Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (when compared to other books in series)
Pages: 629

Genre: Young Adult (Paranormal)
Series: Twilight (Book 3 out of 4)
Publication Date: 2007

Synopsis (From Inside Cover):

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampure continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surround by danger.  In the midst of it all she is force to choose btween her love for Edwar and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf.  With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death.  But which is which?

Review:

I feel so ashamed.  I proudly proclaim that I am not a fan of the Twilight Saga.  I don't hate it either but it annoys me so much and on so many different levels.  That why it is really hard for me to admit that I really enjoyed this book.  There I said it.  But it doesn't make me feel any better.  

In the third book of the Twilight Saga.  We find Bella yet again in danger.  Unfortunately for me (and other readers out their) she still has a slew of mental issues (for my complete diagnosis click here).  Bella is still one of the worse female lead characters that I have ever had the misfortune to read about in my entire life.  It is bad when you can neither love or hate the lead.  When you pity them and want to read the book where the shrink gives them heavy doses of Xanax and Lithium.  Bella even agrees with me.  At one point she states "I need therapy".  So, I was right.

So, why did I rate this book so high.  Mainly because there was more action this time.  The first two books seemed to drag on.  And then when the action came it was short and highly disappointing.  This time there was suspense and when the drama started it was more satisfying (yet still short).  I don't think that action sequences if Meyer's strong point.  But that is not a big deal when your main character needs to be in a straight jack.

I also liked this book because it made me smile.  Mainly I smiled when Bella and Jacob interacted.  Their relationship seemed more natural and not as force (like Bella and Edward).  I like the playfulness of their (Jacob and Bella) relationship.  Bella seems to be able to relax more around him and she even appears somewhat less nutty.  With Edward, its all self doubt and pity.  She did calm down with the "Edwards so beautiful" and "Edwards prefect" mess.  But it is still there every now and than so it was somewhat easy to ignore.

Not to give too much away.  But I hated how this book ends.  But that is just because Bella did do what I think is best for her in the end.  With one more book to go maybe she will decided to change her mind.  I am hoping so.

But overall, a very nice followup to New Moon.  

Pros: Better Action, Fewer descriptions of Edwards Perfection
Cons: Bella (still weak),

Overall Recommendation:  

If you read the other two books than of course you should read this one (since there are only two books left).  Also, this book cannot be read by itself.  There are some complex relationship stuff going on and the first two books set the foundation. So, if you are like me and really disliked the first two books you might be surprised and enjoy this one.  It is also a quick read, I finished in two days.

Challenges:
Library Challenge (11 out of 25)

Series Challenge (7 out of 15)


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