My Problem with the Twilight Series - And It's a BIG One

At first I was caught up in the frenzy just like everyone else. Stephenie Meyer had created a world of danger and angst and romance that was hard to beat. Bella was normal and clumsy and relatable. Edward was romantic, handsome, tortured and forbidden. Does it get any better than that? I read Twilight in a couple of days and was glad I'd come late to the party, so I didn't have to wait for the next two books.

I'd heard that a lot of people didn't like New Moon--not enough Edward. I disagreed. I liked Jacob. I liked their friendship. I wasn't bored. To be honest, I was disappointed when Edward came back, although I knew he would.

Eclipse was my favorite of the series. The love triangle was believable and painful. Bella was really torn, and rightfully so. Jacob and Edward represented two different destinies and the choice was difficult. I loved the scene when Rosalie takes Bella aside and tells her the life of a vampire isn't what she'd have chosen--she'd have wanted to have children, a family, a real life. But Bella was still torn. We probably all would be. She's offered forever with her first love or a different kind of love that included her best friend, her parents and children.

Stephenie Meyer created some memorable scenes that were very entertaining. The tent scene is one of my favorites--great dialogue, some humor and more romance. As I read, I was thrilled at what was to come. Meyer was setting up an incredible choice for Bella. Each option had both pros and cons and BIG consequences. It was great storytelling and I was hanging on Bella's decision. In fact, Bella described it best--Edward was a drug and Jacob was the sunshine. Eclipse left me hanging. I wanted to know what she'd choose.

******At this point, I must offer full disclosure. While I understood the appeal of Edward, I was firmly on Jacob's side. I love being a mom. I can't imagine not having children. I can't imagine having to give up my parents. To me, Bella's life with Edward would be shallow and hollow and empty.*******

And here is my problem with the Twilight series.

I eagerly awaited Breaking Dawn. I expected some real turmoil as Bella struggled with the choice that was left hanging in the air at the end of Eclipse. What would she choose? A romantic life with Edward and the Cullens, but no children, no contact with her family, no Jacob and no sunshine? Or would she choose a life with Jacob and a different kind of love, but with children, with her parents, with the perils of mortality and death? It was a hard choice and the consequences were enormous on both sides.

BUT NO! All the rules that Meyer's had created through the first three books, all the drama that had been set up, the terrible choice that would involve incredible sacrifice no matter what she chose...

WERE GONE.

There were no more rules--Bella could get pregnant after all after some wild and violent and teenage inappropriate sex (who were these books marketed to?). Jacob, whose very existence was defined by his hatred of vampires could remain friends with a vampire Bella and even imprint on a half-vampire child. (And don't even get me started on the ridiculous name of the baby.) What was the point of Rosalie's conversation with Bella? What was the point of creating a dramatic choice, if no choice had to be made?

Breaking Dawn starts out with the wedding, almost as if the choice didn't have to be made. What? Did I miss something? Is there a missing book between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn? Now Bella can have it all AND WITH NONE OF THE CONSEQUENCES.

THAT ISN'T REAL! Don't tell me that none of it is real. I know that. But good fiction, even fantasy fiction, has to be based on some sort of trust between the author and the reader and Meyer (or her editor or publisher) decided that all the trust that had been built during the first three books was meaningless and could be flushed down the toilet without a thought.

I was disappointed. Whatever choice Bella made, I wanted the choice to matter. I wanted some of the real pain that accompanies hard choices. I wanted my teenage daughter to see the result of choices. I wanted all of my Young Women to see that choices have consequences and have to be carefully considered. I wanted everything I'd learned of the world Stephenie Meyers created to be consistent. Good fiction is consistent.

Breaking Dawn disappointed me in almost every way.

Pin It