
During the last one hundred pages, I had a hard time putting this one down. I enjoyed this better than the first, which surprised me, and I definitely want to continue on with the series.
I felt that Meyer put more plot into this book, although I know some will disagree with me. The first 300 pages of Twilight were, "I love you Edward!" "You shouldn't, I'm dangerous." In this book, however, I thought Meyer actually created a bit of a mystery by allowing the reader to try and figure out what was up with Jacob. That kept me reading. I thought that even though up until the last part of the book, it wasn't chalk full of plot, I think it became more obvious that Meyer is using the first two books to develop information and characters that will be crucial later on the series. I found Bella a lot more bearable by the end of the book. In the first 50 pages, I was worried that this was going to be exactly like Twilight, and it is true that for a while, Bella was pretty mopey and emo.
***THE FOLLOWING PORTION OF THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!***
I have to say that I knew that Bella and Edward would get back together in the end, because spoilers are very hard to avoid with this series. However, even if I hadn't known, I still would have believed that they would. There are two more books in the series, how could they not end up together?!?!?!? However, I really liked how she took some agency in the end and didn't let Edward have total control. I even liked Edward more by the end, because his emotions felt far more realistic to me. He seemed more vulnerable, and I believe to a certain extent, that comes with the territory of being in love. He did still seem controlling, which I found irritating. Their relationship still seems unhealthy, and I still think Bella is a poor role model for super young, impressionable kids, so although I thought some of the dynamics worked better in this book, I'm saving a full on commentary for once I finish the entire series.
***END SPOILERS***
I do have to say that the whole Jacob thing made me sad. Also, I was glad that Meyer presented Jacob as a romantic prospect, because I think if that had never crossed her mind considering how much time they spent together, it would have been seriously unrealistic. However, I became frustrated with him by the end of the book.
New Moon is an excellent novel for character development. It contains an appropriate mix of background information and action. I was eager to get my hands on Eclipse after finishing this one!
100% agree that Bella is definitely not a role model for kids and teens. Not one bit. I also agree that I kind of liked how Stephenie Meyer added a lot of Jacob into the mix. It was just a lot more exciting in my opinion. Great review, Liz!
ReplyDeleteThis one is probably my favorite!
ReplyDeleteat this point i was so team jacob and i know the ending was so sad!
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