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A review by e_reader124
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
(2.5 Stars)
I was curious enough in the Twilight Saga to want to continue the series despite being severely underwhelmed and practically bored to death by the previous book. I just needed to see it for myself. And believe me she. I say that I have thoughts. First off, this book was so freaking boring. I never thought it would be possible, but this book managed to be even more boring than “Twilight”. There is, in “Twilight” fashion, so much fluff that sucked the life out of me. It also crams so much into the book, and just jumps from plot event to plot event. They aren’t even substantial plot events, leading to so much happening, yet at the same time, nothing happening. I was honestly shocked that we were only halfway into the book by the time riding the motorcycles finally came into fruition. By that point I just wanted the book to end. This book also didn’t win me over to team Bella and Edward. In fact, it only made me more creeped out and hateful of them. Their relationship just feels more of a toxic trap than something wholesome, even when they were at their best. The toxicity just felt amplified by 1000 here, making me feel unsettled. I honestly didn’t realize exactly how much I didn’t like Edward until he wasn’t in 75% of the book (pure bliss and an unintentional positive, I tell you). We get more Jacob instead, and I loved him and the growth in his and Bella’s relationship. He’s the true best companion for Bella and I loved how they became closer friends (before it was all unwound at the end). I found their friendship much more compelling than Edward and Bella’s relationship. The same goes for Esme and Alice. While it wasn’t as much of a standout since their roles were much smaller, their interactions with Bella show a much closer and more comforting relationship, and I got the warm fuzzies seeing their interactions, and I loved that. However, while Jacob saved some of the plot, it doesn’t help enough to make me like it any more than the first book’s plot, since, as said before, this book’s plot is so much more boring and unsettling. Moving on, I had mixed feelings on the characters. There were some that I had very strong feelings for, positive and negative (Bella and Edward) and others that I didn’t really have thoughts about because there wasn’t much to them (Emmett and Jasper). I also still believe Alice, Carlisle, and Charlie to be the most interesting characters of the bunch because of how they have fleshed out personalities, development and backstories. It’s honestly kind of hilarious how even though character development in other characters improved somewhat, these three are still the ones getting all the development (with Jacob in a close second place), and other characters are still either not developed enough to care about or have only one trait worth remembering. I also liked how we FINALLY got some proper world-building, learning more about the Volturi and other vampires around the world, as well as finally seeing more of the werewolves (though their later introduction makes more sense). I would’ve appreciated this sooner, but you know what, better late than never. I also appreciated the plot development in how Bella’s abilities to block Edward’s mind reading are fully expanded into that she can block any vampire’s powers. That’s a super cool concept and plot device that hints at so much more, and I’m looking forward to learning more about this interesting development. Overall, this still wasn’t a great book as it seems to have regressed in some areas (particularly plot), there were areas where it improves immensely.
I was curious enough in the Twilight Saga to want to continue the series despite being severely underwhelmed and practically bored to death by the previous book. I just needed to see it for myself. And believe me she. I say that I have thoughts. First off, this book was so freaking boring. I never thought it would be possible, but this book managed to be even more boring than “Twilight”. There is, in “Twilight” fashion, so much fluff that sucked the life out of me. It also crams so much into the book, and just jumps from plot event to plot event. They aren’t even substantial plot events, leading to so much happening, yet at the same time, nothing happening. I was honestly shocked that we were only halfway into the book by the time riding the motorcycles finally came into fruition. By that point I just wanted the book to end. This book also didn’t win me over to team Bella and Edward. In fact, it only made me more creeped out and hateful of them. Their relationship just feels more of a toxic trap than something wholesome, even when they were at their best. The toxicity just felt amplified by 1000 here, making me feel unsettled. I honestly didn’t realize exactly how much I didn’t like Edward until he wasn’t in 75% of the book (pure bliss and an unintentional positive, I tell you). We get more Jacob instead, and I loved him and the growth in his and Bella’s relationship. He’s the true best companion for Bella and I loved how they became closer friends (before it was all unwound at the end). I found their friendship much more compelling than Edward and Bella’s relationship. The same goes for Esme and Alice. While it wasn’t as much of a standout since their roles were much smaller, their interactions with Bella show a much closer and more comforting relationship, and I got the warm fuzzies seeing their interactions, and I loved that. However, while Jacob saved some of the plot, it doesn’t help enough to make me like it any more than the first book’s plot, since, as said before, this book’s plot is so much more boring and unsettling. Moving on, I had mixed feelings on the characters. There were some that I had very strong feelings for, positive and negative (Bella and Edward) and others that I didn’t really have thoughts about because there wasn’t much to them (Emmett and Jasper). I also still believe Alice, Carlisle, and Charlie to be the most interesting characters of the bunch because of how they have fleshed out personalities, development and backstories. It’s honestly kind of hilarious how even though character development in other characters improved somewhat, these three are still the ones getting all the development (with Jacob in a close second place), and other characters are still either not developed enough to care about or have only one trait worth remembering. I also liked how we FINALLY got some proper world-building, learning more about the Volturi and other vampires around the world, as well as finally seeing more of the werewolves (though their later introduction makes more sense). I would’ve appreciated this sooner, but you know what, better late than never. I also appreciated the plot development in how Bella’s abilities to block Edward’s mind reading are fully expanded into that she can block any vampire’s powers. That’s a super cool concept and plot device that hints at so much more, and I’m looking forward to learning more about this interesting development. Overall, this still wasn’t a great book as it seems to have regressed in some areas (particularly plot), there were areas where it improves immensely.