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A review by kyarabereading
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
New Moon is a book that allows us to see who Bella is after meeting then losing Edward and the world of vampires - and though her reaction is a bit melodramatic, I think after reading the book, it makes sense she reacted like that. It truly helps you understand that she had access to a world that no one in Forks knows about but her, and to lose that access and have no one to talk about it with would drive anyone insane.
I think certain aspects of New Moon made it a better book than Twilight in my opinion. I liked seeing Bella’s personality when she’s not paralyzed by her depression or talking about the “hole” she feels inside. The way her and Jacob’s friendship blossomed was really nice, and I loved seeing the moment they shared together. I think the most frustrating aspect about their relationship, however, is the fact that Bella makes it explicitly clear in her narration that Jacob is never truly a choice love-wise for her because Edward is her one true love. It kind of makes this not a great “love triangle” story if the second guy isn’t even an option. Writing-wise, I think it would have been cool to see Bella explore her and Jacob’s relationship as a potentially romantic one. I think it would make Bella choosing Edward feel like a more powerful decision in a way. But Meyer is so set in making Edward and Bella soulmates that that was never even a possibility.
Seeing Bella and Jacob’s relationship also made me realize how much of a foil Jacob is for Edward. In this book, we essentially see Bella go through the same story with Jacob as she did with Edward in Twilight. Bella and Jacob start hanging out more but Jacob sees himself as a “monster” who can’t be near Bella until he realizes Bella doesn’t really care so he lets her more into his world (even going as far as meeting the family) and together, the family works to protect Bella from an outside threat that wants to hurt her. Like that’s literally Twilight but with werewolves.
As always, I also liked learning more about the world of vampires and werewolves. It’s interesting seeing this world - meeting the wolf pack and the Volturi for example - as an outsider alongside Bella. It really makes you feel how Bella would in those situations - the human being who has no real idea what’s going on, who will never fully understand the years of history that led to this point. Meyer does a really great job of giving her characters motivations and movements and choices that exist outside of Bella’s point of view, so when Bella is brought into the mix, it’s like we have to get caught up to speed alongside her. It’s the mythical equivalent to joining a new friend group and not understanding any of the inside jokes.
Like all Meyer books I’ve read so far, one of the biggest flaws in her writing is repetition. Repetition of themes and plot points we’ve seen a hundred times before in this series and this is only the third book I read. For example, I thought Bella and Edward’s reunion moment was nice up until the point that they started acting fucking corny and repetitive and going over the same issues as the last book. “I left you to protect you because I’m no good for you” “It’s okay if you want to leave me again, I know I’m not interesting enough for you” oh my god you two are so BORING. The times I find their relationship the most interesting is when Bella takes some agency for herself instead of acting like an insecure weirdo or a big baby (more on the big baby shit later).
And seeing both of them have this “I don’t deserve you, you’re too good for me” mentality gets old and feels unrealistic. You’re telling me Edward left Bella and all she did was feel grateful for the bit of time they shared together, time she doesn’t feel she deserved because he’s sooo much better than her? She never once blamed him or got angry with him or nothing, and I think that would have been a much more realistic reaction than whatever the hell she had going on. And the fact that even after all that, she still defends Edward against Charlie like girl wtf do you think your relationship looks like to Charlie??? It looks like you’re in a literal emotionally abusive, co-dependent relationship - any parent would be worried - and she’s acting like he’s being ridiculous. Even Edward knows he deserves some lashings but nooo in Bella’s eyes, Edward is perfect. Meyer is set on making these two look like the perfect couple, and instead it makes them both boring & insane.
On the big baby shit: I am honestly sick and tired of Bella damsel-in-distressing all over the place. I can’t say that I would act much better in any of these situations but she’s pathetically weak in a way that’s giving “uwu I’m so small and fragile and my big, strong boyfriend needs to take care of me.” Every other chapter gotta mention how small and frail she is, and I am sick of it. I feel like this book series really pushes traditional ideas around men and women’s roles in relationships, marrying young, etc in a way that is very concerning. And I think Bella is such an interesting character when she’s not perpetuating those ideas in the way she behaves.
I also think Meyer’s decision to make Bella lose her connection with her friends this book was really shitty, especially when you’re aware of the fact that she’s doing all this to make it seem like Bella doesn’t really have any connections to the human world so she’s destined to be apart from it. I understand that Bella was depressed and it distanced her from her friends but even before that, she was not a great friend to them. There are times where you can tell she sees herself above them, and that’s why I can’t even blame Jessica for acting toward her the way she did. I think it would have been more interesting if Bella did genuinely love and care about her friends, so it would make her deciding to be a vampire a tougher choice, but a choice she wanted anyway. But I think Meyer really wants to make it seem like Bella isn’t being ripped from her life by not making her care about anything or anybody from her human life. It’s such a cop-out to make sure Bella and Edward have their eventual perfect happy ending.
Finally, this book was pretty anticlimactic. Like I said before, I think Meyer is more focused on telling a love story than anything else and it makes any nearly exciting moment feel like…that’s it? This book kinda felt like a filler book to get you prepped with what you need to know for Eclipse, so I’m hoping Eclipse will have a more interesting plot than this one.
I think certain aspects of New Moon made it a better book than Twilight in my opinion. I liked seeing Bella’s personality when she’s not paralyzed by her depression or talking about the “hole” she feels inside. The way her and Jacob’s friendship blossomed was really nice, and I loved seeing the moment they shared together. I think the most frustrating aspect about their relationship, however, is the fact that Bella makes it explicitly clear in her narration that Jacob is never truly a choice love-wise for her because Edward is her one true love. It kind of makes this not a great “love triangle” story if the second guy isn’t even an option. Writing-wise, I think it would have been cool to see Bella explore her and Jacob’s relationship as a potentially romantic one. I think it would make Bella choosing Edward feel like a more powerful decision in a way. But Meyer is so set in making Edward and Bella soulmates that that was never even a possibility.
Seeing Bella and Jacob’s relationship also made me realize how much of a foil Jacob is for Edward. In this book, we essentially see Bella go through the same story with Jacob as she did with Edward in Twilight. Bella and Jacob start hanging out more but Jacob sees himself as a “monster” who can’t be near Bella until he realizes Bella doesn’t really care so he lets her more into his world (even going as far as meeting the family) and together, the family works to protect Bella from an outside threat that wants to hurt her. Like that’s literally Twilight but with werewolves.
As always, I also liked learning more about the world of vampires and werewolves. It’s interesting seeing this world - meeting the wolf pack and the Volturi for example - as an outsider alongside Bella. It really makes you feel how Bella would in those situations - the human being who has no real idea what’s going on, who will never fully understand the years of history that led to this point. Meyer does a really great job of giving her characters motivations and movements and choices that exist outside of Bella’s point of view, so when Bella is brought into the mix, it’s like we have to get caught up to speed alongside her. It’s the mythical equivalent to joining a new friend group and not understanding any of the inside jokes.
Like all Meyer books I’ve read so far, one of the biggest flaws in her writing is repetition. Repetition of themes and plot points we’ve seen a hundred times before in this series and this is only the third book I read. For example, I thought Bella and Edward’s reunion moment was nice up until the point that they started acting fucking corny and repetitive and going over the same issues as the last book. “I left you to protect you because I’m no good for you” “It’s okay if you want to leave me again, I know I’m not interesting enough for you” oh my god you two are so BORING. The times I find their relationship the most interesting is when Bella takes some agency for herself instead of acting like an insecure weirdo or a big baby (more on the big baby shit later).
And seeing both of them have this “I don’t deserve you, you’re too good for me” mentality gets old and feels unrealistic. You’re telling me Edward left Bella and all she did was feel grateful for the bit of time they shared together, time she doesn’t feel she deserved because he’s sooo much better than her? She never once blamed him or got angry with him or nothing, and I think that would have been a much more realistic reaction than whatever the hell she had going on. And the fact that even after all that, she still defends Edward against Charlie like girl wtf do you think your relationship looks like to Charlie??? It looks like you’re in a literal emotionally abusive, co-dependent relationship - any parent would be worried - and she’s acting like he’s being ridiculous. Even Edward knows he deserves some lashings but nooo in Bella’s eyes, Edward is perfect. Meyer is set on making these two look like the perfect couple, and instead it makes them both boring & insane.
On the big baby shit: I am honestly sick and tired of Bella damsel-in-distressing all over the place. I can’t say that I would act much better in any of these situations but she’s pathetically weak in a way that’s giving “uwu I’m so small and fragile and my big, strong boyfriend needs to take care of me.” Every other chapter gotta mention how small and frail she is, and I am sick of it. I feel like this book series really pushes traditional ideas around men and women’s roles in relationships, marrying young, etc in a way that is very concerning. And I think Bella is such an interesting character when she’s not perpetuating those ideas in the way she behaves.
I also think Meyer’s decision to make Bella lose her connection with her friends this book was really shitty, especially when you’re aware of the fact that she’s doing all this to make it seem like Bella doesn’t really have any connections to the human world so she’s destined to be apart from it. I understand that Bella was depressed and it distanced her from her friends but even before that, she was not a great friend to them. There are times where you can tell she sees herself above them, and that’s why I can’t even blame Jessica for acting toward her the way she did. I think it would have been more interesting if Bella did genuinely love and care about her friends, so it would make her deciding to be a vampire a tougher choice, but a choice she wanted anyway. But I think Meyer really wants to make it seem like Bella isn’t being ripped from her life by not making her care about anything or anybody from her human life. It’s such a cop-out to make sure Bella and Edward have their eventual perfect happy ending.
Finally, this book was pretty anticlimactic. Like I said before, I think Meyer is more focused on telling a love story than anything else and it makes any nearly exciting moment feel like…that’s it? This book kinda felt like a filler book to get you prepped with what you need to know for Eclipse, so I’m hoping Eclipse will have a more interesting plot than this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood, Grief, and Murder