Sunday, August 24, 2008

Breaking Dawn or Breaking Down? BookLook Review


Book Look

Debbie Balzotti

“Breaking Dawn”

To read it or not to read it – that is the question. I am sorry my teenage girl friends but the answer is not. Reading fiction can be great entertainment, even enlightening but this book is neither. Despite what millions of women and young girls may think – this 754 page book has 700 boring pages and the other 54 are annoying.

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer has come to its long past due conclusion with book number four “Breaking Dawn”. I did enjoy reading most of the first book “Twilight” with its original premise that not all vampires are out to suck your blood. Meyer is a BYU graduate who dreamt about the plot one night and wrote her first very successful novel based on that dream. I skipped the second book, and read the third to review it. Once you decide that you don’t like the heroine it is really hard to read any more books in a series. I was so sick of Bella’s whining, lying and twisted thoughts and actions that instead of seeing who would kill her first, the vampire or the werewolf, I decided to kill her myself by closing the book. That is how you kill fictional characters by the way – they only exist if you read about them so just stop reading.

I must be way off here since Bella has an international fan club fueled by publishers and book sellers that love her. They have succumbed to the soap opera story of a seventeen year old girl in love with an ancient vampire. Is it really a good message to send to high school girls that they should go ahead and marry their true love at age eighteen? Bella does indeed marry Edward the vampire, get pregnant on her honeymoon and give birth to a Halfling who is then imprinted by Jacob the werewolf to become his eternal mate. Are you feeling a little nauseated?

I know these are just fantasy books and I think that sampling all types of literature is important, but I can’t recommend this one. If your teenage daughter is begging to read it, read it first and discuss the ideas that are in this work of fiction. Meyer blew her chance to send a positive message to millions of young girls but instead she fed them mind numbing romantic fiction. It is fiction. It is for entertainment. I just didn’t find it entertaining.

2 comments:

Mariel said...

Deb - I am still laughing...Thanks for summing up how I feel about these books without ever having read them.

Christy said...

Aunt Debbie,
I don't know anything about "Breaking Dawn", but I keep checking back for pics of Roman - when will we get to see this cutie that undoubtably looks "Balzotti"?