Over the weekend, the fourth installment in Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” saga hit bookstores to record-setting sales and crowds. USA Today reports “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth and final chapter in the series sold 1.3 million copies on Saturday.
However, while the news on the sales front has been universally good, the fan reaction to the novel has been more divided. According to a report in this morning’s Los Angeles Times, many fans are not happy with the final installment. Â
And those doubts are raising some questions as to whether or not the theatrical version of “Twilight” may suffer a backlash later this year.
In discussing the potential  backlash, we’ll have to give away details of “Breaking Dawn.” To protect readers who don’t want to know, we’ll put those details behind the jump and remind you that SPOILERs will be there if you choose to read further…
According to the Los Angeles Times report, many fans are divided about the happy ending of the series, saying it too neatly and easily wraps up everything.  Fans cite that the central love-triangle of the previous two novels is too easily resolved and the romance of Bella and Edward ends in the first third of the novel, leaving the final two-thirds is devoted to a the child of Bella and Edward, conceived on their wedding night.
Looking at reviews on Amazon, the overall sentiment is running 50/50 between fans who loved the final novel and fans who were disappointed. Some fans even went so far as to question if Meyer wrote the novel, saying that parts of it felt like “poorly written fanfic” and not the first three installments of the series.
One commenter on the Los Angeles Times pop-culture blog said, “My world has imploded. I’m probably being dramatic, but really. I invested my heart and soul into these books. I feel tremendously betrayed.”
The bigger question becomes–will this have any impact on the big-screen adaptation of the film, set to open later this year? At the recent ComicCon panel for “Twilight” the conference room was packed with eager fans, curious for any tidbit about the upcoming film.  Buzz and anticipation among Meyer’s legions of fans (the previous three books have sold 7.5 million copies) for the film is at an all-time high and was expected to build over the next several months, leading up to the film’s opening.
But could a controversial ending put the brakes on the bus for “Twilight”? We’ll have to wait and see what happens when the movie opens later this year. Â
I have not read these books yet, but to claim that “My world has imploded” because you don’t like the ending of a book.
In the words of Shatner: “Get a Life”