Book Review: "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer

By Amanda Linsmeier
In this sequel to Twilight, Stephenie Meyer has written another great novel laced with danger and mystery. Bella Swan is just your typical teenage girl with an atypical vampire boyfriend. As she grows closer to Edward and the Cullen family it becomes clear that their very presence in her life has put her in danger, either from the family or from other vampires. To protect Bella, Edward grows emotionally distant and finally forces her to believe that he doesn’t love her and leaves the town of Forks with his family. Bella becomes severely depressed and that depression escalates until she is a shadow of her former self. It is her friendship with Native American Jacob which brings her partly back to life, although she can never forget her love for Edward. Jacob and Bella’s friendship takes some adventurous turns, cliff diving, riding motorcycles and in this way Bella can bring Edward close to her, for she hears his voice of warning in her head whenever she does something reckless. As Bella and Jacob’s friendship changes, Bella learns the truth behind Jacob’s sudden growth spurt, new friends and distant attitude. While Bella once thought she new everything about the magical world now she knows that vampires were only the beginning.

I enjoyed this novel but let me be honest, it was not as good as the first. It wasn’t the writing that suffered, it was the story. I missed Edward! Sure, I was a little upset with him at first but he’s gone for the majority of the story. I wanted him there and his family as well. I was suspicious of Jacob and while he was a great friend to Bella, to me he was a poor substitute for Edward. New Moon is a very good story and a stepping stone toward the culmination of one of the best series I’ve ever read. I would definitely read New Moon again; I just would get through it a little faster so I could get to the good stuff.

Click here to read Amanda's review of Twilight

Click here to read Amanda's review of Eclipse

Click here to read Amanda's review of Breaking Dawn