Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Eclipse

.....honestly it's books like the Twilight series that normalized gaslighting in relationships and abusive relationships and I blame that for the widespread bad relationship decisions this generation has.

Especially when it comes to Jacob. I kinda touched on this with my review of New Moon, but Meyer really just hammers in a lot of toxic Native traits that just make me go ick. And the fact that she makes Leah the most annoying charcter when Leah should be one of the most sympathetic characters in this universe.

And I don't why it wasn't super obvious before BookTok that Meyer was a Mormon but omg, listening to this on audiobook and having an hour of purity culture drivel is mindnumbing.

Sidenote: if you want to feel pure anger, listen to like the last fourth of the book stuck in Bay Area rush hour traffic while hangry. It just makes you want to crash your car.

Why am I continuing this series? Are the nostalgia points worth just absolutely shredding the logistics of the Lochness Monster in the next book?

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serving_goffman's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

doing a reread ten years later, and it’s of course stupid and laced with toxic relationships, but also easy to read and relaxing. if you can read it with enough critical awareness, but not angry about the narrative, it’s a fun read tbh.

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gurnoor's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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counciloffrogs's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Eclipse is a great example of what not to do when writing a book. It had plot holes, small loose ends never tied up, flat characters (ie. Bella is a clumsy pushover romantic and that’s it. I just described her whole character. It never develops further), and redundant beyond redundant writing. (Really, don’t need to hear about how large Jacob is every. Damn. Time. We see him.) Even goes as far as to use an actual slur in the epilogue.
As a sexual assault survivor, it’s a wonderful example of how once you’re in that situation it’s incredibly hard to leave because you want to excuse their actions against you and in some cases others around you are excusing their actions as well.
However, the part that is beyond triggering is how this whole series is treated as a love triangle. Bella is actively in danger and not only do the characters brush over it, the entire fan base does too.

I mean honestly, at one point Jacob says about assaulting and coercing Bella, word for word, “I knew you’d forgive me and I’m glad I did it. I’d do it again.” WHAT THE FUCK. How does anyone get through this series rooting for him and not screaming at Bella to press charges!

Did I hate eclipse? Yes. Do I recommend it to anyone ever? No. Did I struggle to keep picking it up? Yes. But was I also hanging on every last word and struggling to put it down when I did pick it up? Absolutely.

Something about how much I hate this book is so irresistibly, irritatingly good. Like somehow in writing like an absolute buffoon who’s never been in a healthy relationship, Meyer stumbled into writing the one YA series that doesn’t read like it infantilizes it’s audience. Did I have to skim passages because it was too detailed and too much actual assault being brushed off as boys being boys? Yes, but I never once had to skim as I cringed at a grown adult misunderstanding the dynamics and dialogue of a teenage relationship as badly as most of the writers in this entire genre. It’s awful and I can’t stand it but god I want to read more.

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mmefish's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I read only 70% of this book but I’m marking it as “read” because I deserve it.
I was enjoying my daily dose of cringe up until page 260 where Jacob not only gaslights Bella into thinking that she wants to be with him romantically but sexually assaults her: he kisses her forcefully (right after she tells him that he’s like family to her), holds her so she can’t move a muscle and ignores all of her attempts to break free. It was incredible uncomfortable to read how she “stopped fighting, went limp and waited for him to stop, not feeling anything”. After that Jacob says that Bella definitely should have liked kissing him, jokes around and just in general acts like a douchebag. Then CHARLIE joins in and doesn’t see anything wrong with Jacob assaulting his daughter??!! It’s like Meyer decided to ruin all the likeable characters at once.
I’m used to Edward being a creep and controlling - he was like that from the beginning. It’s not redeemable in any way but I got over it after book 1. Sexual assault, however, is something new entirely. It’s written in a way so not one character makes a big deal out of it and Bella forgives Jacob (of course) after a day or so. Disgusting, really. Not only “Eclipse” is already incredibly boring, but after that chapter I could not make myself read much more.
Oh yeah, and we get a glimpse of imprinting: a “lovely” scene with a grown ass man and a TODDLER. 🤮

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