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| Breaking Dawn | |
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| Author | Stephenie Meyer |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Twilight series |
| Genre(s) | Paranormal romance, young-adult fiction |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Publication date | August 2, 2008 (USA) August 4, 2008 (UK, AUS) |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 756 |
| ISBN | ISBN 031606792X |
| OCLC Number | 229895748 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.M5717515 Br 2008 |
| Preceded by | Eclipse |
Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final novel in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan's perspective and the second is written from the perspective of Jacob Black. Breaking Dawn was released on August 2, 2008 at midnight release parties in over 4,000 bookstores throughout the US.[1] From its initial print run of 3.7 million copies, 1.3 million were sold in the first 24 hours of the book's release, setting a record in first-day sales performance for the Hachette Book Group USA.[2]
Contents |
Breaking Dawn is split into three separate parts. The first part details Bella's marriage and honeymoon with Edward, which they spend on a private island off the coast of Brazil. Two weeks into their honeymoon, Bella realizes that she is pregnant and that her condition is progressing at an unnaturally accelerated rate. After contacting Carlisle, who confirms her pregnancy, she and Edward immediately return home to Forks, Washington. Edward, concerned for Bella's life and convinced that the fetus is a monster as it continues to develop with unnatural rapidity, urges her to have an abortion. However, Bella feels a connection with the child and refuses.
The novel's second part is written from the perspective of wolf shape-shifter Jacob Black, and lasts throughout Bella's pregnancy and childbirth. Jacob's Quileute wolf pack, not knowing what danger the unborn child may pose, plan to destroy it, also killing Bella. Jacob vehemently protests this decision and leaves, forming his own pack with Leah and Seth Clearwater. Bella soon gives birth, but the baby breaks many of her bones and she loses massive amounts of blood. In order to save her life, Edward changes her into a vampire by injecting his venom into her heart. Jacob, who was present for the birth, almost immediately "imprints"—an involuntary response in which a shape-shifter finds his soul mate—on Edward and Bella's newborn daughter, Renesmee.
The third section of Breaking Dawn shifts back to Bella's perspective, finding her changed into a vampire and enjoying her new life and abilities. However, the vampire Irina misidentifies Renesmee as an "immortal child", a child who has been turned into a vampire. Because "immortal children" are uncontrollable, creating them has been outlawed by the Volturi. After Irina presents her allegation to the Volturi, they plan to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens. In an attempt to survive, the Cullens gather other vampire clans from around the world to stand as witnesses and prove to the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child. Upon confronting the gathered Cullen allies and witnesses, the Volturi discover that they have been misinformed and immediately execute Irina for her mistake. However, they remain undecided on whether Renesmee should be viewed as a threat to vampires' secret existence. At that time, Alice and Jasper, who had left prior to the confrontation, return with a Mapuche called Nahuel, a 150-year-old vampire-human crossbreed like Renesmee. He demonstrates that the crossbreeds pose no threat, and the Volturi surrender. Edward, Bella and Renesmee return to their home in peace.
The title, Breaking Dawn, is a reference to the beginning of Bella's life as a newborn vampire. The cover is a metaphor for Bella's progression throughout the entire series; she began as the physically weakest player on the board, the pawn, but at the end she becomes the strongest, the queen.[3]
The plays The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream both influenced Breaking Dawn. Originally, Meyer wrote a book titled Forever Dawn, which was a direct sequel to Twilight.[4] While the basic storyline remained the same, Forever Dawn was narrated completely from Bella's point of view, the werewolves and Jacob were "only sketchily developed", Victoria and Laurent were both alive, and there was an epilogue.[3] Meyer went on to say that she "may post some extras someday if I ever have time to go back through the Forever Dawn manuscript—it's just as long as Breaking Dawn."
In regard to Renesmee's unique name, Meyer wrote that she "couldn't call her Jennifer or Ashley. What do you name the most unique baby in the world? I looked through a lot of baby name websites. Eventually I realized that there was no human name that was going to work for me, so I surrendered to necessity and made up my own."[3] Meyer decided to include the pregnancy in her story while she was researching vampires and came across the legend of the incubus, a demon who could father children.[3]
Meyer states in regard to ending the series that:
"The Twilight Saga is really Bella's story, and this was the natural place for her story to wind up. She overcame the major obstacles in her path and fought her way to the place she wanted to be. I suppose I could try to prolong her story unnaturally, but it wouldn't be interesting enough to keep me writing. Stories need conflict, and the conflicts that are Bella-centric are resolved."[3]
Entertainment Weekly magazine released an excerpt of Breaking Dawn on May 30, 2008.[5] Stephenie Meyer also revealed a 'Quote of the Day' from Breaking Dawn for about three weeks prior to its August 2, 2008 release. The first quote was released on Stephenie's website on July 12, 2008.[6] The first chapter of Breaking Dawn, "Engaged", was released in the special edition of Eclipse.[7] Breaking Dawn was officially released on August 2, 2008 through midnight release parties in over 4,000 bookstores,[1] most of which involved costume and trivia contests, crafts, and face painting.[8]
Godiva also made a Twilight-themed chocolate bar, which was released in Barnes & Noble book stores at the release parties.[9] A four-city Breaking Dawn Concert Series, featuring Stephenie Meyer and Blue October's Justin Furstenfeld, coincided with the novel's release. The concert series sold out three of its four locations on the day that tickets went on sale,[10] selling out in under an hour in one city.[11]
Prior to the novel's release, the first three Twilight books had already sold 8.5 million copies throughout the US[2] and over 2 million copies in the UK.[12] Breaking Dawn was one of the most anticipated book of 2008 with The Guardian noting, "Teenagers across the world are anxiously awaiting the next instalment of author Stephenie Meyer's vampiric series of novels."[1] To meet the high demand, Little, Brown Books added a printing of 500,000 additional copies just prior to publication of the title, bringing initial print run to 3.7 million.[2]
The book sold 1.3 million copies in the US[2] and 20,000 copies in the UK in its first 24 hours of release,[13] as well as 100,000 copies in Canada during its first weekend.[14] Breaking Dawn debuted at #1 on USA Today's top 150 best sellers list and has gone on to spend over 58 weeks on the list.[15] It was also the biggest-selling children's book of 2008 with over 6 million copies sold.[16]
A special edition of Breaking Dawn was released on August 4, 2009, containing a DVD of the Breaking Dawn Concert Series and a poster of Bella and Edward.[17]
Reception of Breaking Dawn was, at best, "mixed".[18] Lev Grossman wrote, "First, since there's a lot of one-star reviews up on Amazon, let me say up front: I loved Breaking Dawn."[19] Cara von Wrangel Kinsey of School Library Journal responded with a positive review, describing the book as "captivating" and noting, "While this novel is darker and more mature than the earlier titles, Meyer's twists and turns are not out of character."[20] The Charlotte Observer agreed and called the book "pretty darned good", but criticized the book's length saying, "I wish [Stephenie Meyer] hadn't felt compelled to pack so much into one volume. It should have been two books."[21] Mary Harris Russell of the Chicago Tribune also responded with a positive review and hailed the book as a "fun read", noting that Stephenie Meyer "continues to produce witty writing about families, teenagers and popular culture",[22] while Time called the book "a wild but satisfying finish to the ballad of Bella and Edward" and gave it a rating of A-.[23] An article in The Daily News Tribune said of Breaking Dawn, "Some of the dialog is a bit stilted,... but, if you stay close to Meyer's rich and prodigious narrative, you too might fall in love with its suspense and moving sensitivity".[24]
Publishers Weekly stated that the main problem with Breaking Dawn was that, "Essentially, everyone gets everything they want, even if their desires necessitate an about-face in characterization or the messy introduction of some back story. Nobody has to renounce anything or suffer more than temporarily—in other words, grandeur is out."[25] In an article by The Associated Press, journalist Sara Rose wrote on NewsOK.com that fans of the series would love "engaging characters, great humor, a distracting obsession with beauty, focus on the minutiae of emotions"; however "casual readers may be disappointed with a lot of build-up and little action."[26] The Independent called the book, "shockingly, tackily, sick-makingly sexist" and said that "Bella Swan lives to serve men and suffer."[27] Entertainment Weekly graded Breaking Dawn with a D, criticizing the birth scene and Bella's "unwavering passion for Edward" and having no other goals.[28] The Washington Post also responded with a negative review, making comments such as, "Meyer has put a stake through the heart of her own beloved creation," and "Breaking Dawn has a childbirth sequence that may promote lifelong abstinence in sensitive types."[29]
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Meyer responded to the negative response of many fans to the book and called it the "Rob Effect"; she said that the fans need time to accept the ending of Breaking Dawn, just as they needed time to accept Robert Pattinson playing the role of Edward in the Twilight movie.[30]
Breaking Dawn was the recipient of a British Book Award for "Children's Book of the Year", despite competition with JK Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard.[31] In the 2009 "Children's Choice Book Awards", the novel was chosen as "Teen Choice Book of the Year" and won Meyer the "Author of the Year" award.[32]
Summit Entertainment, who created the film adaptation of the first novel in the series, Twilight, announced in November 2008 that they had obtained the rights to the rest of the books in Meyer's series, including Breaking Dawn.[33] Though Summit has not yet officially greenlit the project, stars Robert Pattinson and Ashley Greene stated that there are plans for a Breaking Dawn film.[34][35] Wyck Godfrey, producer of the previous films in the series, said, "We're shooting New Moon, prepping Eclipse, doing all the marketing—it's a little overwhelming to really think in a detailed manner of how we're going to crack this, but we have every intention to [make Breaking Dawn]."[36]
According to Variety, the studio is considering splitting the 754-page book into two films, along the same lines as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.[37] They are also hoping that New Moon director Chris Weitz will return to helm the adaptation, though Godfrey says, "I think everyone would be happy and excited if he came back, but I don't think it's going to happen."[38] Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter for the previous films in the franchise, is writing the Breaking Dawn script(s).[38] If two films are made, Summit will have to negotiate new deals with the main cast, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, since they are only under contract for four films.[37]
Meyer said she believed Breaking Dawn may be impossible to make into a film due to Renesmee, writing that an actress could not play her because she is a baby but has complete awareness, and that "the one thing that I've never seen is a CGI human being who truly looks real"; however, she went on to state that "they develop amazing new technologies everyday, and we've got a little time left."[3] There are also concerns about making a PG-13 movie adaptation, due to the book's complex and graphic storylines, including the birth of a half-vampire, half-human baby.[37] When talking about Taylor Lautner's next film for Summit Entertainment, producer Wyck Godfrey stated, "Lautner will reprise his role of Jacob in Breaking Dawn beginning in late 2010, and it is likely that the final book will be divided into two films that will shoot back-to-back."[39] They are considering filming in Vancouver beginning in fall 2010.[38]
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Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final novel in the young adult vampire Twilight series, written by Stephenie Meyer. It was originally published in hardcover in 2008.
Meyer, Stephenie. (2008). Breaking Dawn. Park Avenue, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 754. ISBN 978-0-316-06792-8.
| Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer | ||
|---|---|---|
| Twilight | book | film |
| New Moon | book | film |
| Eclipse | book | |
| Breaking Dawn | book | |
| Breaking Dawn | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephenie Meyer |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Twilight Series |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel / Romance |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Make date |
August 2, 2008 USA August 4, 2008 UK and Australia |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 768 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-316-06792-X |
| Sequel to | Eclipse |
Breaking Dawn is the fourth and last novel in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. The novel is divided into three sections called 'books'. The story in Book One and Book Three is told from the perspective of Bella Swan. Book Two is from the perspective of Jacob Black, Bella's werewolf friend. Breaking Dawn was released on August 2, 2008 with a special midnight release in many bookstores.[1]
Contents |
As the book opens, Bella is driving a Mercedes Guardian that Edward has bought to protect her from her propensity for getting into trouble. After informing Bella's parents of their engagement, Bella and Edward marry in a traditional wedding ceremony. The wedding has a minor disturbance during a confrontation between Jacob, Bella and Edward. Not wanting to spoil her wedding day, Bella puts aside her disappointment in Jacob's unpleasantness. Edward and Bella soon depart for their honeymoon off the coast of Brazil. Edward then fulfills Bella's wish and makes love to her. The next day they argue because Edward's passionate lovemaking leaves dark bruises all over Bella's body. He then refuses to make love to her while she is still human. Meanwhile, she has a recurrent dream of a small, green-eyed boy that she feels compelled to protect she also has dreams of her and Edward making love. Bella also finds herself constantly hungry and sick. But soon after Bella awakes in the middle of a dream crying; Edward asks whats wrong and instead of telling him she decices to show him and kisses him very passionately and Edward gives in. They have made love more than twice and upon seeing a box of unused tampons in her suitcase, she realizes that her period is late and she is pregnant. Though Bella has not longed for a child, she becomes immediately attached to her baby when she becomes aware of its existence. Edward, however, is only concerned for her health, and after hearing stories from a local woman (who suspects that Edward is a vampire) of similar situations that resulted in the mothers' deaths, Edward wants to get rid of the baby. Book one ends as Edward prepares to bring Bella home where he says that Carlisle will "take care of it," and as Bella secretly calls Rosalie for help.
The book is told from Jacob's perspective. He receives news of Edward and Bella's return, and that Carlisle has told Charlie that Bella is quarantined because she has contracted a rare disease in South America. Jacob assumes that Bella has been bitten and transformed. He is upset when Sam Uley, acting Alpha of the pack, declares that the pack will not retaliate. Jacob, full of anger, decides that if the pack will not retaliate collectively, he will act alone. Formulating strategies of attack, he runs to the Cullen house. When he arrives, however, he discovers that things aren't as he expected. Bella, as opposed to being a newborn vampire, is already heavily pregnant with Edward's and her child. It is clear that the child's rapid growth is starving and hurting Bella.
When Jacob returns to his wolf state, his thoughts inadvertently inform the pack of Bella's state. This causes fear and anger among the werewolves; they don't know how the child might act since the child is an offspring of a vampire. Sam commands the pack in the double-timbre of the Alpha, to obey his decision to destroy Bella and her unborn child. Jacob, who still loves Bella, disagrees, revolts, assumes his inherited Alpha position and leaves Sam's pack. Seth, then Leah Clearwater, soon join Jacob and the threesome form a pack with Jacob as Alpha. Jacob, Leah and Seth patrol the Cullen territory to forewarn the family of any impending werewolf attack.
As the fetus continues to develop at an alarmingly accelerated rate, Bella's health worsens. During Bella's pregnancy, Edward realizes he can read the child's mind, and is astonished to discover that the baby already loves Bella. As he hears his child's thoughts, Edward begins to love the baby as well. This leaves Jacob feeling betrayed, as he was counting on Edward to hate the baby more than he.
Bella goes into labor approximately a month after the honeymoon. The hard placenta that surrounds the child cracks; Bella begins vomiting blood. The child breaks free and Bella is very near death. Edward delivers the baby, a girl, and begins CPR, then transforms Bella into a vampire. He injects his venom into her heart and bites her in several places. Believing that Bella is dead and that there is no hope she will be resuscitated, Jacob leaves the room and goes to kill the baby whom he holds responsible. He finds her in Rosalie's arms and looks into the baby's eyes. They are exactly the same shade of brown as Bella's. Jacob imprints on her.
The book returns to Bella's perspective. She has just given birth to her daughter, and is now experiencing the painful transformation from human to vampire. After two days, she opens her eyes. The Cullens are wary of Bella as newborn-vampires are volatile. Yet, Bella manages to exhibit some self-control unseen in normal newborns. She wishes to see her daughter, Renesmee, but since Renesmee is part-human, the family believes Bella will be unable to control her newborn thirst if she sees the child so soon without first hunting. Edward takes Bella on her first hunt to ease her thirst. Before they leave, Alice shows Bella her reflection. She has transformed into a stunningly beautiful woman with flawless skin and newborn-vampire red eyes. Bella does not recognize her reflection at first due to her volatile-looking red eyes.
Upon returning, Bella is allowed to see her daughter because of her demonstration of self-control in the woods when she smelled humans approaching. Because Renesmee is growing at an astonishing rate, she looks older than her calendar age. Bella learns of Renesmee's gift - the ability to communicate by sending images to people's minds through touch. Bella is infuriated when she learns that Jacob has imprinted on Renesmee, and says it is his fault that he has imprinted on her child. She loses her self-control and she tries to attack Jacob. She breaks Seth's collarbone and shoulder when he steps between the two. She then manages to calm down. Renesmee leads to a truce between the Quilleutes and the Cullens because of Jacob's imprinting. Differences between Sam and Jacob's packs are soon settled as well and they become co-existent Alphas.
Unfortunately for the Cullen family, Irina, a vampire from the Denali clan, sees Renesmee and mistakenly informs the Volturi that Renesmee is a forbidden immortal child. The Cullen family understands that Irina is mistaken and decides the only way to enlighten the Volturi and prevent an attack is to present Renesmee with a large group of credible witnesses.
After leaving a note with Sam Uley from the copyright page of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Alice and Jasper suddenly leave the Cullens. Since the couple does not provide a warning or reason, the Cullen family does not know why the couple has fled, and assumes that Alice has foreseen there is no hope for the situation. Since it was her copy of the book, Bella perceives this as a sign from Alice. She returns to the cottage and she finds that Alice has written a name and address on another page of the book. When Bella goes to the address, she finds that it leads to the office of a lawyer who can forge documents. Bella requests documents for Jacob and Renesmee, should they need to escape if a fight ensues with the Volturi. Meanwhile, nomadic, vegetarian, and clans of vampires arrive at the Cullen estate after the family begins to seek their friends' assistance with the Volturi. Most of them are enthralled by Renesemee, and almost all agree to bear witness to the Volturi that she is not an immortal child.
Bella also discovers that her power of mind-privacy has a shielding effect and she wonders if she can extend this protection to others. During the month of preparation for the Volturi, several of the vampires with quantifiable supernatural talents teach Bella how to expand the barrier. When the Volturi and Irina finally arrive, all of the vampires and the werewolves meet in a clearing in the forest. The Volturi discover that they have been misinformed and immediately execute Irina for her mistake. However, the Volturi are not satisfied to leave because the Volturi leaders want the exceptionally gifted vampires to join them. Those on Bella's side are protected when Bella's shield disables the Volturi's offensive fighters, Alec and Jane. Aro, Caius and Marcus decide to vote on whether or not Renesmee will be a danger to the vampire world when she attains maturity. Just before Aro can cast his deciding vote, Alice and Jasper return with another half-human, half-vampire from South America who is about one hundred fifty years-old. He and his three half-sisters (who are also half-vampire, half-human) are the children of a vampire who is creating a "super race." They have never caused any danger to the vampire world. Facing no other choice, Aro chooses to give up the fight, and the Volturi flee.
After leaving the Cullen estate for their cottage, Bella and Edward tuck Renesmee into her bed and proceed to their bedroom arm-in-arm. Bella tells Edward she wants to try something with him. She has been secretly practicing for this moment. Bella places her hands on his cheeks and tries to push away her shield. She conjures her special memories that she wants to share with Edward. He is finally able to see for the first time just how deeply she has always loved him. She wants to remove the barrier for Edward so he can access her mind. She says that they have only forever for her to perfect it. The Twilight series closes with "And then we continued blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever."
The cover of Breaking Dawn is a metaphor for Bella's changes during the entire story. She began as the weakest (at least physically, when compared to vampires and werewolves) player on the board: the pawn. She ended as the strongest: the queen.
The title "Breaking Dawn" is a reference to the beginning of Bella's vampire life.[2]
Entertainment Weekly magazine printed a small part of Breaking Dawn on Friday, May 30, 2008.[3] Stephenie Meyer also gave a 'Quote of the Day' from Breaking Dawn for about 3 weeks before the book was released on August 2, 2008. The first quote was on Meyer's website on July 12, 2008. [4] The first part of Breaking Dawn, "Engaged", was released in the special edition of Eclipse.
Some readers liked Breaking Dawn but others did not.[5][6] [7][8][9]
In an article on The Daily News Tribute Margaret Smith says of Breaking Dawn "You too might fall in love with its suspense and moving sensitivity -- and with the unlikely couple struggling to find light within their world’s heart of darkness."[10]
In an interview on EW.com, Meyer talked about the fans' reaction to the book. She said the "wild reaction" fans had the "Rob Effect". She said the fans need time to accept the ending of Breaking Dawn, just as they needed time to accept Robert Pattinson playing the role of Edward Cullen in the Twilight movie.[11]
An article about Breaking Dawn on nymag.com asked: "Did 'Breaking Dawn' Ruin the Twilight Series?".[12] The article said: "The L.A. Times' Denise Martin didn't like it and says that unlike J.K. Rowling in her series finale, 'Meyer's bunted.'"
The Washington Post[13] also did not like the book. It used comments such as, "...Meyer has put a stake through the heart of her own beloved creation," and, "Breaking Dawn has a childbirth sequence that may promote lifelong abstinence in sensitive types."
   | Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer - StephenieMeyer.com | Twilight Series | Breaking Dawn |
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