New Moon (Twilight #2)

I’m a little surprised, because the second time around I ended up liking New Moon better than I thought I would. Aside from Edward being away for most of it, I just enjoyed the story more. Bella is pretty pathetic, but I couldn’t put it down. Despite being 150+ pages longer, I finished it a lot faster, too.

Again, the plot isn’t very exciting. Victoria is still at large and actively seeking out Bella, but nothing really happens with her. There’s not even a single face-off with her. It’s a very background type conflict, but at least Bella seems afraid of her this time. Most of the story is just focused on Bella’s extremely frightening post-breakup behavior. There’s 3 months of blank pages, because Bella apparently did nothing but breathe until Charlie finally said he’d had enough. Bella was more zombie than vampire, but once she starts hanging out with Jacob she starts to come to life.

I adore Jacob. I was totally on Team Jacob until I read Breaking Dawn the first time. However, now I can see that Bella was definitely never interested in him in that way, so there is no Team Jacob. She admits that she wants to “stake a claim” on him a few times, so that she won’t be alone and to make him happy. It’s actually kind of scary how attached she becomes to Jacob in Edward’s absence. She is 100% codependent and cannot live without a teenage boy by her side at every moment.

Let’s not even go into Bella’s hallucinations that she puts her life in danger to have! That’s probably the most disturbing thing about this book. While I wanted to slap some sense into her, I couldn’t stop reading. Bella is such a train wreck. There’s two particular moments that had me going WTF?!

“Was I dying again, then? I didn’t like it — this wasn’t as good as the last time. (pg 364)” I’m sure that needs no explanation.

Then there was: “I couldn’t comprehend what this human woman was doing here, totally at ease, surrounded by vampires. (pg 463-4)” Um, Bella, seriously?! Her whole goal in life is to be surrounded by vampires forever and ever…

Anyway, I’m probably more in love with this series than I’m letting myself believe. I do think I like New Moon better than the original, but it also features my favorite characters (Alice and Charlie) more, so perhaps I’m biased.

New Moon wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. All my friends said it was amazing and wouldn't be able to stop. I liked the book but it needed more things to happen. I enjoyed the part where she had the birthday incident and the months flying past where she sinks into depression. It was a great idea how Edward leaves and the part about when he tries to 'kill' himself. That shows true love is very true.

I liked this book better than Twilight because Jacob is a relatable character whom I truly like. I really like the kind of friendship he has with Bella. I never felt Edward and Bella had a truly comfortable friendship with each other. I also found Bella's depression and then self-destructive behavior fascinating, and I think it's an honest look at how it feels to lose your first intense romance. I'm still not a huge Edward fan. I mean ... really? You decide (a bit late in the game, but whatever) that your girl needs protecting and you do that by withholding information, lying to her, and then abandoning her? Way to underestimate Bella's strength. And Bella does have strength. She finds it in this book, I think, and starts to stand up for what she wants. I don't really understand why she wants Edward, but I respect that she goes after him and lets nothing stand in her way.

Reader reviewed by Kara Skinner

Summary:
  This is the sequel to Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.
  At this point, Edward has left Bella, telling her he does not love her anymore. The truth is, he is trying to protect her from himself, since he happens to be a vampire and is still a human He is trying to do the responsible thing. In her depression after the break-up, she turns to her friend, Jacob, for support. But they can not stay apart. After a couple suicide attempts, they reunite.
Review:
  I love how they et back together in the end.
  And, how, though these books are usually over 800 pages long, they never seem that long. It takes less than a week to read one.
  This story had a very sweet ending, but, even though I like Jacob Black, I hate how he gets mixed up in the whole deal and gets hurt because he develops feelings for Bella. It hardly seemed fair.
  I would suggest this book for teenagers 15+ and definitely not for anyone under 13.

Reader reviewed by Amber

I don't like to read all that much so I compare the book that I read with the movie and I would say the book is better. For not liking to read this kept me intrigued and made me want to get to the end. yes, the movie you can picture it in your brain what it looks like, but the book is so much more graphic and detailed. It is sometimes more fun to picture the scenes as you feel they would look like. Over all this book is a 4 out of 5. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to someone who just loves vampires, but also to someone who is into a little suspense and romance.

Reader reviewed by sally

New moon is the second book of the twilight sequel. It shows how love could do things that the physical body couldn't endure. the books starts with Bella's eighteenth birthday and how she doesnot want to celebrate it because she is getting older and Edward is not. She was forced to go to a birthday party the Cullen's made for her. But because of an accident that endangered her life, Edward is forced to leave her. Unlike Twilight, New Moon is more practical because it gave the agony she lived through when she was away from Edward. New Moon is influenced by Shakepear's Romeo and Juliet, But unlike this tragedy, the novel actually had a happy ending. This novel will make you stay awake all night reading it. It is a great story that will protray to the reader the meaning of true love.  

Reader reviewed by Jenna

New Moon is alot better than the first book, Twilight, I got so mad when Edward left!! Victoria to me seems dangerous and terrifying. I think it puts a nice emphasis on how girls can be stronger and better than guys. Jasper is Ok, and I love Alice. The characters are very much more rounded, and If I were Bella, I would be very very confused, still jumping of cliffs?


Cool!

Reader reviewed by Cintia

After an accident at the cullen's residence edward decides to leave bella for her own good. Bella begins hanging out with jacob black who is now a werwolf and doing crazy things in order to hear edward in her mind. After a misunderstandment edward thinks that bella died and decides to upset the venturi in order to get killed. Throughout the novel Jacob is so sweet. The whole book was really romantic.

Reader reviewed by Sem

This book like twilight before it was really good not my favorite one but still awesome!!~!! I actually cried when bella lost edward because it seemed so real. I would have ran after edward to even though i would know it was no use and probably had done the same thing that she did i even cried when it happened although i new it was going to happen !!~!! But again still amazing!!!!~!!!!

Reader reviewed by kathy

Again, Stephenie Meyer's wrote a book about vampires in love. "New Moon" is the second book in the Twilight Saga.
In this book, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are given another challenge in their love. As many of you know, Edward decides to leave Bella for her own good after she gets "ALMOST" attacked by Jasper on her birthday. After he leaves,Bella's life is nothing. She even avoids her friends and anybody who tries helping her. But then, all of the sudden she starts hanging out with Jacob.During this duration of time, many secrets are revealed and new problems begin to get stirred up.
You should definitely read this book. It's not AS good as the others but it's worth it. Trust me.