Product Description

In the dead silence, all the details suddenly fell into place for me with a burst of intuition. Something Edward didn't want me to know. Something that Jacob wouldn't have kept from me...It was never going to end, was it?

Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will easily devour Eclipse, the third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga. This Special Edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller includes:

• The first chapter of Breaking Dawn, the highly anticipated final book in the Twilight Saga.
  
• A limited-edition, full-color print
  
• Two exclusive Eclipse-inspired t-shirt transfers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129869 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-31
• Released on: 2008-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 672 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The legions of readers who are hooked on the romantic struggles of Bella and the vampire Edward will ecstatically devour this third installment of the story begun in Twilight, but it's unlikely to win over any newcomers. Jake, the werewolf met in New Moon, pursues Bella with renewed vigilance. However, when repercussions from an episode in Twilight place Bella in the mortal danger that series fans have come to expect, Jake and Edward forge an uneasy alliance. The plot patterns have begun to show here, but Meyer's other strengths remain intact. The supernatural elements accentuate the ordinary human dramas of growing up. Jake and Edward's competition for Bella feels particularly authentic, especially in their apparent desire to best each other as much as to win Bella. Once again the author presents teenage love as an almost inhuman force: "[He] would have been my soul mate still," says Bella, "if his claim had not been overshadowed by something stronger, something so strong that it could not exist in a rational world." According to Meyer, the fourth book should tie up at least the Edward story, if not the whole shebang. Ages 12-up. (Aug.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

From Booklist
The third episode of Meyer’s vampire-romance series finds heroine Bella Swan anxious to become a vampire and live forever with handsome vampire Edward. Obstacles arise when Edward demands marriage and werewolf Jacob declares his love for Bella. Eventually, the Cullen vampires and the Quileute werewolves unite to face off against a pack of uncontrollable vampires seeking revenge on Bella. Kadushin portrays kindly Edward in soft, warm tones and voices teenager Jacob in more brash, edgy speech patterns. She captures Bella’s uncertainty as she wavers between her love for Edward and her intrigue with Jacob. Kadushin’s performance is particularly stellar in passages where Bella is cold and her words come out in a chattering fashion or when she is upset, causing her to sob and hiccup. Matt Weathers reads the epilogue, which indicates a follow-up title is likely, news that should please fans of the popular series. Grades 9-12. --Pam Spencer Holley

Review
Praise for Eclipse:
"Move over, Harry Potter." - USA Today

"Has a hypnotic quality that puts the reader right inside the dense, rainy thickets of [Forks]" - People Magazine

"The legions of readers who are hooked on the romantic struggles of Bella and the vampire Edward will ecstatically devour this third installment" - Publishers Weekly

"[Stephenie Meyer is] the world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice" - Entertainment Weekly

"Meyer's trilogy seethes with the archetypal tumult of star-crossed passions, in which the supernatural element serves as a heady spice." - The New York Times

Praise for New Moon:
-"Teens will relish this new adventure and hunger for more."--Booklist
-"[A] near-genius balance of breathtaking romance and action."--VOYA
-"New Moon will ... leave [fans] breathless for the third."--School Library Journal

Praise for Twilight:
-A New York Times Editor's Choice
-A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
-An Amazon Best Book of the Decade...So Far
-An American Library Association Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults

Customer Reviews

Sadly, such a disappointment
I adored both Twilight and New Moon (gave them both 5 star ratings) and was happily anticipating loving Eclipse as much as I did the first 2 in this series. Unfortunately, the bad things really overshadowed the good for me in this installment.

I think Stephenie Meyer has an amazingly readable writing style; she's definitely one of 3 writers that I budget time to read their latest books in one sitting (Rowling, Charlaine Harris and Meyer). Eclipse was no exception in terms of being a page-turner. This novel really showcases Meyer's great sense of humor as well. Obviously from the amount of time and emotional energy I've invested into the series over the last couple of years, I care very intensely for her characters, and I think having your readers care so much for the characters should be a real tribute to any writer.

I was very pleased that Edward and Bella finally confronted the issue of their sexual relationship. It was tastefully depicted in my judgment, and it was long overdue. I also think it makes perfect sense for Bella to realize that having human sexual experience before sacrificing her humanity is worth exploring.

While I agree with so many other reviewers that the action plot in this book was only ho-hum at best, I did cheer that Bella (and we readers) at long last got to see Edward the Vampire in action. Now she has a better idea what she'll become, and he understands that she doesn't think him a monster for having witnessed him being a full-fledged vampire.

I didn't like the concept of imprinting (which is limited to the werewolves). It eliminates free will entirely, which I found very unsettling. I also found the similarities between imprinting and Bella's relationship with Edward to be more than a bit disturbing (more on that below).

The Cullens and the Wolves are no closer to understanding the core of humanity that resides in each of them. Jacob acknowledges that Edward loves Bella, but he still doesn't understand their love at all and hasn't made any attempt to understand the Cullens generally. Same, of course, holds true for the Cullens not being keen on the wolves at all. I really thought this would have to be the central theme, but I would have expected more progress in Eclipse.

Now for the Ugly .....

I'm shocked and appalled that Ms. Meyer could believe that many of us who disliked or were on the fence about Jacob in previous books would suddenly convert to pro-Jacob fans after reading Eclipse. I'm truly shocked.

After her book-signing tour for Eclipse, Meyer updated her website with some FAQs about Eclipse, and she has this to say about Jacob: "Those who are upset by some of his tactics should consider his youth and the fact that he is, after all, right. Bella is in love with him."

I thought Jacob was absolutely horrid as a person for the entirety of the novel, and it went beyond simple immaturity. Bella defends Edward (and her love of Edward) to Jacob at one point, emphasizing that Edward is decent. And Edward is decent. And good to the core.

Jacob, however, is not. He is so not decent. I truly despised him by the end of Eclipse and quite honestly, I wish he would just never return from his sojourn in the forest.

I've read enough reviews and talked to enough other readers to know that I'm not alone in being extremely upset and bothered by the Forced Kiss. No decent man would force himself on a woman, no matter what. His inexperience and immaturity don't excuse it. His goal of forcing Bella to acknowledge the connection between them is not sufficient reason for him to have done that. His apology might have ameliorated the wrong, if he had followed through and stopped trying to force or trick Bella into intimacy with him. I think the Forced Kiss sends a horrible message to Meyer's younger fans too. There are no repercussions from his forcing himself on her. Even Bella's father good-naturedly congratulates Jacob for having kissed Bella against her will! Yes, really.

The second later kiss (the one where he threatens to commit suicide since Bella doesn't care about him, provoking her to ask him to kiss her, henceforth the "Trickery Kiss") also proves unequivocally that Jacob is neither decent, nor a man. He's just a bitter, conniving, dishonorable and immature little boy who will apparently stop at nothing to try and get what he wants. I don't believe for one moment that Jacob is motivated solely by the lofty aspiration to save Bella from a fate worse than death (being turned into a vampire). Jacob wants what will make Jacob happy, and he makes absolutely no attempt to genuinely understand Bella's perspective.

Meyer clearly wants readers to feel Jacob's "pain," but honestly, he's 16 years old (which, remember, apparently gives him license to be a total jerk). But, if he's just an average immature 16 year old kid, then he'll just get over Bella and move on, right? I don't fundamentally understand why Jacob's broken heart is supposed to tug at my heart-strings. At the end of Eclipse, it is late June or perhaps mid-July. Jacob and Bella became best friends in January of the same year. He's really known her well for all of 6 months and he's 16 years old. It's a big shrug, isn't it? And if it isn't, why not? Hmmmm......might it be because Bella is turning into the biggest Mary Sue in all YA literature?

Bella frankly comes off worse than Jacob in this book. I've been a big Bella fan and defender in the prior books, but she left me cold in this one. I think she is selfish, whiny, indecisive, subservient to every male in her universe and generally a terrible role model for younger readers of these novels.

I think that Bella was portrayed in Twilight as an "old soul," and the love that she and Edward have (had?) was meant to transcend the normal love relationship that average teenagers might experience (or even that most adults might have). Their love was painted as something that was a cut above all other romance. Most average love affairs get tested by threats such as what Jacob poses. But, the Bella/Edward love story was, I thought, something different. If you take away the supernatural trappings of the two males, then you're left with a rather humdrum average love story, are you not? Again, what was the point of the New Moon epiphany if Bella just throws it all out the window in the next book and remains convinced that she's not good enough for Edward and starts to have romantic interest in another guy?

Bella did at last agree to marry Edward in this book. She made that promise to him, was engaged and then cheated on him. Just because she is only going through the formality of the wedding and an actual marriage because it's important to Edward is no excuse to treat it as though it isn't a promise. And it just kills me, absolutely breaks my heart, for her to be thinking "How soon can I give him back this ring without hurting his feelings?" when he's so suffused with joy and happiness at seeing it on her finger, at knowing that she's agreed to compromise and make him happy with a marriage that is clearly very important to him. That is heart-breaking. Edward deserves so much better.

Further, her objections to marriage are weak. Since we knew in New Moon that Bella had undefined "issues" with marriage, I expected Eclipse to reveal something more along the clichéd line of "child of divorced parents" than the reality. The "I don't want to be that girl" reasoning is really, really lame when you consider what Bella's ultimate plans are. Why the hell would she care what the kids she graduated with are saying about her, when she's never going to see any of them ever again? Since when did Bella Swan care about gossip or what other kids her own age thought about her? Charlie and Renee might be disappointed and encouraging her to wait until after college, but if Bella said the right things, her parents would accept her decision. I can understand the whole "that girl" argument, really I can -- but it makes no sense for Bella to be making that argument. It's weak and completely out-of-character. As one reviewer noted, it's a manufactured conflict designed to stretch out the storyline by another book.

I'm also growing very weary of Bella's self-esteem problems. I can't help wondering what happened to that great epiphany she had at the end of New Moon? The one where Bella and Edward both realized that they love each other completely and would always belong to each other --- what happened to that? In Eclipse, Bella is right back to viewing her relationship with Edward as "out of balance." As Edward noted once, "the way you regard me is ludicrous." I thought we were past all that, and yet Eclipse drags us right back down into the abyss of Bella's self-esteem issues. It's really growing tiresome and overdone (much like the continued repetitive emphasis on Edward's beauty). Grow up and grow a spine, will you, Bella? Please do us all a favor and get a backbone.

In literature (or movies), the author has an obligation to lay some clues that a love triangle is in the offing. Otherwise, it's just cheating. And I feel cheated, completely and utterly cheated. If Bella is resolute about anything, it's that she loves Edward and has only friendship feelings for Jacob. In her Eclipse FAQ again, Meyer insists that Bella fell in love with Jacob in New Moon and states: "Bella has only fallen in love one time, and it was a very sudden, dramatic, sweep-you-off-your-feet, change-your-world, magical, passionate, all-consuming thing (see: Twilight). Can you blame her for not recognizing a much more subtle kind of falling-in-love?" Well, Bella may not recognize it for what it is, but the readers darn sure should be able to see it. I know I'm not alone in finding no evidence of Bella falling for Jacob in New Moon. I think she grew to love him in New Moon, yes. But, it was always clearly a platonic, even sibling-like, love.

In Eclipse, Bella remains clear on this point when talking to Jacob ("I love you, but I'm not in love with you" - page 329) ..... and she's resolute on this point in her own thoughts. Yes, in New Moon, before Edward returns, Bella is debating internally whether she ought to consider giving Jacob what he wants (romance) in order to tie him to her more firmly than just through a friendship that he finds less than enough. But, once Edward is back and through the first ¾ of Eclipse, we don't see any signs that Bella is wavering, having doubts, etc. Jacob was, by the looks of it, her first real close friend in life, and I wrongly assumed that her determination to spend time with Jacob was because she missed her friend.

When Jacob accuses her of being overly defensive about insisting she only cares for him as a friend, we're set up to chalk that up as Jacob's usual cocky arrogance. We've seen nothing from our heroine to make us think that Jacob is onto something. Jacob himself doesn't seem to be consistent on this point either, Meyer's statement that he's "right about Bella being in love with him," notwithstanding. How about the whole "I know you don't feel the same, Bella, but I don't want to chance there being any confusion about how I feel about you." That serves to reinforce to the reader that Bella's feelings for Jacob are clearly not romantic.

What might happen in real life is that Bella could have one of those "Oh. My. God." moments when she is kissing Jacob. But, the author has an obligation to his/her readers to set up a grounding for the character's Oh My God moment so that the reader at least understands what is happening, whether the reader is cheering for said development or not being irrelevant. I won't lie and say that I would have been rooting for Jacob, under any circumstances. But, readers are not psychics. If Bella isn't communicating her inner angst to us in some way, we can't divine it out of thin air. Art imitates life, and in real life, sometimes these things happen out of the blue. But then again, I think that it's rarely completely out of the blue -- it's more that a person has been deluding themselves to some degree or another. But, most of us don't have thousands of bystanders trying to figure out what made us make certain decisions or take certain courses in life. Bella does have an audience though. Her audience deserved more preparation, more clues.

I think the whole angle would have been so much more palatable if Jacob had been portrayed as even remotely likeable. He was so cocky and conniving throughout the entire book, and he seemed completely unworthy of Bella. It would have been so much more bittersweet if Jacob had been persistent but the sweet and charming Jacob of Twilight. I cannot believe that I'm supposed to actually like this guy who forces himself on the heroine with his immense physical advantage, taunts her and her intended family in a steady stream of invective throughout the entire novel and then manipulates and tricks her into asking for a kiss by threatening to go get himself killed in a blaze of noble glory. He's still manipulating her emotions when she is telling him she is choosing Edward; he can't let it go even then. I thought he was absolutely rotten to the core, and I'm flabbergasted that he's supposed to be a "good guy" and that Stephenie honestly felt she'd written him sympathetically enough that fans would finally understand and embrace Jacob Black. I cannot for the life of me understand what she sees in Jacob Black that is so appealing!

I also think that the meat of this love triangle conflict was tossed out with too little build-up and aftermath. Bella changed from "I love you, but I'm not in love with you" to "Oh, I've been so wrong, I can totally see us married and with kids and growing old together" to "Oh well, that part of my heart just broke away" in the space of about 2 paragraphs. It would seem to me that one of the central themes ought to have been about Bella's growing attraction to Jacob (and denial thereof to herself). The reader should have been able to pick up on what she was denying to herself, and the whole crux of the conflict deserves more than a paragraph or two, doesn't it? She has this grand vision pass through her head while she's kissing him because he tricked her into it, and before she's even broken away from the kiss, her heart has severed off that part of itself. No angst, no self-evaluation, no consideration of what all of this means for her and Edward. Just nothing but "woe is me, I must give Jacob up."

I agree with Meyer that it is certainly possible for a person to love more than one person at the same time, and I think it was great for Bella to understand sacrificing her humanity meant more than giving up her parents. I think Bella's friendship love for Jacob would have worked just fine to illustrate this point, but I also would have been fine with Bella developing another romantic love for Jacob to make her choice of Edward that much more lasting, if that had been handled better from a stylistic standpoint. Again, if there's no foundation for the heroine having this revelation, the readers feel cheated.

So, in the end, Bella "chooses" Edward and agrees that they should tell her parents that they are engaged, moving forward with a wedding to be held by mid-August. I should be happy, right? That's what all the folks who loved Eclipse tell me. I got what I wanted in the end or so they say.

Unfortunately, the whole "I can't live without him" thing did nothing to restore my confidence that Bella and Edward are destined, that they are in fact soul-mates. Not being able to live without someone is really not quite the same thing as being in love with that person. I'm starting to wonder if Bella really is just obsessed with Edward, but not truly in love with him. She chose him in the end, yes. But was it a choice made happily and in exercise of her free will? To me, it read almost as if she feels compelled to stay with Edward, even though her heart is telling her something different. That may in fact be the biggest reason I dislike Eclipse so much -- it seems that all the characters are being manipulated by some other power other than their own free will. None of the wolves have any choice with this imprinting concept, and it almost seems as though we're meant to conclude that Edward and Bella have imprinted and therefore she has no choice left either. I don't like that. I want her to choose Edward because she's in love with him and because he makes her happier than anyone else. I don't think she has yet made that choice though, and I'm honestly not sure if choice is truly going to be available to her.

She also seems to be pushing ahead with the game-plan without pausing to think about whether she really does need some more time for reflection. And, Edward seemed a bit desperate at the end too, just to be honest. For all his understanding reaction to the whole debacle, it seemed to me that he was suddenly quite anxious to get her changed to a vampire. He's even willing to give up the wedding. It sounds like 2 people who are both plunging head-long into disaster if you ask me. And I hate that I feel that way about one of my favorite fictional couples! I wanted to be happy for them. On the surface, I should be, right? Bella has chosen Edward, they are engaged and planning a wedding and moving ahead with plans for her to change into a vampire. So, why do I feel so unsettled and sad about it all?

I will read Breaking Dawn next year, but I will try to go into it with lower expectations. I hope Meyer can return to the standard of Twilight and New Moon, but I am not confident given where things stand at the end of Eclipse. Sad.

vampires, werewolves, and helpless females
To preface this, I'll say up front that I loathe love triangles. They're trite plot devices that are very rarely executed well, and that's just one of the huge problems with Eclipse. It's a love triangle that, according to the author, was designed for Bella to make a choice. Really? Was there any shred of doubt over what option she was going to go with?

Unfortunately for Eclipse, about three quarters of the book involved pitting Edward and Jacob against each other in a quarrel over who Bella loves more (and again, really?). Sure, it's great to be loved, but in this instance it just makes everyone look bad. Jacob comes off as too sexually forceful, Edward looks like a lump on a log reciting the same "if it's good for Bella, it's good for me" line, and Bella looks more selfish and whiny than usual. Sure, Bella was whiny and annoying way before Eclipse, but she puts on a grand display here and it makes one long for a point of view change. Anyone. Jessica's point of view would probably be preferable.

The rest of the book is about some killings in Seattle that, of course, mean Bella is in danger, which, naturally, means Edward has to act like a psycho boyfriend intent on saving her from herself. Early on he attempts to keep her house bound by ripping the spark plug out of her car, and while I thought that was a little melodramatic and creepy he one ups himself constantly after that. No wonder Bella kept grumbling and sighing whenever he kept swooping in to tell her where not to go and why. Then there's the marriage issue -- he wants to, she doesn't (it's embarrassing, you see...far more than having to tell one's family you intend to become a vampire in the near future because marriage is so much more shocking) -- but it's not like Bella has a say in the day that's supposed to be hers. She literally doesn't. It reminded me a little of an arrangement than a celebration with the amount of groaning and wincing Bella does concerning the upcoming nuptials.

What disturbed me more, besides the rickety plot, the endless comparisons to Wuthering Heights (the author studied literature in college, I get it. most of us college educated people did and I still don't see the need for comparisons to Heathcliff and Cathy), and the annoying love triangle, was how self-deprecating Bella was. How she constantly went through the book saying how unworthy she was of everyone, how at fault she was of everything, how clumsy, stupid, selfish (that one I actually don't argue with), immoral, weak, helpless, pathetic, and frighteningly normal she is. Sure, it's hard to have immortal, strong, mostly male friends, but as a woman I'd like to see Bella shed that "oh well, I'm just a little weak girl, woe is me, I'll just sit in the corner and die now" attitude without having to become a vampire. At every turn in Eclipse Bella depicts herself harshly, and the story does nothing to turn that around. She's the one that wants to have sex outside of marriage (which is too immoral for virtuous Edward), she's the one that's too weak to do anything other than be babysat, and for the most part the story agrees with her. The men (with the exception of possibly Alice) are the selfless heroes by the end, and the women are selfish (Bella), shallow (Rosalie), and bitter (Leah). Where have the strong female role models gone?

False Reviews???
My Original review on Aug. 10:
After finishing this book, I have no idea why it was written other than an excited writer's desire to fulfill a publisher's request as soon as possible. The writing was unevolved, and the sheer number of editorial errors proves how quickly both editor and author worked to release this book. Most of the issues that were brought up in the first two books were dropped in this one. To make matters worse, new issues abound that make the "willing suspension of disbelief" impossible, plot points are picked up and ignored randomly without any real twists or conclusions (except Vicky, of course), and you aren't really left with a character to love: Jake's forceful and annoying, Bella's negative and a martyr, Alice is pushy and superficial, and Edward is far too selfless.

The first and last part of the book is filled with bickering and grumbling which is used to set a stage for Meyer's beautiful and witty sarcasm, but does little to enhance the plot. Without ruining anything, I'll just say that there actually comes a point where Bella has to resign herself to being with Edward. In general, the relationship between them is so obviously codependent and unhealthy, without any basis in a reality, that it's lost all of its original touching reluctance. By the end of the book, Bella's constant victim-stance, her bickering, complaining, whining, and general inability to be happy has ruined the book.

UPDATE September 3, 2007: I am now absolutely DISGUSTED with both Meyers and her publisher. As soon as the rating fell below four stars, and almost all of the reviews commented on the same negative attributes, suddenly the reviews are flooded with five star, four sentence reviews from people who have nearly identical reviews on every other books they've posted for - falling in line with the newer trend of buying reviews for books. Shame on you Ms. Meyers for not letting your product stand on its own, and shame on you for disrespecting the loyal followers of your series in such a manner by telling them that their opinions are worth as much as cheaply bought props.