Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Mrs. B's 2009 Book Reviews -- 2 Stars (Part Two)

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. This was the last (and supposedly final) installment of the famous/infamous "Twilight" series. If you haven't heard of this saga involving Edward (vampire), Jacob (werewolf) and Bella (human), you've likely been living under a rock. I'll admit; I got sucked (ha ha) into this like a lot of women who should have known better. Truthfully, though, the prior three books were not all that bad. Since I rated the one just prior to this one higher in 2009, I can't say too much about either except to say I really did not care for the plot (so far-fetched, even for a tale about creatures that don't exist in real life) or the wrap-up of the series that evolved in "Breaking Dawn". It was alleged that Meyer intended on writing a 5th for the series BUT it somehow became compromised and published over the Internet in a very rough and incomplete mess. This upset her so much that she protested she just couldn't write it again. Well, we'll see about THAT (so says Mrs. B the skeptic).
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. I'd suggested this for my book club; glad we didn't decide to include it in our 2009 list since, in the end, it wasn't all that great (I obviously read it, anyway). I think it might have been much better as a short story or maybe even a screenplay as, at well over 400 pages, it sort of got boring. I mean, how many more tales can there be about a narcissistic, handsome, play boy-type young man getting his comeuppance for all the terrible things he's done in his life/awful way he's treated people by becoming horribly disfigured in a freak-a-zoid accident? Enter, then, a beautiful (but mysterious and slightly creepy) woman who, despite his appearance, loves him anyway and teaches him a thing or two. Sigh. Well, there is one little side plot to this tale that made me want to read it in the first place; she's convinced that he was her lover in the past. As in the MEDIEVAL ages. Was he? Wasn't he? Again, I think we could have discovered this one way or another in, say, 150 pages. The title? Freaky woman sculpts gargoyles AND he somewhat resembles a gargoyle after his accident. LAME.
Well, I just looked at my list and I have several more 2 stars to review. But, Mr. B's on his way home, so, not right now!
Mrs. B


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