Sunday, December 28, 2008

Book 2 in the Twilight Series......



Well....I can't stop reading the series now, can I? Not a series that has my son begging for more books?? I went out and bought New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (608 pgs, Little, Brown Young Readers, 2006) as soon as Chad was disappointed he was on a waiting list at school to get the book. I figured it was an investment in his education!! Again, I can see the appeal this series has for the younger set.

I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough. My legs seemed to move slower and slower as I fought my way through the callous crowd, but the hands on the clock tower didn't slow. With relentless, uncaring force, they turned inexorably toward the end -- the end of everything.

Things for Bella seem to be going smoothly. She and Edward are a couple. No one knows the Cullens' secret about being vampires. Life is good. There is still one tiny problem -- she wants Edward to turn her so they can spend eternity together, and he wants nothing to do with it. But dating a vampire has a few drawbacks!

Then the Cullens throw a surprise party for Bella's birthday, and in typical Bella clumsy fashion, she gets hurt. The realization that she IS human and they are not seeps in. The Cullens leave town, and Edward breaks up with Bella. In harsh fashion, he tells her that he just can't take their relationship. He doesn't love her enough to do it.

Bella goes into a tailspin of depression. So bad that her friends no longer want to be around her. Charlie is ready to have her committed. She is sleep walking through life. Until she finds if she is in trouble, she can "hear" Edward's voice inside her head. So Bella starts do really reckless things just to feel closer to him. She evens buys 2 motorcycles, although they need a lot of work. And who does she get to help her with it, but her old friend Jacob Black.

Bella starts spending a lot of time with Jacob. He comes her best friend, and the person she relies on the most since Edward left. It's pretty obvious that Jacob's feelings are a lot stronger than Bella's. But she really does care for him. But Jacob has secrets of his own, and now Victoria is back....and pissed off. She is trying to exact her revenge by killing Bella. Since Edward killed James, she is planning to kill Edward's mate. Mate for Mate. And Bella is scared.

Really, I do see how this series became so popular. Meyer's writing is smooth and certainly addictive. Once you start, you can't put it down. But I don't think I liked this one as much as I did Twilight. Edward and family took a backseat to the new monsters in town, and frankly, I am rather partial to vampires!!

Again, Bella stilled annoyed me WAY too much. I get that she's a teenager. Losing your love is traumatic at any age. But we've all been through it. She fell into such a depression, feeling so sorry for herself, that it made me want to scream!! Her recklessness was really starting to bother me too. Personally, I didn't blame her for turning to Jacob. I've read a lot of reviews that said she was being really fickle...but I just didn't see it that way. I think she valued Jacob as a friend. She was very honest with him that she didn't feel the same way about him...and he accepted that. But she did come to love who he was....and if that was gone, she was going to be sad.

And Edward....oh let's get started on him. If he can't have Bella, he's just going to kill himself?? Please. Give me a break. You'd think that a 100-year-old vampire would be smart enough to get over a whiny little thing like Bella. Maybe I'm being jaded by dismissing the whole "Soul Mate" idea. I get the concept....but I just have a hard time buying into it. And marketing books to teens that promote this kind of worshipful love seems kind of dangerous to me. Sheesh. Maybe I AM too old to be reading this series!!

Anyway, I enjoyed the book. Not as much as Twilight. But since I bought Chad both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn for Christmas, I'll definitely be finishing out the series!! 3.75/5

18 comments:

S. Krishna said...

Nice review. I didn't like this one as much as Twilight either.

Andi said...

Yep, I felt much the same about this installment, but it actually won me over to Team Jacob. Seems like a healthier relationship to me. Looking forward to your thoughts on Eclipse! I think it was my favorite.

Stephanie said...

S. Krishna - Thanks! This one didn't do much for me. Hopefully, the next will be better.

Andi - I don't know about Team Jacob or not. Though I think I'd definitely have to go with the warmth over the cold!! He's a little "hot" headed for my taste!

Ana S. said...

I'm not a fan of the concept of "soul mates" either. I definitely believe in love and in very strong ties between people...but not so much in the idea that there's only one person out there we can be happy with, and that if we find them all our problems will be solved. I can see the lure of it, of course... when we're happy and head over heels in love it's nice to think that the person we're with is "the one". But, well, I don't know. If things in our lives had gone differently we might be just as happy in completely different circumstances.

And yeah, telling young girls there's only one guy out there for them can probably have some less than pleasant consequences. I was dramatic enough as a teen. I remember all the drama of having my heart broken for the first time, and I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if I believed that I had lost my one and only chance to be happy.

All this to say that I haven't read the series, but I suspect those things would bug me too :P

Maggs said...

I also didn't like this one as much as 'Twilight'.

I know what you mean with some of your points in your review.

My favs of the series were Twilight and Eclipse. :)

Stephanie said...

Nymeth - You summed up my feelings perfectly!! I can't say for sure that there is just one person out there for each of us. I mean, I love my husband. We are happy together...have a good life. But I also think I could have been equally happy with my "first love". People grow and change. Who knows. Maybe I have the whole thing wrong!!

Stephanie said...

Margo - Thanks! I'm hoping to read Eclipse soon...I just have to wait till Chad finishes it!

Katie said...

I loved this book, but I'm totally obsessed with the whole series. I feel like a teenage girl when I'm reading them! :)

Literary Feline said...

I recently finished off this series and have to say that Eclipse is probably my favorite of the bunch. I'm looking forward to reading what you think of the rest of the series.

The Bookworm said...

I loved this series :) I like the first one the best.
I know, Bella is very annoying. And I felt the same way about Edward wanting to kill himself over her. I've always felt like he was too good for her anyway...lol
But these books were very addictive.
great review.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

Peter said...

Well, I haven't read the Twilight series, I thought it might be a little, ummm... romantic. But I do like books aswell, I have a blog on them, can you please look at it?

http://pizzasbookdiscussion.blogspot.com

chrisa511 said...

Hey Steph! I did indeed get you message :) It made me excited, lol. I like having blogging friends talk to me :p

Melody said...

I agree your thoughts, Stephanie! The negative stuff could be an influence to the children/teenagers and it's not good. Like you, I still prefer the first instalment.

Dot said...

I am loving this series, I have just finished New Moon and I am waiting for the next two to be delivered. Bella really annoys me too but I do not have a bad word to say about Edward!!

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

i just posted my review of this today and i have to say that i'm on the opposing side here. :) i totally love jacob and the wolves and vastly prefer them to the vampires. ~LOL~ i'm on to book three now and i'm sure it will be finished in the next few days. :)

samantha.1020 said...

I haven't read this one yet but I'm looking forward to getting to it eventually. I've heard such strong things about this series one way or the other that I want to read it just to see how I feel about it.

A Library Girl said...

I just finished reading the fourth (and final? - unless Meyer wants to try to milk her cash cow some more) book. Although I enjoyed getting to know Jacob more in New Moon, I'm more of a Team Edward person. I have to say, though, Bella and Edward do tend to be rather annoyingly focused on each other. My thoughts about Bella's crushing depression are this - Edward has unknowingly bewitched her. It works both ways, and Edward even says that Bella is his drug. That's the only reasonable explanation I can think of for Bella and Edward's over-the-top reactions (especially Edward's immediate suicide quest when he thinks Bella's dead - I agree with you, he should be old enough and mature enough to be able to get over someone like Bella, who I've never felt is as great as all the other characters seem to think she is).

Margo said...

I agree with your review!! The books was a waste of pages, it seemed like Bella's sorrow went on and on and on, making me not want to even finish the book! And I do agree with Edward's decision....to kill himself if he couldn't have Bella? please. It was kinda like Romeo and Juliet.