guardians_song (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
guardians_song) wrote2013-07-15 03:43 pm
guardians_song) wrote2013-07-15 03:43 pm
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Real fan reactions to Breaking Dawn's original release: Edward/Bella edition.
No, it wasn't just the Team Jacob members that were aghast!
(DISCLAIMER: Many reactions were positive. I culled the humorous/horrified/highly-critical ones. As such, analysis of actual reactions would require visiting the links given.)
For those of us who have read Breaking Dawn, what do you guys make of the cover art for the book itself? What do you think is the symbolism behind our little chess game? How do you interpret it?
I don't understand what half this book was about, so IDK. lol.
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yeah. im also one of the ones that think it has to do with her and herspawn daughter.
i think it has to do with themutant baby. and bella's all in the front being lily potter motherly.
Official Breaking Dawn Discussion Post
I really wanna return my copy of BD but I can't. I lost the receipt. I'm chagrined.
I wanted to return my copy of BD too.
But I spilled coffee on it out of shock and horror.
siiiiiiiiigh.
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I hate that SM spent two books playing [Jacob/Bella] up only to completely retcon it. That's just bad writing, and that is why you can't recycle a plot the way she did (Forever Dawn becoming BD, with no regard for the way Jake's character took over in NM and EC).
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I like to forget that this book doesn't exist. It's just Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse to me.
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andd i'm glad to see that 44% like bd! :]
[FOR REFERENCE:
This is the EDWARD/BELLA community. You know, the pairing STEREOTYPICALLY filled with Twihards and brainless fankids.
By the end of the poll, these were the numbers:
THIS WAS FROM THE GROUP THAT HAD THE MOST REASONS TO LIKE BREAKING DAWN. And a full fifth of the community disliked it, a third had mixed opinions, and less than half actually liked it.
That is damning.]
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I like to forget that this book doesn't exist. It's just Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse to me.
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I sold mine to HalfPrice Books. I couldn't return it cause I'd cracked the spine.... sorry I just can't say "cracked spine" without thinking of that horrifying scene...
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Breaking Dawn was just SO FUNNY to me, I wasn't even upset that I thought it was horrible, like DEMON BABY SPAWN WHO JACOB FALLS IN LOVE WITH! EDWARD IS A PILLOW BITER! MEYER HAS LOST HER MIND! I don't know if I'll re-read it, but uh....It was interesting.
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but she chose to be a vampire and be with edward instead, SHE GAVE ALL THAT UP just to be with her one true love. because that IS ALL she needed.
and now they have a daughter?! wtf?!
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I thought the 3rd book would be good, but 3/4 of it bored the crap out of me. Vampire looks, vampire goes ~ehgawd the sea creature is absolutely beautifuly!~
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yeah .. it doesn't exist for me. I'm not sure what book you all are talking about
... *shrugs*
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I feel like such a ~rebel~ but I'm one of the ones who returned the book. I just...had to get my money back. -hides-
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also - I would have returned it because it is a hardcover and coast like 20 something bucks and that's like a week worth of Starbucks down the drain on a book I probably won't re-read but I find returning books so...tacky? IDK.
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Meh, how can I return a PDF file? xD
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On the 'Did you return it' question, there should so have been an 'I didn't even buy it in the first place, thank god' choice, 'cause that's my thoughts on that particular subject. :P
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I would have returned it but I have book collection OCD.
BD Discussion Post
I don't think this really needs to be said, but just to put it out there again - play nice. You don't like a comment? Skip it and make your own. Let's not keep repeating ridiculous drama. That's lame.
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I like how Smeyer just sidesteps every question about the book in interviews...I don't think she even knows why she wrote what she did. *sigh*
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To me, it's just very disappointing and extremely frustrating.
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Actually I have the vague impression that people are going to hate it more. Are already hating it more. I expected that the hate would die down after a week but it's as strong as ever.
There's also another thing: A lot of BD's weaknesses are weaknesses that carried over from the previous books. But there people did a lot of handwaving because they liked other things enough to do that. The realization that a lot BD's fail was predictable will not do the series in whole a great favor.
There's gonna be a lot love lost when they'll re-read Eclipse and come across Rosalie's story and she talks about her friend's baby (foreshadowing Rosalie going psycho later) and how Emmett reminds her of that baby. (shades of the most pseudo-pedophiliac aspect of Nessie/Jacob). And then Quil and Claire happens and people will wonder why they ever bothered finishing and liking Eclipse, considering how much of Breaking Dawn's flaws it already contains. I'm sure the same thing will happen if they re-read Twilight and New Moon.
BD will ruin the Twilight series for many people, will ruin something they really liked, and that's going to make them hate BD more for it.
[I need to remind you, this is a (former?) FAN. Not Mervin or Mrs. Hyde under an alt. *slow whistle*]
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I'm BLOCKING out how much I didn't like BD, so... with anything dealing with it, I get kinda numb.
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I wonder if Stephenie will ever actually answer a question. hmm outcome not likely.
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I really, really, really wanted to love Breaking Dawn, but I've been in the publishing biz for too long to overlook the plot holes (like Aro not sensing Bella's shield through Edward) and bizarre character changes (Bella actually DIDN'T run off by herself to head off the Volturi from hurting anyone else? How odd.)
[a reply:]
IAWTC completely. There seemed to be a breakdown of logic and reason, I guess what you refer to as plot holes.
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the first few chapters and the last chapter are the only ones worth anyone's time, yes!?!?!
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...I still can't believe I finished BD in a day, and gave up sleep over it. I just kept turning page after page, hoping it would get better.
But I'm at peace with it now, it has been a week.:)
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I think what made me go "OH MY GOD. THIS IS FANFIC CRACK." was Renesmee. Not the child... but the name. I actually had hope that it'd be Edward Jr after Bella gave her two choices, and that I could forget about Renesmee... but... nope. :/
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Was anybody here at the LA concert event? (:
I don't have much to add except the fact that the birth scene ruined everything for me =(
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Quite frankly, I wouldn't have been suprised if Jacob would have grabbed Edward's hand and they would have skipped away into the sunset. [snort]
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Really, really hated it. I don't know how to describe how I feel about it - it's like I'm still waiting for the real fourth book to come out. This thing was not about the characters I love.
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I felt kind of nauseous during my first read and wrote a harsh review but I'm gradually becoming indifferent. I can't justify another attempt to go through this abysmally bad and misogynist book and make some sense of it. Yes, I respect that other readers can ignore the issues I have with BD but I cannot put them aside.
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Forever Dawn was of course the original story of what most of the content of BD entailed. I think when SM basically copy and pasted some of that material into what she had newly conjured it, it became choppy, anti climatic, and misguided.
[...]
In the middle of re-reading BD again, I am just about at the end of Jake's POV, and I find Edward's desperation a bit intriguing due to the fact that I personally found that it made him seem more human, and the juxtaposition was even more interesting because it made Bella seem like the "monster".
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Hated it, still hate it. But considering the fact the characters were taken over by the pod-people I have a pretty easy time pretending it's not canon though.
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I still hate the book, but the all the aftermath wank keeps me entertained.
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I'm not going to say I hated the book, but my opinion of it definitely changed from the beginning to the end. Truthfully, I think SMeyer had a great plot on her hands but just kind of... dropped the ball, I guess?
Let's get a little more specific.
★ Vampire!Bella is probably the most unlikeable character I've read in ages. She has absolutely no redeeming qualities imho. She's so completely different from Human!Bella, it's hard to believe she's the same girl. She's arrogant, annoying, and makes Rosalie look fucking awesome. And I sort of hate Rosalie, haha.
★ The name Renesmee. Seriously?? And the nickname Nessie. Why not just call her Ren, for fuck's sake? It's a hell of a lot cooler.
★ Edward saying he didn't miss Human!Bella. Wasn't Human!Bella the reason he fell in love with her to begin with? To me, him saying that really cheapened everything that happened between them from the first book on. Nice, SMeyer.
★ Bella's feelings for Jacob mysteriously 'disappearing' after she became a vampire. Was it really just like that?
★ Jacob imprinting on Renesmee. I just... Seriously... No.
★ The 'immortal children' plot. The 'final showdown' with the Volturi. I really felt like something big should have went down, and just like in Eclipse we got... nothing. A whole lot of nothing. I absolutely hate plots that tie up in nice neat little bows at the end, and that's exactly what this one did. I feel like SMeyer took the easy, 'safe' way out and this being the last book, it really hurt the series as a whole.
So in conclusion, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with everything. Twilight was an amazing debut, New Moon took the story to the next level, but after that... All I can think of is faceplant. xD lol
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I went to a midnight release party for it and the party was more fun than actually reading the book, sry2say :\
What Did You Really Want?
1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
No Nessie, no complete retcon of the J/B relationship but resolve it, Leah and Jacob slowly fall in love --- neither imprint, Bella's focus on Jasper's scars deleted, MOAR ROMANCE, scrap the stupid comments on "animal skins" and "accented English," Alice and Jasper don't leave, more Rosalie/Bella in book three.
2. Did Bella/Ed's non-existent sex irritate you or make you happy to forever be in your happy place with Edward of your own fantasy?
I expected less than we got due to Smeyer's comment in interviews, etc. What really bothers me is the graphic violence of the birth/change but fade to black sex, as if sex (even if you are married) is somehow too dirty but Edward chewing through the uterus was a-okay.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else? If she hadn't have made Bella pregnant and if Bella hadn't been completely out of character.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
No pregnancy. Atleast if Bella did get pregnant, I would of wanted it not to be a spawn of satan baby, you know? I wanted a big fight to happen as well. I wanted loose ends to be tied, I wanted just a continuation like all the other books had after one another.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I would've been happy if... I guess let me just say it - Renesmee was non-existent.
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What did I want?
Leah and Jacob slowly fall in love --- neither imprint
NO SPAWN
A better description of sex...if she could talk about abortion and blood fountains and other things she could've talked about sex.
no focusing on Jasper's scars
not ruining Rosalie's and Leah's characters, not everyone wants a child...and you're not less of a woman because you don't have one....also SMeyer pushing her beliefs into her characters.
and not having the characters be OOC
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
If Nessie had never happened, I think that she ruined E/B for me. Throughout the entire book, I just felt like E/B's relationship wasn't there, because it was so centralized around protecting Nessie. I thought this was about E/B's relationship, not E/B and other 20 vampires protecting her? Yes the marriage/sex/transformation was in the book, but the presentation of it was done poorly. Also, all the anticipation that Tanya was going to play a part in the story... NOTHING HAPPENS WITH HER! I really wanted some Bella jealousy to happen, and even a Rosalie-Tanya girl fight. That would've been fierce. In a more serious note, the ending was so anti-climatic, all the preparation and the whole gathering of the group lead up to nothing. I understand they didn't have a chance with the Volturi, but goodness gracious SM, something epic could've happened!
2. Did Bella/Ed's non-existent sex irritate you or make you happy to forever be in your happy place with Edward of your own fantasy?
Cockblock
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Okay, so I've noticed that a lot of people started out hating the book but then begin to like it more over time, but I was the opposite. I pretty much loved it once I had finished it, but the more I thought about what actually happened the more pissed off I got. Over the space of about 48 hours I shifted from loving it, to really liking certain aspects while disliking the overall premise, to hating most of the book and wishing the series had ended with Eclipse. I'm not going to go into details, I've already ranted on my own journal, but that's where I'm coming from on this.
1.) What would have made you happy?
I thought that all I wanted was a wedding and vampire!Bella, but we only got those things at the cost of Edward and Bella's relationship, which... really destroys the entire driving force behind the series. I guess in retrospect what would have made me happy was if the entire Mutant baby plotline was removed, because that seemed to be the thing that sucked all of the charm out of the book.
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I felt like we lost the 'magic' (for lack of a better word) between Edward and Bella. The little sweet words they would say to each other, the little gestures - a touch, a kiss, etc. There were so many wonderful quotes from the previous three books, and in this novel, it felt completely different. A bit bland, to be honest, which makes me sad because I fell in love with these two. They were so meant to be. But we weren't given a chance to experience the chemistry between the two. I wasn't looking for a detailed sex scene or anything; we got lots of fade to black. I wanted more intimacy and communication between them.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I wanted vampire!Bella, but I wanted her and the Cullens all being awesome and vampire-y forever, with Alice and Bella being bff and Bella and Emmett bickering constantly, and Renesmee and the whole thing with Renesmee and Jacob sort of... ruined that. I like Bella and Edward enough, but these books are very much about the Cullens for me, and I would have liked more focus on them. And more Alice. D: Also, no on the Jacob/Renesmee, because I wanted Jacob/Leah without imprinting.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
The one thing that would have made me unreservedly happy would have been if Edward/Bella/Jacob had really happened.
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To be honest I wanted anything but that waste of paper.
[...]
8. Did you like anything about the book? Come on not even Edward shirtless? o_0
I liked that I never have to read it ever again.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
An epic BATTLE at the end, not just epic TALKING. Jacob not imprinting on the demonic spawn. Renesmee not having a stupid name. Nessie preferably being that cute mini-Edward Bella dreamed of in the beginning instead of the suebaby everybody loves and adores.
2. Did Bella/Ed's non-existent sex irritate you or make you happy to forever be in your happy place with Edward of your own fantasy?
I'm beyond irritated. I wanted Bella/Edward pr0n and didn't get any. I don't want to be with Edward in my own fantasy, he's not a real person and he belongs only to Bella, but I really wanted more than Bella/Edward fade to black non-pr0n.
3. Did you transition from hating Jake with the power of a thousand suns to mild annoyance to exasperated acceptance OR did you just hate the Wolfe from A - Z (and want to rip out Book2 from BD no matter how much you paid for it)?
I've never hated Jacob. I've always liked him, even from the first book. If anything, he lost cool points with me when he imprinted on the demon spawn. I can never look at him the same way ever again.
[...]
6. Were you expecting a certain character to develop differently and if so how/why?
I expected everyone to develop differently. Seth was awesome, but I felt like most of the characters were strangers. I liked Bella's upgrade, but insane Edward, pedowolf Jacob, pregnant mom & baby killer wolf pack led by Sam, creepy super BFF Rosalie, always absent Alice, confused Jasper, Doctor Carlisle who didn't even figure out a half-vampire mutant spawn might be interested in blood, and Volturi-Talks-A-Lot grated on my nerves.
I missed the epic love story of Bella and Edward in the fourth book. I missed the Edward/Bella/Jacob love triangle. The only epic thing in Breaking Dawn was the fail.
7. Do you think we will really get a sequel? I'm really curious as to how other people see Bella now...would be nice to see and outsider observe her simlar to how she observed Edward in Twilight.
We'll get Midnight Sun and probably sequels about supersuebaby!Nessie and her awesome power to make everyone fall in love with her.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I would have been happy with some more tension. Renesmee being the "abomination" that Edward expected, Bella not handling being a newborn as well as she did, being halfway through an epic battle with the Volturi before Bella's shield kicked in... even Charlie not being as accepting would have been fine.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
If I could only change one thing, I'd omit the pregnancy. What is it... a deux ex machina?
If I went into detail, let's see:
- No pregnancy, and therefore no imprinting on the baby. Alternatively, have the baby but make it a normal kid, not a Mary Sue vamp-human hybrid that conveniently reaches maturity quickly and never ages and Jacob can imprint on and is universally loved by characters in the book. It's too perfect, it makes for a terrible story.
- Epic battle scene, not an anticlimactic one. I thought we were guaranteed a fight scene. Disappointing.
- More Edward and Bella chemistry and sweet moments alone. I didn't feel their love in this book, except for the final scene. This is their love story, isn't it?! (I found myself asking that question many times whilst reading BD.)
- A better wedding scene. It felt lacking and rushed. They didn't even write their own vows! Not special at all. I was more moved by Edward's proposal in Eclipse.
- Bella to get turned into a vampire... consciously. And Edward not being pressured to save her life by turning her.
- Bella not having to struggle with being a newborn. I'd have appreciated more trouble adapting to the vampire lifestyle than that.
- Characters that were not OOC.
Basically, I think it was a case of cramming too much into one book, thus she was not as detailed as she was in the first three books. This led to the reader being unable to identify and empathise with the characters. (It didn't help that she also left out the sex.) She wasn't as thorough in describing the emotions/quirks of the characters -- which made them seem OOC -- and you don't feel anything reading BD. That emotional trip was what used to make this series so great, and this time it was just... pfft.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I could list quite a few reasons here but here is a couple choice answers -
1. No Nessie (a popular opinion)
2. and for Bella to of had to sacrafice something in order for her to appear more real and relatable because us mere mortals never get everything we want and more without having to give something up.
3. A real battle would of been great and would of improved my enjoyment by ALOT lol :)
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To be honest- I hated it. I have a million reasons to hate it, and I think Meyer just jumped the shark with the whole plot.
1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
The painfully happy ending was bad, with little hassle, no death (I wanted a fight! A showdown! Not just them killing off a character we didn't know or care about, Bella showing how 'awesome' she is and then cutting the whole conflict off) and with too many concessions made to Bella (I mean, why did we need Charlie to stay in? I like Charlie, but I really didn't want the book to go that way). I will accept happy endings if they're earned, but this is way too happy, and it burned me how easily it happened.
(And then of course the ridiculousness of Bella being knocked up, and then of Jacob imprinting- I wanted him to be happy, but I wanted him to stand against the 'destiny' grain and fall for Leah!)
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
people have probably already said this, but some actual conflict! everything was so dragged out and for nothing. the whole volturi vs everyone else was resolved so easily, what a letdown. it's like obviously a reader hopes that that's how it would be resolved, but it's not suppose to go your way! then in general, bella getting pregnant was so random and absurd, but i don't mind that so much.
TL:DR: Congratulations, Meyer - how did you tick even your most devoted fans off?
(DISCLAIMER: Many reactions were positive. I culled the humorous/horrified/highly-critical ones. As such, analysis of actual reactions would require visiting the links given.)
For those of us who have read Breaking Dawn, what do you guys make of the cover art for the book itself? What do you think is the symbolism behind our little chess game? How do you interpret it?
I don't understand what half this book was about, so IDK. lol.
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yeah. im also one of the ones that think it has to do with her and her
well, spawn is pawn just missing the "s".--
i think it has to do with the
Official Breaking Dawn Discussion Post
I really wanna return my copy of BD but I can't. I lost the receipt. I'm chagrined.
can they just give you store credit? or maybe exchange it?--Eh, it wasn't exactly in pristine condition anymore. I just threw it away in the end. ~It doesn't exist.~
I wanted to return my copy of BD too.
But I spilled coffee on it out of shock and horror.
siiiiiiiiigh.
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I hate that SM spent two books playing [Jacob/Bella] up only to completely retcon it. That's just bad writing, and that is why you can't recycle a plot the way she did (Forever Dawn becoming BD, with no regard for the way Jake's character took over in NM and EC).
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I like to forget that this book doesn't exist. It's just Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse to me.
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andd i'm glad to see that 44% like bd! :]
[FOR REFERENCE:
This is the EDWARD/BELLA community. You know, the pairing STEREOTYPICALLY filled with Twihards and brainless fankids.
By the end of the poll, these were the numbers:
Did you like Breaking Dawn?
| Yes |
   458 (42.4%) |
| No |
| 233 (21.6%) |
| Ehhhhhhhh, 50/50 |
| 375 (34.7%) |
| WHAT IS BREAKING DAWN? |
| 15 (1.4%) |
THIS WAS FROM THE GROUP THAT HAD THE MOST REASONS TO LIKE BREAKING DAWN. And a full fifth of the community disliked it, a third had mixed opinions, and less than half actually liked it.
That is damning.]
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I like to forget that this book doesn't exist. It's just Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse to me.
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I sold mine to HalfPrice Books. I couldn't return it cause I'd cracked the spine.... sorry I just can't say "cracked spine" without thinking of that horrifying scene...
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Breaking Dawn was just SO FUNNY to me, I wasn't even upset that I thought it was horrible, like DEMON BABY SPAWN WHO JACOB FALLS IN LOVE WITH! EDWARD IS A PILLOW BITER! MEYER HAS LOST HER MIND! I don't know if I'll re-read it, but uh....It was interesting.
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#1 reason i hate BD...
the reason i liked twilight was the fact that bella had TO MAKE A CHOICE to either choose a normal human life and go to college and have kids etc.but she chose to be a vampire and be with edward instead, SHE GAVE ALL THAT UP just to be with her one true love. because that IS ALL she needed.
and now they have a daughter?! wtf?!
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I thought the 3rd book would be good, but 3/4 of it bored the crap out of me. Vampire looks, vampire goes ~ehgawd the sea creature is absolutely beautifuly!~
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yeah .. it doesn't exist for me. I'm not sure what book you all are talking about
... *shrugs*
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I feel like such a ~rebel~ but I'm one of the ones who returned the book. I just...had to get my money back. -hides-
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also - I would have returned it because it is a hardcover and coast like 20 something bucks and that's like a week worth of Starbucks down the drain on a book I probably won't re-read but I find returning books so...tacky? IDK.
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Meh, how can I return a PDF file? xD
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On the 'Did you return it' question, there should so have been an 'I didn't even buy it in the first place, thank god' choice, 'cause that's my thoughts on that particular subject. :P
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I would have returned it but I have book collection OCD.
BD Discussion Post
I don't think this really needs to be said, but just to put it out there again - play nice. You don't like a comment? Skip it and make your own. Let's not keep repeating ridiculous drama. That's lame.
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I like how Smeyer just sidesteps every question about the book in interviews...I don't think she even knows why she wrote what she did. *sigh*
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To me, it's just very disappointing and extremely frustrating.
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Actually I have the vague impression that people are going to hate it more. Are already hating it more. I expected that the hate would die down after a week but it's as strong as ever.
There's also another thing: A lot of BD's weaknesses are weaknesses that carried over from the previous books. But there people did a lot of handwaving because they liked other things enough to do that. The realization that a lot BD's fail was predictable will not do the series in whole a great favor.
There's gonna be a lot love lost when they'll re-read Eclipse and come across Rosalie's story and she talks about her friend's baby (foreshadowing Rosalie going psycho later) and how Emmett reminds her of that baby. (shades of the most pseudo-pedophiliac aspect of Nessie/Jacob). And then Quil and Claire happens and people will wonder why they ever bothered finishing and liking Eclipse, considering how much of Breaking Dawn's flaws it already contains. I'm sure the same thing will happen if they re-read Twilight and New Moon.
BD will ruin the Twilight series for many people, will ruin something they really liked, and that's going to make them hate BD more for it.
[I need to remind you, this is a (former?) FAN. Not Mervin or Mrs. Hyde under an alt. *slow whistle*]
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I'm BLOCKING out how much I didn't like BD, so... with anything dealing with it, I get kinda numb.
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I wonder if Stephenie will ever actually answer a question. hmm outcome not likely.
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I really, really, really wanted to love Breaking Dawn, but I've been in the publishing biz for too long to overlook the plot holes (like Aro not sensing Bella's shield through Edward) and bizarre character changes (Bella actually DIDN'T run off by herself to head off the Volturi from hurting anyone else? How odd.)
[a reply:]
IAWTC completely. There seemed to be a breakdown of logic and reason, I guess what you refer to as plot holes.
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the first few chapters and the last chapter are the only ones worth anyone's time, yes!?!?!
Well, the only ones that actually had the feel of a Twilight book. (In my opinion.)yeah everything in between was like totally different characters.[someone else] IAWTC. I was actually thinking of cutting out everything that had to do with Nessie out of my book. :/ lol that would leave me with like a 100 page book, still be preferred though.
I mean, Edward called Jasper JAZZ for chris's sake >=/
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...I still can't believe I finished BD in a day, and gave up sleep over it. I just kept turning page after page, hoping it would get better.
But I'm at peace with it now, it has been a week.:)
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I think what made me go "OH MY GOD. THIS IS FANFIC CRACK." was Renesmee. Not the child... but the name. I actually had hope that it'd be Edward Jr after Bella gave her two choices, and that I could forget about Renesmee... but... nope. :/
I KNOW RIGHT. And she did it TWICE, god forbid. TWO super-fused names. ugh.
--
Was anybody here at the LA concert event? (:
I was. And after what SMeyer said, I regret ever going.--[Deleted comment]Haha, she basically said that doesn't like going to signings, but that Justin was ~making this one fun for her~. I was way up front, so I didn't hear the reaction, but I've been told that everyone else was stunned. I, myself, found myself turning to my friend and saying, "Well, that's really nice." You just don't say that to an audience that paid to see you.Hahaha, which part? Because she said quite a few things, some of which I was not happy with at all.WTF. I can't believe that she actually said that.
___________________________________WHAT THE?????
___________________________________I WAS ABOUT TO GO NEWBORN [VAMPIRE] ON HER ASS. Like, it was dead silent for a half a second, and some people were like "awww" and others looked angry, hahaha.
Like when she said, "I like happy endings, as you all know." And EVERYONE started grumbling, "Yeah, we know, thanks." Hopefully she realized why we were grumbling (;
I don't have much to add except the fact that the birth scene ruined everything for me =(
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Quite frankly, I wouldn't have been suprised if Jacob would have grabbed Edward's hand and they would have skipped away into the sunset. [snort]
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Really, really hated it. I don't know how to describe how I feel about it - it's like I'm still waiting for the real fourth book to come out. This thing was not about the characters I love.
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I felt kind of nauseous during my first read and wrote a harsh review but I'm gradually becoming indifferent. I can't justify another attempt to go through this abysmally bad and misogynist book and make some sense of it. Yes, I respect that other readers can ignore the issues I have with BD but I cannot put them aside.
--
Forever Dawn was of course the original story of what most of the content of BD entailed. I think when SM basically copy and pasted some of that material into what she had newly conjured it, it became choppy, anti climatic, and misguided.
[...]
In the middle of re-reading BD again, I am just about at the end of Jake's POV, and I find Edward's desperation a bit intriguing due to the fact that I personally found that it made him seem more human, and the juxtaposition was even more interesting because it made Bella seem like the "monster".
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Hated it, still hate it. But considering the fact the characters were taken over by the pod-people I have a pretty easy time pretending it's not canon though.
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I still hate the book, but the all the aftermath wank keeps me entertained.
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I'm not going to say I hated the book, but my opinion of it definitely changed from the beginning to the end. Truthfully, I think SMeyer had a great plot on her hands but just kind of... dropped the ball, I guess?
Let's get a little more specific.
★ Vampire!Bella is probably the most unlikeable character I've read in ages. She has absolutely no redeeming qualities imho. She's so completely different from Human!Bella, it's hard to believe she's the same girl. She's arrogant, annoying, and makes Rosalie look fucking awesome. And I sort of hate Rosalie, haha.
★ The name Renesmee. Seriously?? And the nickname Nessie. Why not just call her Ren, for fuck's sake? It's a hell of a lot cooler.
★ Edward saying he didn't miss Human!Bella. Wasn't Human!Bella the reason he fell in love with her to begin with? To me, him saying that really cheapened everything that happened between them from the first book on. Nice, SMeyer.
★ Bella's feelings for Jacob mysteriously 'disappearing' after she became a vampire. Was it really just like that?
★ Jacob imprinting on Renesmee. I just... Seriously... No.
★ The 'immortal children' plot. The 'final showdown' with the Volturi. I really felt like something big should have went down, and just like in Eclipse we got... nothing. A whole lot of nothing. I absolutely hate plots that tie up in nice neat little bows at the end, and that's exactly what this one did. I feel like SMeyer took the easy, 'safe' way out and this being the last book, it really hurt the series as a whole.
So in conclusion, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with everything. Twilight was an amazing debut, New Moon took the story to the next level, but after that... All I can think of is faceplant. xD lol
- Vampire!Bella is probably the most unlikeable character I've read in ages. She has absolutely no redeeming qualities imho. She's so completely different from Human!Bella, it's hard to believe she's the same girl. She's arrogant, annoying, and makes Rosalie look fucking awesome. And I sort of hate Rosalie, haha.[Incidentally, for the benefit of any Mervinalyses, I have to point out that this seems to be what drove many Team Edwarders to dislike the novel. A combination of Vampire!Bella, OOC!Bella + OOC!Edward, and Renesmee destroyed the appeal of the Breaking Dawn version of the ship, as far as they were concerned. Of course, many squealed about the happy ending, but... only 42% had unequivocally good feelings about the whole thing...]
- Edward saying he didn't miss Human!Bella. Wasn't Human!Bella the reason he fell in love with her to begin with? To me, him saying that really cheapened everything that happened between them from the first book on. Nice, SMeyer.
In my opinion the combination of these two totally killed the E/B ship in BD. And with that emotional backbone of the novels. Seriously, I think you have to pretend that BD is not canon for the other three novels to stay enjoyable, because this really fucks the novels' central storyline up.
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I went to a midnight release party for it and the party was more fun than actually reading the book, sry2say :\
What Did You Really Want?
1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
No Nessie, no complete retcon of the J/B relationship but resolve it, Leah and Jacob slowly fall in love --- neither imprint, Bella's focus on Jasper's scars deleted, MOAR ROMANCE, scrap the stupid comments on "animal skins" and "accented English," Alice and Jasper don't leave, more Rosalie/Bella in book three.
2. Did Bella/Ed's non-existent sex irritate you or make you happy to forever be in your happy place with Edward of your own fantasy?
I expected less than we got due to Smeyer's comment in interviews, etc. What really bothers me is the graphic violence of the birth/change but fade to black sex, as if sex (even if you are married) is somehow too dirty but Edward chewing through the uterus was a-okay.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else? If she hadn't have made Bella pregnant and if Bella hadn't been completely out of character.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
No pregnancy. Atleast if Bella did get pregnant, I would of wanted it not to be a spawn of satan baby, you know? I wanted a big fight to happen as well. I wanted loose ends to be tied, I wanted just a continuation like all the other books had after one another.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I would've been happy if... I guess let me just say it - Renesmee was non-existent.
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What did I want?
Leah and Jacob slowly fall in love --- neither imprint
NO SPAWN
A better description of sex...if she could talk about abortion and blood fountains and other things she could've talked about sex.
no focusing on Jasper's scars
not ruining Rosalie's and Leah's characters, not everyone wants a child...and you're not less of a woman because you don't have one....also SMeyer pushing her beliefs into her characters.
and not having the characters be OOC
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
If Nessie had never happened, I think that she ruined E/B for me. Throughout the entire book, I just felt like E/B's relationship wasn't there, because it was so centralized around protecting Nessie. I thought this was about E/B's relationship, not E/B and other 20 vampires protecting her? Yes the marriage/sex/transformation was in the book, but the presentation of it was done poorly. Also, all the anticipation that Tanya was going to play a part in the story... NOTHING HAPPENS WITH HER! I really wanted some Bella jealousy to happen, and even a Rosalie-Tanya girl fight. That would've been fierce. In a more serious note, the ending was so anti-climatic, all the preparation and the whole gathering of the group lead up to nothing. I understand they didn't have a chance with the Volturi, but goodness gracious SM, something epic could've happened!
2. Did Bella/Ed's non-existent sex irritate you or make you happy to forever be in your happy place with Edward of your own fantasy?
Cockblock
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Okay, so I've noticed that a lot of people started out hating the book but then begin to like it more over time, but I was the opposite. I pretty much loved it once I had finished it, but the more I thought about what actually happened the more pissed off I got. Over the space of about 48 hours I shifted from loving it, to really liking certain aspects while disliking the overall premise, to hating most of the book and wishing the series had ended with Eclipse. I'm not going to go into details, I've already ranted on my own journal, but that's where I'm coming from on this.
1.) What would have made you happy?
I thought that all I wanted was a wedding and vampire!Bella, but we only got those things at the cost of Edward and Bella's relationship, which... really destroys the entire driving force behind the series. I guess in retrospect what would have made me happy was if the entire Mutant baby plotline was removed, because that seemed to be the thing that sucked all of the charm out of the book.
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I felt like we lost the 'magic' (for lack of a better word) between Edward and Bella. The little sweet words they would say to each other, the little gestures - a touch, a kiss, etc. There were so many wonderful quotes from the previous three books, and in this novel, it felt completely different. A bit bland, to be honest, which makes me sad because I fell in love with these two. They were so meant to be. But we weren't given a chance to experience the chemistry between the two. I wasn't looking for a detailed sex scene or anything; we got lots of fade to black. I wanted more intimacy and communication between them.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I wanted vampire!Bella, but I wanted her and the Cullens all being awesome and vampire-y forever, with Alice and Bella being bff and Bella and Emmett bickering constantly, and Renesmee and the whole thing with Renesmee and Jacob sort of... ruined that. I like Bella and Edward enough, but these books are very much about the Cullens for me, and I would have liked more focus on them. And more Alice. D: Also, no on the Jacob/Renesmee, because I wanted Jacob/Leah without imprinting.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
The one thing that would have made me unreservedly happy would have been if Edward/Bella/Jacob had really happened.
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To be honest I wanted anything but that waste of paper.
[...]
8. Did you like anything about the book? Come on not even Edward shirtless? o_0
I liked that I never have to read it ever again.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
An epic BATTLE at the end, not just epic TALKING. Jacob not imprinting on the demonic spawn. Renesmee not having a stupid name. Nessie preferably being that cute mini-Edward Bella dreamed of in the beginning instead of the suebaby everybody loves and adores.
2. Did Bella/Ed's non-existent sex irritate you or make you happy to forever be in your happy place with Edward of your own fantasy?
I'm beyond irritated. I wanted Bella/Edward pr0n and didn't get any. I don't want to be with Edward in my own fantasy, he's not a real person and he belongs only to Bella, but I really wanted more than Bella/Edward fade to black non-pr0n.
3. Did you transition from hating Jake with the power of a thousand suns to mild annoyance to exasperated acceptance OR did you just hate the Wolfe from A - Z (and want to rip out Book2 from BD no matter how much you paid for it)?
I've never hated Jacob. I've always liked him, even from the first book. If anything, he lost cool points with me when he imprinted on the demon spawn. I can never look at him the same way ever again.
[...]
6. Were you expecting a certain character to develop differently and if so how/why?
I expected everyone to develop differently. Seth was awesome, but I felt like most of the characters were strangers. I liked Bella's upgrade, but insane Edward, pedowolf Jacob, pregnant mom & baby killer wolf pack led by Sam, creepy super BFF Rosalie, always absent Alice, confused Jasper, Doctor Carlisle who didn't even figure out a half-vampire mutant spawn might be interested in blood, and Volturi-Talks-A-Lot grated on my nerves.
I missed the epic love story of Bella and Edward in the fourth book. I missed the Edward/Bella/Jacob love triangle. The only epic thing in Breaking Dawn was the fail.
7. Do you think we will really get a sequel? I'm really curious as to how other people see Bella now...would be nice to see and outsider observe her simlar to how she observed Edward in Twilight.
We'll get Midnight Sun and probably sequels about supersuebaby!Nessie and her awesome power to make everyone fall in love with her.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I would have been happy with some more tension. Renesmee being the "abomination" that Edward expected, Bella not handling being a newborn as well as she did, being halfway through an epic battle with the Volturi before Bella's shield kicked in... even Charlie not being as accepting would have been fine.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
If I could only change one thing, I'd omit the pregnancy. What is it... a deux ex machina?
If I went into detail, let's see:
- No pregnancy, and therefore no imprinting on the baby. Alternatively, have the baby but make it a normal kid, not a Mary Sue vamp-human hybrid that conveniently reaches maturity quickly and never ages and Jacob can imprint on and is universally loved by characters in the book. It's too perfect, it makes for a terrible story.
- Epic battle scene, not an anticlimactic one. I thought we were guaranteed a fight scene. Disappointing.
- More Edward and Bella chemistry and sweet moments alone. I didn't feel their love in this book, except for the final scene. This is their love story, isn't it?! (I found myself asking that question many times whilst reading BD.)
- A better wedding scene. It felt lacking and rushed. They didn't even write their own vows! Not special at all. I was more moved by Edward's proposal in Eclipse.
- Bella to get turned into a vampire... consciously. And Edward not being pressured to save her life by turning her.
- Bella not having to struggle with being a newborn. I'd have appreciated more trouble adapting to the vampire lifestyle than that.
- Characters that were not OOC.
Basically, I think it was a case of cramming too much into one book, thus she was not as detailed as she was in the first three books. This led to the reader being unable to identify and empathise with the characters. (It didn't help that she also left out the sex.) She wasn't as thorough in describing the emotions/quirks of the characters -- which made them seem OOC -- and you don't feel anything reading BD. That emotional trip was what used to make this series so great, and this time it was just... pfft.
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
I could list quite a few reasons here but here is a couple choice answers -
1. No Nessie (a popular opinion)
2. and for Bella to of had to sacrafice something in order for her to appear more real and relatable because us mere mortals never get everything we want and more without having to give something up.
3. A real battle would of been great and would of improved my enjoyment by ALOT lol :)
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To be honest- I hated it. I have a million reasons to hate it, and I think Meyer just jumped the shark with the whole plot.
1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
The painfully happy ending was bad, with little hassle, no death (I wanted a fight! A showdown! Not just them killing off a character we didn't know or care about, Bella showing how 'awesome' she is and then cutting the whole conflict off) and with too many concessions made to Bella (I mean, why did we need Charlie to stay in? I like Charlie, but I really didn't want the book to go that way). I will accept happy endings if they're earned, but this is way too happy, and it burned me how easily it happened.
(And then of course the ridiculousness of Bella being knocked up, and then of Jacob imprinting- I wanted him to be happy, but I wanted him to stand against the 'destiny' grain and fall for Leah!)
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1. What would have made you happy? A certain character change, plot development or something else?
people have probably already said this, but some actual conflict! everything was so dragged out and for nothing. the whole volturi vs everyone else was resolved so easily, what a letdown. it's like obviously a reader hopes that that's how it would be resolved, but it's not suppose to go your way! then in general, bella getting pregnant was so random and absurd, but i don't mind that so much.
TL:DR: Congratulations, Meyer - how did you tick even your most devoted fans off?