Eclipse #2

Eclipse
By: Stephenie Meyer
Terri Thampan 804

  So I'm back with the epic love story of. . . EDWARD AND BELLA! Well, it's not really that fun. The story thus far is that Eddie-kins and Bell-bells are like super in "wuv" and Jacob's jealous and then Victoria (the evil vampire) comes back again.
   So basically, let me start off with the antagonists of the story. The main villain of this story is Victoria. She's a vampire who as I said before, wants revenge against Edward for killing her mate. I think it goes to show how loyal she is that she tries to get revenge for her mate, and it seems to make her seem like a strong character, as she never seems to get caught by the big burly "men" vampires or werewolves. It makes her a pretty respectable character. From what little she is actually mentioned, she's made out to be quite cunning and swift, being able to move around so freely and get away for her pursers. While Bella on the other hand, just stays at home all worried and doesn't really do anything.
   So another thing I read about in this book is something called "imprinting". And frankly, the whole Idea makes me sick. It's the most messed up thing EVER. So, first off, what is Imprinting? I would say something sick and twisted but that doesn't really help out, not to mention it's quite repetitive. Imprinting happens to werewolves; it's when they see someone and they automatically fall in love forever. Though, it's kind of like the creepy stalker kind of love. Like, the person always wants to be with you, is always trying to protect you, makes you feel all fragile and delicate. I have to admit, having someone who loves you and is there for you and is always loyal is really cool. But then, doesn't it get tiring to have to deal with their constant over protectiveness? Don't you start to lose your own traits of self because they try to protect you? Doesn't it start to feel a bit. . . cramped?
    Another thing I don't like about this whole imprinting business is that, you can't chose who you imprint on! I mean, Jared is a fine example. He ends up imprinting on this girl in his school. But, before that, he never really cared about her. See! He pretty much ended up MAGICALLY LIKING HER! That is so bad! It makes it seem like the girl, Kim, who liked him, couldn't get a guy to like her because of who she is. And then, you never really get a guy to like you for who you are. Also, if they act all lovey-dovey with you (the person being imprinted on), how can you learn to love the person? Do you really, really know them? It pretty much seems that you're getting a fake mask of love, and not the genuine article. I mean, does this Kim girl ever really hang out with Jared enough to know she thinks he's a good guy. I don't think so, not before the imprinting happened. This is pretty much a cheap way to get a "Happily ever after".
   I also want to relate the whole Imprinting deal to the world of "Uglies" and "Flowers for Algernon". Because basically, like in Stephenie Meyer's other book "The Host", the entire mindset is being dealt with here. In "Uglies", the surgery to be pretty changes how you think and your personality. In "Flowers for Algernon", the thinking gradually changes, increasing in complexity, to finally deteriorating. In this book, Imprinting is a cool, amazing thing. In those books, the mindset is pretty sad (As Charlie starts to lose his intelligence) or really horrible (Changing the way we think about things, and who we are). But like, to make someone change all who they are, just like that. They could have not cared about the person, and then suddenly magic makes it so they do. What happened to their free will? The ability to choose who we love and like and who we dislike and hate? In "The Host", they pretty much just give up their bodies (the humans), because the aliens are so special and amazing and perfect.
   Anyways, Jacob Black also doesn't want to imprint. Why is that important? Because he loves Bella Swan for whatever reason there is. But I know for a fact, that he imprints on someone in "Breaking Dawn" (It's really messed up, the person he imprints on, but you can go wiki it if you care). That really makes me sad for him because his mindset is so drastically changed to love the imprinting.
   Imprinting is also gross. Like, Embry, ended up imprinting on a THREE YEAR OLD GIRL! How messed up is that?!!! Oh, here's a hint for Jacob, he imprints on someone younger than that! But really!? That's messed up! Especially when Jacob's like 'oh, he only acts like what she wants him to be, a brother or father or protector!' Well what if she doesn't want to marry big bro? Also, ever heard of child grooming? It's when you make a little kid trust you so they end up doing "dirty" things with you. Really messed up.
   But then, there are other victims in this whole thing. The exes. Poor Leah, her man got stolen away by her own cousin. They were in a relationship for years! I bet she thought he was going to propose, oh no, it's instead, "Wanna go to my wedding with your cousin?". That's just awful. Not to mention the fact that "No one can deny the werewolf imprinting on them" kind of stuff being thrown around. I mean, no one can deny all that love, affection, and awe? Really? I mean, if it were me, I would be creep-ed out. I bet you, if the guys who imprinted on them were ugly, they would be calling the cops. Because that's basically what's going on. They can't deny the surface, the fake love. 'Oh, a hot guy is like stalking me! I love it! It's so great!" (Reminds me of Bella and Edward), but if it was some ugly, or a regular looking teenage boy (like a plain dude), the girls would be like "Oh EWW! He is soooo creepy!!!! Why can't he like stop being so possessive and protective? I need my space!"
    So pretty much, Smeyer's world is pretty shallow, and never really dips into true love, which this does not pass off as. I mean, I doubt there is any true love in here, which is kind of sad for a romance novel. I mean, isn't love getting to know each other, without magic forcing you to like someone first, and then learning to love someone?