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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:  1007 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:
 What went wrong? August 27, 2007
22 out of 25 found this review helpful
Eclipse, for those not yet acquainted with the teen romance saga, is the third instalment in the Twilight series centred around Bella, a human girl, and her relationships with Edward, the unearthly beautiful and gifted vampire who is also the love of her life, and Jacob, brooding rebel and recently turned werewolf who comforts Bella when Edward abandons her. At the end of Book Two (New Moon) it transpires that Edward left Bella in an attempt to protect her from himself and his vampire family, but later returned, re-uniting the pair. Jacob, by now deeply in love with Bella despite her assertion of being "just friends", is left vengeful and broken-hearted by the idea that Bella wishes to become a vampire herself.
The series already boasts an impressively large fanbase and the release of Eclipse was anticipated with feverish excitement - comparisons were even being made, in hushed tones, to the famed Harry Potter.
It is with some surprise, then, that the reception of above-mentioned tome can only be described as lukewarm. Even previously loyal fans have expressed disappointment. One ponders the question: What went wrong?
Whilst Stephenie Meyer is certainly no Jane Austen, her writing style bears testimony to a literary background and is fueled by a rich imagination; I don't believe this is what let her down.
Part of the answer lies in the comparison thrust, perhaps unfairly, upon the shoulders of Bella and her beaus, with the Boy Who Lived. Unlike JK Rowling's creations, the inhabitants of Forks, Washington, have not matured or evolved in any noticeable way. Bella appears to have regressed, if anything at all. Much of the narrative is dedicated to her internal struggles, becoming frankly tiresome at times. Her ambivalence to the idea of marriage, her uncertainty regarding the trade of her mortal life for the undead, fretting over Jacob's hurt feelings and the resulting downward spiral of guilt and self-loathing entirely overshadows the thinly veiled suspense plot, which hardly deserves a mention. For all her introspection, she appears no wiser. Her actions remain rash, her behaviour petulant and her judgement poor.
Edward, formerly darkly dangerous beneath his gentlemanly veneer, always torn between his love for Bella and his vampiric nature, seems to have been stripped of all depth. Apart from his ever-expressive eyebrows, he shows hardly any emotion or passion. As for his issues regarding physical intimacy: he and Bella have always maintained a chaste relationship, made necessary by the obvious risks to her. This was beautifully symbolic in its own right and needed nothing more. Sadly, in Eclipse this has been cast aside. Following what can only be described as foreplay, Edward refuses to take her virtue on grounds of his moral beliefs. The scene could have been taken from a sex education video. Furthermore, his preoccupation with her safety and meek acceptance of her "love" for Jacob portrays him more as a father figure than a boyfriend.
As for the werewolf man-boy Jacob, he is a likeable enough supporting character, who has added an interesting dimension to the tale, but has outgrown his place like an unruly ficus. Here, I believe, lies the answer as to What Went Wrong: the unexpected success of Twilight, forcing Meyer to push the story further than she first intended. If we are honest, we must admit that boy-meets-girl-love-forever-after cannot support a series of three, let alone four volumes. So the skewed love triangle is inserted, after the fact and so obviously not part of the original plan, like bunny ears pinned to a cat.
A lost cause, then? This will be determined by the fourth and, hopefully, last book in the series. Breaking Dawn is due for release next year. Perhaps Bella will surprise us with some powers of her own, be they supernatural or not, and earn her spot on centre-stage. Perhaps Edward will return to his former smouldering glory, causing us to forgive everything else.
I am ever the optimist.
bah! August 10, 2007
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
I have to agree with many people here in saying that I was very frustrated with Eclipse. I don't see how a series can start by defining itself as a love story, that is beyond ordinary and then undermine that with a love triangle at the end of its third book. Meyers halts the progression of her characters and kills the momentum of the first (and a bit of the second book) in Eclipse.
Meyers said this book is about "choosing love". I was even angrier after hearing that, because she made the "choice" between two guys, I mean come on... the premise of the book and the differences that divide the main characters is far more interesting than having the heroine also be in love with (jacob) a highly unlike-able character.
I can understand being in love with two people and making a choice, but the characters would have to be balanced and all I can love is Edward.
Jacob is so unlike-able in this book, he constantly challenges Bella's relationship with edward and claims to know her better. He is abrasive and combative, and hugely manipulative. REALLY... he knows her so well but can't see Edward makes her happier than when she kept trying to kill herself when she was with Jacob in book two.
Also... the reference in Eclipse as Jacob being her "sun" and Edward being her "drug", really demeaned the Bella and Edward relationship. How as a reader am I supposed to believe that their love is once in a life-time, powerful force... when Eclipse seeks to undermine all of it.
It is time for Bella to grow up, instead Meyers writes her in this book as a character, that would appall any modern woman. (Powerful female heroines think Robin McKinley).
If the message of this book it to make Bella appreciate the love she has for Edward, by challenging its potency then I am sorry ...but REALLY?!
I think what a great deal of readers had a problem with was the last quarter of the book being very unsettling because it seemed so "I love Jacob all the time", and she was settling for Edward. It would have been bearable if Bella and Edward had been able to have one last conversation... instead of making the reader feel that she was being subjected to a wedding, becoming immortal and being with Edward.
The worst part for me as a reader... Is loving Edward's character, and wanting Bella and Edward to be the character(s) I thought she/he would become after book one.
 A sad dissappointment August 11, 2007
20 out of 25 found this review helpful
I highly anticipated this book, but sadly it was a letdown. Although the book is over 600 pages long if your looking for Bella's story to develop in her love life I do not recommend you read this. In this book Bell has a complete confusion over betraying her friendship with Jake and becoming a vampire, even though Edward had left her in the first place, or leaving Edward her true love to stay friends with Jake. The description of the book is very poor, the first part of the book doesnt even revolve around the killings in Seattle.
I was really looking forward to find out Bella's vampire self but instead it was all about her confusion over Jake and Edward. We alredy know she loves Edward, so why such a stupid fuss? The 1st and 2nd were a hit but what's up with this? Is Stephenie Meyer lossing her touch or what?
Has Ms. Meyer's Talent Been Eclipsed by her Bad Characterization? August 24, 2007
20 out of 26 found this review helpful
The most infuriating feeling in the world is to dive headfirst into a book, expecting to love it, and then leaving the book behind feeling as though you could have skipped it altogether and not been any worse for wear. And that, sadly, is how I felt about "Eclipse."
I'll skip the summarizing (bloodthirsty newborn vampires recruited to hunt for Bella and Co., the return of Jacob Black, Bella's so-called romantic dilemma) and start right off with how I felt as I read more about these characters I came to know in "Twilight" and "New Moon." This may be redundant, seeing as so many reviewers have said it already, but I think we've lost Edward. Seriously. He's turned into the nightmare of all boyfriends, and not because he can't control his vampiristic urges to suck out Bella's life force - quite the opposite. Instead, he's gotten so protective, so stalker-ish, so controlling; that he seems almost HUMAN. TOO human, for a guy who rips one of his kind to pieces not long after telling his girlfriend he more or less believes that having pre-marital sex would damn his soul (Stephenie Meyer has said that she and Edward share the same fundamental beliefs, and in this sense I believe she was using him as a mouthpiece to voice her opinion that even teenagers their age -- 17 and near-19 -- should stay away from the horizontal macarena). Edward no longer possesses the same smart-mouthed, elusive, not-quite-arrogant-but-getting-there air that we were introduced to in the beginning. He's gotten overly gushy. His omnipresence in Bella's everyday existence has crossed the border over to supremely annoying. Combined with Meyer's repetitive descriptions of his tragic good looks, and you have the potential to piss off many readers who are looking for more depth in their heroines than internal narratives which read along the lines of: "IF HE LEAVES ME, I'LL DIE", and "I lost my train of thought as I stared into his smoldering topaz eyes."
Really, Bella? Has he got you that stoned (there's a comparison late in the novel: Jacob Black is her sun, Edward is her drug) that even when he disassembles your car so you'll stay away from your best friend the werewolf, it's easy to forgive him?
Bella's personality is totally warped in this installment of the series. I can't believe she's actually REGRESSING back into a spoiled, bratty, narrow-minded child. It's even more difficult to believe that she sees herself as being more mature than her mother, who has the good sense to point out the obsessive oddity of her relationship with Edward. The final straw, for me, was her resistance to marry him. Come on. You're planning on becoming one of the undead so that you can spend eternity with the guy. At least pretend to be jazzed when he offers to make an honest woman out of you.
When she punched Jacob - who gets a bad wrap for being persistent, though in my opinion he's not nearly as obnoxious as his rival Edward - I felt gratified, not for her but because she ended up breaking her knuckles
in the process. People will say he's the manipulative one, but I believe he's a better person all-around than Bella's other boy-toy. He's warmer, less stifling, and he allows Bella to participate in events that Edward would consider to be dangerous. Still, as good as he was, the whole love triangle deal felt a bit contrived. And it makes the concept of "true love" between Bella and Edward seem sullied, especially by the end.
The best thing about "Eclipse" is that it shows Bella experiencing major doubts about leaving her human life behind. It's kind of incongrous with her childish attitude for her to be so preoccupied with consequences, but it fits the thoughtful nature she is supposed to have.
My hope for "Breaking Dawn" is that Stephenie will give us back the characters we were expecting this time around. Also, that Bella will make the choice that's best for herself and finalize her story in the appropriate manner. Make us CARE where she ends up.
Meh...Another Lackluster book... November 9, 2007
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
After not really caring for the first book, a friend has persuaded me to keep reading the series, promising that "They just keep getting better."
Not really. They're the same book, with the same annoying aspects, just a little further into the story.
I don't *hate* these books and I've read a lot worse, but I admit I'm a little surprised at how crazy people are about them. They are not that well written, and 3 long books later we're not THAT far along in the story.
What I was willing to overlook in the first two books, I am running out of patience with in this, the third installment.
My opinion is that Jake is a far more 3-dimensional character, with far more explanation and reason behind why he cares for Bella (though I don't understand how EITHER of them care for her. She's a whiney, immature brat in my opinion). But I really don't understand how a nearly 100 year old vampire could care so much for a shallow, uninteresting person like Bella.
I was willing to forgive a lot in the first book, and rated it higher than I should have, thinking that it was leading into more, thinking that it was the foundation for something that would grow as the series grows. I was really hoping in the next 2 intallments things would smooth themselves out: We would find out more of WHY Edward cares for Bella. There would be more behind their "passion" than him smelling good and being incredibly hot and her blood calling to him. Bella would grow up a little and take her parents, friends, Jake's, etc feelings into consideration rather than trompling all over them in her 'devotion' to Edward. That she would stop knowing she will 'DIE' if Edward ever left her. Bella, in my opinion, is a terrible role model for any young adult. She would be a far more likeable, less stereotypical character if she had some, okay ANY, redeeming qualities.
The book ended on yet another open ended note, so I'm assuming a #4 is on the way. I don't think I'll be listening to my friend again. I somehow don't see things changing enough to make it worth it to me to read the next installment.
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