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New Moon (Twilight Saga)

Author: Stephenie Meyer
Publisher: ATOM
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

29 reviews
Sales Rank: 16

Media: Paperback
Pages: 608
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.6

ISBN: 1904233880
EAN: 9781904233886
ASIN: 1904233880

Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: IN STOCK - BRAND NEW - SENT FIRST CLASS - IMMEDIATE DISPATCH

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Showing reviews 6-10 of 29

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Growing old...fast... June 10, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful

****SPOILER ALERT****

I enjoyed reading the precursor to this, 'Twilight' - though I thought it was good, I didn't think it was great, simply because of the writing, as it were.

I have a few problems the way the story is now turning out or has panned out in 'New Moon.'

My main annoyance is Bella herself. I didn't really particularly like her, and couldn't understand when so many people thought she was totally relatable. *shrug* To me she's selfish, naive, stupid, moany and lost in another world that is totally unrealistic. I totally predicted that Meyer would create 'we have to be apart' scenario. The refreshing moments came across in Bella's easy and unforced relationship and deep friendship with Jacob, probably the saving grace of this novel. IMO, there was something so true about this relationship to me, I could totally relate to this on every level and thought it by far the more heartwarming, heartbreaking and therefore real thing in Bella's life. Nothing about it seemed particularly forced, esp the ease of dialogue. With Edward on the other hand, we are subjected to paragraphs of ridiculous sickly words akin to something out of Austen rather than today. Maybe that's the point but Edward behaves like a 14 yr old teenager and Bella isn't that much mature.

Unfortunately, even the Jacob thing had to get screwed and even though it brings in a very interesting vampire-werewolf dynamic, it just became a repeat of Twilight where Bella needs to figure out what's going on, and Jacob is the guy 'who is not right for her' yada yada but this time instead of being cold like marble the time, he's always hot, an obviously set up contrast. Only when she does figure out, again IMO, it's more heartbreaking, because their friendship is so strong, it really means something. While I didn't get what was the big deal with Edward and Bella's love, apart fromt the fact that he's like some godlike Apollo and is, oh yeh, a vampire. To me, there's something fundamentally missing - a gaping hole, (god how many times did we hear that metaphor????) - about the depth of their love, i.e why? apart from Bella thinking he's gorgeous in everyway, what is Edward all about in terms of loving him and what does he see in her? Ok, he blabs about it at the end or something but I found myself skimming over that stuff because frankly it's boring and old now. And doesn't stick. All the girl ever does is get herself into ER.

And then Bella's so called decision at the end - so flippantly regarded by all apart from Edward. Hello? What about your parents? What about what humanity actually means to you? The whole idea of being human is tossed aside by Bella without any thought, like it doesn't matter, I mean it's only who you are. And for all some romantic notion. This is where it goes a little OTT - I love romance, but I can't stand ridiculous romanticism of together forever no matter what, when it disregards the very character you are. I can't understand that kind of selfishness, not only because that kind of love isn't real anymore, let's get a little more practical shall we? (the guy doesn't have any blood in any veins, any future potential problems with that?) Actually I don't know why I'm ranting because I just realised I'm probably the wrong target audience for this completely - its fairytale craziness really and thats the whole point. But I missed it somewhere.

Especially since by the end of the book I had ascertained that Bella is indeed very selfish.

No offence to Meyer but she did say that Edward and Bella came to her in a dream in the meadow scene in 'Twilight' and well then she produced a story around that first interaction. Sorry to say, its obvious the characters (not necessarily the characterisation) are not fully 3D here and development is non existent. A real shame.

3 out of 5 stars

Better than TWILIGHT but not particularly great June 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This was a slightly more interesting read that TWILIGHT because:

1. Edward is away for most of the book;

2. there's more action; and

3. the pacing is better.

The scenes between Jacob and Bella had a nice, natural feel to them and whilst there is some repetition in their conversations, it's not as obvious as in TWILIGHT. Meyers' werewolf mythology isn't particularly original, but the transformation scenes are nicely handled, as are the reactions of those forced to undergo it. Jacob is more likeable than Edward - taking Bella's wishes into account, and emotionally perceptive but I disliked what he becomes at the end, albeit there is context for it. Meyers makes the contrast between Jacob and Edward obvious as Jacob's skin is unnaturally warm and the repetition becomes boring.

Self-obsessed, shallow and in many ways wilfully dense, Bella's self-indulgence irritated me. Meyers continually refers to the "hole" created by Edward's departure and Bella wallows in it and is allowed to wallow in it by all around her. Some will find that romantic and believable, but I didn't. Her attitude towards vampirism disturbs me. She never considers the consequences for her parents and other people who love her and her motivation appears to be her fear that she will age when Edward does not. By reducing a potentially interesting theme to such a shallow perspective, Meyers robs it of resonance.

Everything that Edward does in the book is for him, not Bella and Bella's failure to challenge him reduces her character further. In one scene the lovers are reunited whilst the Volturi feast on a load of tourists. That Bella asks if it's bad for her to feel so happy when she's just heard the victims' terrified screams tells you everything about the couple. Alice is a nice counterfoil to Edward (and I enjoyed the greater role she played in the book), but it's not enough to mitigate his character.

The book constantly alludes to Romeo and Juliet. Obvious and heavy handed, it becomes tortuous in a scene where Bella compares Jacob to Paris, because that play is not about a love triangle in the way that this series seems to be. However, the end of the book sets a conundrum for the lovers regarding whether and when Bella will be transformed and the triangle element represented by Jacob posing an interesting wrinkle.

4 out of 5 stars

Good, but not as good as the last... May 12, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I am currently about half way through New Moon, and have noticed that yes, it is obviously the middle book trying to meet with the high praise that Twilight avidly recieved previously. With the absence of Edward and the Cullens, readers as well as Bella now have to lay their affections with the new character Jacob, the mysterious boy who breifly made an appearance in the last book.
I found myself throughout much of the novel just waiting for Edwards return as I somehow knew that this would be able to pick up the pace of it, as so far nothing really significant, exciting or life threatening had happened yet. Bellas character this time around is somewhat detached and so obviously depressed, there were many moments when I got really annoyed at her constant whining and the repeated mentions of the "hole in her chest" from the loss of Edward but I managed to carry on reading with the knowledge that he would hopefully soon turn up!
We find Jacob however the temporary replacement for Edward and despite not rekindling the same passionate relationship that she had with Edward, she manages to make herself content with him and be happy, and this makes a definite change from the first part of the book. After all, Jake isnt a bad character, I just dont think we form as stonger bond with him as we did with Edward and the Cullens in Twilight, as then, she spent practically every waking minute with him and formed a much more sensitive connection with him than she is able to do with Jacob. However, its good that she starts to care about him a bit more and try harder to get over Edward. I also found it quite unfair that having just gotten over her long depression over the loss of Edward, that he has to come back and cause her to start thinking about him again, and then having to end it with Jacob, yeah...soo I felt slightly sorry for her there as he caused her so much pain...:(
so yeah..btw, sorry if this is a bit long and wordy, i get a bit over excited sometimes haha!

4 out of 5 stars

Excellent, but noticably the book in the middle April 25, 2008
Bella's birthday party at the home of vampyre-family Cullen makes a disastrous turn when Bella cuts herself on wrapping paper and her beautiful vampyre-boyfriend Edward decides that he and the rest of the Cullens have to skip town.

Of course Bella goes zombie. No, not the supernatural kind, but the depressed, I-lost-the-love-of-my-life kind. She finds solace in the company of Jacob, her Native American friend in La Push. Most of the novel is focussed on Bella and Jacob, who I might add undergoes a hairy transformation. However, don't worry, Edward and the vampyres aren't history. Edward returns during the last part of the book, or actually Bella goes to rescue him.

"New Moon" does quite have the extra umph that "Twilight" did, but having read "Twilight" makes it impossible not to read "New Moon". And I do understand the author's need to let something happen between Bella and Edward. From a writing point of view, the teenage lovebirds living happily ever after isn't a good story. I do, however, find that "New Moon" has one lapse. There is a major jump in the story. No, I am not going to say what it is, but it feels like the story jumps tracks noticable, leaving some plotlines unresolved, which I found unsatisfying after having read approx. 200 pages about them. Hopefully, this will be rectified in "Eclipse".

In short, excellent! But it is noticable that this is the book in the middle.

Louise

5 out of 5 stars

Not as good- but still great April 9, 2008
This book is the second in the Twilight series and is definately not as good as the first book, but it is still gripping and enjoyable. Edward is not in most of the book and Bella on her own can get a little whiny and annoying at times. Its is wonderfully written however, and you can truly feel Bella's pain when Edward leaves her. At times it got a little boring but waiting for Edwards return kept me turning pages and I finished it in less than a day!
Let me just say that I am 28 and I love this series, my husband is also really enjoying it, so dont be put off by finding it in the teenage section!