Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
FINALLY! After months of waiting! Supposedly, I should feel happy while Eclipse tops the bestseller list but as its popularity grows, I can’t really say. Fortunately, I got hooked on the series even before almost everybody started talking about it.
Anyway, as for my thoughts about the book - it was definitely better than New Moon. I suppose it’s because Edward’s back under the spotlight, though now he has Jacob Black to share it with. I have mixed emotions with regards to Jacob. I can’t say he’s one of my favorite characters, but I don’t hate him either. I guess it’s just…weird for me since he was a very minor character in the first book and then he’s grown to have such a significant part in the series. And as for the third novel, he’s the third in a love triangle.
This brings us to Bella. I used to really love Bella - in the first book at least. Then I was annoyed at her angst in the second book. Now what irks me is her claims to love two men - though there’s a degree of difference, she did say “in love”. And I’m not entirely comfortable of this part of her. I don’t like the fact that she could say she loves two of them at the same time. Though I understand, rationally, that there’s a good basis for this - a valid cause for such confusion - I can’t hide the fact that I don’t really like it. In fact, I hate it. Edward had a point that he had broken her heart and it was Jacob who somehow managed to stitch it and the stitches would leave their mark there, but seeing Bella falter like this just makes me feel she doesn’t really deserve Edward. A pity Edward needs her so much (and she probably likewise, in a sense that both of them wouldn’t function normally without the other). Eclipse managed to illustrate how Edward cares for Bella excellently. He puts up with her friendship with Jacob even though he’s downright jealous about it. He exerts so much self-control just to make Bella happy, so much sacrifice, that the things Bella does to make up for all her mistakes pales in comparison.
At least she’s aware she’d done both Jacob and Edward wrong. It’s just that the book ended with Bella admitting she’s in love with Jacob as well, and telling Edward “I love you more” just doesn’t make it right for me. I guess it also has something to do with the difference in our cultures - Filipino vs. American - or like how I feel more traditional about things. I understand how Edward wants things to go or happen, though I also understand why Bella’s quite averse towards marriage despite the shallow reasoning. If I were her, I’d marry him without second thought, dammit!
Enough about the triangle. Let’s talk about the plot. One of the few things I liked about it is the way it revealed more about Jasper’s and Rosalie’s past. It helped me understand the other Cullens more than I used to. Why Rosalie hates Bella and the things Rosalie badly wants. How Jasper found a kind of salvation in Alice - a new way of life. I liked these things. I also loved the way Bella’s mom described her and Edward’s relationship; her observations painted a pretty picture on how the two act around each other, as if they were strangely perfect but not quite natural either. Like their relationship is laced with something special, something deeper, than what others normally perceive (until this beautiful picture was tarnished by the events in the latter half of the book, at least for me).
And, finally, Victoria was defeated. That was a good closer to her story, though the plot still remains open for a resolution with the Volturi and Bella’s transformation. I’m sure the Volturi will have to be under focus in one way or another. Meeting them again in Eclipse means they’d have to meet again. And the issue about Bella joining the dead and the fanged - will this be the main plot for the fourth (and hopefully the last) book? There’s also Jacob. I wonder if he’d be imprinting on another girl, or how big his role will be in the fourth book. The epilogue in Eclipse was from his POV, there has to be a more definite resolution for him in the next book.
BELLA, YOU MUST REDEEM YOURSELF.
Tags: Stephenie Meyer