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Friday, December 19, 2008

New Moon - Stephenie Meyer


October/November was an exciting month for me as I got to join the vast group of Twilight Readers. If you follow my blog you know that I enjoyed the book and the movie A LOT!

At the end of Twilight there was a snippet from the first chapter of New Moon that left me peeking into this book even before I was ready to read it. I just had to know what happened next.

I actually took a few weeks to read this book in between Holiday
hooplah and I really did enjoy it. It is hard to review this book without spoiling so I will just give my two cents overall.

I enjoyed Twilight more than New Moon. This book goes heavy duty into a secondary and even a third storyline. And both were fun to read. For the most part the book was really entertaining, as I loved to be back in Forks with Bella and the other kids and characters.

I found the action in this book a little less thrilling than in Twilight. I liked getting deeper into some of the characters. Okay, so... for those that say the book is not deep enough or the writing is not good enough for
them, I see what you are saying. But the book is what it is. It is being told from a young girl's perspective in modern time. Yes, toward the end of the book there is a little "cheese."

I am kicking myself because I came across a few eloquent passages while Bella is going through a very emotional time and I wanted to share them and I didn't have my post-it pen. I plan to get those quotes out in the future.

Anyway... it was good for me to read... It was the sequel to Twilight!!!! Yay...Woo Hoo and Scream..... I am not sure what makes me get all giddy and excited when I read these books but I do really like them.

Thanks to Jenn from Jenn's bookshelf I have a copy of Eclipse waiting to be read. I am looking forward to it. Thank you Jenn.

Edited note: ( SPOILER ALERT!)
After writing this review, I went to read a lot of other reviews of the book (finally) and I am not sure my review does the book justice and I know it is vague for fear of spoilers. I read a lot of reviews about Bella's attitude and whining. I think Bella's behavior is appropriate considering what happened to her. In Twilight Bella was put through so much and to have it crash down on her in New Moon was devastating. I also found her quest for danger was justified considering the "pay off."

I really enjoyed her friendship with Jacob and was hoping that at some point Bella could let go and move in that direction. Nothing is better to me that best friends forever. I also enjoyed the turn /twist in the plot with Jacob and company. Perhaps a bit under developed?

I really enjoyed getting a bit more of Alice and finally the Cullens back into the scene. I didn't mind having to wait for them to appear again. Kind of like, it doesn't matter when you show up to the party as long as you show up!

I like how the book traversed to Italy and enjoyed the dramatic scene in the underground. Perhaps there were some cheesy scenes after that? I enjoyed the references to Romeo and Juliet. I am not so sure I enjoyed the moonless sky analogy. ( maybe at a different time in my life). Anyway, I enjoyed the very end confrontation with the three in the forest.

I am not so thrilled with the timeline for Bella's "change." It seemed like they (Bella and Edward) were joking around about it so much. Not sure how I feel one way or another about Bella moving in that direction. She seems clumsy and impulsive sometimes and this part makes me think she is to ga-ga to know exactly what she is thinking.

I also read this book with the stresses and joys of the holidays season. I picked this book because I wanted to read about characters that I "know" and love. I think it did the trick but I think I would have been more relaxed and not as cynical if I was reading at another not so busy time.


14 comments:

Toni said...

Oh dear!! what happened to my font? I tried to fix it from work.. will fix it at home. :) Toni

Anonymous said...

i agree with you a lot!
i have read all four books 2 times now! GEEK!
i'm stuck and i can't wait for the movies to come out!
hope they make all four movies!
did you read midnight sun?
you can find it on stephanie meyer's website

anyways can you recomend me another book
so i can get out of my twilight series fever?

Toni said...

Hi Kate... I can see why you would want to read it again. I haven't read Midnight Sun yet.

I do hope they make all the movies.

If you are into YA reading, I am not sure I have a series in mind for you. I would love to hear comments if anyone has a recommendation. I don't have the title off the top of my head but Dar from Peeking Between the Pages had a good recommendation recently on a YA book.

I know there is an adult series.. the Sookie Series.. First Blood... but I don't think they are innocent and sweet like the Twilight books, but I have heard they are pretty good.(I don't believe they are for readers under the age of 18).

As for book recommendations... Do you really want to get me started? Ha ha. I don't usually read books on Vampires/Werewolves or witches. ( that might change) so I don't have a recommendation for you. I did read the first two of Anne Rice's books in the Mayfair Witch Series. They are pretty good but VERY VERY Adult content, I wouldn't recommend for under 18 or anyone that would get offended or upset with graphic well.. just about EVERYTHING.

But some of my favorite reads from last year include:

The Mercy of Thin Air
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Glass Castle
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Inside Out Girl
The Jane Austin Book Club
19 Minutes
The Tenth Circle
Pieces of My Sister's Life
The Friday Night Knitting Club
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

On the more classic side:
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Cry the Beloved Country
A Raisin in the Sun
Gone With The Wind
East of Eden
The Grapes of Wrath
Of Mice and Men


Happy Reading

Oh I could go on and on.

Thank you for the comment Kate.

Serena said...

Sounds like a nice review to me. I was afraid of spoilers when I wrote my reviews and I think I indicated where they might be. LOL I really liked this trilogy.

Jo-Jo said...

Well I am probably one of the few that haven't read Twilight yet. I did buy it for my son's girlfriend as a Christmas gift though, and told her she may have to let me borrow it when she's done with it.

Anonymous said...

I loved this series as well. This is the series that got me reading YA books.

Maggs said...

LOL Toni, I thought by your text you got very excited writing your review hehehe.
I loved your review and do agree with you. I enjoyed Twilight more than New Moon too.

Toni said...

Hi Serena... yeah.. I was being careful..then I thought.. "no I just have to talk about it."

Jo-Jo I think you will enjoy Twilight.. it is a fun book.

J.Kaye - I agree.. it has changed the way I view YA books.

Margo.. Yeah.. I was pretty excited for sure... New Moon was good but not like Twilight.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

Cheers,
Toni

Darlene said...

Great review Toni. I liked New Moon better than Eclipse too. I think New Moon was probably my favorite of all three. YOu know I don't get too critical of what I read. I read these books to get away and enjoy and that's exactly how I feel reading them so that's good enough for me. I still have Breaking Dawn to get to and it's going to happen this year. lol.

Toni said...

Hi Dar.. thank you.
I am reading Eclipse right now. I am liking it. I like that there is a bit of action up front in the book. Sometimes I wonder why I want to read about teen age love and drama, vampires and werewolves...but I just do... it is just captivating for me. I can't get enough of the book. I have so much other reading to do but I keep picking up this series... It reminds me of 2005 when I started reading Harry Potter... sort of.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I loved Twilight Series I'm reading Midnight Sun and it is great! My friend's reading New Moon and she loooves it! The very first two pages made us want to read on. It was so addicting! We are big fans! Please make more Twilight book series on Edwards point of view. P.S. We are only ten!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

My point of you is horrible! twilight is horrible!

Anonymous said...

Sorry it was my older brother who is TWELVE he thinks it is to girly and thats why he posted that. Sorry he hates twilight! Plus he hates reading so he doesn't know anything about twilight!

Toni said...

Hey Anonymous commenter. I like all feedback. But try to keep it positive. And go ahead and feel free to post your name and if the book is horrible then why not post why it is horrible.

That is what a book blog is all about. Getting everyone's point of view.

What I am trying to say is that if you think my point of view is horrible.. say so... but please don't say that I am horrible. :)

Happy reading... continue to read and explore all books to find out what you really like. Reading will build a foundation of wisdom in your life that you can't get anywhere else.