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OK, again good writing, especially the dialog, and some (though not much) character development. But three books' worth of buildup and we don't get the wedding night? WTF ?!? We get several explicit pages of the agony Bella goes through to become a vampire and literally ZERO pages of their lovemaking on their wedding night. And the only mentions of their lovemaking we do get make Bella sound like the victim of a beating. So violence, pain, etc is OK to go into graphic detail, but physical love and passion between two married people isn't? There's something very wrong with this.
Also 2-3/4 books of buildup and the VOLTURI !!! just fade away with no battle? Again I say, WTF?!!?? Not hat I wanted lots of people to die in a huge battle at the end. I just feel like it was a giant bait and switch. The buildup presented the conflicts as being so major, so central to the story, such huge threats to Bella's happiness -- but then one after another they magically resolve themselves, through no actions of Bella's; because of that the ending comes across flat, like a feel-good lesson in peaceful resistance instead of like a glorious victory.
Which is my biggest beef with this book. Bella gets entirely and completely everything she wanted, and it costs her exactly nothing. She gets to be immortal (and spectacularly beautiful), she gets to be "special" and skip the years of ravening bloodlust most newborns have, she gets an immortal husband, she gets to have a child (which she didn't even think she wanted but of course every woman needs to be a mother to be really fulfilled) who conveniently grows to the age of about 20 and then is immortal as well, she gets to keep Jacob as a friend, she gets to maintain a relationship with her parents, she suddenly and inexplicably at the crucial moment figures out how to use her shield, and the Volturi suddenly turn all reasonable and agree to go quietly away.
I wanted to like the outcome of the face-off against the Volturi and their allies (and in fact at first reading, tearing through to find out what happens, I did like it). It's definitely original; the idea that one can mount an effective defense built on strength, friendship, unity, and truth certainly isn't one that gets a lot of ink or screen time. But to have every single problem just evaporate into thin air on the way to this ending is way too Disney. Bella pays no price, gives up nothing, works for nothing. (OK, she went through hell being pregnant, I'll give her that., although we're taken out of Bella's POV just at that point, so we get none of her thoughts about it.) The happily-ever-after ending wasn't earned, it was a gift.
Also 2-3/4 books of buildup and the VOLTURI !!! just fade away with no battle? Again I say, WTF?!!?? Not hat I wanted lots of people to die in a huge battle at the end. I just feel like it was a giant bait and switch. The buildup presented the conflicts as being so major, so central to the story, such huge threats to Bella's happiness -- but then one after another they magically resolve themselves, through no actions of Bella's; because of that the ending comes across flat, like a feel-good lesson in peaceful resistance instead of like a glorious victory.
Which is my biggest beef with this book. Bella gets entirely and completely everything she wanted, and it costs her exactly nothing. She gets to be immortal (and spectacularly beautiful), she gets to be "special" and skip the years of ravening bloodlust most newborns have, she gets an immortal husband, she gets to have a child (which she didn't even think she wanted but of course every woman needs to be a mother to be really fulfilled) who conveniently grows to the age of about 20 and then is immortal as well, she gets to keep Jacob as a friend, she gets to maintain a relationship with her parents, she suddenly and inexplicably at the crucial moment figures out how to use her shield, and the Volturi suddenly turn all reasonable and agree to go quietly away.
I wanted to like the outcome of the face-off against the Volturi and their allies (and in fact at first reading, tearing through to find out what happens, I did like it). It's definitely original; the idea that one can mount an effective defense built on strength, friendship, unity, and truth certainly isn't one that gets a lot of ink or screen time. But to have every single problem just evaporate into thin air on the way to this ending is way too Disney. Bella pays no price, gives up nothing, works for nothing. (OK, she went through hell being pregnant, I'll give her that., although we're taken out of Bella's POV just at that point, so we get none of her thoughts about it.) The happily-ever-after ending wasn't earned, it was a gift.
