New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
After finishing Twilight I of course had to immediately start the next book. My strategy for waiting until a series is done before reading it has again stood me in good stead. I have been able to finish the series in a two weeks without having to wait anxiously for the next episode (Which I had to do with both The Harry Potter series and the Percy Jackson Series) I am glad I did it that way.



I am also glad I read the series. And not just the get in touch with the 13 year old girl side of myself. After teaching Junior High for 10 years I can honestly say I get why these appealed to that demographic. I watched the young ladies in may class devour these books like vampires on O Positive.



Well, my take on these comes from the perspective of having finished the series which gives me a chance to both criticize and compliment. While I was reading these books I was disgusted with two things. First, to some extent this book was just Twilight all over again, I mean after Edward made himself scarce this was all about the wounded Bella finding herself again with her new love Jacob. He was her new monster. It really felt like that, and the part of this that bugged me was her disloyalty to the memory of Edward. One part of Edward's departure that I found clever was the chapters that were blank (at least in the Kindle version) Bella's constant sorrow over Edward prevented her from devoting herself to Jacob. Her need for Jacob drove her to be with him constantly. It made for painful reading. Partly, I guess for me, was that I really value devotion and loyalty. On the other hand Bella's internal conflict was a central part of the story and the next book as well. The second criticism was the extreme fragility of Bella, I can see from the perspective of having finished the series how important that fragility is, but from my perspective as a male, I didn't find it appealing and it was very hard to relate to Edwards devotion to such a weak submissive girl. Again, maybe that's my bias and my perspective.



The compliments, which anyone who reads my blog might really relate to are about the foreshadowing and literary devices. First foreshadowing. without giving too much away, the relationship and devotion between Bella and Jacob was painful to read, but placed their relationship in a context that made the progression of this relationship in later books much more believable (and first more then less painful) The second was the literary device she used. Juxtaposition of the way that Bella was forced to compare fire and ice. Edward she loved for all the he embodied: Control, safety, protection, security represented by cold. Jacob with his fiery body represented: thrill, excitement, passion and uninhibited behavior.



Great book, although I had challenges with it, which is why I give it 3 our of 5 stars rather than more.




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