Chapters 1 – 4

For most people (the sane ones) New Moon is the least favorite book in the Twilight saga.  With good reason.  Besides the fact that part two of any saga/trilogy isn’t usually as good as the first, half of the point of the book (Bella and Edward) is missing for, wait, let me count, 378 pages.  Out of 563!  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I was given Twilight as a shower gift three nights before my wedding from a very reliable source for good books.  Lucky for me, my thoughts after reading the back were, “Vampires, huh?  I’ll wait, thanks.” 

I finally got around to reading Twilight on my way back from a weekend trip, two months later.  I finished it soon after we got back and immediately went out to buy New Moon and put my name on the waiting list at the library for Eclipse (I was #312).  After New Moon was finished I tried to hold out for Eclipse (I was #310).  I lasted about a week until I bought Eclipse at work with a once lost gift card.  Then I had five months to wait for Breaking Dawn.  (I received notification from the library in June that Eclipse was available for me to check out.  I would have never lasted that long.)

Between then and now, I’ve read Twilight and Eclipse several times and I’ll admit I’ve re-read parts of New Moon, but not the whole book.  Why would I?  Edward left, then he came back.  Cool, next book please.  However, as I drew the short end of the stick for dust, here I am, with my thoughts on my second read of New Moon, in anticipation of Breaking Dawn. 

Before I dive into the book, I want to make note of something I read on Stephenie Meyer’s website the other day.  She had asked that those reading New Moon do so twice.  She found that the first time through, the reader will skip ahead to find Edward again, missing the main section of the novel.  Having a second reading will allow you to slow down and enjoy “the wounderousness” of Jacob Black.  So I’m taking things slow.

With all that said, now let us dive into the second reading of New Moon. 

My first thought as I’m starting the book is how much younger Bella seems now as compared to Twilight.  She is very hung up on not celebrating her birthday as it makes her <gasp> a whole year older than Edward!!  Wait.  Ok so Edward’s body and some parts of his mind are only technically 17.  But wasn’t he 17- ah – 90 years ago?  Really Bella, doesn’t that count for something?  You have an example of loving younger men with your mom.  Granted, that may be where the hang up is, however we’re told that Phil is much younger than Renee, and it suites them.  Plus, speaking from experience here, being with a younger guy is fun, and I even thought so when I was 17. 

Moving forward, Edward demonstrates his <cough> wisdom and maturity <cough, cough, gag> by deciding to leave Bella “for her own good” instead of talking things over.  I could write a novel about the level of communication that is needed to make a relationship work, but I won’t.  I could write another novel about how unobservant and thick guys tend to be, especially when it comes to how much their significant others love them, but, again, I won’t.  What’s done is done.  Edward is gone and Bella becomes a zombie. 

Which I’m not surprised by.  As discussed in book three, she has no balance with Edward and the rest of her life.  He is her life, therefore, her life is gone with him.  Sadly, I’m sure that I would go through something similar (though on a shorter and lesser scale) if my husband were to die.  Note, die; not leave.  In reality, any self-respecting woman would be pissed off if the love of her life just up and left her.  However, this is not reality, and as stated above, Bella is more immature this time around and most defiantly not self-respecting.  So we readers are introduced to: 

Da Da Da Dun! 

ALL-CAPS-BELLA!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, you may remember our beloved ALL-CAPS-HARRY from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  He amazed us with his anger and angst at anything that moved (and a few things that didn’t) as he went though arguably the hardest part of his life and longest book of the series.  Now ALL-CAPS-BELLA has come to dazzle us (yes, that’s right) with her distractions and recklessness.  (Both ALL-CAPS characters come with hearing voices at no additional cost to the reader.)

So, ALL-CAPS-BELLA is trying to find a way to ignore the gaping hole in her chest.  Enter: Jacob Black aka Exact Opposite of Edward.

And that my friends, is where I shall leave you today.  Next time we’ll take a look at Bella’s relationship with Jacob and how she is able to click with a “normal human” for once.  Oh Bella, when will you learn?