Let me begin by saying that any YA book that considers marriage a happy ending is on crack. Not to mention living in the past, even with characters from the early 1900s aside.
Because I was pissed at the ending, I sort of forget what happens in the first part of the book. As far as I can remember, it goes like this:
The breakdown: After a bout of rebellion at the end of New Moon, Bella is convinced she will be under house arrest for the rest of her life, which is why she’s pleasantly surprised when her father Charlie begins to let her out. Meanwhile, there’s a slew of unsolved homicides in Seattle, which the Cullens suspect may be due to a newborn werewolf out of control, and Victoria is still out for Bella’s blood. Edward gets family members to kidnap Bella whenever he goes away so that she won’t be left alone, but Jacob manages a prison-break. After much freaking out and Wuthering Heights references, Edward concedes that werewolves are probably not as bad as he thinks they are, and allows Bella to spend more time with Jacob. Obviously, he falls in love with her. Eventually, Jacob and Edward come to an uneasy truce when they join forces against a greater threat to Bella.
The best thing about Eclipse is that there were fewer and fewer references to how perfect Bella thinks Edward is.
Unfortunately, there was a great deal of ‘dying for him/her’ crap due to a bout of myth telling. I mean, stabbing yourself near a bunch of ravenous vampires? Bella may be clumsy, and frequently incapable of thinking like a rational human being in the presence of anyone she finds physically attractive, but there’s a difference between adolescent idiocy and being suicidal. Dying for love is not an effective means of finding happiness.
The book is a good set up for what is (probably) coming in Breaking Dawn: Bella’s eventual transformation into a vampire. Throughout the rest of the series, she doesn’t seem to give any thought to the ramifications of becoming an anti-human immortal, but the threat from Seattle means that she is forced to consider her mental change from a human with a fairly wide intellectual and emotional range to having a personality that can be summed up by ‘thirsty.’ She is also forced to give up something more tangible this time – Jacob, who seems to be gone for good – and to consider her family and friends, which before she didn’t think about.
Stylistically, Eclipse is probably the most enjoyable in the series, though possibly that has a lot to do with Bella finally shutting up about how great/sexy Edward is. Still, it did drag – during the relating of the Quileute myths. Despite that, Meyer managed to be funny and compelling throughout.
The verdict: A faster read than either previous book in the series despite it’s length, and more solidly written. The teen marriage, abstinence, and left over angst are annoying.
Stats: 3rd book in The Twilight Saga. Meyer, Stephenie. “Eclipse.” New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007.