Stephenie Meyer | Book Chatter

New Moon
By Stephenie Meyer
Little Brown, Books for Young Readers
May 2008
608pp

The Short of It:

The second book in the insanely popular Twilight series; this one fell totally flat for me.

The Rest of It:

Okay, this is where you all judge me. I have to admit it, last Christmas I was swept up with Twilight. I read it over Christmas break and it was the perfect read for my overstressed brain. I also wanted to read it before my son did so that I could determine for myself if it was appropriate or not. In the end, I decided he could skip it. The ‘stalking’ thing bothered me a bit. I know that aspect bothered other readers as well. Sigh.

So what possessed me to pick up the next book? Well, pure entertainment and the fact that my friend and I plan to see the movie on Black Friday after a full day of shopping. I don’t know about you but I must read the book before I see a movie based on said book. So I read it and…

What a waste of time! It was just so ridiculous and I tired of Bella’s clumsiness and her need to be rescued all the time. However, I am not bashing anyone for liking it. I see its draw. It’s just that at my age, I don’t have patience for stupid girls who do foolish things. Many times I raised my eyes to the heavens and exclaimed…”WTF?”

Needless to say, I won’t be picking up the next book. I had a momentary lapse in judgment. Will you forgive me?

Source: Purchased

I don’t think there is a living, breathing person on the planet that does not know what Twilight is about so I am going to spare you the synopsis and just gush over what I loved about it.

1. Stephanie Meyer did an excellent job of taking me back to the days of girlhood. All those awkward moments. The clumsiness. The teen crushes that you swore would make your heart break into two. It all came rushing back to me while reading about Bella and Edward’s romance.

2. I loved the dangerous quality of it all. Edward has that naughtiness that you know you need to stay away from, but can’t. Bella has that “forbidden fruit” thing going on. It’s an impossible relationship that you want to see work.

3. I loved the setting. The rainy, gloomy town of Forks. An ideal place for a family of vampires to live. They are isolated but sort of not, with Seattle just a stone’s throw away.

4. Edward has got to be the most charming vampire ever known. I mean, who would even care if they were bitten by someone like that? Not me.

5. I also loved the innocence of Bella. Fragile, beautiful and somewhat naive. I usually do not like femme fatales but for some reason, I didn’t mind her being saved all the time. She truly seemed to need it.

6. I enjoyed the family dynamic. Both Bella’s family and Edward’s. Two very different families for sure, but ones that I cared about.

I held out for a long time before picking the book up. I have this thing about reading blockbuster books when everyone else is reading them. I like to take my time… ease into it a bit. I’m also glad I haven’t seen the movie yet. I really wanted to read the book first so I could picture the characters in my mind without the movie influencing me.

As for it being geared towards young adults, I found the storyline to be appealing and I am forty-years-old! My son is ten, and although Bella and Edward’s relationship is mostly innuendos, I do feel that it might be a bit much for a ten-year-old, unless that ten-year-old is more on the mature side.

Overall, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I cannot wait to read New Moon.

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