Edward vs. Jacob: Breaking Dawn Release party

So our friend Emily wanted really badly to go the Breaking Dawn release party. Joe and I agreed we would go with her, along with Julie Poole. We knew we didn't care much about the "party" we mostly just wanted to get the book. We showed up at 11:30 (after preordering the book) and hung out in our color assigned area of Barnes and Noble (the mystery/romance section) until 12:01 when they would finally sell the books. Apparently they had a costume contest, trivia questions throughout the store, and a guest book to sign, among other things, to keep you "busy" while waiting. We didn't do any of it, just stood around waiting. We took a few pictures to document the history, but it wasn't as wild and crazy as I wanted. There were a few interesting looking people there, but mostly it was a bunch of young teenage girls with a few moms. The moms would all walk by us and say "What am I doing here?" It was pretty funny, because we pretty much felt the same way. I did participate in the dressing up bit though. When we bought the third book, Eclipse, from Sam's club, it came with a sweet poster and two iron ons for T-shirts, one was "Team Edward" the other "Team Jacob". I totally made a shirt with them, I put Edward on front and Jacob on back, just to take advantage of using both of them. I think I was the only one with the iron ons, so I felt superior to the girls with the puffy paint shirts :)

The book went on sale and they sold it by group, so that there wouldn't just be a huge line. I think we were in the fourth group up and we had the book purchased by 12:30. So I'm down and hour and $7 from my life (B&N sold it for $17, Walmart sold it for $10), oh well.I told Joe we had to read at least one chapter before going to bed to make doing the release party worth it. Then the next day I read it while we drove to the Temple, and then home from the Temple, and then until we went to bed Saturday, and then all day Sunday. We finally finished it Monday night!
I will tell you, without giving anything away, I enjoyed it. I am satisfied and pleased. Stephenie even put a suprise in there that I wasn't expecting at all, which made for some fun. I ultimately got everything I wanted, even with a few things that were a huge bother. I will say, as she has said herself, she isn't a really good writer, just a good story teller. I am glad I read the series, mostly to know what all the hype was about, but also becuase it was a fun distraction.

At least now that the series is over Joe and I can stop staying up so late finishing these books.....

Eclipse

We finished Eclipse on Saturday. At this point I'm ready for Breaking Dawn, I have to see where she's going to take this. Joe and I both agree, there really isn't a Team Jacob, he's more of an annoyance really, because seriously, there's no way she can choose Jacob over Edward. The fighting over Bella was amuzing, with how calm and cool Edward was the whole time, but Jacob doesn't stand a chance.
I think that Breaking Dawn has a lot of potential to build on the story of Bella becoming a vampire. I think that it would be very interesting for her to write about what the changes are and how Bella does when she becomes a vampire. If she doesn't become a vampire I will be very disappointed.
This book was definitely more sexual, as we all know Bella was willing to give it up to Edward. Ultimately, this is a romance series, so of course there will be sexual content. Becky and I have talked about what age group these books are for, I would definitely have to say older teenager. Even though these books are less risque than some, I do think that some kids will misinterpret the behavior as appropriate, simply because it's written by someone that is LDS, so there will be LDS morals involved. But seriously, we are dealing with a girl who is in love with a vampire, I would think at that point LDS doesn't even apply........
Anyway, I ultimately have enjoyed the series and I'm ready for a resolution...... as long as it's the resolution I want :)

New Moon

We finished New Moon last night. Mom and I already discussed how lots of people liked this second book the least. I'll have to agree. A book without a lot of Edward is not that awesome. Although, I did like the introduction of the werewolf story. It's fun to have a little more depth to the story and what not. Overall, I'm not swayed that there should be a "Team Jacob" I'm all about "Team Edward" vampires are way cooler than werewolves. Joe and I talked about this last night after finishing. I wouldn't want to be with a werewolf where he would morph into this huge monster wolf that wouldn't look anything like the person I was in love with. But with Edward, he's always a vampire, he doesn't morph into a bat, he always will look "human" and that's easier for me to deal with. So I'm making my judgement right now, even before we get into the third book, if Bella chooses to not marry Edward, and for some strange reason thinks that Jacob is better for her I will be very disappointed.
I still feel silly getting worked up over these things, but I might as well, it's fun to pretend sometimes.

All right, I have to admit, I enjoyed Twilight. I originally wasn't going to read it, and I was only maybe going to see the movie, but I wasn't interested in a lame vampire love story. I completely blame Joe actually. The other day he said that he was going to buy some books from Amazon and thought that we should also get Twilight. He thought we should see what it was like since so many people were getting into it. I wasn't completely sold then, but I liked the idea that he said he would read it to me at night. So it happened. Twilight arrived and we started the nighttime readings. It didn't take long until I was into it.

We finished the book last night. All weekend we read to each other; while waiting for his car's oil change, while he was installing the ceiling fan, while I made dinner Sunday, and instead of watching TV Sunday night, we read until late, finishing it.

I will say, there are a few things that I was irritated by in the book, mom and I have talked about how annoying Bella can be, but then we have to think about being 17 and in high school.

Joe and I have been talking about how our emotions (mostly mine) were so affected by the story. I could feel the tension between Edward and Bella (and you know what kind of tension I'm talking about), and then the stress of the whole James character and the issues he brought. So I have to give Stephanie Meyer props for getting me involved with the characters.

We will probably start the next book tonight.