Wednesday, 9 December 2020

ECLIPSE by Stephenie Meyer


“‘Bella?’ Edward’s soft voice came from behind me. He pulled me into his arms at once, and kissed me. His kiss frightened me. There was way too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine – like he was afraid we only had so much time left to us. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob – knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?”

What is the book about?

Edward and Bella are back together and Bella’s friendship with Jacob is crumbling, they were best friends and are now finding it hard to speak to each other. Bella has to choose between love and friendship; however this decision could change not just her life but the relationship between vampires and werewolves forever. Meanwhile, The Cullens and the Quileute werewolves are investigating Seattle. There are mysterious killings every week, which could be because of crazed newborn vampires, and Victoria continues to seek revenge, Bella thinks these two dangers are connected and are happening because of her, but how? An alliance between the werewolves and the vampires is formed as a way to stop the killers, but will it be successful? United as one they must find a way to defeat the murderers but it isn’t all as it seems. The Cullens are worried that the Volturi will come for Bella and are desperate to destroy their new enemies but the Volturi have never let it get this far, could there be a reason?

What were your initial thoughts on the book?

After I had read New Moon I wanted to read Eclipse because I was quite curious and wanted to find out what would happen to Bella and her relationship with Jacob. I also wanted to know more about Victoria and was really interested in finding out if they would defeat her in Eclipse. The front cover of Eclipse didn’t appeal to me quite as much as Twilight and New Moon; it wasn’t as elegant and eye-catching as the others though it did have some intense red similar to the other covers which was quite noticeable. I found that the blurb really persuaded me to begin to read the book and it gave me a lot of questions I would need to answer by reading the book. I was also engaged by the immediate start to the book because an explanation to the previous books always annoys me as I have always read it. Unfortunately the book was a bit of a disappointment as it didn’t meet my expectations and the standard of the previous books in the book series.

Who was your favourite character and why?

I really liked Alice and think that she is my new favourite character in the Twilight Saga because she was really full of life which is a strange way to describe a vampire as you get very different and darker thought when you think about vampires. Alice is constantly trying to make sure Bella always had fun and lives her human life happily. I love how Alice always wants to plan parties and sleepovers for Bella and it really makes me think about Alice’s human life and how much she wishes she could still be human. Alice’s love for fun also makes me have thoughts on her relationship with Bella and that if Alice wasn’t such a kind and lovable person she probably wouldn’t get on with Bella because all Bella wants is to end her human life as soon as she possibly can. Another reason I really like Alice is because of her abilities to see the future. I think that it is really cool and I really wish that I could do that. I also think that her unique talent is also a curse because she may see things she wishes she didn’t. While choosing my favourite character I also thought a lot about my previous favourite character, Bella. She really made me think about how her actions affect the people around her and how her one decision to move to Forks changed the lives of many people. I always wonder what is going through other people’s heads when Bella is talking to them and I wish that I could get some insight on that, but I sometimes manage to create my own ideas and make up a new story along the way. I think that people’s personality get in the way of some of my thoughts but they also encourage some new concepts and help me develop a clearer understanding on character I don’t normally look at.

What was your favourite part of the book and why?

This was a really hard question to answer because there wasn’t really any part of the book that I had enjoyed more. However, I think that my favourite part of the book was the end where Victoria and all the newborn vampires were finally defeated. I loved this part because the whole point of the book was to finally get rid of these enemies and if this hadn’t of happened the book would have had no purpose. This part of the book was, in my opinion, the best but there was something that I would have liked to change. I found that I would have like the character Bree, who had a small part near the end, to have been alive longer so that I could find out something more about the newborn vampires and how they lived. Luckily there is a short book about Bree’s life so I will definitely be reading that next.

What was your overall impression of the book?

Overall, I really liked the book but there were some things that I found a bit boring and annoying. For example, the main focus of the book was the relationship between Jacob, Bella and Edward. This was like every other love triangle that I have seen in movies and in many other books, and it was never ending. I could tell that Bella really like Jacob and was beginning to fall in love with him but it was also obvious that she would never love him like she loves Edward so it was undeniably easy to tell that it wasn’t going anywhere. I also found that it had all the action packed in to the last few chapters just like Twilight which I both liked and disliked. It was strange to read as I had to pay attention to every detail so that I wouldn’t miss out on anything but I also loved it as it was exciting and thrilling to read about. One main reason why I loved the book was because it picked up where New Moon had finished and there was barely any explanation of the previous 2 books. This is one of the things that always stand out to me because I always read book series in order and it gets on my nerves when there is an explanation of the previous plot lines because it is common sense to read a series in order. The thing I liked the most about Eclipse was that we got hear some stories about the werewolves and learn a bit about how they began and what happened. I liked this because I love learning about the past especially about characters like Jacob because it is interesting what made them become who they are.

Which book did you like better, the first, the second or the third?

I think that New Moon is still my favourite book because Eclipse didn’t really meet the expectations I had for it. Eclipse needed a much better plot and needed a little more mystery to put it over the top. New Moon was more interesting because the story was less romance heavy and more focused on the new friendship between Jacob and Bella. Also I found it really hard to put the book down as Bella was always seeking a new way to threaten her life which was really exciting. There are many twists and turns which make the book that much more intriguing. Although I prefer New Moon I think I prefer the ending of Eclipse because it makes me want to read Breaking Dawn a lot more than I had wanted to read Eclipse. Eclipse also gave me a lot of new knowledge on the werewolves and their previous existence which was really fascinating as I had previously been very curious about it.

Would you recommend this book?  

This is a book that I would recommend. I think that it is most suitable for people over 15 but I think that if you have read any books like this you are sure to love it just as much as I did. Of course if you have read Twilight and New Moon then this is the next book you should read.

Summarise the book in one sentence. (Verdict) 

A thrilling and exciting new vampire novel with more life threatening moments than ever before.

Reviewed by Jimena Gutierrez Reviriego

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