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| Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3) | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Category: Book
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $7.50
You Save: $12.49 (62%)
New (48) Used (26) Collectible (3) from $7.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  1006 reviews
Sales Rank: 3
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 640
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 2
ISBN: 0316160202
EAN: 9780316160209
ASIN: 0316160202
Publication Date: August 7, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 False Reviews??? August 10, 2007
65 out of 73 found this review helpful
My Original review on Aug. 10:
After finishing this book, I have no idea why it was written other than an excited writer's desire to fulfill a publisher's request as soon as possible. The writing was unevolved, and the sheer number of editorial errors proves how quickly both editor and author worked to release this book. Most of the issues that were brought up in the first two books were dropped in this one. To make matters worse, new issues abound that make the "willing suspension of disbelief" impossible, plot points are picked up and ignored randomly without any real twists or conclusions (except Vicky, of course), and you aren't really left with a character to love: Jake's forceful and annoying, Bella's negative and a martyr, Alice is pushy and superficial, and Edward is far too selfless.
The first and last part of the book is filled with bickering and grumbling which is used to set a stage for Meyer's beautiful and witty sarcasm, but does little to enhance the plot. Without ruining anything, I'll just say that there actually comes a point where Bella has to resign herself to being with Edward. In general, the relationship between them is so obviously codependent and unhealthy, without any basis in a reality, that it's lost all of its original touching reluctance. By the end of the book, Bella's constant victim-stance, her bickering, complaining, whining, and general inability to be happy has ruined the book.
UPDATE September 3, 2007: I am now absolutely DISGUSTED with both Meyers and her publisher. As soon as the rating fell below four stars, and almost all of the reviews commented on the same negative attributes, suddenly the reviews are flooded with five star, four sentence reviews from people who have nearly identical reviews on every other books they've posted for - falling in line with the newer trend of buying reviews for books. Shame on you Ms. Meyers for not letting your product stand on its own, and shame on you for disrespecting the loyal followers of your series in such a manner by telling them that their opinions are worth as much as cheaply bought props.
What a shame... September 12, 2007
60 out of 67 found this review helpful
As other reviewers have mentioned, the second two books in this series do not compare to the first. I feel obligated to write a review, because I feel as if I wasted my money on them, and would like to warn others away. Read the first book, Twilight, only! It is very unique and I enjoyed it very much, even though I am not what you would call a vampire-are-hot-romance novel reader.
Sadly, things slowly went downhill after Twilight. But I hardly noticed this after I read New Moon. I was still happy with the series. It wasn't until Eclipse that I realized what happened. ALL the characters, it seems like, are immature. Especially annoying to me is Bella's dad. I would expect the adults, at least, to act like adults. And why is Bella constantly cooking?!? (Although at every mention of this, I usually love it, because it makes me laugh.) It seems to me that the author decided to try to push her beliefs on her readers. If you are a teenager, you should not have sex until you are married, go to school and get straight A's, and cook for your irresponsible parents. Oh, and if the love of your life treats you badly, you should become severely depressed and become an automaton. God forbid the main character show she has a backbone (like she did in the first book).
This is such a shame... And there was so much potential here for a great story! The werewolf-vampire thing could have been the best part of the story... and if only SM had kept the friendship of Bella and Jake as a friendship! Imagine the tension if he really was her best friend and just wanted to look out for her. Enough of this love nonsense. Bella really is a nothing character, she doesn't even have the spunk she had in the first book.
Oh well. I am an optimist, so I will look into the 4th installment of this series, but I will definitely not buy it unless I hear that Bella has grown up. Unfortunately, I suspect that the series is beyond saving.
vampires, werewolves, and helpless females August 17, 2007
56 out of 61 found this review helpful
To preface this, I'll say up front that I loathe love triangles. They're trite plot devices that are very rarely executed well, and that's just one of the huge problems with Eclipse. It's a love triangle that, according to the author, was designed for Bella to make a choice. Really? Was there any shred of doubt over what option she was going to go with?
Unfortunately for Eclipse, about three quarters of the book involved pitting Edward and Jacob against each other in a quarrel over who Bella loves more (and again, really?). Sure, it's great to be loved, but in this instance it just makes everyone look bad. Jacob comes off as too sexually forceful, Edward looks like a lump on a log reciting the same "if it's good for Bella, it's good for me" line, and Bella looks more selfish and whiny than usual. Sure, Bella was whiny and annoying way before Eclipse, but she puts on a grand display here and it makes one long for a point of view change. Anyone. Jessica's point of view would probably be preferable.
The rest of the book is about some killings in Seattle that, of course, mean Bella is in danger, which, naturally, means Edward has to act like a psycho boyfriend intent on saving her from herself. Early on he attempts to keep her house bound by ripping the spark plug out of her car, and while I thought that was a little melodramatic and creepy he one ups himself constantly after that. No wonder Bella kept grumbling and sighing whenever he kept swooping in to tell her where not to go and why. Then there's the marriage issue -- he wants to, she doesn't (it's embarrassing, you see...far more than having to tell one's family you intend to become a vampire in the near future because marriage is so much more shocking) -- but it's not like Bella has a say in the day that's supposed to be hers. She literally doesn't. It reminded me a little of an arrangement than a celebration with the amount of groaning and wincing Bella does concerning the upcoming nuptials.
What disturbed me more, besides the rickety plot, the endless comparisons to Wuthering Heights (the author studied literature in college, I get it. most of us college educated people did and I still don't see the need for comparisons to Heathcliff and Cathy), and the annoying love triangle, was how self-deprecating Bella was. How she constantly went through the book saying how unworthy she was of everyone, how at fault she was of everything, how clumsy, stupid, selfish (that one I actually don't argue with), immoral, weak, helpless, pathetic, and frighteningly normal she is. Sure, it's hard to have immortal, strong, mostly male friends, but as a woman I'd like to see Bella shed that "oh well, I'm just a little weak girl, woe is me, I'll just sit in the corner and die now" attitude without having to become a vampire. At every turn in Eclipse Bella depicts herself harshly, and the story does nothing to turn that around. She's the one that wants to have sex outside of marriage (which is too immoral for virtuous Edward), she's the one that's too weak to do anything other than be babysat, and for the most part the story agrees with her. The men (with the exception of possibly Alice) are the selfless heroes by the end, and the women are selfish (Bella), shallow (Rosalie), and bitter (Leah). Where have the strong female role models gone?
 A unique book in the trilogy -- in all a Mix between vasting dissapointing and tragicly romantic August 13, 2007
51 out of 52 found this review helpful
Let me make myself clear that I am an avid reader and a HUGE fan of the Twilight series. I found the first novel, Twilight, to be a beautiful love story so inspiring and unusual that it blew me off my feet. The relationship between Bella and Edward seemed very different, and I found one chapter in particular in the first book allowed me to become entranced by the two lovers. Bella Swan comes to Forks leaving sunny Arizona to find herself on an alien green planet where it rains every day. At her new High School she finds herself perplexed by the Cullen family, which we then discover to be Vampires. Edward Cullen and Bella Swan fall madly in love. A love so passionate it could put Romeo and Juliet to the test.
Eclipse is the third novel in the series. After looking at a few reviews and acknowledging the rating of the novel I began to have my doubts. Many people found the book to be the best of the series or found it entrancing. While some reviewers were immensely disappointed. It is very difficult for an author to create a third novel that will live up to the first novel's expectations and in my opinion Stephanie Meyer did not truly deliver. This is understandable since many authors cannot even write a decent sequel, which Meyer managed to do. The second novel New Moon was almost as good as the first. The middle part, to be quite honest was a little boring, but none the less kept me going. But Stephanie Meyer had so many expectations to live up to it is understandable that it wouldn't be easy.
The third book begins with Bella and Edward discussing college with Charlie , who has just released Bella from the house. The novel continues to mention Bella's choice to join Edward forever and her relationship with Jacob Black. Stephanie Meyer has mentioned many times that she found Jacob to be her favorite character and after reading this novel I found myself disliking him more then I did in the second novel. The Edward-Jacob-Bella love triangle continues to play out through all the 626 pages in which the reader will want to throw the book on the floor because they are so annoyed with how stupid Bella truly is.
I have never personally liked how Bella is always portrayed as the damsel in distress and I found that part of her character a bad influence for young women who might otherwise look up to her. Many feminists would be appalled at how Bella reacts. She makes herself vulnerable and at one point in the book she even says, "IF YOU LEAVE ME I'LL DIE." Which I found to be silly and very sexist. I understand that the traditional love story is that the damsel is rescued by the man but at least one love story should not have that stupid shallow idea. This book was by far the most inappropriate in that sense since Bella is manipulated heavily by Jacob in such I cruel way I wanted to grab Stephanie Meyer and ask her why she took pleasure in writing such a sexist book.
The book is the poorest written of the three books. I have never considered Stephanie Meyer an excellent writer but she does tell a great story that makes the reader want to turn the page to see what is coming next in the story. The whole story seems rushed even though the novel is indeed 626 pages. It seems the publisher may have hurried her to write so it is a little sloppy. I also noticed many typos throughout the novel.
The characters are extremely one dimensional. Even Edward seemed too dramatic and fake with his passion for Bella. I cannot recall a single sentence he spoke to her that didn't have the word love, honey,sweet, darling or something sappy like that. Edward also lost his cocky sexy arrogance that I loved. He was obsessed with Bella in an unnatural way that disturbed me. His character was completely different. Jacob became such a nasty manipulator I was surprised that Edward didn't sink his teeth right into his neck. All Edward ever said was "If you're happy Bella, I'm happy." - please give me a break! Bella became a shallow even more selfish girl. She became so confused with her emotions I almost pitied her because Meyer had robbed Bella of the strength that made her such an interesting character in the first book. Rosalie, Alice, Emmett and Jasper were also turned into different characters all of which seemed out of character from the first two books.
The first two books were amazing and inspiring. The true love that possessed Bella and Edward left after book two. I feel this new book is incomplete. I do not think I will buy the fourth book. I'll borrow it from the library, and if I could I would go return this book. This book is no longer a love affair so deeply passionate between a Vampire and a human. It is now about having to make choices when you should already know what the right answer is.
I started this review with mixed opinions but now as I conclude I find myself so disappointed I shall try to remember the Edward and Bella I know from the first novel, Twilight, keeping those characters who are so deeply in love nothing could tear them apart.
Stephanie Meyer I'm afraid you disappointed a true Twilight fan till the very end. My only hope is that you can rekindle the beautiful story you had with Edward and Bella in Twilight. Good luck on the next book, I hope it's an improvement! If a movie is ever to be made may it only be the movie of Twilight.
Goodbye Edward and Bella. I'll miss you!
what in the world happened? August 19, 2007
50 out of 60 found this review helpful
I was excited for this book to come out a year before it even did. I went in with the expectation that Eclipse, like New Moon and Twilight, would yield further plot development, answer whether Bella was turned into a vampire, and resolve her friendship with Jacob.
I actually put this book down about four hundred pages in because it simply was not going anywhere. Sure, it's mentioned that there is danger, yet once again, but it's never really fleshed out. We're never put in the thick of it. I warn you, this book is nothing but a "Do I love Jacob? Do I love Edward? Gosh, they both treat me terribly but it's not like I don't do the same!"
I waited for the characters to do SOMETHING redeeming, or just SOMETHING period. I finally gave up when I realized that a series I'd liked very much had just become nothing more than a badly written romance novel.
Extremely disappointing.
I really liked Jacob, but after his sexual harassment tactics that were actually played off as "cute" in the book, I'd sock him with a metal pole myself :(
God, what a letdown!
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