Book Review: "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer

By Amanda Linsmeier
Eclipse (Little, Brown Young Readers, 2007), the third novel in the Twilight vampire saga by Stephenie Meyer, is yet another interesting and surprising story. Bella and Edward continue their relationship but because her friendship with Jacob puts her in danger, Edward is hell bent on doing everything he can to keep them away. He wants to keep Bella safe from everything and if that means he has to tamper with her truck, have her kidnapped by his sister Alice or watch out for her all hours of the day, then so be it. Bella feels stifled by Edward’s behavior and really misses her best friend Jacob. As Edward’s attitude shifts and he “allows” Bella to see her friends at La Push once more, Bella realizes that Jacob feels much more than friendship for her. Added to this love triangle are threats from the Vulturi, a powerful vampire clan who first made an appearance in book two, Victoria, an enemy vampire out to get Bella, and a string of murders by newborn vampires and Eclipse is very entertaining.

I did find some faults, the first being that I was still waiting for more of the intense love between Edward and Bella. Just Edward and Bella. I’m not interested in love triangles at this point in the series. I understand partly why the author did this and I feel that it’s to illustrate the fact that Bella is just human and while she loves Edward intensely, she is vulnerable and isn’t sure of herself. That being said, why didn’t Edward get mad at her? I’ve heard other people say it’s because he was too “perfect” and I really think it’s because he loves her so much, he just wants her to be happy and if that means loving Jacob too, then its okay. But I think it does show that Jacob is not perfect and that he doesn’t love her, and never will love her, the way Edward does. Besides being pushy and obnoxious, I found the once loveable Jacob to be extremely selfish in this book. Although this is not the best book in the series, in fact it made me quite angry at some points (which is inevitable when you become so emotionally invested in characters) it is still a good read. Many things mentioned in the previous two books are brought into more detail here and also lay the foundation for the fourth and final book. Please, keep reading.

Click here to read Amanda's review of Twilight

Click here to read Amanda's review of New Moon

Click here to read Amanda's review of Breaking Dawn