Welcome back to my “Twilight” recap! With the third installment of “The Twilight Saga,” I enter into new territory. Fifth grade me never made it past book two, so now I was thrilled to sink my teeth into this book. Be careful! Some spoilers lie ahead!
“Eclipse” picks up shortly after the events of “New Moon.” Bella is about to wrap up her senior year of high school and plans to become a vampire, just like her true love, Edward Cullen. For that to happen, though, Bella must accept Edward’s only condition for him to make the change: marry him. Bella’s intentions to become a member of the undead has put a strain on her hot-headed werewolf friend/other love interest, Jacob Black. As if poor human Bella didn’t have enough problems, there’ve been numerous murders in the Seattle area thanks to Victoria, whose mate was killed in the first installment, and her army of newborn vampires who are making their way to Forks to kill Bella.
Overall, both the book and movie adaptation of “Eclipse” has many thrills, and action any “Twilight” fan will gobble up. But, at the same time, it’s one big dumpster fire of character development for our fave romantic triangle.
Let’s begin with Bella. If you’ve been following along, I am not a big Bella fan, but I tolerate her. In “Eclipse,” she was constantly infuriating me. It mostly stemmed from the fact that Bella can’t decide between her two suitors. I understand the love triangle is the plot’s main focus, but author Stephanie Meyer has made it a hot mess here. For the majority of the novel, Bella is set on Edward and accepts his proposal, but a few encounters with Jacob on a cold, snowy mountain makes Bella realize that she loves Jacob romantically too. As a reader, I was confused because Bella continually insists that Jacob is a friend or a brother and even throws him a punch to the face when he forces himself on her. Their kiss on the mountain before Jacob phases into a werewolf for battle was just uncalled for, and Bella’s thoughts after the fact made no sense. She loves Edward more than Jacob? I counter that Bella loves both of them equally but in different ways. Meyer had an incredible opportunity to create a positive male/female friendship, but she wastes it. Instead, Meyer created a relationship that has been one-sided from the get-go and practically does nothing to make it a believable option for her main character.
And on the topic of our favorite werewolf, Meyer did him soooo dirty in this book. Jacob and his likeability carried “New Moon.” Without him or his loveable personality, Edward’s absence would have made for a less entertaining novel, but he saved the story and Bella. In “Eclipse,” he is one grade-A jerk. He’s pushy, demanding and manipulative. He forces himself on Bella and then manipulates her into kissing him again! Yes, he has been established as young and angry, but gosh, Stephanie, this is not Jacob! We know Jacob is not Bella’s destiny, but that does not mean you have to degrade him by taking a u-turn with his character. It just hurt my heart to see Jacob turned into something I felt him not to be. We know Bella and Edward are meant to be, but must we slaughter a beloved character in the process?
Speaking of Edward, I want to take some time to applaud and show some appreciation to our favorite vampire. This man exudes patience! He has to deal with an indecisive girlfriend, multiple sexual advances from the girlfriend, an angry werewolf that makes multiple come-ons to said girlfriend AND deal with a bunch of vampires that are coming for that indecisive said girlfriend. We stan one man only, and he is Edward Cullen!
Outside of the love triangle, Meyer doesn’t do much better with her other characters or writing. This novel gives us more details on how Rosalie and Jasper came to be vampires, and the placing of their stories is awkward. The stories manifest into forced conversations with Bella, especially Rosalie, who comes off preachy. Just when I thought Meyer was improving with her writing, she took another downturn. Like I said before, she slaughters characters, creates awkward dialogue, or barely any type of plot. Problems like these are somewhat dismissable in a first book, but by the third, you need to have your act together, Steph!
While Stephanie Meyer lit the dumpster on fire in this book, somehow, the cast and crew of “Eclipse” were able to create something extremely watchable. Yet again, the saga has a new director, David Slade, that keeps improving and adding to the franchise. The film adaptation of “Eclipse” is the saga at its peak. An aesthetic has been found, the dialogue is natural and romance and action are equally balanced. Compared to the other films, this one has the best pace with the story flowing from scene to scene, eliminating any slow moments and making it highly watchable. The book’s more awkward and confusing elements are somehow ironed out or slightly looked over, which I dismiss because this is “Twilight.” As always, the cast gives their best performances they can, given that it is “Twilight.” Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson’s chemistry is fabulous, and Taylor Lautner is still easy on the eyes.
“Eclipse” by far has been my favorite of the films, but my least favorite book. The film is good, cinematic fun that has found a rhythm that puts the saga at its best. The novel, on the other hand, is trashy trash. It takes the book series several steps back rather than forward, all at the cost of solidifying an already established endgame romance.