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 - Fantastic BookThis is a great book, not my favorite of the series but it is still definately worth reading Rating: - A Great Sequel to a Spectacular SeriesNew Moon was a book that made me feel sorry for Bella, made me laugh under the covers in bed, and could make me smile for Jacob. Bella, in a tragic turn of events, is left empty-handed without the love of her life, Edward Cullen. She feels emotionally drained and becomes a zombie for a few months. When she snaps back to reality, she understands the impact it's created on her fellow students and family (namely, Charlie Swan, her father). Bella's emptiness soon has a big filling: Jacob. I especially like Jacob because of how nice and caring he is when Bella feels unkempt and in a "blah" mood, which is rare when Jacob is around. I think it explains the heartbreaking emotions of having one you adore leave you, and I don't want to sound hokey, but it's something that is vital to understand and get over. I loved New Moon. Rating: - Vampires AND Werewolves!Okay, I'll admit I'm hooked on this series. No, I'm not a kid, I'm a 46 year old woman who usually prefers, shall we say, a more sophisticated type of book. I had to read this for our book club and I'm glad they twisted my arm! This is the second book in the series and Meyer has gone from the unbelievable vampire to the unbelievable werewolf and made it all believable to me. I connect with the characters and can't wait to read the third book! Rating:  - New Moon, new characters, new storylineI loved Twilight but found New Moon to be a bit frustrating. In Twilight, the reader meets Bella and Edward and witnesses the building of their relationship and the strength of their 'teen' love. It is this relationship that the reader expects to read about when they pick up New Moon. Unfortunately, Edward is only present for about 1/3-1/4 of the book. The rest of the time, we are left we a heart-broken, whinny, depressed Bella who is trying to deal with Edward's departure. A departure, in typical Edward fashion, he concluded was necessary for her safety. New Moon is essential to the Twilight saga. It is critical to understanding two things: the werewolf story and the bond that is created between Bella and Jacob. It is in this novel that the reader sees the bond that develops initially out of friendship and Jacob filling the 'void' Bella feels when Edward is not near. Jacob is coarse, rude at times, overbearing and pushy. A complete opposite of Edward which, in this reader's opinion, is the reason the relationship (Bella/Jacob) builds and carries thru the rest of the saga. Jacob is there for Bella, as friend and necessary protector (she's a magnet for trouble), when Edward is not. It is in this novel where fans decide if they are a member of 'Team Edward' or 'Team Jacob.' I have to admit, this novel took me twice as long to read compared to Twilight. I found the vampire element of the story easy to read and interesting...the werewolves, not so much in this installment (werewolves are better in Breaking Dawn). However, after reading the entire saga, the reader will understand why New Moon is an important element to understanding the dynamics of the vampire-werewolf story and the Edward-Bella-Jacob relationship. Rating:  - Some good, some notI thoroughly enjoyed Twilight. New Moon was not as enjoyable, although I am still a sucker for what has been touted as a "star crossed romance". Clearly Meyers is writing about Romeo and Juliet here as vamp and human respectively, and those clever types out there looking for more logic and realism are going to be heavily disappointed. This is a series about love - irrational, passionate, and totally imbued with an adolescent desperation that is immune to anything but having that love of your life at your side. IMHO, anyway. This book leaves us where Twilight left off, except Edward is having some serious second thoughts about his relationship with Bella. He ends up dumping her, and she spends a good portion of the book agonizing about the "hole" in her chest. She also meets up with a character I like far more than Edward, namely Jacob Black, who has a secret of his own - much like Edward did in Twilight (that he was a vampire, but of course). Bella spends almost 400 pages strengthening her relationship with Jacob, and frankly I found it frustrating that Jacob (aka Paris in R & J) is not given his due. At the end of the book I was frankly hoping that Bella might ditch Edward and give ol'Jacob a trial run! But that's not what these stories are about, my friends. At any rate, Meyers gives us more bad guys (recycled from Twilight, I might add), and Bella's endless dasmel in distress. I got tired of reading about her being carried around all the time - she's like a Victorian heroine ever about to faint. Get the girl some smelling salts of her own already! So Bella hasn't grown much here - her tendency to sulk (very adolescent, I might add, and therefore somewhat realistic to my mind) are here, and her love for Edward is unchanged. We don't see Edward much in this book, although the ending brings them together yet again along with a trip to Italy that seemed a tad forced. However, I enjoy these books b/c Bella is still an intelligent narrator, and the action and romance, to me, are fun and handled well, all things considered. If you can sidestep some of the more annoying aspects of this series, namely Bella's inability to see beyond the end of her nose (that being Edward), there is much to enjoy here. This is pure escape - and if you take it as such, you will have a highly entertaining read.
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