#63 "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer

With Eclipse (2007) by Stephenie Meyer out of the way, I am now three quarters of the way done with her vampire series. And my opinion is still about the same. The writing isn't great, but it has a way of sucking you in, and it ends up being a quick, easy, and entertaining book to read. The worst thing about the series so far has been the first half of Twilight. It seems to get better as it goes, and I'm actually looking forward to reading the last book. I don't even understand all the venemous hatred focused on this series. I guess it's just the backlash for being more popular than it probably deserves, but there are a lot worse things out there. Bella isn't even a bad role model. Meyer always seems to tie in some classic literature to her plot, using Jane Austen, Shakespeare, or Wuthering Heights somehow. That's something. And even though Bella is significantly weaker than her vampire and werewolf friends, she is pretty independent and makes her own decisions. My opinion on this may change when I read the last book, but so far, I really have no reason to be offended. Of course, you just have to accept, pretty much without reason, that Edward and Bella are in love. I think it helps if you just imagine that it's some kind of thing that can happen with vampires.

The plot of this novel is very much a continuation of the last book. Edward and Bella are still in love. Bella wants to become a vampire, but she also gets more nervous about it as the time to change comes closer. Bella is still caught in what is an apparently classic love triangle between human, vampire, and werewolf. And Bella is still in danger: Victoria is still trying to avenge her lover's death by killing Bella, and the ruling vampires in Italy are still intent on Bella becoming a vampire.

I have a guess of where this last novel is going, but I might be completely wrong. I feel like all three books have been building up to something with nothing ever really changing, so I am going to be disappointed if Meyer doesn't come up with some kind of satisfying conclusion.