A review by betonylark
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

dark slow-paced

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

0.25

I don't want to put any more effort into this series, so here's my review from book one again (which pretty much covers the whole series anyway).

The Twilight series...

• Is full of Mormon ideology and theology if you know what to look for (I'm exmo, left as a teenager, so I spotted a lot of Mormon influence) - just FYI.
• Glorifies and romanticizes controlling behavior, toxic relationships, stalking, domestic abuse, physical abuse, and SA.
• Depicts women as deprived of full personhood, intelligence, independence, and agency
• Presents various pedophilia-esque relationships in a positive light
• Diminishes the severe problems absent/wishy washy/not properly supportive parents (particularly fathers) cause in their children
• Diminishes the impact of power imbalances on consent in relationships
• Fully inappropriately and very inaccurately appropriates the culture, history, and beliefs of real people who are part of the Native American Quileute Tribe, which is a real tribe (something no white person, and especially a mormon white person, has any right to ever do; if you don't know anything about the history, look up the Mountain Meadows Massacre and Brigham Young's treatment of the Native Americans)

I rated this book 0.25 stars for these reasons, as well as the multitude of writing, character, and plot issues present. There are far better books out there with far better messaging and far better writing too. I would definitely pass up all of Meyer's writing, including "the Host," which is better overall in terms of the above issues but still has a lot of problems with it, particularly when it comes to consent. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Infertility, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War

DISCLAIMER: This is a mormon-y series written by a mormon author, and thus it's rather tame in most regards. (Too much so in many ways honestly.) In a way though, that tame-ness makes Twilight even worse, because the harmful messaging (where abuse and SA and stalking are seen as not just acceptable, but actually romantic) can be very subtle at times. Teenagers who read this will often be taking it in subconsciously rather than recognizing and challenging this messaging. That is why I put what I did as trigger warnings. It's not necessarily graphically described, but it is certainly "graphic" in it's romanticization of very alarming and even fully abusive behaviors, from the male characters and the overall narrative in particular.