to warn you that further musings will contain plot spoilers. If you haven't finished the book, don't read on!

I loved Eclipse almost as much as I loved the two previous books in the series; I say almost because there were a few things in this story that bugged me to no end. We'll get to that later, but first, a plot summary: This story continues the saga of loveable, accident-prone Bella Swan and her vampire-boyfriend, Edward Cullen. Bella is finishing up her senior year in high school, looking forward to graduation with equal parts excitement and dread. She has been dutifully filling out college applications, but it's not higher education that has her stomach in knots - it's the Cullens' promise to turn her into a vampire as soon as she receives her high school diploma. Although Bella trusts the peace-loving, "vegetarian" (they suck animal blood, not human) Cullens, she's a little nervous about becoming one of them. If she can't resist the scent of mortal blood, how can she sustain her relationships with her human family and friends? And what of her best friend, Jacob Black? He's a werewolf, an ancient enemy of the "bloodsuckers." If she becomes a vampire, she will have to leave him behind forever. Although she desperately wants to join the Cullens, she fears losing her humanity. As she ponders her impossible decision and all its consequences, a new horror rears its ugly head: an unprecedented number of violent murders are occurring in nearby Seattle. The Cullens fear they are the result of a coven of "newborns," reckless and bloodthirsty in their youth. Worse yet, they are led by Bella's worst nightmare, the vengeful Victoria, a vampire out to hurt Edward by drinking Bella's blood. As the violence escalates in Seattle, the Cullens reluctantly agree to challenge Victoria's clan. When other local vampires refuse to join the fight, the Cullens are forced to accept the help of Jacob and his pack. The uneasy alliance forces Bella into a tough spot - smack dab in the middle of two exquisite creatures who hate each other almost as much as they both love her. As the newborns creep ever closer, Bella finds her heart tearing for two men offering two very different futures, and the possiblity that Victoria may leave them no future at all. The heart-pounding finale pits vampire against werewolf, vampire against vampire, with the irrepressible Bella in the middle of it all.

As you can tell, the plot teems with action and suspense. It had me mesmerized, literally unable to stop reading until I reached the end. Meyer has drawn the characters so skillfully that they are real and sympathetic (vampires and werewolves though they may be), so sympathetic that I couldn't not care about what happened to all of them. I also thought the idea of Victoria and her gang was interesting - the idea of power-hungry vampires creating armies of "newborns" was something that made me shudder. I also admired the way Meyer handled the issue of physical intimacy in this book, a topic she has hinted at in the previous volumes, but not dealt with head on. She's not afraid to make Bella a normal (read that, hormonal) teenager, willing to trade her virginity for a night with her soul mate, but she's also brave enough to make Edward take an honest, unflinching stand in the defense of marriage. I've often wondered how - and if - Meyer would have written her novels differently if she wasn't LDS. I'm certainly glad she does know how to pen exciting, passionate novels that stay strictly within a PG rating (although she does throw in a few "hells" and "damns," just to prove she can get dicey when needed).

Okay, back to the things that irritate me about the novel. First, I think it lags a bit in the middle. It was around there that I told my husband I was tired of the whole Bella-Edward-Jacob love triangle. I was tired of Bella flying between the two of them, tired of Edward and Jacob's acceptance of her fickleness, and absolutely exhausted from her constant indecision. I couldn't understand why she didn't forget about Jacob, marry Edward, and accept her new life as a vampire. Bella's excuses that she can't get married at 18 because she's "not that kind of girl" and "what would people think?" seem weak and out-of-character. Thankfully, just when I was getting really annoyed, Jacob decided to be a real man (er, were-man) and fight for what he wanted. I also noticed a lot of typos in this book, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. Errors in the text yank me out of the story, interrupting the rhythm of my reading. I hate that. The biggest annoyance in the story, however, is the whole issue of Bella's transformation into a vampire. Meyer has dragged out the issue for three (large) books now, and I'm getting impatient. Prolonging plot elements just to ensure that sequels will follow is a tactic I associate with writers less skilled than Meyer. Since I love this series so much, I can't say I'm not glad to see Bella's story continue, but I really wish Meyer would stop dragging things out and just get on with the story!