Thursday, March 19, 2009

My unofficial Breaking Dawn poll and a contest!


It's my first contest! And a poll, which means if you lurk, now's the time to make a comment.

Here's what got me thinking about this. I am a Twilight series fan, but I admit I have yet to read book 4 in the series. It's a combination of being busy writing and hearing some lackluster reports about the book itself. My daughter is an avid fan of the series but didn't even finish Breaking Dawn. I plan to read the book because I want to form my own opinion about it. I do slightly regret not reading it as soon as it was released because now I've heard so many things about it that I wonder if I would have felt differently had I just read it fresh without any other opinions to color how I see it.

I've seen mixed reviews online, and some heated debates about the fourth book. I'll share some of the stuff I've seen after the poll, where I really do want to know what you think of the book and why.

Here's where the contest part comes in- respond to this post by Saturday, March 21 at midnight and I will put all the response names into a hat. My ever-helpful 4-year-old will draw one of the names and the winner will receive a copy of my most recent book, Isabelle Webb: Legend of the Jewel. Now, I know I'm no Stephenie Meyer, but hey, it's all I've got. ;-) If you've already read Isabelle, I have 8 other novels you can choose from.

So have at it- love it or hate it, let me know what you thought of Breaking Dawn!

16 comments:

TRIBE'S said...

I'm sure you know I didn't like it. I really only liked the first one, but I had to finish them all because I'm a little OCD about things like that. The forth could have been done in about 200 pages then it might have been better. But it really had some weird things in it that still bug me.

Karlene said...

I didn't mind book 4. I did think it could have been tightened up a bit. And I felt like there was this big build to the final "fight" -- and then, nothing. That was sort of disappointing. Also, Jacob's storyline was pretty predictable, but it didn't gross me out like it did some people.

Is it my fav of her books? No. I liked The Host about a million times better. But I'm glad I bought it and I will read it again.

Nicole's crazy Blog said...

I liked it well enough. It was kind of far fetched but as I write that sentence it sounds ridiculous. Aren't we already talking about vampires that are nice and the girl who falls in love with them?

Things I hated were Bella's baby's name and that nobody on the good team died.

THings I liked were how Edward was finally able to really "hear" in Bella's head and knew for sure of her love for him.

I do not want another one! I have heard people saying how cool it would be to hear Renesmes story, I think we will have beaten a dead horse with the cullen's by that point. But I would like to hear the stories of maybe some of the other vampire clans that come to help out.

I hope cousins are eligible to win the drawing!

campbell.craig said...

How about mother's eligability?
I read your blog this morning, and as you know me, my memory is seriously damaged. So I couldn't remember a thing from the last book. It is now 1:30 and I have just finished reading the book again to refresh my memory. I liked reading all the books. I have always loved fairy-tales since I was a little girl, and these books are really pure fairy-tales. I do not particularly like the thought of another book after this last one, but somehow I feel like the door was left open. So I won't be surprized. And I will probably read it.

We can talk about this book Nancy over one of our dinners. It would be fun hearing your sister's and nieces reactions too.

love mom.

chilena said...

I loved the series. I ma not a crazy go get 'em fan, but I had to read it to finish it off. I was not disappointed. For being the kind of fairy tale that it was, they ended it really well.

the warrens said...

hi nancy. i just found your blog though amy t's. i read all four last summer with a sleeping baby in my lap. the fourth disappointed me in that it seemed to commercial, too predictable. almost that b/c she knew the movies were on the way she made the book way over-the-top. i still enjoyed it, but not as much as the 1st. happy last day of winter.

blakeandcourt said...

I also didn't mind book 4, but it wasn't my favorite. The only good part about was there wasn't as much whiny Bella and also very anti-climatic. But I am full on team edward and there wasn't near enough of him for my taste. Also, I was hoping Jacob would die.

Amy said...

hmmm... very interesting reading all the comments. It took me a minute to even remember what happened in the book. I enjoyed it, yet it did get a little too weird in some parts.
It's hard for me to seperate all the books. It just seems like one big story.

KarinB said...

Liked the first one, would have LOVED it at 15. Second one was dumb. Didn't read the third and read the first couple chapters of the 4th and lost interest. He should have turned her much earlier.

Janette Rallison said...

Loved parts of it. Didn't care for other parts of it. Wish I could sell as many copies but don't wish everyone was analyzing any of my books like they analyze this series!

Nancy Campbell Allen said...

Loving the comments! Anyone else with an opinion one way or the other? Please share! :-)

Josi said...

My vote probably won't count, cause I haven't read it--but far be it for me to not share my opinion simply because I have no actual experience! While I haven't read the book, I read a ton of online reviews and I pretty much know what happens. I'm disappointed in some of the choices Meyer made in regard to the story and probably won't read it because I don't need to prolong the disappointment. I read all the other books, love the story and the writing, but have some structure and overall complaints. Good luck.

Penny said...

Hey--I didn't even read the first one and probably won't, but I want your book for free, so I'm going to cheat. I have a niece who is such a fan of Twighlight that she came up from Provo spending the weekend to go to a Twighlight party and it's not even a movie opening or anything. She LOVES book 4 because: "Bella finally becomes vampire and she and Edward can now really LOVE--to the fullest, all the new vampires and all their powers are very interesting, and then there's Bella's perspective as a vampire, BUT it's weird that a grown Werewolf could imprint on a baby...Reneseme, even though she grows so fast."
Wait. What? Well, maybe you had to be there...
And, really, I'll just buy your book if it's not fair because I didn't read this weird stuff.

P Sp said...

It's so much fun seeing how everyone in the old ward is doing. I have no idea how I got here, but I'm so glad that everyone keeps a friend's list and I can go from blog to blog, catching up with everyone! I've been reading your blog for a few days now, and have decided this as good a time as any to make a comment.

I actually haven't read ANY of the Twilight books!!! I know, I know... but I've been busy. I only read the Harry Potter series because I had my wisdom teeth pulled a couple years ago and started reading them when I was bored. But I've stayed away from the Twilight series because I'm worried the same thing will happen with it that happened with Harry Potter... I couldn't put it down and my family didn't get any attention until I had completed the series... even after I got better!!! Shame on me, I don't have ANY self control.

So, now you know my long sad story and you're probably wondering why I am entering this contest now. But every time I'm in Utah, I buy one of your books and get to read it, because I have plenty of grandparents around who are more than willing to take care of the kids, while I relax and enjoy a good book. So if I win this prize, just give my dad the book and I'll be able to read it the next time I'm at his house.

Love,
Patricia Spencer
(aka Dolly Conger)

P.S. I only have a blogger account so I can leave comments where anonymous comments aren't allowed. But my REAL blog is here:

http://web.mac.com/mhspencer13

mmm.chocolate said...

Darn! Our internet was our for several days until yesterday afternoon and I totally missed your contest. I'm going to give you my 2-cents anyways. In many ways, the fourth book was my least favorite because it included WAY too many details and seemed to drag. The part that I did enjoy a lot was right after Bella became a vampire. I was kind of grossed out by the notion of her becoming one until she did become one and then it sounded so cool that I wanted to be a vampire too!

I don't care what anyone else says, I think the love stories in your civil war series are much more enjoyable than anything Meyer has to offer. I will one million times more encourage my kids to read Faith of Our Fathers in their teens than the Twilight series.

Nancy Campbell Allen said...

Wow, Amy. Thank you so much for the compliments- it really does make me feel good. I'm so glad you liked my series. Every now and then I'll see a scathing review of my book(s) and when people say nice things it takes away the sting. Ironic that I should say that on a post where I've encouraged people to rant about a book!

I'm so glad you weighed in with your thoughts! Now sometime before the year is out, I'll read the fourth book, myself. :-)