Breaking Dawn Worst Book I've Read in a Long Time!

In writing Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer just may have written the worst book of the year. Maybe even of the decade. And that's really saying something because her first three books were terrible too. But none of them are as poorly written as Breaking Dawn.

Let me begin with a few disclaimers and clarifications here. I am not a writer, nor do I review books for a living. I just read books. A lot of them. Like many of you out there I just simply love reading.

I am not a reading "snob" Although I love literature and appreciate it as the beautiful art form it is, I can also enjoy "fluff" writing as well. Reading just simply for enjoyment or escape is perfectly acceptable to me.

I believe with all my heart that Stephanie Meyer should be applauded and commended. She wrote four books and got them published. Congratulations Stephanie! I mean that sincerely. This is something I myself have failed to do (mostly for lack of even trying, but still....) This is a fabulous accomplishment.

I've read all of the first three books- not because I love them or am a fan, but because I wanted to be aware of what my daughters were reading. It was a chore, because they were all awful. This last book however, Breaking Dawn, I could not even finish it. So while I am writing a review of sorts of this book, I need to honestly say I've not finished it and that should be taken into account when someone reads this. I was unable to finish it due to disgust and revulsion. I cannot believe I wasted my money, and worse my time on the book. It is not only poorly written, but is also a profoundly disturbing view of love and life.

Now for my "review" as it were....
(and yes there are "spoilers" here, although I tend to think of them more as warnings)

I shudder to think that there are thousands of young girls out there reading this series. They have been exposed to its distortions of love by the first three books and now with the fourth book are reading content that literally made me sick to my stomach.

Let me just list my complaints specific to Breaking Dawn. Then- if I'm not all "typed out", I'll talk about the rest of the series. (Criticisms are in no particular order)

First- I'm only guessing here that Meyer considers Bella's fervent protection of the "baby" and her refusal to even consider termination of the pregnancy to be a strong "pro-life" stance. (Guessing here because of Meyer's LDS faith and the LDS church's position on abortion, if I have this wrong I apologize.) I actually found it to be a very strong "pro-choice" story line. Bella is the only one who has any say in the matter because it is her body. What I find disgusting is that Edward is not part of the discussion. There is no regard for his feelings, the possible safety repercussions, the health and well being of the "baby", whether or not it is even a "baby"... nothing- once again Bella is so selfish, she shuts out all viewpoints other than her own. She manipulates everyone around her and Meyer seems to portray this as selfless and even at one point refers to Bella as a martyr.

I don't care either way what viewpoint on abortion is presented to young girls; when done honestly and fairly I believe most girls are able to come to the conclusion that works best for them regardless of the agenda of the author. I'm not bothered that Meyer seemed to be pushing an agenda here.

However, it would be great if an author writing for such a young audience showed a young girl facing an unplanned and dangerous pregnancy as having to confront and work through all of those issues. Instead the entire thing is romanticized and Bella is shown as "noble", when in fact real "nobility" in this case would have been to address Edward's feelings as well as all of those things and then come to a decision, with Edward. (either keeping the baby or terminating the pregnancy could be viewed as "noble") As it was written, Bella just looks plain stupid.

Next- She named the "baby" what? For pete's sake, this is the type of thing that you might attribute to an 11 year old, not an older child (even though Bella is profoundly immature) or an adult. GAG! Bella never showed any regard for anyone other than herself, it is an insult to her readers that Meyer would want to show Bella having anything more than a passing notice of either her own mother or Esme at this point. Same goes for the middle name, only it is slightly less ugly. (Oh, and once again, does Edward get a say? Nope, Bella decides and all bow to her will. Honestly, he really should have put his foot down that time!)

Third- the whole Jacob imprinting on the baby thing. This is perverse! Seriously gross. 'Nuf said...

Marriage at 18?!?! Yes, let's glamorize that.... especially Bella's immature and selfish 18. I loved the crap about Rene supporting Bella because, to paraphrase, "you've always been an adult" Unless this is Meyer's way of reiterating the weak story line of Rene always being irresponsible it is just plain unbelievable. This mother does not even know her child! And if it is some weak attempt to give Rene more dimension I would say "why now and why her"? You've let all of the characters of these books have no personality or dimension, why start now? This is just utter crap.

Too much sex anyone? Hey, this is a children's book! Not enough sex to make it worth reading? Darn right! What gives? Either you don't mention it at all, in keeping with the target audience's maturity level, or you admit that you are writing a trashy romance novel and put a little substance there. Trying to keep it clean just made it crappy. It could have had no mention of sex and been a nice honeymoon story (its been done well before, and been enjoyable to read) there is no need to mention sex. They are married, so the sex is assumed.

Last, and probably the most disturbing to me is the version of love that Meyer presents in this book (really the whole series) I weep to think that young girls are being allowed to think that this is what love is. Edward and Bella do not love one another. Love sees imperfection and does not gloss over it or ignore it, or worse not even see it. (Bella's laughable character flaw of clumsiness does not count here) Love sees imperfection and loves in spite of it, sometimes abhors it, sometimes tires of it. Love is not based upon physical beauty (when do Edward and Bella ever have a meaningful conversation?) Love is not obsession. Love lets the other go if needed, but then goes on itself. Real love has basis within self, before there is ever another involved. (none of this crap about not being able to live without each other)

One has to wonder if Meyer herself has such an immature definition of love. I certainly hope not. And I cannot for the life of me understand why she chose to portray this type of love to her young readers. Why can Bella and Edward not evolve? Why do they have to only think of each other in such superficial and idealized ways?

I understand from other reviews I've read and from talking with my daughters that there are other serious flaws. (one daughter has been able to read almost the whole thing, although she is literally having to force herself to finish it) One of the complaints that I have seen is that Bella ends up getting everything she wants without having to pay any price for it all. There are no negative consequences for Bella's poor decisions. Why? That's boring. One dimensional. And again, it was irresponsible.

But let's address that. Does a writer have a responsibility to present "correct" views and ideals to their readers? I would say no, not even writers of children's books such as these. I would think, however, that most would be interested in doing so.

If the "wrong" message is part of a story, that is okay with me, as long as the story is well written. Writing as an art is worthwhile all on its own. It needs no agenda or purpose, it can just "be"

And that is my biggest complaint with this series of books- the writing is horrible!! Stephanie Meyer cannot write. We see glimpses of good writing here and there in the stories, but for the most part- DRIVEL! And this is a shame, because she obviously has some great ideas and imagination. In the hands of a better writer this "story arc" would have been a joy to read and share with others.

My daughters and I have had a great deal of fun discussing how things might have been presented if the books had been written by a more accomplished writer. And we have had even more fun laughing at the sheer awfulness of the writing in these books. One only has to read young adult books like those by Avi or Madeleine L'Engle, or the wonderful works that are the Catcher in the Rye, the Chosen or Sarah Plain and Tall to see the difference. Whenever I see a review or blog post talking about what a wonderful writer Meyer is, I have to wonder how well read the writer of those comments is. And are our children exposed to so little quality literature that they can't tell the difference between the two?

As I mentioned before, I don't mind reading "fluff" I love Eloisa James, wait impatiently for every Clive Cussler book. What a great escape those can be! But even though those and others like them might not ever be considered the same as the works of Edith Wharton or Jane Austen, the fact of the matter is- the writing in those books meets a certain standard. The writing is good.