I have actually read few writers that have such a gift for illustrating and bringing emotions to live. Showing the complexity of relationships, how they all come to matter and play a part of our emotional landscape. The pain that Bella feels when Edward leaves….I felt it acutely. I felt like my heart was breaking along with Bella’s. I felt angry at Edward. I was so mad I wanted to slap him. But, I also felt that same love for Edward I felt when I read Twilight. I could understand why he left, not possibly knowing that his leaving could never be the best thing for Bella. With this couple, as with my favorites in literature, you can see how mutual, how all-consuming their love for each other is. Some might call it self-destructive. But emotions don’t follow the rules. Even when people try to control them, they still manifest in other ways. Especially those that are so powerful, like the love these two people shared. Keep in mind that though this review is about to wheel off into an angry rant, this book is good. The series is addictive. And as I said previously about Stephanie Meyer, if you want to cease brain function for a few hours, she's your girl. Malkin, Marc (January 7, 2009). "Rob Pattinson and a Bevy of Beautiful Vampires". E! Online. E! Entertainment Television, Inc. Archived from the original on June 4, 2010 . Retrieved April 27, 2009. Earlier this year, I foolishly lent my copy of Twilight to Cate across the road. She liked it. Then, when she got a place at college last month, we thought we'd give her something as a congratulations-and-going-away present. It was so logical to buy a copy of New Moon.

I'm doing my best to like this book. I mean, hating it would hardly be a challenge, would it? But every now and then, I get a passage like this one: I'd been broken beyond repair. I will say, that I find it sad and unfortunate that Meyers insists on her characters not only admiring Romeo and Juliet (not the play, but the hormone-addled teenagers who committed suicide rather than take a minute to think it through), but specifically referencing the star-crossed lovers in near direct comparison to her protagonist and the lover-vamp. (Her main character also can be caught reading Jane Austen, but more on that later). Bella: Little Miss Dumb: Because well aparently someone who wants you for your blood is attractive? Hmnh, I don’t think so. Having now reached the end, I must admit that I enjoyed New Moon more than I'd expected. Of course, there are some problems, starting with the fact that Stephenie Meyer can't write to save her life. But by making it a first-person narrative told by the shy, clumsy Bella, she has found an ingenious way to get around that. Bella's endearing klutziness is just a metaphor for her even more serious problems as a writer. As she keeps telling us, every time she walks across a room she wonders if she'll trip over her feet and end up in hospital; similar remarks apply to her ability to string together an eight word declarative sentence. But she's stylistically consistent, and after a while I found myself accepting her. This just happens to be her voice, even though it's not a very good one.

Becoming another boy's friend solely to use him to make yourself feel better and to try and fill that "void" the other boy left, without any regard for his feelings and how your actions might affect him is definitely okay because hey! he's just a friend and even though he may see it differently, you know in your heart you'll never love him like that. Even though he doesn't know. But that's okay. Cause you know. And you'll tell him. Eventually. Okay never. FOR BELLA SWAN THERE IS ONE THING more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning.... Anyway. I have a soft spot for these books a mile wide due to a little something called “I was thirteen when Edward Cullen changed my life forever,” and even I had a hard time getting through this one. Debarros, Anthony; Cadden, Mary; DeRamus, Kristin; Schnaars, Christopher (January 14, 2009). "The top 100 books of 2008". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011 . Retrieved May 31, 2011. Stephenie Meyer answers your questions". Twilight Lexicon. November 17, 2009. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011 . Retrieved June 12, 2011.

I also thought that she was a seriously unreliable narrator. Not about factual events; to start off with, she doesn't seem to be imaginative enough to make anything up. When it comes to telling us about her feelings, however, I found it hard to believe her, and presenting everything as a mass of regurgitated romantic clichés is an effective way to show us how poorly she understands herself. We hear over and over again that she loves Edward, and only thinks of Jacob as a friend. But we also hear that Edward feels hard and cold to the touch. I couldn't help thinking of the wonderful scene in Mean Girls where Rachel McAdams's Cool Mom insists on giving Lindsay Lohan a silicone-enhanced hug; I'm sure that Bella often winces in just the same way when Edward hugs her, though she doesn't allow herself to notice it. In contrast, Jacob is warm and alive, and she genuinely likes holding his hand and feeling him put his arm around her. There are several scenes when she nearly kisses him, knowing full well what that will lead to. It's clear that she wants to, and the excuses she makes to herself about him just being an unsatisfactory substitute for Edward are laughably unconvincing. Many bad things have been said about Ms. Meyer’s writing. I don’t agree with any of it. Ms. Meyer has proven to me that she can write books that I can admire and enjoy, and that I can appreciate from an artistic and literary standpoint. She brings the story to vivid life, and pulls me right into the action. She knows how to make me feel. For me, it’s not a good sign when I read a book and I feel detached, bored, withdrawn. I want to be involved in a story that I read for pleasure, which is 95% of the time I spend reading. When I read Twilight, I couldn’t get over the awe and joy I felt as I discovered the world of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. The beauty of their love story. I didn’t think this book could top that feeling. Surprisingly, it did. Ms. Meyer took the story that much deeper for me with New Moon. Proctor, Maurine (August 8, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer's Twilight". Meridian. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008 . Retrieved April 19, 2010. Have you ever been reading Twilight and been like, wow, I wish I could read this book except with no romance, a ton of suffering, a protagonist who’s heartbroken to the point of nonfunction for most of the book, way more of the characters you don’t care about, and also a lot of extraneous Native American stereotyping? When it comes to Twilight you have to kind of leave logic behind, what with all the angst, drama, and you know, vampires vs werewolves. I was prepared for that side. I was not prepared for New Moon. Oh, how I wish I would've been prepared for New Moon.I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place.