Reading the last book in a series is always bittersweet. At the same time, I was really looking forward to it. Stephenie Meyer tells an engaging tale. From the first book, Twilight, I wanted know what was going to happen. I wanted to know if Bella and Edward were going to get together. I wanted to know if Belle was going to become a vampire. And it's finally here. The end to the journey. Now here's the problem. When I get excited and want to find out what's going to happen, I tend to skim. I read super fast and of course, lose things. In this, I mean, I lose text, nuances, even bits and pieces of the storyline because I read so fast. All just to find out what is going to happen. However this is not a problem with Stephenie Meyer's books. The writing is simple and simplistic so it is easy to read, easy to follow.
Now onto the story. Bella and Edward must fulfill their promise to each other. Bella begins to plan their wedding, or rather Alice begins to plan their wedding and Edward will make Bella a vampire after they are married. Jacob returns have a dance with Belle at the reception as a sign of his reluctant acceptance. Then Edward takes Bella on an elaborate honeymoon on Rene's island. They consummate their marriage with much reluctance on Edward's part. Not because he does not love Bella. On the contrary, he is reluctant because he loves her too much. Edward is afraid that in his passion, he will crush and hurt Bella. They wake up the following morning to find the bed mangled. Bella wakes up completely ecstatic but to Edward's horror, Bella is completely bruised. He swears to not touch Bella again, to Bella's dismay, and tries to distract with all the wonders of the island. Bella is distracted and not feeling well. She quickly comes to the conclusion that she is pregnant. Bella is overjoyed. Edward is not. Vampires apparently are unable to reproduce. And legend says that those that do, do not fare well. Legend has it that the "babies" are monsters, so Edward's initial is less than positive. His immediate call to Carlisle spurs him to get Bella back home to Forks to get rid of the "spawn." Bella immediately forms an alliance with Rosalie, who she has never gotten along with, to protect the baby. Rosalie who longs for her former, normal life where she could have grown up, married and had a family has a second chance with Bella's baby.
Although Bella is newly pregnant, her stages of pregnancy is advancing at a rapid pace. By the time she returns to Fork, she is clearly showing, feels the baby kicking and is having difficulty walking. Bella refuses to allow anyone to harm the baby despite the damage the baby is doing to her. She is unable to move, breathe or eat. The baby even ends up breaking her ribs with its kicks. But nothing can convince her the baby is evil. She continues to have beautiful dreams about the baby boy she thinks she is going to have.
Jacob returns to this "horror," and remains because it makes Bella happy. And Edward will put up with anything, even Jacob, to keep Bella happy. For once Jacob and Edward are truly on the same side in wanting Bella to end this horror of a pregnancy because they know it will kill Belle.
There are unknown dangers of a vampire child. The werewolves are "obligated" to kill the it and in doing so, its mother. Jacob, an alpha in his own right because he is a direct descendent of the first werewolf, leaves his pack and forms his own. At first he meant to be a lone pack but two others join him - Leah and Seth. Seth had formed a bond with Edward after fighting the vampires in Eclipse. And as an alpha, Jacob gives Edward permission to break the Convenant formed by years ago by the werewolves and the vampires, in order to save Bella's life. So the werewolves will no longer go after the vampires after Bella is made into a vampire.
A couple realizations are made. Since Bella is unable to keep any food down, the idea that because she is carrying a vampire child, perhaps it is blood that she is craving. And it actually works. Edward also realizes that he is able to read the baby's mind and has a conversation with the baby to let the baby know that all the movements have been hurting Mommy. And that works, too. The baby actually relays to Edward how much Mommy is loved. This now endears Edward to the child and they have made the step towards being a loving family. Jacob has lost his ally in Edward. The baby tries its best to not hurt Mommy but soon cannot help it. The time has come for Bella to give birth. Bella may die. Or will she?
Giving birth is killing her. It is literally tearing Bella apart. It is then that Edward chooses to make Belle a vampire by injecting her with his vampire blood. Rosalie escapes with the baby. Clearly, the baby is her first priority. The baby is a little girl, not the baby boy that Bella dreamed she was carrying. She names her Renesmee, after her mother and Edward's mother.
The transformation begins. Bella feels the burn searing through her veins throughout her body, along with a rapid heartbeat. This accelerates and accelerates for what seems like an eternity until it comes to a sudden stop. The transformation is complete. Belle is now a vampire.
Bella jumps up with the kind of agility and grace that she most definitely never had. Edward is wary. Everyone knows how dangerous and strong a newborn vampire is. Bella feels a bit a wariness of her own as she feels the tension in the air emanating from the other vampires. But Bella can only think of her baby. The circumstances under which Bella finally sees her baby girl is strange. Everyone is afraid of Bella's new abilities. As a newborn vampire, she is stronger than everyone else there. They are afraid not for themselves, but for her newborn who is half human and has human blood flowing in her veins. Bella shows amazing self control. Jasper who has had much experience with newborn vampires is astonished by Bella.
Surprisingly, the most protective over Renesmee is not Edward, not Rosalie or any of the other vampires. The one who hovers over the most is Jacob. Jacob has imprinted on Renesmee. Renesmee is Jacob's true mate. Bella is not happy.
Renesmee is a very special baby. It only takes one look at her to figure that out. She is unlike any other newborn. Yes, she is half human and half vampire, but there is more to it. Renesmee is very alert and aware, much more than a newborn should be at a few days old. We soon discover that Renesmee is aging at rapid pace, which explains the advanced pregnancy that caused Bella to give birth at a few months. This is a cause for concern. Carlisle is pooling all his resources to figure out what may or may not happen to Renesmee. Renesmee's growth is monitored and she appears to be toddler size before long. Thankfully, the rapid pace of growth as slowed down a little. She is not aging as quickly as she did at birth.
Renesmee also has her own abilities, not unlike her very special parents. With a touch, Renesmee is able to project her thoughts onto other people. It is the mirror image of Edward's abilities. She is able to "speak" to people and let people know her thoughts and desires despite being a newborn.
It is against vampire creed to make vampire children because they are dangerous and uncontrollable. So when Renesmee is seen by a lurking vampire and is mistaken to be one, the Volturi are informed. The Volturi begin to make their way to Forks to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens.
The Cullens gather their fellow vampires from around the world to stand as their witnesses as to Renesmee being a special human vampire child, in hopes that the Volturi will at least pause long enough to listen to their case. There is resistance for fear that Volturi will destroy them or the Cullens will expect them to fight. The Cullens only want witnesses.
In the meanwhile, Alice and Jasper disappear to places unknown. Speculation is that Alice was running away from what she know who spell doom for the Cullens. However, Alice did leave an innocuous clue for Bella, and only Bella. The page from a book leads Bella to a forger of all people. Bella deduces and determines that if all fails and Volturi destroys the Cullens, Renesmee will escape and start a new life as someone else. Bella has to be the one who sets this plan in motion because her mind is protected from Edward and the Volturi.
By the time the Volturi arrive with their entourage, the Cullens and many of their witnesses have formed a bond. Bella has also learned to finesse her special abilities. Her barrier that protects her thoughts from Edward has been honed to be a physical shield which she has been working on to protect not only herself but those around her.
The Volturi is taken aback by huge show of support for the Cullens. They destroy Irina for her mistake of leading them there. However, the Volturi still feel that Renesmee must not be allowed to live because they do not know the consequences of her existence. The Volturi make a show of deliberating while making hidden attempts to pick off some of the Cullens and their friends. If not for Bella's expanded abilities to formulate an invisible shield, the Volturi would have won.
Alice and Jasper arrive to save the day. They return from South America with an existing 150 year old human vampire that looks like a teenager. This first gives hope to Bella and Edward that Renesmee will live a long life and not prematurely die. This also shows the Volturi that Renesmee will not be a danger to vampire's secret existence.
The Volturi leave. And Bella, Edward and Renesmee can begin to enjoy their life together. The end.
I read that there was a lot of backlash for Breaking Dawn. I know that Breaking Dawn did not have many fans. But I actually liked this book. I liked Breaking Dawn better than Eclipse which I knew was a favorite of many. I felt that something was finally happening in this book. Things were finally going somewhere. The previous books were in stasis and things were finally happening in Breaking Dawn. Bella's little secret spy mission was a little weird and seemed to be a bit of a simplistic solution to the problem. But it's not like I can think of one better. It was a departure of the direction of the storyline that we were used to Twilight. But it made sense, sort of. Bella holding the key to Renesmee's safety in case all else fails. Bella is the one with the mind who noone can read.
Now Breaking Dawn isn't my favorite of the Twilight series. My favorite of the Twilight series is actually one that Stephenie Meyer has not written yet. Yes, I am referring to Midnight Sun, the companion book to Twilight. It is the first book that is from Edward's point of view. Supposedly a copy of one of the initial drafts of Midnight Sun was leaked on the internet. Now Stephenie Meyer feels violated and will not finish writing the book. At least not yet. She has released the draft on her website. So of course I had to read it. I know there are many Twilight devotees who vow not to read Midnight Sun until it is published but I am not one of them. I had to read it once I found out about it. I loved the concept of Midnight Sun. I've always wanted to know what someone was thinking both in real life and in stories. I want to know what is going through their head. Maybe I'm just a nosy person, but that's just how I am. The idea that Midnight Sun is the counterpart to Twilight which is from Bella's perspective is awesome. I was reading Midnight Sun thinking, oh, that's why he did that. So that explains why he said that. I loved it. I really do hope that Stephenie Meyer decides to complete Midnight Sun.
