Reading Twilight So You Don't Have To: Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Eighteen
When we last left Bella and company, they'd just met up with three vampires, one of whom was a "tracker" and got a good whiff of Bella's yummy goodness and decided he HAD to have her, so Edward, Alice, and Emmet took Bella on the run. Bella concocted a cunning plan, in which she would tell Charlie she was going back to her mother in Phoenix, let the tracker hear her and think it was a ruse, then she would actually... go to Phoenix. But not to Mom's. So, let's see how that all plays out, shall we?
Chapter Nineteen: Goodbyes
Again, this is actually kind of interesting, and it's nicely paced. They go back to the house, make sure Tracker Guy isn't waiting around in the woods, then Edward takes Bella into the house while Alice and Emmet play sentry outside. There's a clumsy "I love you" moment that overuses the word "fiercely" instead of "perfect" this time, but it's not nearly as awful as some of her other stuff, so okay.
They go in, she fakes a massive fight with Edward, then stomps off to her room, screaming that she wants to go home. Edward sneaks in through the window and helps her pack while Charlie pounds on the door, "Did he hurt you?" (Not yet!) "Did he break up with you?" (Next book!) and other worried-fatherly stuff. When she storms back out (Edward having gone back out the window to meet her in her truck), Charlie's not about to let her go without some answers (or even at all), so she tells him she broke up with Edward because she likes him too much and she doesn't want to make connections in Forks because she hates it and wants to go back to Mom and Phoenix. Okay, this works. Certainly fits with the determined-to-hate-Forks-and-not-make-friends Bella of the early book. But she's derailed because Charlie knows Renee is in Florida, not Arizona, and that they'll be back next week.
(Okay, completely off track here, but I'm from Arizona so... turns out, if Phil doesn't get signed in Florida, he's been offered a spot with the Sidewinders. That's the Tucson team... or was. They're in Reno now, so that would suck for Phil if he got signed and they had to leave AZ again. Still, Reno vs. Florida? I think I'll take Reno.)
Ahem. Back to the actual story. With Mom not in Phoenix, Bella has to really get harsh to get Charlie to let her go, so she echos what her mom said when she left him, then goes on about how much she hates Forks. Charlie is devastated, which... up until she met Edward, all these things were totally true (only in sullen martyrdom instead of anger), so why should this be crushing? It'd make me want to smack my kid for being such a pain in the butt, but I don't think it would be a killing blow. But her "cruel words did their job," and off she and Edward go, the tracker in pursuit.
Okay, and here's where the interesting stuff derails into more awfulness.
"Why did this happen?" I asked, my voice catching. "Why me?"
He stared blackly at the road ahead. "It's my fault--I was a fool to expose you like that." The rage in his voice was directed internally.
"That's not what I meant," I insisted. "I was there, big deal. It didn't bother the other two. Why did this James decide to kill me? There are people all over the place, why me?" (boldface mine)
Really, Stephanie Meyer? This is your Heroine? "Let him kill someone else, just so long as it isn't meeeeeeeeeeeee!" OMG, PLEASE kill her James! Kill her now!
Of course, Edward explains about her luscious deliciousness, and how Tracker James likes a challenge, and there you have it.
Blah blah blah, more talking, and oooh, we finally get to hear how Meyers-verse vampires can be killed. "The only way to be sure is to tear him to shreds then burn the pieces."
The talking is finally over and they arrive at the Cullens' house. Laurent (the leader guy... only turns out he wasn't really the leader, Tracker James is) is there playing Switzerland, warns them James is unstoppable, blah blah blah. Laurent leaves, there's a terse exchange with Rosalie, who doesn't really want to help, then Esme and Bella go upstairs and trade clothes to temporarily confuse the scent. Edward and Carlisle go off in the jeep (they're the hunting party) and Alice psychic-ly sees that Tracker James will follow them, send his girlfriend after Esme (who is in Bella's clothes and takes Bella's truck, along with a grudging Rosalie), giving Alice and Jasper a little time to whisk Bella away. There's a good-bye with Edward that is, I think, supposed to be touching, but...
He caught me up in his iron grip, crushing me to him. He seemed unaware of his watching family as he pulled my face to his, lifting my feet off the floor.
Okay, that's some really bad description there. He pulls her face and that lifts her feet off the floor? Not a romantic picture. I'm imagining her head popping off.
For the shortest second, his lips were icy and hard against mine. Then it was over. He set me down, still holding my face, his glorious eyes burning into mine.
His eyes were blank, curiously dead, as he turned away.
An icy hard kiss? Oooh, how tender and sweet! And I'm still trying to imagine how he lifts her and holds her face at the same time. And how can his eyes be gloriously burning into hers and curiously dead within seconds of each other? Geez, Stephanie, get an editor! Or a beta-tester or something.
But anyway, they're off, and the chapter ends on an interesting note. All night, various Cullens have been grabbing Bella and whisking her away. Here, Alice asks her permission first, and Bella notes ("smiling wryly") that she's the first one to ask permission. You know, if it weren't for the wry smile, I'd think that maybe Bella actually gets for a brief moment that she has a say in her life and isn't just a toy for Edward and his family. But, oh well.
Chapter Twenty
Quick Links:
Why I'm doing this | Preface & 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16.2 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Epilogue |
Discussion Questions
When we last left Bella and company, they'd just met up with three vampires, one of whom was a "tracker" and got a good whiff of Bella's yummy goodness and decided he HAD to have her, so Edward, Alice, and Emmet took Bella on the run. Bella concocted a cunning plan, in which she would tell Charlie she was going back to her mother in Phoenix, let the tracker hear her and think it was a ruse, then she would actually... go to Phoenix. But not to Mom's. So, let's see how that all plays out, shall we?
Chapter Nineteen: Goodbyes
Again, this is actually kind of interesting, and it's nicely paced. They go back to the house, make sure Tracker Guy isn't waiting around in the woods, then Edward takes Bella into the house while Alice and Emmet play sentry outside. There's a clumsy "I love you" moment that overuses the word "fiercely" instead of "perfect" this time, but it's not nearly as awful as some of her other stuff, so okay.
They go in, she fakes a massive fight with Edward, then stomps off to her room, screaming that she wants to go home. Edward sneaks in through the window and helps her pack while Charlie pounds on the door, "Did he hurt you?" (Not yet!) "Did he break up with you?" (Next book!) and other worried-fatherly stuff. When she storms back out (Edward having gone back out the window to meet her in her truck), Charlie's not about to let her go without some answers (or even at all), so she tells him she broke up with Edward because she likes him too much and she doesn't want to make connections in Forks because she hates it and wants to go back to Mom and Phoenix. Okay, this works. Certainly fits with the determined-to-hate-Forks-and-not-make-friends Bella of the early book. But she's derailed because Charlie knows Renee is in Florida, not Arizona, and that they'll be back next week.
(Okay, completely off track here, but I'm from Arizona so... turns out, if Phil doesn't get signed in Florida, he's been offered a spot with the Sidewinders. That's the Tucson team... or was. They're in Reno now, so that would suck for Phil if he got signed and they had to leave AZ again. Still, Reno vs. Florida? I think I'll take Reno.)
Ahem. Back to the actual story. With Mom not in Phoenix, Bella has to really get harsh to get Charlie to let her go, so she echos what her mom said when she left him, then goes on about how much she hates Forks. Charlie is devastated, which... up until she met Edward, all these things were totally true (only in sullen martyrdom instead of anger), so why should this be crushing? It'd make me want to smack my kid for being such a pain in the butt, but I don't think it would be a killing blow. But her "cruel words did their job," and off she and Edward go, the tracker in pursuit.
Okay, and here's where the interesting stuff derails into more awfulness.
"Why did this happen?" I asked, my voice catching. "Why me?"
He stared blackly at the road ahead. "It's my fault--I was a fool to expose you like that." The rage in his voice was directed internally.
"That's not what I meant," I insisted. "I was there, big deal. It didn't bother the other two. Why did this James decide to kill me? There are people all over the place, why me?" (boldface mine)
Really, Stephanie Meyer? This is your Heroine? "Let him kill someone else, just so long as it isn't meeeeeeeeeeeee!" OMG, PLEASE kill her James! Kill her now!
Of course, Edward explains about her luscious deliciousness, and how Tracker James likes a challenge, and there you have it.
Blah blah blah, more talking, and oooh, we finally get to hear how Meyers-verse vampires can be killed. "The only way to be sure is to tear him to shreds then burn the pieces."
The talking is finally over and they arrive at the Cullens' house. Laurent (the leader guy... only turns out he wasn't really the leader, Tracker James is) is there playing Switzerland, warns them James is unstoppable, blah blah blah. Laurent leaves, there's a terse exchange with Rosalie, who doesn't really want to help, then Esme and Bella go upstairs and trade clothes to temporarily confuse the scent. Edward and Carlisle go off in the jeep (they're the hunting party) and Alice psychic-ly sees that Tracker James will follow them, send his girlfriend after Esme (who is in Bella's clothes and takes Bella's truck, along with a grudging Rosalie), giving Alice and Jasper a little time to whisk Bella away. There's a good-bye with Edward that is, I think, supposed to be touching, but...
He caught me up in his iron grip, crushing me to him. He seemed unaware of his watching family as he pulled my face to his, lifting my feet off the floor.
Okay, that's some really bad description there. He pulls her face and that lifts her feet off the floor? Not a romantic picture. I'm imagining her head popping off.
For the shortest second, his lips were icy and hard against mine. Then it was over. He set me down, still holding my face, his glorious eyes burning into mine.
His eyes were blank, curiously dead, as he turned away.
An icy hard kiss? Oooh, how tender and sweet! And I'm still trying to imagine how he lifts her and holds her face at the same time. And how can his eyes be gloriously burning into hers and curiously dead within seconds of each other? Geez, Stephanie, get an editor! Or a beta-tester or something.
But anyway, they're off, and the chapter ends on an interesting note. All night, various Cullens have been grabbing Bella and whisking her away. Here, Alice asks her permission first, and Bella notes ("smiling wryly") that she's the first one to ask permission. You know, if it weren't for the wry smile, I'd think that maybe Bella actually gets for a brief moment that she has a say in her life and isn't just a toy for Edward and his family. But, oh well.
Chapter Twenty
Quick Links:
Why I'm doing this | Preface & 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16.2 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Epilogue |
Discussion Questions