A guy reads Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2009-2011)

Reading Breaking Dawn: Chapter 37 (Contrivances) and Chapter 38 (Power)

The song for this chapter is Unbreakable by Fireflight

[audio:https://twilightguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/unbreakable.mp3]

The day fast approaches when I will type my last and final chapter review for twilightguy.com. After this post, there’s only one left. It’s somewhat of a bittersweet ending to a long road through these books — I don’t want to reach the end, but the only way I’ll know who survives and who dies is to push onwards. I think perhaps I’ve taken the longest time to read this series than anyone else on earth 😀

Now that I’m finally moved in to my new California apartment, I’ve managed to dig out my copy of Breaking Dawn and get back to reading! Where I left off, Aro just withdrew from the Cullens to consult with his brothers about the strange situation facing them. I don’t exactly know for sure where Aro personally stands on this. He seems to flip-flop between wanting to follow the rules, and wanting to kill them, and then wanting to be friends with everyone.

Still, I think the real issue here is how much Carlisle and his group challenge the rules that the Volturi have stuck to for so long. Normal, respectable vampires have absolutely nothing to do with those pitiful humans besides around mealtimes, and especially not werewolves. It’s simply one of those things that they don’t do, and their society is built around this idea. For Carlisle and the Cullens to challenge this brings forth an entirely new way of thinking for the Volturi, and it seems that a lot of them are set in their ways and don’t want to buy into it. They seem to have this idea that Carlisle is simply wrong to be friends with the werewolves:

“Yet Carlisle encourages a familiar relationship with this enormous infestation–no doubt in an attempt to overthrow us. The better to protect his warped lifestyle.”

I suppose when you get down to it, Jacob and the others aren’t really werewolves after all. But they pretty much seem to be. The shape-shifters thing seems purely technical to me. It would be like saying that a humanoid creature that drinks blood isn’t technically a vampire because he/she sparkles — they’re just blood-suckers.

These witnesses are quite the fickle bunch. It seems like they showed up ready to kill the Cullens without any defense at all, then ten minutes pass and suddenly they’re hmmm-ing in deep thought, siding with the Cullens, then Irina gets killed and they’re suspicious again. I want to knock each of them on the side of the head and demand that they make up their minds already.

Also, I can’t ever seem to read Aro well. It’s odd how he seems to think this is all just one big merry affair that he’s traipsing through:

“Ah, Amun, my southern neighbor!” Aro said warmly.

“I’m grateful I have others to deal with the tedium!”

“Oh well, we’re all together now! Isn’t it lovely?”

cocacolasanta

While I find it a bit hard to imagine a tear the size of a baseball, the farewell of everyone as the battle slowly begins is a bit heartbreaking. I don’t really know how I would react in a situation such as this one, where everyone I know and love is about to die all at once. Edward has waited for hundreds of years for Bella, and he’s going to lose her this quickly? I think that the heartbreak of that would be far more incapacitating than anything that Jane can throw at them.

Of course, I knew that Alice wasn’t gone forever! It would be entirely unlike her to simply disappear and leave her family and Bella behind to fight alone: it bears no resemblance at all to her character all this time. I had a feeling that she would show up at just the right time, with her own set of witnesses she had been searching for to help save the Cullens. Obviously, Renesmee isn’t quite alone in the world, now that Nahuel has decided to pop up unannounced. It is very much thanks to him that those fateful words are uttered by Aro:

“Dear ones,” he called. “We do not fight today.”

It might seem a bit anticlimactic, when considering how long the Cullens have prepared for this war, and for their own deaths during it. But actually, it seems more to me like they have come out victorious in the end. To fight would have meant their end — and now, they can continue to live in peace.

Question For The Comments: Were you happy with the resolution of the confrontation, or would you have preferred to see a war happen?

——NOTES——

– I will be posting about the final chapter in Breaking Dawn shortly!

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97 Responses

  1. Yes, I think it was a bit anti-climatic, but not too bad. I just think BD as a whole was not written as well as the other books.

    Awww, one more post and then you're done?! That's so sad!!! Are you going to seriously quit blogging on this website then? How will I live? I suppose I'll have to switch over permanently to your other one. Oh well. =)

  2. I loved ALL of Breaking Dawn. The only thing That Kind of annoyed me was the part in Jacob's point of view because well, I HATE JACOB WITH A PASSION!! Anyway, I loved the ending, it was PERFECT!!!

    By the way, I so totally think the song for those chapters should've been “Uprising” by MUSE.

  3. First of all, you didn't take the longest time to read this series than anyone else on earth, obviously you took the longest time than anyone else in the whole universe.
    but we dont really have to write an article about each chapter, that would take me ages, I may need to have the age of a vampire to be able to finish.
    n then being so into this series made it harder for me to read through the last chapter n to the end of the book. the day I finished breaking dawn I felt awful n started with twilight again!!
    n about Aro I never understood him n never will. not even if i read this from his perspective. I don't think he's trying to be friend with everyone!! he's just faking these smiles to look like the nicest personvampire ever. so he can rule for “few” more epochs. I like Marcus though. he doesn't seem to have the same desire. or maybe he was just scared 'cause of Bella's shield, but I sympathized with him from the very beginning.
    I think we may understand AND enjoy this chapter better from Edward's perspective. 'cause all I can think of while Im reading is “it's not fair that he gets to know everything n I don't XS”
    n Im satisfied with the end. I would never want another one. It's enough that the Volturie are scared and feel threatened by Bella. If it had a war n the Cullens won, it may mean an end!! and I prefer to think that there will be continued. if not about Bells n Edward. then about Renesmee or Alice or anyone else.

    this is the first time i write a comment this long n I hope to see more from you Kaleb

  4. First off “For Carlisle and the Cullens to challenge this…” just made me think that “Carlisle and the Cullens” would be an AWESOME band name. Second of all: yeah, it seemed at after 4 books we could have a little more climax than that. I felt like the birth was the climax then all just falling action and resolution…it came a little too soon me thinks!

  5. I found the entire book to be completely unsatisfying. From start to finish, it was disappointing. It had some shining moments, but overall I wish I could take back the 20 bucks I spent on the book.

    Whenever I pick up a book from the same series, I feel like I've settled back into something familiar. Like when you walk into your house. You know where everything is, how it's supposed to be, what it looks like, and the feel it has. When I picked up New Moon, or Eclipse, or even the few posted chapters of Midnight Sun, it felt familiar. I knew I was in Forks, it read the same way, and it felt like I was stepping back into a world I knew very well.

    With Breaking Dawn, from when Renee first said “Oh, it's fine if you get married at 18!!” it felt -all- wrong. Nothing was as it was setup to be from the get-go. It's like every rule and personality trait set down my the first three books were now null and void.

    Though Bella cried over Jacob as a lover because she hurt him, all feelings for him in a romantic sense are now lost and it's purely platonic after such a short time. Teenage girls don't get over guys they -really- love in that short amount of time, without carrying -some sort- of feelings.

    Renee has been said to prefer Bella eating puppies over getting married before college. And now she's all hunky-dory with the idea. No fights, no attempts to talk her out of it, no parental concerns are voiced whatsoever although any parent in their right mind anywhere else would -at least- have a long talk with their kids and try and get them to wait for a few years.

    Edward from books 1-3 and even part of 4 has gone through massive amounts of heartache trying to keep Bella human, and says he'll miss certain aspects of her humanity once it's gone. Her blush, her brown eyes, her warm soft skin, her clumsiness ect. But once she's turned “Oh Bella you're so perfect, I love you more then when you were human!!!”

    When Bella is going through her pregnancy and then drinks blood to sustain her life. I recall a certain chapter in Twilight where she nearly -passed out- from -someone else- bleeding from -clear across the room-. And now she can drink the stuff like a cherry Coke.

    What?

    Seriously?

    These are just a few examples of personality traits that have been severely modified, tweaked, or completely ignored. Human (or vampire) traits don't change so suddenly. Especially since it's it's been established about all the stubbornness these particular characters are capably of!

    It's like taking Aslan from Narnia and saying “Oh, remember when I said “He isn't safe, but he is good”? Well, he's completely safe, and now 100% evil.”

    It's writing a law, then turning around and breaking it. Making a rule in a created universe, and twisting it so it comes out the way you want it to, not taking into account how the characters would actually react in these situations.

    If you were to say a character has a severe case of arachnophobia, you don't have him get a pet tarantula two books later, have him shrug his shoulders and say “I got him because he looked cool.”

    Based on the first three books, Alice never would've left without notice, Edward would take at least a little time adjusting to how Bella has changed (whether for better or worse), Renee would've taken the marriage more seriously and if not put up a fight, at least talk it out with her daughter. Bella would still carry about some type of feeling for Jacob, whether or not its drowned out by her love for Edward.

    These are not the characters I came to know in Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse.

    This story was poorly written, anticlimactic, and a huge disappointment.

  6. I was seriously disappointed with the ending… :/ I mean, the Cullens and the Volturis gathered up a whole military force, trained them for a battle and when the time came they decided to talk?! Couldn't that be done with a smaller group and less hype? It was supposed to be the highlight of the book and it just went on and on… I remember that at some point I was thinking, “Is there no end to this thing?”

    I love Twilight as every other girl (and boy 😉 ) as well as the world Stephenie has created for us but the battle part in the last book was kind of a let-down… :/

  7. I was happy with the ending of Breaking Dawn. I didn't want any of our favorite characters to die. It was indeed very anticlimactic, but I think this is how is was suppose to end. After everything Bella, Edward, Jacob, the Cullens, and the wolves go through throughout this whole series, it was about time they have a happy ending!

  8. i think it was perfect! if there had been a fight even if the Cullens did destraoy the Volturi, they wouldnt have won. Because some of their family would have died! If that had happened it would have ruined the entire Saga i am definatley glad that there was no battle!

  9. When the critics get so harsh, it always makes me very sad. I have never read any books where the author had such a strong grip on who the characters are as 'people', and let their own 'stories' drive the narrative & plot line. jessiedark's complaint that “all the 'laws' that were laid down in the first 3 books were broken in BD” can only be true if 1) none of the characters ever changed (i.e. character development), 2) if life never happened (i.e. miscommunications, fallacies, and a healthy dose of Murphy's Law), and 3) if Stephenie Meyer didn't know the entire outcome of BD while still writing New Moon. However, all 3 of those things are true, and the more I read the books (especially Midnight Sun, which cleared up a LOT of questions), the more respect and awe I have for the way Stephenie molded this story around the characters, and in my opinion she never strayed (except for one small thing about Bella in BD, which no one has ever notices…)

    On that note, the ending (i.e. no war) felt completely natural to me, although I do understand all the “anti-climax” objections 🙂 The story has always had a natural flow to it, and everything just felt like it happened the way it should (except for the whole “Edward leaving Bella & both nearly dying of depression” part in New Moon, but after reading Midnight Sun and some of Stephenie's comments, I guess it makes a lot of sense now).

    I do agree wholeheartedly with many of the comments that said this felt like an open ending to some form of continuation of the story (yay!) — which of course would most probably never happen… But I do hope with my whole heart that Stephenie at least finishes Midnight Sun!!! Also, it would be interesting if she could write The Last Battle from Edward's perspective, the way she wrote those “Extras” for Twilight and New Moon, because Edward did seem to have the scoop on all the real action while we were left in the dark! TwilightGuy, if you ever get to speak to her again, please plant the seed for an 'extra' for BD – I think she might consider it, especially if it means a character study of Aro 🙂

  10. The ending was alright…I mean, it was definatly anticlimatic. But I'm not sure if I would want any of the Cullens to die either. Another thing that kind of bugged me: Everyone was so worried about Alice, but no one seemed worried about Jasper… :

  11. The ending was alright…I mean, it was definatly anticlimatic. But I'm not sure if I would want any of the Cullens to die either. Another thing that kind of bugged me: Everyone was so worried about Alice, but no one seemed worried about Jasper… :

  12. I was completely fine not having a war. However I just spoke to a lady at work who was upset about it, that was the first time I actually thought about it. She said she felt like it was hurried. I'm not sure how I feel, I guess a little MORE would have been good. Not sure though.

  13. personally, i liked the ending, because if there had been a war, somebody would have to die, and i think i wouldn't be strong enough for that lol. besides, there is kind of a battle: in bella's head.
    well, kaleb, i almost cried with this post. is just so sad that the next post will be your last one! but still, i'm excited to see what you think about the ending 🙂

  14. I am one of the few people I know who actually really enjoyed the end battle (or lack thereof). As Stephenie Meyer said, it was really more of a battle of the mind, like the chess game featured on the cover, then a contest of brute strength and supernatural abilities. If an actual fight had taken place, some of the Cullens would have died, and that would have been way to sad.

    For me, I don't have a problem with the anti-climatic feeling others mention. My favorite parts of the series all occur when there is a lull in the action and Edward and Bella are just happy to be together. I really wanted them and Jacob to have their happy endings, and they all did. So I found the last chapters of Breaking Dawn to be extremely satisfying.

  15. Boy, some of these comments are like their own post! Long enough, people? I was initially a little disappointed at the end because I was geared up for a fight. But after giving it some thought (and rereading the book), I was happy with the way it ended. I really wasn't up for a massacre of the Cullen family. And, in a way, there WAS a fight. If it hadn't been for Bella and her gift as a shield, there would have been quite a few more deaths. Those Volturi don't fight fair!

    It's been fun reading each chapter with you! Thanks for the perspective.

  16. I agree completely with what Carly wrote…you were geared up for a fight. After i finished i was like what no fight! So I reread over the chapters so i was reading them more slowly, so when i finished the book again i actually felt like i had closure lol

    I liked it it was different, the books before had there fair share of fights.

  17. Okay, after this you have to read Midnight Sun and then the Host. And then perhaps you'll choose a new series, like the Vampire Diaries, or re-read the HP books, or something…. Reading is so much more fun when it's shared. I've ordered your book, you should have a site where fans can blog their chapter by chapter opinions and thoughts. Good luck to you in the success of your book!

  18. Yeah, Kaleb, I always look forward to your “Choose the song for (insert title here).” Are you going to do one?

  19. It's been interesting reading all the comments. Thinking again, I realise that I did feel that there was a battle. Bella learned so much about her power and even taunted Jane. How much fun was that!!! I loved the whole Jane being jealous of Bellas' gift from Aro.

    Someone wrote something about Bella drinking blood while she was pregnant and how wrong that was because of her reaction to blood in Twilight. I know a couple of woman who couldn't stand a food and then would crave it during pregnancy.

  20. I personally hoped that the war would have happened…To me it seemed like the whole story was building up towards that war. We had all of the other vampires with their awesome powers come from around the world to join the Cullens and help them fight. The bad guys even had a reason to show up and want to fight…There was the feeling of helplessness among the Cullens that kind of set the mood….and then the whole thing was just talked out of…All it took was a bunch of standing around and discussing things for the Volturi to leave….I don't know…I mean yeah everyone had a happy ending and things really went well for the Cullens and the wolfs..

    I can't help but wonder if some of the good vampires who showed up, felt like it was a waist of their time in a way..Sure they have eternity to experience everything, but to fly/run/what ever all the way out to the Cullens to support them, and not have any exciting action happen…I don't know…I'd probably feel like it was kinda a waist of my time…to just stand around….even if there was supposed to be a war….*shrugs*

  21. I was disappointed that a war didnt happen. I know most of them would have died but i didnt like that it built up so much for nothing to happen. I wanted to see who would survive and who would die. i also wanted to see if there was an afterlife after all.

  22. I was a bit weirded out by the ending, but SM said that the “Merchant of Venice” stuff was supposed to be foreshadowing this, and the chess board cover was supposed to symbolize how the whole thing was just a game of strategy, no real fighting, and how Bella went from being the weakest player on the board (the red pawn in the background) to the strongest (the queen that is front and center.)

  23. ok… so this is my very first comment even though i have read every post and i refresh now and then… You have done an amazing job kaleb, i am looking forward to getting bran hambric[when it gets here… 10 days…] and i have to say… i hope you decide to read the host.. its so awsome… well anyway thumbs up 😉 ttyl.

  24. I liked the way it ended, it was a little anticlimatic but it was good that none of the cullens or wolves died i would have been a wreck if that had happened

  25. I liked the ending very much. I'm glad there was no fight because someone would have died, and what if it had been Emmett?? or Alice??? The horror!! lol
    Seriously though, Breaking Dawn is my favorite out of the series.

  26. I was happy with the non fight. It was better this way, I think. I would have HATED it if any of the Cullens had died! Or any of the werewolves. It would have been horrible! I liked that the fight was all sort of… Intellectual. It was sort of like the power kept shifting between the two groups without the need for a physical confrontation. If it had have turned into a fight, even if the Cullens and their supporters had won the fight, they would have suffered huge losses.

  27. So many of my friends were irked by the lack of war. They tell me it's anticlimactic and slightly boring to find out no fight. Pfft. I was HAPPY there was non fight. As weird as this sounds I love ALL the characters. Even the strict Volturi. I love Aro to pieces. I love the wolves.I love The Cullens and all the human characters. I love them ALL. And a fight would mean a side had to lose. She could've easily made it so The Cullens won BUT then that'd mean the other side would've died too. People might find that strange that I was rooting for everyone. But when I love a series so much that I love EVERY character ever written in it, I want a happy ending for ALL. I by no means wanted The Cullens to die either so I don't want anyone to take that the wrong way. I didn't want ANY one of them to meet a death as I said a good many times through this post. Besides they had a small war in my eyes just not a violent or physical one. Plus I feel the book would've been way too predictable if a fight broke out. I had NOT predicted anything in the fourth book. Which made me happy. I love being surprised.

  28. I TOTALLY agree with Devon. I am completely satisfied with the way SM ended her Saga. I get really tired of people comparing it to HP and saying that Stephenie copped out by not having one of her major characters die. This to me is a totally bogus statement. Yes, characters in HP die. But NOT major characters, except Dumbledore, and Dumbledore's death was a sacrifice for the betterment and growth of Harry and his powers. It was like an Obi Wan thing (sorry for the Star Wars reference, but it fits!). Obi Wan died so that Luke would be stronger and he could help him from the other side with the force. It's basically the same thing with Dumbledore. He died for a PURPOSE. To make things better for the others.
    Every other character that has died in HP were secondary ones. And just because someone dies, does not necessarily make the story better.

    Most people that I hear say this, want one of two characters to die, either Jacob or Renesmee. I think that would have been disasterous. Bella loves both of them too much for that to happen. She is willing for all of them to fight for Renesmee, but she actually makes a plan for Jacob to escape with her during the fight, as she feels she must save her in anyway she can, even if it means Renesmee lives on without her.

    So how in the world does anyone want one of these two characters to die? I really think it stems from their dislike of these two characters. Many of the people who say the Saga “would have been better if someone had died” don't like Jacob, don't like Renesmee, and don't like the idea of Jacob still being in Bella's life. They somehow think that the loss of one of these two characters would make Bella grow. No, it would destroy her. One can handle the death of a great teacher, who dies for a purpose, but it is too difficult to have your best friend or daughter die, just because the Volturi want to keep their power. It would be too cruel a blow to lose either of them for this.
    Only a meaningful death would have enhanced the Saga, not a death without a purpose.

    And about the Volturi leaving without a fight. How great that Stephenie proved that BELLA is the heroine of this Saga. That the WOLVES were so important to the Cullens survival, just with their presence. What a great example are the wolves and the Cullens. If they can live in peace and respect for each other, being natural enemies, than we all can.

    I absolutely and wholeheartedly love the way Stephenie Meyer ended her Saga!!

    I just hope and pray that she will give us more stories about these characters.
    Stephenie we are all sorry about Midnight Sun, but so hope that eventually you will finish it for us.
    We also would love to hear more about other characters, such as Renesmee and Jacob, or Leah. We would love to see how their lives play out. There are so many interesting ways Renesmee and Jacobs' relationship can grow, and we would love to see Leah find some happiness! Please? Pretty Please?

  29. Kaleb, In case you didn't know, this song “unbreakable” is a Christian song.
    Please, don't use it for the purpose of Edward and Bella.

    Thanks 🙂
    Nutty

  30. Awww your almost done…I'm sad now. It's been a wonderful journey with you Kaleb.
    No on to Breaking Dawn!
    I honestly wish that the war happened. I completely thought that they were going to die. I really wish this book was a tragedy more than a happy ending, like Romeo and Juliet. I think it would have been better that way, and plus maybe more books would have spun out with Jacob and Rennesme.

  31. I also thought Edward calling Jacob “son” was an awesome moment! It made me cry that he could grow to have such a strong feeling for Jacob and their relationship could be so strong that he could hand over his most preciouss posession to Jacob for safekeeping! So awesome!

    If Edward can grow to feel this way about Jacob and Jacob feel such compassion toward him, too, then why can't Team Edward people and Team Jacob people feel the same?

    Everyone knows that Edward and Bella have to be together, so that is not really what “Team Jacob” people are about. We just love him as a character/person and wish that the Team Edward people who tend to hate him so much would just see him as he really is,and not as a threat to Bella and Edward's relationship,which he really never was.

  32. How would you know that there was an afterlife if there had been a physical war? (There was a mental and emotional one!!)

  33. At first I was expecting a war, but I am very happy that one did not occur. I would have been very sad if any of the characters I've grown to love would have died. I am a person who likes happy endings (that's one reason I don't enjoy Shakespeare and his tragedies) and was very happy that Edward and Bella got their happily ever after & get to be together forever. What a fun and great love story!

  34. Well there's a possibility that the book would not end with Bella dying and it would go on in an afterlife.

  35. I, for one, am glad there was no actual battle. It was more of a battle of the minds. People may think the whole thing was anticlimactic, but think about it. If the Cullens had faught the Volturi, some of the characters we love would've died, and I think that would've ticked people off a lot more. Instead, one background character died and we know that the Cullens will be safe. I was also glad that someone finally brought up the fact that the wolf pack are actually shapeshifters and not werewolves. They turn into huge wolves when they need to, they don't change into werewolves when there's a full moon and they don't attack people mindlessly. I don't even like Jacob that much, but the goodbye between him and Edward definitely made me teary-eyed.

  36. I was disappointed it was a bit of an anticlimatic moment – would have liked to see a bit of a battle. But on the other hand I'm glad none of the major characters were killed off (eg. Harry Potter – though I love the series, very sad that so many characters were killed off).

  37. I was so mad. I think it was the fact she didn't have the war that ruined the whole series for me. I do not find the books as great as i did before. When i read it i was ready for the war, i was ready for people to die and when that didn't happy i was a bit disapointed, not only because nobody died, but people had compared them to Harry Potter when J.K. Rowling could actually kill some of her characters to make the book better. Yes i cried a lot in the end of the final Harry Potter book but the deaths of some of my favorite characters made it seem more real, there was point to the war as with BD it was all this build up and conflict and it ends so suddenly it just left me saying “Oh, well…. thats kinda stupid”. Im sorry but I do believe if you build up the proper makings of a fight you should follow through.

    Now dont get me wrong, I still think Stephenie Mayer is a really good author, I loved “The Host” its just after reading the last book in the twilight series it did not seem as great.

    But yeah in the short words I believe the fight not happening ruined the books slightly.

  38. Ok… I did not want an actual fight to happen. I have not read the book in a while so I can't, with perfect knowledge, explain exactly what “could have” happened but I had thought that SM had given us all of the descriptions of each new vamp's talents in order to come up with a very educated plan. To completely confuse the Voltori and overcome them without bloodshed (well… you know what I mean). This one blocks, another one zaps, a third one confuses their thoughts, and finally, Bella protects.

  39. Ok… I did not want an actual fight to happen. I have not read the book in a while so I can't, with perfect knowledge, explain exactly what “could have” happened but I had thought that SM had given us all of the descriptions of each new vamp's talents in order to come up with a very educated plan. To completely confuse the Voltori and overcome them without bloodshed (well… you know what I mean). This one blocks, another one zaps, a third one confuses their thoughts, and finally, Bella protects.

  40. I loved when Edward said, “Goodbye my son… my brother.” To Jacob. That part made me tear up. It's like after all they have been through they have always been each others brothers… the goodbyes were so deep in emotion!

  41. I would have prefered a war. It did seem very anticlimatic. It seemed like Stephenie built up, and built up the suspence and then it was all for Nothing! I was definitley not satisfied with how things ended.

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