Jacob did WHAT in Eclipse? (Spoiler Filled Review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today I'm going to be reviewing the third book in the Twilight Saga, Eclipse. 

The following review has spoilers for the first three books in the Twilight Saga. If you haven't read Eclipse or any of the other books in the series, I'd suggest clicking away if you wish to read them. 

Let's get into the review! 

Disclaimer: There are a couple mentions of sexual assault in this review

The writing:

The writing was slightly better, though Mrs. Meyer just loves to remark on Jacob's russet skin as if he has no other physical traits. She also likes to comment on Edward's velvet voice. My opinion of the writing hasn't differed much from Twilight and New Moon. It's still largely bland, full of unnecessary words, and grandiloquent, though I think this is mostly due to the protagonist Mrs. Meyer decided to write Bella as. 

The story:

Eclipse begins with Bella and Edward hearing about a string of unsolved murders in Seattle. Edward suspects that the murders are being perpetrated by a newborn vampire on the hunt for blood. 

I liked Jacob up until he forcibly kissed Bella. Was it really necessary to have this in the plot? Because before this point, their relationship was fine (term used loosely; their relationship was flawed [like Bella and Edward's] and abusive on both ends). I didn't see the point besides adding a bit of harassment. Personally, I don't like Bella being the protagonist in a YA paranormal romance, but even I was on her side during this kiss. One thing I do appreciate about the writing of this scene is that it wasn't written in a way that was romanticizing Jacob's behavior. I'm glad that Mrs. Meyer (though including a main abusive relationship) drew this line. 

Bella kisses him later after she and Edward are engaged to see if she has feelings for him (he also pushes her, though he doesn't force a kiss on her this time). This annoyed me. Regardless of if Jacob was pushing her or not, she technically cheated on Edward, after they got engaged. 

The Cullens realize that the Seattle murders are being caused by an army of newborn vampires. The Cullens team up with the Quileutes and attempt to gather other allies.

Jasper proceeds to train the Cullens in how to fight newborn vampires (which was my favorite scene in the movie adaptation). This culminates in a fight toward the end where Victoria is successfully killed, and the newborns are neutralized.

In typical Twilight fashion, the actual action plot of Eclipse doesn't occur until the last hundred and fifty pages. The main antagonist in this book is Victoria (the mate of James who hunted Bella in New Moon), because a family of seven vampires and a pack of werewolves couldn't kill her in the last book (Edward had to go and nearly get himself killed when he and the Cullens would have been better off hunting the vampire that tried to kill his true love; the fact that Edward thought Bella was dead doesn't matter). 

Like the last couple books, everything is resolved fairly quickly, though it didn't feel as if the ending was as rushed as New Moon. Bella decides to tell her father that she is marrying Edward and the main portion of the book ends. In an epilogue, we read about Jacob running out of Bella's life because he has too much pain when she's in it.

The characters:

Bella Swan 
I don't feel as if Bella changes much from the previous installments in this series. She's still pretty plain and dull, though her internal monologues weren't as dreary in this book compared to New Moon. While I still don't like Bella, I did have a bit more respect for her in this book. I do appreciate that she tried to punch Jacob after he forcibly kissed her even though she only succeeded in hurting herself. I also enjoyed that she called him out on it (though she still didn't call Edward out on stalking her and watching her sleep in Twilight, but I guess we'll just call this 'character development').

Edward Cullen

I didn't like how controlling Edward was in regards to Bella going to La Push to see Jacob, but then again, it isn't too much different from how he treated Bella in the last two books, so I barely care.

Jacob Black
At times, Jacob was so annoying and rude. He was a jerk to Bella, even telling her at one point that he'd rather she be dead. I hated when he kissed her against her will. Jacob felt kind of off in this book to me. Compared to New Moon, Jacob felt a little ooc (out of character), but I could be entirely wrong. I don't remember Jacob making that many advances on Bella in the previous book, nor do I remember him flirting with her to the point of being disgusting and creepy. 

Rosalie Cullen
We got to read Rosalie's backstory, which to be honest, was sad and made me understand her behavior more (she was assaulted by her ex-fiance). I still wouldn't consider her one of my favorite Cullens, but I can understand why she was so abrasive toward Bella, whether I agree with it or not (she didn't like that Bella was so eager to throw away her humanity; Rosalie loved her human life and wishes she could have kids as a vampire).

Jasper Cullen
Jasper is still my absolute favorite. I think this book had the best moments with him. We got his full backstory. I love how he's an empath and can feel other emotions. I find him to be incredibly relatable. He's an empath and sometimes the emotions get to him. Sounds like the story of my life.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I give Eclipse 2.5 stars. It definitely wasn't great, though it wasn't as bad as New Moon. Honestly, the rating would probably would've been higher if Jacob wasn't such a pushy jerk.

If you want my more in-depth, chapter-by-chapter thoughts regarding this book, check out this post on my sister's blog: The Real World According to Sam (opens in new window).

That's it for this installment in my Twilight Saga review series! We have three more books until I am finished (Breaking Dawn, Midnight Sun, and Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined).

I hope you enjoyed it! 

Until next time, 

Lexi K🖌