New Moon
by Stephenie Meyer
I didn’t love this as much as I loved Twilight. I read it in one sitting, but didn’t give the boyfriend the scram stare when he interupted me the way I had while reading Twilight. I think the author’s not quite sure what to do with Edward at this point, which she deals with by having him gone for most of the book. So much of his appeal was based on him being mysterious and dangerous—having him be a normal boyfriend would have lost a lot of the excitement. And more difficult for fans of Edward, even after he and Bella are reunited, he still seems like kind of a jerk.
These books are extremely melodramatic, but I don’t find it all that off-putting. There’s a long literary tradition of melodramatic teenage love—Romeo and Juliet weren’t any more sensible. That said, I did find Bella’s life-risking activities to be far-fetched. Being withdrawn and depressed for months, yes. Risking her life so that she can imagine his voice seems ridiculous.
The character who really gets the shaft here is Jakob. By mid-book, he seems much nicer and more fun than Edward. Jakob and Bella have fun and joke around, when all Edward seemed to do was talk about how much he loved her and how dangerous he is.
All in all, a fun read, but not as un-put-downable as Twilight. Still can’t wait to read the next book in the series though.