FINALLY! I'm done with the series! Woo! Not that it was a bad series. On the contrary, it was a very good series. But when I get caught up in a story like that it takes nothing short of a natural disaster to make me put down the book. No, wait. I'm lying. A tornado was within miles of my house last week during some violent storms and all the power was out for four hours and where am I? Curled up in the closet protecting myself from being swept away to the Land of Oz? Oh, no. I'm lounging on the couch surrounded by a bazillion candles and my trusty booklight reading Breaking Dawn. Because I CAN'T STOP! Seriously, folks, there's something wrong with me.
Anyhoo, on to the review. The beginning of this last installment was not so exciting, frankly. It didn't grab me as quickly as the other books in the series. I did enjoy that toward the middle of the book we got to hear from a different voice (I won't give anything away, but it was not the voice of Bella, the main character). Nevertheless, I was still disappointed by the beginning's slowness and lack of action. I think the editors could have cut about 100 pages from the beginning and middle of the book and had a better story. BUT, the redeeming quality of this book was the end. Once the third "section" of the book began I was thoroughly enthralled (hence the lack of fear at the on-coming tornado). Bella finally became the heroine I wanted her to be this whole time instead of the immature, irrational, insipid and slightly neurotic child she had been throughout the rest of the series. She finally grew some balls, for lack of a better term. Anyway, I really did love the end of this series. It made the whole series a worthwhile read and I do look forward to seeing the rest of the books made into movies. While I could totally live without Kristen Stewart as Bella, I gleefully look forward to drooling on myself over Robert Pattinson as Edward. Oh, Edward...
Therefore, my review of Breaking Dawn breaks down to this:
Plot: 4, mediocre up until the end where it sky-rocketed to a 5.
Characters: 4, only because of Bella growing a pair. Edward was always a 5. I heart Edward.
Writing: 4, again, the beginning and middle were blah but the end really was good and it was a bit better written, in my opinion.
Overall: a 4 (duh)! And because it's the end of a series I feel its appropriate to also rate the series, which earns a big ol' 3.8.
Next up: who knows? I'm taking a reading break for a few days while I figure out what my mind is craving. Historical romance? Mystery thriller? Tear-jerker? We shall see...
