ECLIPSE (TWILIGHT #3) – STEPHANIE MEYER

In the dead silence, all the details suddenly fell into place for me with a burst of intuition. Something Edward didn’t want me to know. Something Jacob wouldn’t have kept from me...
As Seattle is ravaged by mysterious killings, Bella finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and friendship with Jacob - knowing it could ignite the struggle between vampire and werewolf. 
Bella has one more decision: life or death. But which is which?

Spoiler Warning!  This review may contain spoilers.  If you are okay with this then go right ahead and read it.  I do my best to avoid giving away too much but sometimes I just cannot help myself...

Once again, I was looking forward to starting this book.  I really enjoyed the first 2 books – the second just a tad less than the first, and, having seen the movies, I couldn’t wait to get started.

This book sees the return of Victoria, the crafty, redheaded vampire with plans to avenge her fallen mate.  And she has an army.  After their meeting with the Volturi in Italy, Bella and Edward are back and enjoying their time together.  But a decision rests on Bella’s shoulders; become a vampire and risk losing Jacob, Charlie and everyone she ever cared about before Edward, or stay human and grow old beside the eternally young Edward until her death.  This is the book in which the love triangle comes into play as Bella questions the logic of her resolution to be with Edward.  Just to make her life that bit more overwhelming, Victoria has assembled an army of newborns, vicious and dangerous vampires, to kill her.  Eye for an eye, mate for a mate.  And it all goes downhill from there.

Once again, it's a bit awkward and corny with a number of grammar and punctuation crimes but, still pretty good.  I occasionally found Meyer’s writing is a bit clunky however, I often find that she makes up for it with her genuine portrayal of emotion.  While I consider Bella to be a bit whiny, I can almost assure anyone that if I was in that situation I’d probably complain so much that no one would want to be within hearing range... but, who knows; I doubt I’ll ever be in this kind of situation.  Despite Bella not being the strong, badass female lead that she could be and Edward’s almost controlling overprotectiveness, I really do like their portrayal.  I wouldn't recommend any strong woman looks for a man like Edward but I am not totally against him.

In general, I found Eclipse to be funny and cute.  There were so many hilarious moments where I couldn’t help but laugh, and more even where I just wanted to coo (especially when Alice and Jasper where involved).  I love Alice – she will forever be my favourite, but Esme’s kind nature, Carlisle and Jasper’s calm, Emmett’s humour and even Rosalie’s slightly aggressive way of caring, all captivated me.  I couldn’t stop myself from grinning whenever Emmett opened his mouth – especially when taunting his brothers, or grinning when Jasper talked about being found by Alice.  Their family relationships are just so cute!  The emotions that Meyer portrays are real and I love the fact that the Cullens actually feel like a family.  This factor is probably what makes me like the series so much.

While Eclipse isn’t my favourite book in the series, I couldn’t put it down and I loved reading it.  This series has honestly become my biggest guilty pleasure.  I am seriously looking forward to the final chapter of The Twilight Saga and, if the first three books are anything to go by, I am sure I will love it.


Rating: 3/5



Like I've said before about this series, the easiest (and likely cheapest) way to get your hands on them would probably be to head to your nearest second hand book shop but, if you want a new copy, you get them from Amazon, or here at Book Depository.