Eclipse Special Edition (The Twilight Saga)

What isn't over the top is a repeat from the first two books ; Bella's thoughts on Jacob and Edward, it's the same over and over and over. I've seen better story lines from cheap romance novels which use a fill in the blank writing method.

I will be blunt from the get-go, I hate this book. I was a fan of the series before, even though I thought New Moon to be boring, I enjoyed the series and wanted to continue being a fan of Stephenie Meyer. Of course I was as excited as anyone else to read Eclipse, but by the time I finished I found myself looking for others who disliked it as well.

*The following will be quite spoilery. Continue at your own risk.*

The book begins naturally where New Moon left off. Edward has returned from a near-suicide and Bella has taken him back after all those months of moping (such harcore moping that some pages in New Moon are mere the titles of months and nothing else). First off, I could not possibly understand why Bella took him back so quickly. Edward left her in a very cold-hearted manner, stole her things because he decided it was better for her to heal without them, and ends up being a completely dramatic idiot who tries to commit suicide. Yet these are the characteristics of true love? I don't buy it. The character of Bella is a complete idiot, and I wish girls all over the country didn't look up to her so blindly. It's clear that in essence all she is is a self-insert Mary Sue.
Naturally this book was all about a love triangle. As with the other two, it was never about vampires, it was never a coming of age story, it was never even truly about love. It was about a girl and a guy's obsession for each other, and their horribly disguised lust. But let's suspend disbelief for a moment. Let's say Bella and Edward truly are in love- how on earth was it possible for her to suddenly be deeply in love with another man? This girl has got to be the most selfish creature in the world. I understand that Jacob helped her through the ugly times when Edward dumped her, but why couldn't she renounce him when Edward returned? Better yet, why couldn't she tell Edward to bugger off? Instead we get a load of angst where she stubbornly tells the readers that she is indeed NOT in love with Jacob, no matter how much he insists upon it. We get chapters and chapters of Edward and Jacob behaving like dogs with Bella as their bone. I swear, I thought any minute now one of them is going to urinate on her so as to claim indesputable ownership.
Spurred on by this love triangle issue, Edward becomes the most horrible fictional man I've ever known in my life. Abusive would be an understatement. He was creepy, disgusting, and foul. I wanted to kill Edward so many times. Specifically during moments like the time he dismantles Bella's engine so that she can't see Jacob. He does this in a very creepy way too. He knows she won't be able to hear him doing anything, so he sneaks over to her car before she can. Dismantles the engine, sits in the passenger seat KNOWING he's going to startle her, and eventually does exactly that. He scares her, then quietly tells her why he's there, and she returns to her room.
Then there's the times Bella had to think quick in order to escape Edward and Alice in order to see Jacob. There's the time Edward buys Alice a new car so that she can keep Bella hostage. I ask you, how can so many girls be in love with this man?
The whole time you've got some sort of idea of a plot going on in the background, but it's being drowned by all the annoying angst. At some point the characters figure out that there might be an army being built against them, and then we have this huge build up of a battle that's going to happen. The battle happens, and we see none of it. Instead we get Victoria somewhere farther away trying to kill Bella- though she gets quickly done away with by Edward. Yet another moment where Bella seems like she's entirely useless. She tries to imitate a person from an old werewolf legend, but regardless ends up looking like an idiot when Edward tells her that he and Seth had everything under control the entire time. It's like you could almost hear Edward thinking, "Silly woman, you know you know you're only supposed to sit there and be scared while I act the hero."
What's terrifying is that a woman wrote this. What's even more terrifying is that many more women, young and old, eat it up without question.
I wouldn't recommend this book to my worst enemy.

Very, very good book. There is the one disturbing part about Jacob, but other than that....loved it!

I bought this book for my 14 year old daughter because she started to read the series. She was very happy to receive this book! (Its the latest and greatest dont you know) The book arrived quickly and in excellent condition!

This book continues on the dramatic love, adventure, and interesting story of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. I have two sides or opinions on this book. First I will share the bad side of it. Though I really enjoyed Twilight, the first book inn this series, I have had a hard time catching on to the rest of them. Twilight was very hard for me to put down and kept me turning the pages, but this book seems very bland and I don't feel compelled to read it. By the third book you begin to familiarize yourself so much with the unique story, it just seems normal and natural to have a boyfriend who is a vampire and a best friend that is a werewolf. Though this seems odd to readers not familiar with the series, once you begin to read it, it just seems to be a story of reality. Though it is intense at some times, this book seems a bit downhill.
I do have a lot of positive feedback on this book too. This novel keeps you interested enough to continue reading it, though does not pull you in enough to make you never put it down. I feel it is at its peek when it leaves you with heart-wrenching cliffhangers that make you hungry for more. It seems to have a lot of climaxes and falls, though not a very prevalent and definite one. I like the idea of having several small rises and falls as it adds to the overall value of the novel. As the book goes on, particularly about two thirds the way through the book, it gets very intense and interesting, making it more difficult to put down. This book is definitely one you should read if you begin the Twilight Series, but you must stick with it even when you feel it is getting the slightest bit boring!