Customer Reviews

New Moon (Twilight Saga)

5 star:		(288)
4 star:		(80)
3 star:		(44)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I am in my late 30s and read Twilight because I had heard good things and the hype of the movie was good. I enjoyed it immensely and was drawn in by the love story and taken back to my high school days. I became a bit pathetic and moped around for a few days when I had finished the book...simply because I wanted to read more.

Wanting more and itching to read New Moon, I logged on to Amazon and read the reviews and became a little worried as so many people gave it mediocre to poor reviews. However, I decided just to buy it and read it and I am so glad I did.

I found that it is a much better written book than Twilight. It seemed like Stephenie Meyer actually THOUGHT about what she was writing this time, and didn't just throw stuff on the pages randomly.

The compaint other reviews had was the lack of Edward in the story. However, I did not find this a drawback in the least, it was necessary to keep the emotions running as strongly as they do in this book, and I found the storyline excellent. Please do not be put off by the negative reviews - this book is well worth the read.

Finished reading "New Moon", the second book from the Twilight saga. Again, I didn't hate it, it was slightly better than the first (mostly due to the fact that Edward was not in it the majority of the time), but it was still not very good.

Starting with Bella; what a boring, whining, self-centered, bland character she is! In the beginning, she's with her one true love, she should be happy, would it kill her to smile a little?
Then, (accident prone that she is) she manages to cut herself on paper, thus driving the Cullen family crazy over the smell of her blood.
Ok, this is where I get confused: I understand that Bella's blood has a unique appeal to Edward, but the "brothers" go to a school full of people, I guess that there are the occasional cuts and bruises, they should be able to restrain themselves, and if Jasper is such a loose cannon, how can he even attend school? And what really bugs me is that, just because of that stupid contrived incident, Edward decides to uproot the entire family and move out!
So Edward tells Bella he is leaving, I would imagine a scene like that would be entitled to a deep dialogue, but no. He says he's leaving because she is no good for him, and she accepts it as an obvious fact. What does this say about Bella? That she is a bit dense, and soooo unworthy of the love of such a "God-like creature" ---sigh--. So she doesn't even try to fight for her happiness. What a spineless girl! Such a great role model!

So, with Edward gone, her life means nothing.

I can understand entering an abyss of despair when losing the one person you loved above all else (although apart from his "smoldering beauty", I don't see any other good qualities about Edward). But what I don't understand, is how someone can simply, for months, ignore friends that try to help, and then proceed to consciously, selfishly use them. Like the scene with Jessica: Inviting her out, not because Bella actually likes her, but because her mindless chatter might be a distraction, then all but ditches the girl at the movies, then places her in a potentially dangerous situation, then simply forgets her the minute she's home. And then, doesn't understand how the girl won't forgive her??? Heck! It didn't happen to me, and I still can't forgive her, as if she even apologized in the first place!
What a good, upstanding person Bella is!
Along comes Jacob, this is the one character I truly liked and he really deserved better than to fall for Bella who is -yet again- using him to escape the void her life has become without Edward. Even though she seems to actually like him, what does this say of a girl who can't survive without a man by her side and decides to settle for a lesser love? The author tries to convey Bella's internal struggle, but really, there is none.
Bella realizes that when she gets into dangerous situations, she hallucinates and hears Edward telling her to stop, so she develops a "love" for extreme sports, like riding a motorcycle and crashing several times, and jumping of a cliff. Because of a misunderstanding, Edward believes she is dead and goes to Italy to provoke a powerful vampire family "The Volturi" (silly name) into killing him. How will he accomplish this? (I will quote this from another review because it is the best description) - "BY PUBLIC SPARKLING!!" Hilarious!

After a series of absurd events with the Volturi, we are, once again, very much aware of how truly selfish a callous Bella is, she witnesses a mass murder committed by vampires, and wonders if "it might be wrong to feel so happy". I would dare say it is a little bit wrong!
Back to Forks.
Charlie grounds her daughter and considers Edward a "persona non grata" she doesn't understand why her dad is being so pigheaded. Really? I wonder if I would have much love for the guy who dumped my daughter and left her in a mess.
There are two good emotional scenes and they are both of Jacob and Bella sayng goodbye. And all I thought was : "What a stupid stupid girl!"

So, not a good book overall, I have read soo much better, but at least I finished it quickly. That's one positive, I guess. It gets so boring at times that I manage to jump pages and it seems the story also moves faster.

Oh, yeah, by the way, Victoria is still trying to kill Bella, but it's such a ridiculous plotline it's hardly worth mentioning.

I was very excited to see that there was a sequel to Meyer's debut. Twilight did have its faults, but it was light and the romance was refreshingly well written.

And let's face it, I fell in love with Edward just like the rest of us. He's beautiful and frightening at the same time and those of you who have a problem with Bella's continued amazement of his physical appearance: aren't we all shallow enough that we'd like our significant other to look that way? What's wrong with a little fantasy?

With New Moon, the light tone and Bella's sarcastic narrative changed into something dark and hollow. Bella's situation takes a sudden and drastic plunge for the worse: An incident at the Cullen house leaves Edward so shaken he decides to follow through on his promise to "do what's best for her." In this case it means he and his family leave Forks and with that: Bella.

Bella goes to pieces, turning into a shadow of her former self. Edwards absence literally leaves a hole in her chest --and in the book. It's like he was never there; he removed all evidence of his excistence from her, in a vain ettempt to force her to get on with her human life. It's the sadness, more than anything else that drains the book.

This is a story about people so in love with eachtother, their separation nearly destroys them both. New Moon is the 500 paged gap in their chest.

Then Jacob enters the plot. Their friendship takes the front seat --obviously an attempt by Meyer to fill the void Edward's departure caused. Thanks to his company, Bella slowly but surely becomes "alive" again. But ofcourse, her newfound best friend turns out not to be so human after all...

If you've read Helly Armstrong's "Bitten" you'll pick up the clues about what's going on with Jacob soon enough --and you'll become impatient because Bella doesn't catch on as quick. Meyer tried to create a effect similar to Twilight: now Jacob becomes the mysterious boy who isn't quite what he seems beneath the surface.

It's predictable, but I would be able to live with it he held the same amount of attraction Edward did. Instead, I'm having deja vu's all the time: (the "it's not safe for me to be near you" spiel starts all over again.) Jacob had potential, but it would've worked better if Meyer would've made him a completely different character. She did-- in the beginning. After "the change" it's Edward all over again, minus the velvet voice, the angeletic face and the smoldering eyes. He just doesn't have that -well what should I call it- pull. To add to the "fun:" he hates vampires. What a surprise.

Just when some some supporting characters are fleshed out, Edward is back in the story. I missed him so much I didn't even care it felt forced. But it wasn't the same.

Bottomline, New Moon isn't a bad sequel, but it doesn't have that freshness Twilight had. Bella's bordering on insanity and so insecure about herself I'd like to smack her head and tell her to grow up. Still, unlike some readers, I don't think she lost all her appeal as a main character. There's hope left. Hope that Eclipse will close the void New Moon created but could not close.

It is official -- Stephanie Meyer is the oldest emo teenage girl on the face of this planet.

How else could she have written a book like "New Moon," the second sparkle-vampire romance in her bestselling Twilight series? Unfortunately this is no deep and intense romance -- it's basically a big oozing lump of teenage melodrama and horrendously purple prose. And the resolutely obnoxious heroine Bella Swan doesn't help with her endless moaning.

Bella's whether-you-like-it-or-not birthday party is wrecked when she cuts herself and prompts Jasper into a feeding frenzy, and the Cullens realize that she's just too tasty to be safe. So they leave town permanently. Cue emo music, for Bella's life is empty and worthless without Edward.

No, seriously -- it's empty. We have blank pages with month names on them, presumably to show that life is utterly empty and pointless when Eddie boy is absent -- "that I wasn't the heroine anymore, that my story was over."

But when she deliberately tries to put herself in danger, she hears Edward commanding her to stop. So she buys a motorcycle and starts immersing herself in extreme sports, hoping to hear him over and over again -- and she also gets to know local hunk Jacob Black, who has a supernatural secret of his own. But her near-suicidal antics have disastrous results for Edward, who believes her to be dead... and takes drastic action.

For the record, being seventeen-plus and/or breaking up with your True Luv are a fate worse than death. Teen Romance = True Luv. Catatonia and suicide are valid responses to being dumped. And life is an endless vile morass of nihilistic doom without a Sparkling Undead Coverboy to validate your existance and keep life from being ordinary.

At least, that is what "New Moon" would have you believe, since Stephanie Meyer smothers it in enough teenage melodrama and endless whiny angst to choke a blue whale. Thankfully her purple prose has been toned down -- presumably due to the absence of the "godlike" Edward -- but unfortunately page upon page of whining and suicidal despair is not a good substitute.

The entire story is pretty much devoted to the ever-passive Bella moping and whining as the sound of the world's smallest violin plays. Meyer attaches hilariously melodramatic significance to such scenes as Bella trying to get raped and murdered by a random bunch of guys, or having a recurring emo nightmare about being -- oh gasp of horror -- alone. You'd think being single was a death sentence.

Belatedly, Meyer realizes that post-breakup angst is not enough to carry even this thin plot. So she quickly spins up a bunch of Bad Evil Restrictive Vampires (with a not-so-subtle anti-Catholic bent), and Edward attempting suicide by the most hilarious method possible -- public sparkling. Such scenes almost mock themselves.

And Bella's endless woe-is-me-for-I-am-a-plain-mortal angst doesn't make her more vulnerable and likable -- it just eats up pages. And while Meyer tries desperately to show Bella's obsession as being True and Eternal Love, it never seems like more than a teenage girl's overwrought crush. And in a feeble attempt at a love triangle, Meyer makes Bella flirt callously with Jacob Black -- a sweet, nice, friendly guy who deserves way better.

"New Moon" is a prolonged, near-plotless slog of teenage melodrama, and it's nothing short of amazing that a grown woman could write such a book. Only for those who enjoy a fine whine.

500 pages of Bella being emo.

500 pages of her moping.

Blank pages to show what a dark empty abyss her life is without sparkles.

500 pages of angst.

500 pages of wanting nothing more then to pull out a gun then shoot this book several times.

The only reason I recommend getting this is for adding to a nice fire.

Somebody, put an end to this madness.

I read Twilight and this book in a matter of three days because I found myself being drawn into the world of Bella, feeling the emotions she goes through and the desires she has for her lover Edward and her best friend Jacob. Although i love this book i can't help feeling that Stephenie Meyer allowed the reader to be caught up in the emotions and love that Jacob feels towards Bella and probably ruined the bonds that the reader developes for Edward. His absense during the book left an empty space in Bellas life and it also leaves an empty space in the book. Probably too much of an empty space. The passion becomes lost and although Bella comes round to thinking that maybe she should accept Jacobs feelings towards her and forget about Edward, it just doesn't pack the same punch as Twilight. Then all of a sudden Edward is thrust straight back into the lime light!! I can't help but feel sad for poor Jacob, he loves Bella and she dumps him when Edward returns. I found myself crying along with Bella. When she describes the feeling of her chest being ripped apart with the loss of Edward, as a woman i could relate to her feeling of utter loss. Stephenie Meyer really knows how to pack the emotional punches into a story aswell as the action sequences. I love this book as a whole and can't wait for the next one to be delivered. I'm ordering it straight away from Amazon!!

This is the sequel to Twilight, where Edward takes off due to the most spurious of reasons and leaves Bella in a catatonic state. The only ray of sunshine in her life is Jacob Black, who she grows closer and closer to - until the day she finds out her new best friend is a werewolf. Despite this, she still has feelings of affection for him and is contemplating a life with him in the absence of her soulmate. But then she finds out Edward is in grave danger and goes on a mission to Italy to bring him back into her life...

I didn't like this book much. I felt that there was a real 'plot device' moment going on when Edward leaves - he has been through bigger problems concerning his relationship with Bella, yet decides to take off at this point. Before he leaves, he managed to bring up the Volturi in a 'signpost' moment - they weren't mentioned by name even when Bella was beginning to learn about the vampire culture, so once again Meyer introduces something because she needs it rather than as a natural flow to the story.

Some of the language is problematic, with such gems as "Bright light shined from every window on the first two floors." I do accept that this might have been more of an editting problem than Meyer's choice.

I sincerely disliked the whole sequence where Bella discovers she is hallucinating Edward's voice in moments of recklessness - and the culmination of that particular thread to the story (in an epiphany experienced by Bella) is true melodrama. Not fun to read at all.

The best part of the book by far is between when Bella first starts going round to visit Jacob and when she discovers he is a werewolf. This part of the book is natural and fun. On the downside, it doesn't last for long.

Jacob is a lovely character, and is characterised well. I don't think Meyer treats him particularly fairly, especially when Bella drops him immediately on Edward's return. I know the love triangle becomes a large part of the third book, but I wish that both men had a fair chance at Bella's heart.

(For people who enjoyed this book, and the love triangle angle about to start, I would recommend L J Smith's Strange Powers trilogy).

Altogether, a book where the quality dips from Twilight. At times I was openly mocking the story as I read it, and I simply could not suspend my disbelief. A poor effort.

After another near death experience Bella Swan is all alone but when Jacob Black starts to act strangely does Bella's world start to change once more.

The sequel to the spellbinding romance Twilight brings Bella and Edward back to their love and soon we readers are thrust right into the dynamics and complications of the fantasy world as author Stephanie Meyer grinds out another tantalizing read.

Bella's 18th Birthday party causes upset in the Cullen household which forces Edward to end the relationship and then Bella is all alone in a depressed state.

This inclusion is exceptionally powerful as for anyone who has read Twilight will know the love the pair shared was exceptionally powerful and more than simple lust and once the fabrications start to unwind does the drama and loneliness start to take its toll on the central character.

As with its predecessor, New Moon is written from Bella's point of view and Meyer is able to appreciate the dramatic implications of being lonely and depressed when a loved one leaves. Bella's actions and general mood swings causes problems with her father and school friends whilst dreams and nightmares continue to plague her. Meyer has certainly made a dramatic statement about teenage moral and persona with this sequel. She is accurately depicting the moods of the teenage spirit whilst not being too miserable to depress the reader.

Like Twilight Bella is a tough character to really like. Her constant questioning and debating can be infuriating when it feels like she has the same questions a few chapters on. Her dependence on other people is a somewhat annoying characteristic to have as she dives into an over the top emotional stereotype.

However with this dependence we are treated to Jacob Black. The character from La Push brings an interesting romantic instalment to the book as he gives Bella an insight into the future as the pair ride motorcycles, go cliff diving and have a funny incident in the cinema with Mike. Jacob brings balance to the mood swings and adds the intrigue when he starts to go cold and we learn of his destiny as another mythical creature.

This is arguably when the books edge up a notch. With the constant mention of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Heat magazine it has been hard to ignore the promotion for the upcoming adaptation of this book. Since Edward is hardly in this book it gives Jacob an intriguing romantic side and despite many people who I've asked, I believe he is likeable in this picture and brings a more cheery aspect to proceedings.

Werewolves and vampires are great but perhaps the most interesting mythical aspect here is Italy when Alice and Bella cross the Volturi which leaves the gap open for Eclipse and Breaking dawn and I was so entranced with this book that I moved straight onto Eclipse and have only 100 pages left after three days of reading. New Moon edges out Twilight with the dramatic consequences and tension, and what a novel.

8.5/10

Stephenie Meyer writes a good book, but I personally prefered the rest of the saga. If, like me you don't like this book I urge you to read on, it gets better! But you can't miss it out, it may be slow but it is key to the plot!

The second book in the series is just breathtaking. Great carry on from the first and starts with such a bang you are hooked from the start.
Brilliant book!