Sad News...

This just makes me sad...I don't know what the "leaker" thought would be accomplished, but I doubt it was Meyer completely putting the book on hold.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6592004.html?desc=topstory


I hope you're happy, Leaker Person. I know I'm not.

~taminator40

Breaking Dawn

Ah, Breaking Dawn. The long anticipated end to Stephenie Meyer's hugely successful series that began with Twilight finally landed in stores last Saturday at 12:01 a.m. but I wasn't there. I did, however, take my happy self to Borders early (okay, early for me--11:00 a.m.) to pick up my very own copy. Is it wrong to admit that I immediately sneaked a peak at the last page just to ensure that my two lovers would be together? Nope, won't answer that. I headed home, determined to finish the 752 page book over two days.

Two days past my deadline for finishing, I closed the book and put it gently on the shelf near the others. It's taken me all day to think of the review I want to do for Breaking Dawn; it's very obvious that it's a polarizing novel, judging by the often incoherent reviews posted on Amazon. I've decided to forego posting a review there, at least for now; I have a feeling that a traditional review would be trashed at the moment. Anyway, back to the book and my thoughts on it.

I liked it.

What did I like specifically? I like that Meyer took us where we didn't think we'd go. I like that she took chances with her characters, making them step outside their own comfort zones and find things within themselves worth fighting for. I loved that she devoted an entire section to Jacob, a character I'll admit I never felt overly sympathetic for; seeing events from his point of view was the absolute perfect way to move the story along at a crucial point and give us reasons why Jacob was acting as he did. I love the titles for those chapters from Jacob's point of view!

I like that Meyer was able to have Bella incorporate her old family into her new one, and I like how Bella's insecurity was challenged once she moved onto her destiny. (How's that for being vague so as not to give away spoilers--unlike the bajillion teens on Amazon?). I looooved the transition piece; it could not have been done any better, in my opinion. I was there in the room with Edward, Bella, and Jacob and I was breathing with Bella every step of the way. I loved the developing relationship between the vampires and the wolves, and I loved how Jacob felt about Renesmee. I think it was realistically done since Meyer *had* set us up for the possibility earlier. I do believe she'd planned the whole thing out early on.

I suppose it's a spoiler to say I love the happy ending, but I do believe in happy endings. I loved that through it all I could feel the commitment between Edward and Bella. That's what drove me into the story in the first place, and that never changed.

Now for what I didn't like. Even though I feel that Meyer made a courageous and interesting choice in taking her characters into a phase of life they hadn't expected, I felt it was all a bit too sci-fi (I posted earlier that I kept being reminded of Star Trek TNG and Troi's rushed pregnancy). I still don't understand the need for Renesemee to grow so rapidly other than the prove a point in the end to the Volturi (okay, I know that one's a spoiler). I got tired of all the hand-wringing waiting, and the surprise appearance at the end was a little too convenient. I didn't care for all the vampire support turning up at the end, though I understand the *why* of it. I also felt that Bella discovering her gift and then fully realizing it just when it was most needed was a bit much.

There were parts I loved and parts I didn't care for, but I think Meyer is to be commended for not just writing the pat final installment that would have pleased the masses. There was a definite maturing in the characters that I found surprisingly appealing, and a strong undercurrent of emotion that has always been the basis for the stories. I am sure that I will be thinking of this final novel in the series for a very long time, and finding that I am looking very favorably on it. The good outweighs the bad; I closed the last page and smiled. That's what any good book should do: crawl inside you and make you feel. Goal accomplished.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

I wish I had more words to describe how much I love The Host by Stephenie Meyer. From its earliest pages, I was captured by the alternative Earth Ms. Meyer creates; we meet Wanderer, the alien who has been inserted into a young woman's body in order to live a lifetime here on Earth. Thinking things will go just as they have in her other eight lifetimes, Wanderer is jolted to learn that Melanie, her human host, has no intentions of leaving her body and her mind to be taken over. That Wanderer is a sympathetic character makes the story more than just an us vs. them tale; the relationships between the characters bring forth so many emotions that I found myself literally peeking ahead to see what was going to happen next. This is a tale that's crawled into my own soul, and one I can highly, highly recommend. I give it a much fuller review at amazon: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1F7JLZ1BDPVP3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm. Read this book.

~taminator40

A Short Review

This is a short review of a book I grabbed from school entitled Dance With a Vampire by Ellen Schreiber. The book is an ARC so I can't review it on amazon, but I'll give it a go here. It's the story of Raven, a Goth teen, and her vampire boyfriend, Alexander. Apparently it's the 4th book in a series (which I didn't realize when I scarfed it from our librarian), but it was easy to follow. It's definitely light reading, and full of teenage romance/angst. Raven and Alexander are faced with a pint-sized vampire named Valentine who is bent on revenge for his older brother and sister who were driven out of the town (aptly titled Dullsville). I see this book as sort of a light introduction to the idea of vampires, and since I'm currently enamored of them (thank you, Edward Cullen, from Stephenie Meyer's superb books Twilight and New Moon), I think it's a highly appropriate introduction for middle schoolers. Not great reading, but entertaining, and that's the main thing. I won't be searching out the others in the series, but I would feel very comfortable recommending them to any of my middle school students.

~taminator40