New Moon is the second installment in the Twilight saga which follows the relationship between Bella Swan, a normal typical teenager who just happens to be in love with a not so normal guy, Edward Cullen. What makes Edward abnormal – well, he’s a vampire, of course! Stephenie Meyer takes her epic love story in a direction that many fans were not expecting within this tome.
Edward has learned to curb his desire to kill Bella and replaced this need with the desire to protect her at all costs. Bella is enjoying the beauty of being in love and experiencing her senior year of high school in Forks, Washington. Many of Bella’s friends and family members worry about the amount of time she spends with Edward. (I’m sure they’d worry a lot more about this fact if they knew Edward’s true nature.) However, Bella does not heed their advice and spends every possible moment with Edward.
Edward’s family has grown to accept Bella after the amount of time the two lovebirds have spent with one another. They are looking forward to Bella being around with them for some time until the fateful day of her 18th birthday party. Alice Cullen, Edward’s pixie like sister, has decided to throw Bella a birthday party in spite of the fact that Bella hates parties of any sort. Each member of the Cullen coven has shown up with a gift for the birthday girl. Bella is touched by their thoughtfulness, but she still can’t help struggling with the fact that every day makes her a just a bit older and Edward is locked in his perfect 17 year old state. During the party events unfold that make Edward seriously re-evaluate his choice to be with Bella. He determines that her life and safety are more important than his feelings. He finds himself in the midst of an impossible choice – Does he stay with the love of his life and hope that he can protect her? Or does he leave her and hope that she can move on with her life and forget that he ever existed?
As Edward struggles to do what he feels is best for Bella, she also must make some difficult decisions. Should she allow Edward to leave? Should she forget him and move on? Is there anyone else that can make her heart soar as he does? Bella’s good friend, Jacob Black, hopes to help her find the answers she so desperately seeks. But will Bella allow him to do so? Bella will soon learn that nothing is at it appears and even friends can have deep dark secrets that they choose to keep hidden from the light of day.
I feel that Stephenie does an amazing job of capturing the raw emotions of her characters within this novel. For me her writing simply is about the characters. The plot is interesting, but I am not sure I would like this series so much if I didn’t truly love the Cullens and Bella. I am compelled to read their stories because I want to know what happens to them based on their decisions and experiences. Even though I realize that these fictional characters do not actually exist I view them as living, breathing entities as I read. I feel that this is an example of the giftedness of Stephenie Meyer. She writes about people that are so human they could be real in spite of their mythical qualities. New Moon was not my favorite of the Twilight series, but I do appreciate the effort that Stephenie put into crafting this novel. I was tormented right along with Bella and shared many of her tears as she struggled to make sense of her life and of Edward.
Rating: 9/10
Favorite Characters: Edward Cullen, Emmett Cullen, Bella Swan
To learn more about New Moon, please visit:
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/newmoon.html
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