From Love Vampires:
Eclipse is the third novel in Stephenie Meyer’s popular Twilight series. You really want to have read Twilight and New Moon (in that order) first before reading Eclipse, because the author doesn’t spend too much time expounding the story-lines of the previous novels but rather drops the reader straight in to the story. You also want to read Twilight and New Moon because they are both excellent novels and, trust me, you are missing out if you haven’t read them.
Eclipse carries on not long after New Moon left off. Bella’s high school graduation is approaching and she will soon be leaving Forks forever, ostensibly to go to college - but in reality she is planning to join her boyfriend in his vampire existence and will therefore be unable to return home, due to being dead and possessed by a terrible blood lust for the first few years. Not that the reader is actually taken that far in this story, we make it through graduation but then the dangerous vampires from Seattle come to Forks and dealing with them dominates the rest of the novel.
This is only one part of the story though. Eclipse is primarily a romantic saga, so Bella and Edward’s relationship is the primary focus of the novel. Or as I should say Bella, Edward and Jacob’s relationship - because there is a love triangle in the plot of this novel.
Bella and Jacob have always been friends, at least they were - right up until Jacob became a werewolf. Then the enmity between vampires and werewolves put a huge strain on their friendship. Besides which, Jacob is in love with Bella, who is in love with Edward so this is going to make things awkward between them.
At this point, Eclipse descends into soap opera territory – Bella has found her soul mate in Edward but Jacob is the soul mate she should have / could have / would have had if Edward didn’t exist. She loves him too but not as much as Edward. Why she loves Jacob is beyond me – he knows that she loves Edward but Jacob still tries to make her feel guilty that she can’t love him like he wants her too. Blatant emotional blackmail is unattractive whatever way you serve it up and it detracted from his otherwise fine character. Worse, it lead to a large proportion of this book being devoted to teenage angst and with this book being 628 pages long that a substantial amount of angst!
To be fair, Eclipse is written for the young adult market so I really shouldn’t complain about the teen angst and the drama but for me it meant that this book lacked the magical quality that made Twilight stand out from the crowd of vampire romances available in bookstores today. Don’t misunderstand me - Eclipse is still a really good read. The book didn’t feel like it was over 600 pages long, I literally flew through the pages and had to make a conscious effort to slow down my reading so I didn’t finish the whole book in a couple of sittings.
For teens already hooked on the series, Eclipse is another solid instalment of Forks goodness. Adult readers may be put off by the teenage relationship angst in this novel but if you have already enjoyed the author’s previous offerings I think there is still plenty here to entertain.
It will be intriguing to see where Stephenie Meyer takes the ideas and characters in this series next. Writing for the Young Adult market always means that there is some expectation for the author to set a good example for impressionable young minds and criticisms that Bella’s character is too dependent and needs set a better example for young women seem unfair. This is romantic fantasy – enjoy it!
From YALSA:
I'm a sucker for a good vampire novel and Meyer makes monsters romantic again in this third episode of the Twilight series. The passion colored ribbon snaking across the cover of Eclipse is a harbringer of rift and bloodshed to come. Bella Swan, ordinary high school student, is still madly in love with beautiful vampire Edward Cullen, but it's complicating her friendship with Jacob Black (the one who was there to pick up the pieces when Edward removed himself from her life). Jacob just happens to be a werewolf, and werewolves and vampires are sworn enemies. In addition to the "which boy will she pick" dilemma, a parallel conflict is created when a series of brutal murders in the northwest indicates a rogue vampire pack is on the move, and the Cullens are going to be facing a major showdown soon. Per usual, Bella is wrapped up in the middle of it, and in mortal danger.
The best parts of the book are a long storytelling session in which Billy Black tells the myth of the Third Wife. The attention to detail and careful styling are excellent. A scene in which the love triangle are forced to spend a night in a tent together reveals more character than the previous 500 pages. The allusions to Wuthering Heights elevate the plot and are a nod to the tradition of gothic literature, and may even inspire some teens to pick up a classic.
Frustratingly, Bella remains little more than a pawn in this book, trying to please everyone but herself. Much of this tome is taken up with her obsessing over the events of the backstory, and looking to her future, and whether or not she wants to be married, deflowered, turned, or all three, and when. Although she is a terrible role model for young women (marry young, girls are possessions, let your mate control your life, there is only One True Love, etc), the palpable (and chaste) longing will keep fans of the series swooning.
Eclipse is a must-have for YA collections, in spite of the fact that I personally wanted to throw the book across the room when I finished it. See, I'm holding out hope that in the next book, Breaking Dawn, slated for release next year, Bella snaps out of it and ends up with the RIGHT guy -- for the right reasons. The debate on WHICH guy that will be rages over at Amazon.
-- Beth Gallaway
From Amazon.com
It's just a few weeks before high school graduation, and although most girls Bella Swan's age would be focused on what to wear to the big dance or how to pass Calculus, Bella has a few more important things on her mind. Now that she's been reunited with her vampire boyfriend Edward, Bella must decide whether --- and when --- to join him and his coven, to forsake her mortality (and her friends and family) to live, like Edward, forever.
Bella has grown up a lot since readers first met her in Stephenie Meyer's first novel, TWILIGHT. Back then she was naive, impetuous and easily swayed by Edward's dazzlingly good looks and effortlessly romantic charms. Now, though, in the third book in this series, Bella is finally thinking a little about the implications of her decision to become a vampire and even standing up to Edward's dominating, overprotective tendencies.
Edward is an old-fashioned guy. He won't turn Bella into a vampire unless she marries him first, and the idea of telling him she's getting married at 18 is more terrifying than admitting to her future transformation. Bella would also have to move far away from her beloved father during their dangerous "newborn" vampire period, when she would be unable to control her bloodthirsty urges. And then there's Jake, the werewolf who finally pledges his love to Bella. Is she really ready to leave him behind?
Bella does feel some urgency for this decision, though. She has made some enemies who would be more than happy to harm her while they still can. What's more, there's a newborn vampire on the loose in Seattle, terrorizing humans and threatening either the Cullen family or Bella herself. Clearly, time is running out while Bella hesitates.
Readers who devoured TWILIGHT and NEW MOON will ingest ECLIPSE just as hungrily. Diehard fans may grow weary at the amount of exposition near the novel's beginning, although they may be intrigued to learn more of the vampires' and werewolves' backstories. Since Meyer's books have always been more of a love story than a vampire series, however, many readers will appreciate ECLIPSE's more firm grounding in reality, largely focusing on character realization rather than on melodramatic, metaphysical conflicts.
The further development of the Jake-Bella-Edward love triangle, in particular, will almost certainly appeal to romance fans, and will divide readers according to whom --- the coldly beautiful Edward or the hot-headed Jake --- they think Bella should choose. One thing fans will agree on, though: Bella's fate is far from over, which means readers eventually will be able to savor even more of her story. -- Norah Piehl
take it back?
