Sickening Sweet Finale With Perverted Twist Lacks Grace, Style And Substance
This methodical wind-up to the series is contrived, disingenuous and just plain awful. The first half is a (hokey, slightly nauseating) melodrama which predictably unfolds at a slow to moderate pace and peaks at the birth scene. Then, a lead character distastefully, predictably, and ludicrously mate bonds with the infant despite his longstanding love for the mother and adult male heterosexuality. Near the middle of the book, the pace modestly picks up as a deja vu confrontation starts developing. However, the fight preparations drag on and the potential dispute resolves without any climax or fighting. (It's a long, slow build-up to a big nothing.) Then, the story comes to a convenient, consequence-free end. I thoroughly enjoyed the first three books in this series, but this final installment was a disappointment.
In addition to the plot and pace problems, I was particularly dissatisfied by the author's abandonment of the heroine's intelligent, self-questioning/doubting, insightful, girl-next-door characterization. During her honeymoon, the heroine (Bella) becomes uncharacteristically irrational, brainless and certain refusing to consider any termination of an unplanned, unnatural and deadly pregnancy. In doing so she conspires against Edward, her new vampire husband, who desperately wants her to have a medically necessary abortion. (Note, her cloying emotional certainty completely undermines her supposed intelligence, mental balance and/or any true empathy for Edward. Further, Bella's implied underlying 'pro-life' moral certainty indicates a hypocrisy which condones and/or does not oppose human-slaughtering vampires but resists reasonable/necessary life termination.)
After the first person narrative switches to the heroine's previous love interest Jacob, he describes her deplorable physical condition, Edward's mental anguish, and, eventually, a horrifically gory (never-go-though childbirth) scene. (A sophomoric and/or overly generous/sentimental perspective might interpret Bella's suffering as self-sacrificing; however, any rationale mind is forced to recognize her incredible, indurate stupidity and self-absorbed disregard for those who love her as evidenced by her continuation of a pregnancy which is undeniably killing both her and her unborn fetus.)
When the narrative returns to the heroine, Bella becomes remote, inaccessible and flawless without experiencing any of the control issues associated with vampirism, and she eventually gains unprecedented powers. At this point, a reader would have a greater chance of identifying and/or empathizing with a statue of the Virgin Mary than connecting with this 'super' Bella. In sum, Bella's character progression, (from cloyingly sentimental, mind-numbingly irrational incubator to long-suffering, half-witted, putrefying invalid culminating in an unassailable, vampiric paragon/protector), significantly soured this story for me.
Similarly, Edward and Jacob (and others) are portrayed out-of-character in various parts of the book. (Most glaring is Jacob's mated bonding with Bella's baby daughter. It's contrary to Jacob's longstanding love for Bella and, when you think about it, perverted. Even if Jacob just gives the child what she needs in accordance with her age limitations, he has adult needs and his interest in Bella's baby daughter is downright unwholesome.) IMO, the author tries to shoehorn the characters into a bogus (happily-ever-after) scenario which isn't remotely believable.
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback.
Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview
This Special Edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller includes:The ...