautious and slightly indifferent character we were faced with in Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse.
Not so much as a review from this point but a bit of a rant:
I really don't know why everyone hates the book so much! I think Stephenie Meyer is a victim of her own success, with fans writing their own version of events in their heads and developing Bella and Edward into people that that they never were! I'm not saying the BD is perfect, and neither were the previous 3 books in my opinion, but the characters behave exactly how you would expect them to, in accordance to how Meyer has portrayed them and bulit them up in the previous novels. They are S Meyer's creation, so she can do what she wants with them.
I knew a few spoilers before I read the book, so maybe I enjoyed it more because I was expecting less...there are some aspects of the book that I understand that some people might be less than happy with, with some scenes a bit more graphic than people might be used to. I personally wasn't offended by them and actually thought they added to the tension and drama of the plot, but I know this isn't the same for all readers.
I do, however, truely believe that the plot follows the only path it can (at the risk of sounding corney. I'm trying really hard not to give spoilers here people-harder than you think).
SM knew the outcome of the saga before she even wrote Twilight, and I think that that really shows: everything really comes together at the end, and I could really imagine how life would continue for all the characters beyond the pages. Some people were upset by the 'neat little package', but Hello? reality check: It's a book for teenagers (mostly) and it's S Meyer's first venture as an author; who wouldn't want to exert the power of the creator and make sure everything turns out just the way you want it to?
Sorry, I know im going a bit off the point here, but I can't help it, and if you enjoy BD as much as I did then you'll feel the same! NB: I was fully prepared to hate the book btw, I'm not giving it 5 stars just beacuse so many people have slated it! It deserves every one in my opinion.
Also, just to say, some people have been making a huge fuss about really small things, such as a name and a nickname for example, and I really think that's unfair on Stephenie! Yes, the nickname is a bit...well, yes, stupid, but the characters of the book themsleves admit this! It's not like they're living in a hunky dory world picking flowers and watching rainbows. The main characters react EXACTLY how they should act, and if anyone who's read the previous three books would know their personalities by now and should recognise that as truth. I think people should stop pasting their own faces over Bella and imaginag how they would have done things differently, and just accept that what Bella does is a consequense of her personality!
Not that it isn't a bit annoying but hey...
And back to the review...:
Anyway, enough of the rant. If you cancel your order, or decide not to give 'Breaking Dawn' a chance to even win you over as the other three books have done, all because of some stupid spoilers and rumours and bad reviews, then you will be missing a stunning conclusion to the saga. I'm still thinking about the book now, and when I finished it I actually sat in silence, in awe, for a few moments...please keep an open mind and enjoy BD like it deserves to be enjoyed!! Thank you :)
Its her creation! August 6, 2008
M. J. Hillier-broadley (MK, England)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am a relative newbie to the Twilight series only discovering it two weeks ago, but over the course of a weekend, much to my husbands amusement I devoured the first three books and couldn't wait for the fourth. At 27 I realise I am not the target audience for this series but I have really enjoyed all of the books and this one was no exception. I'm not denying that there were some huge plot holes, but I think for me at least a happy ending was a good ending. I could have personally lived without the whole Nessie situation but I did think it stayed true to S Meyers theme throughout all the books of self sacrificial love and I suppose this cannot be better demonstrated than through a mothers love for their child. Jacob imprinting on Nessie I did think was a little absurd but it didn't make me uncomfortable as I thought S Meyer had explained the process quite well in previous books and if anyone found anything unsavoury in this that has more to do with them than her intent in writing it. It maybe would have been nice to see him end up with Leah. Overall I thought this was a good end to the series and I can't wait for the next one written from Edwards perspective.
a fantasic read August 11, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
*SPOILERS BELLOW*
I have been looking forward for this book for a long long time and though the story line didn't go at all the way I expected it, eg, bella falling pregnant, I could not understand how many people are giving this book a bad name.
The fact that it is split into 3 parts and jacob being one of the narrators, i feel that this gives an insight on how the story looks from a completely different point of view, though bella's descriptions were fantastic, i felt that jacobs description was more down to earth.
The first three books of the twilight saga were fantastic in their own way, but because in breaking dawn bella and edward got married there was bound to be changes in their relationship. I don't know why people were upset by the fact that Bella became pregnant, if they are married, shouldn't a baby be a happy occasion? I think that was what meyer was trying to portray, that Bella and Edward were no longer children, that since the first book down to the last, they had both matured very much.
I find it good that Jacob managed to imprint on someone because I knew that he couldn't have Bella no matter how hard he tried, but still I didn't want him to be the person to all alone at the end.
I think that thing about this book is that it has a very happy ending, maybe some people can't come to terms with that because that had expected something much more sadder, maybe that a charactor dies or whatever, I think that the ending was a beautiful finish to the twilight series and people should stop giving meyer a hard time. How can she please tens of thousands of people who each have their story lines, each having their favourite charaters?
The ending of this book sort of brings the twilight saga to an end, because everything ends so perfectly. After reading the ending, i won't be lieing in bed at night thinking about what may happen next because the ending to the book was just that--An ending to the whole of the series and I think that after some parts of the book had made me whoop with laughter and some bring tears to my eyes and some making my heart beat unstopably, I knew that stephenie meyer had not failed in writing to her standards as so many people have said.
Breaking Dawn was NOT was I expecting. It was SO MUCH MORE! August 7, 2008
Avid Reader (USA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Breaking Dawn was a very fast paced and action packed installment of the Twilight series. Twilight introduced us to Bella, her father, and Edward and the Cullen clan. Even the town of Forks is a character in this book. It was the foundation. New Moon gave us heartbreak, suspense, reconciliation, and reunion. We also got to know Jacob and the Quileute tribe legends, which gave us the background for the werewolf (shape-shifter) plot line. Eclipse developed the love triangle and the natural progression of Edward and Bella. And now Breaking Dawn takes all of these foundations and continues the story from there.
Throughout the first three books, many characters were described in so much depth that you could almost feel as if you knew them intimately, so much so that you could anticipate what they would do in every situation. And I think therein may lie the polarization we're seeing in readers' opinions of the story. With so many people so engrossed in this saga, each was bound to have strong expectations of what "should have" happened in the story. And when it deviated, I'm guessing that it took many by surprise, reacting with shock, betrayal, and anger.
I, for one, absolutely loved this book! In fact, it is my favorite of the four. It felt more mature, not just in the content but in the writing style. Every question I had was answered, but sometimes the answer was contained in one little sentence that could have been easily overlooked if you weren't reading carefully. There were no wasted words here. I didn't feel any absence of emotion, and the characters flowed seamlessly for me. By knowing them so well, I didn't need pages of every single thought Bella had to describe her interactions with Edward. I got enough of that in the the first three books. This final book went beyond and gave us the story without as much of Bella's internal dialogue. (Of course, we got plenty of Jacob internal dialogue, which was nice because we didn't have that before.)
This book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The tenderness, the unexpected surprises, and the humor kept me reading from 12:30AM when I got home from the store, to 10:30AM when I read the last page. Not even Harry Potter's final book kept me completely awake like this. I went through a whole range of emotions, each one so potent it was as if I was living the story. That, to me, is what makes a 5-star book. I read fiction for entertainment, and this book definitely met the mark for me!
Ok, that's my basic review, sans spoilers. If you have the stamina (or the interest), below I have specific instances of what I liked, sometimes seeming almost a rebuttal of some of the main things that so many people seem to be having problems with. For some reason, I feel a need to offset some of the hateful comments I've been reading. It makes me sad that so many have taken their disappointment in the book and directed such hateful emotions toward Ms. Meyer. She stated just last night in the Q&A at Chicago's concert series that she had planned this ending from the very beginning. It was the publishers that wanted to keep Bella a teenager for a longer period of time. I feel as if Twilight and Breaking Dawn is Ms. Meyer's original story, and New Moon and Eclipse were products of publishers and marketing.
*** SPOILERS BELOW ***
Things I Liked:
* Very fast paced. It was as if I couldn't read fast enough! Many are complaining that there are not enough scenes with Bella and Edward, but I personally felt there was so much inner dialogue with Bella in the first three books, that if I didn't know her by now, I never would. So, in a sense, I didn't feel any of that missing.
* Lots of unexpected twists and turns! This was awesome! What was I honestly expecting? Really, I didn't have too many expectations, but I suppose I thought the first half of the book would be Bella hesitating to become a vampire, and then I thought it would focus on the hardship Edward would have to go through actually biting her and taking her human life from her.
With the advent of Bella's life-threatening pregnancy, the hesitation to change her wasn't there for Edward. It was either that or lose her entirely. This story twist was unexpected, but totally satisfying for me. Actually much more exciting than the boring story plot I had thought of!
* Bella's pregnancy. The biggest shock for me! As many other readers, I didn't think that Edward would be able to father a child. But the explanation she gave in the book satisfied me. Edward had said previously that he couldn't have children. Well, of course he would say that because he didn't know himself. But Ms. Meyer had planned this pregnancy all along, so she explained that she was always very careful about how she had to word these questions, limiting her explanations as to why female vampires couldn't get pregnant. (See Twilight Lexicon's News page for Aug. 5, the Q&A from the Chicago concert.)
* Jacob's story. I wasn't expecting a change in Point of View, but I suppose it was foreshadowed in the Epilogue of Eclipse. And I was pleasantly surprised! Though it's hard to go through the pain he endures for Bella, the sarcasm he uses to deal with it had me laughing out loud. I enjoyed the bonding between Jacob and Edward, something we wouldn't have gotten had we not had his story line. Another highlight in this section were his chapter titles. Hilarious! With Jacob's book, we were able to see the characters from someone else's point of view, and I felt we were better able to see Edward's pain. Had we had Bella's pregnancy told from her eyes, we wouldn't have seen half of this as Edward was always trying not to show her how he was feeling. (Not to mention she was so out of it for a good portion of it that we wouldn't have had much to read.)
* Bella's birth. Yes, I know it was graphic, but that made it so much more powerful. (And I confess, I'm the type that enjoys Stephen King novels.)
* Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee. Ok, it wasn't my favorite part, but was described and fell in line with how it was described in New Moon. There was nothing sexual about it; in fact his behavior following the imprinting was more like an overprotective father. And it made sense, as they both had 24 sets of chromosomes: half-breeds.
* Bella's transformation into a vampire. Wow! What descriptions! To read about how much pain she felt gave us that much more appreciation for her level of self-control, which is the explanation behind how she could bypass the newborn stage all together. And the pages of description of how she viewed everything from her new vampire eyes was remarkable. It gave me a whole new appreciation for how much self-control Edward had with Bella when she was human. (Which would explain why he was able to always keep her off him whenever she wanted to do more than kiss.)
* Bella as a vampire. I loved her as a vampire. She seems so much more sure of herself, and she is able to embrace her new life with grace and joy. Of course she's not the same person (thank goodness); she's seeing the world through very different eyes. The difference in her is also described by how she sees her memories of mortality, as if she's looking through murky water. Being a vampire definitely suits Bella; it's as if she was born for it. It's about time that Edward is in awe of Bella; she deserves it.
* Introduction of other vampires. I loved reading about different vampires and how different other people's gifts could be. And we finally got to know the Denali clan better. It was just enough to be interesting but not so much that it had to become its own book. It also gives Stephenie (or fanfiction writers) plenty of opportunities to expand other characters' story lines.
* Nice happy ending. There was nothing I wanted more than for Edward and Bella to finally be together without any more interruptions (James, Volturi, Victoria and the newborns). They really deserved that. And I was thrilled that Jacob could finally be at peace from the torture Bella had put him through for two books.
My favorite part was the very end, the final two pages, when Bella is able to finally show Edward what is in her head. That one thing right there completed the bond they already had, making it infinitely more powerful and intimate.
Disappointments:
There aren't many, but there are a few.
*Really not a Young Adult book. I think this book did cross the line from YA to adult, not only based on content, but on the style in which it was written. It required more thought and consideration from the reader to find their answers buried in the prose. The difference between the style of Twilight and the style of Breaking Dawn is very obvious. And I do think the publishers should have put a label on this book, for the birthing scene alone.
* Honeymoon. I wouldn't have minded a tiny bit more detail of their first experience making love. It didn't have to be a lot, but it could have been more than them just walking into deeper water. I did love the way Ms. Meyer answered my own personal question of how Bella could possibly make love to Edward if he is always as cold as ice. Wouldn't be very comfortable, I'm sure.
* Absence of Alice. Lots of Rosalie. I love Alice, so it was tough having her take *such* a backseat. Rosalie definitely had the bigger part, and even though I thought her interactions were Jacob were funny, I never saw any redeeming qualities in her. It was plain that she cared far more for the baby (that she was never able to have) then about Bella's safety. I was just hoping that maybe this was the opportunity for Rosalie and Bella to bond, but I didn't feel that at all.
* Renesmee. My first reaction was: "What kind of a name is that??" But I'm giving Ms. Meyer a break here. There are plenty of names I hear throughout the day when my kids tell me about their classmates, that I'm quite used to unusual names. It was just very difficult to adjust to.
* Lack of scenes between Edward and Renesmee. We know that Edward loves Renesmee because of the reverence Bella hears Edward use when he talks about her, but we see far more interaction between Jacob and Nessie than Edward and Nessie. Jacob acts more like the dad than Edward. I would have preferred to see a little more there.
* Anticlimactic Volturi ending. I was thoroughly expecting a battle. Even a little one. They could have at least gotten rid of Demetri and one of the nomad vampires without having us suffer through the loss of one our beloved Cullens, but nothing. I know that a battle would have made this book maybe another 100 pages, it just made me feel as if the air was let out of my balloon. Of course, the flip side to that is that we know the Volturi will not leave the Cullens alone forever. Eventually, they will try to come back to accomplish their original mission. It's not as if the main characters will change that much; they're all immortal, so they'll all meet up again someday.
Overall, a wonderful story told with much finesse. It may have felt a little rushed, but I think that's from the viewpoint of the other three books that told a 200-page story in 400 pages. I don't need everything spelled out for me to the nth degree; I can read between the lines. And Breaking Dawn certainly made that necessary. It was an incredible finish to the Twilight Saga!
Loved this book August 5, 2008
HBN
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Lots of people seem dissapointed that in this book Bella did not have to suffer too much.
I think that to be fair, Over the course of the series, Bella, to be frank, has suffered enough and I liked the fact that it actually brought the series nicely to a close. Bella made plenty of sacrifices and got her just rewards. If the book had ended (as the last in the series) on a negative note, with Bella being forced to give up yet more, I would have disliked this book hugely.
There's enough sacrifices to be made in real life which don't always have happy endings without the world of fiction becoming that way too.
So well done Stephenie Meyer; a great final ending to a great series - though i don't think the name Nessie should have ever been used. Ever.
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