New Moon (2006) Review *Spoilers* // TRULY A WILD RIDE

TITLE: Twilight

AUTHOR: Stephanie Meyer

SERIES? Book 2/4

GENRE/ AGE RANGE: Fantasy/Paranormal, YA

TW: Death, injury, loss of a loved one, unhealthy relationship (not challenged), panic attacks

PUBLICATION DATE: September 6th, 2006

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Character Guide   ⇩

►Bella Swan → Main character, human
►Charlie Swan → Bella’s father, Chief of Police
►Edward Cullen → Vampire, can read minds
►Alice Cullen → Vampire, can “see” the future
►Jasper Hale → Vampire, controls emotions
►Rosalie Hale → Vampire
►Emmett Cullen → Vampire
►Jacob Black → Bella’s best friend, lives on the Reservation, werewolf
►Jessica Stanley → Bella’s friend (Anna Kendrick)
►Angela Weber → Bella’s friend
►Mike Newton → Bella’s friend
►Billy Black → Jacob’s father

Twilight | ★★☆☆☆ | review

“Tonight the sky was utterly black. Perhaps there was no moon tonight—a lunar eclipse, a new moon. A new moon. I shivered, though I wasn’t cold.”

Listen, y’all already know this isn’t going to be a positive review. I was already on the struggle bus with this book before we even reached page 20, so if you liked this book but don’t want to read my review, I understand and thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to tell me why you DID like this book, in the comments because I’d love to hear a different opinion!

Disclaimer over! This book was a mess oh my f*cking God.

“What happens when you lose your heart’s desire?”

So, let’s get to it: why didn’t I like this book?

•Too long chapters. I stuggle to read books with long chapters becuase I just don’t have the attention span, so this was seriously difficult because some of the chapters were 30+ pages.
•I was constantly having to pause at every few paragraphs to pace and stand around because I was confounded by everything in this book.
•There are a lot of comparison to Romeo + Juliet so you know it’s a mess.
•Bella is actually really rude and I’m not here for it.
•Bella really thrashed therapy (page 96) and I find it interesting that neither for her parents bring it up again even though she clearly needs help

BELLA’S PARENTS

I actually feel really sad for Charlie because he’s gone through it ever since Bella came to Forks, but at the same time, he hardly spends any time with Bella (this was the same in the first book) and he never really does anything to outwardly help Bella and her depression. That being said, he does do more than Bella’s mother. Like, Charlie will put in some effort every now and again but Bella’s mum is barely a character and instead of coming down to see how daughter who is clearly suffering with mental health problems, she’s planning a 2nd honeymoon to Disneyland????????????

Charlie does bring up therapy at some point in the book but Bella shuts that down because therapy is crazy people and she’s not a quack etc etc. And it’s never brought up again, he also suggests that she move back to Phoenix with her mother and Bella says no, because if she moves away she might have a chance of moving on from Edward too and she doesn’t want that.

“But if I were to go to Jacksonville, or anywhere else bright and unfamiliar, how could I be sure he was real?”

I really think the best thing Bella’s parents could have done for her was get her out of Forks and get her to a therapist. She was so dependant on Edward for her continued living for most of this book and it was tragic to read about.

Also, I know that some people do call their parents by their first names and so does Bella. But, I think that this is just further proof that Bellas has a really bad relationship with her parents. She acts more like they’re colleagues she has to put up with than anything else and I think it’s very weird. 

Also, random but I wish Charlie would get a side plot in this series. I know he won’t but I wish he would get some more page time to make him more of a character rather than background noise. I think it would be great if he had a side romance or even just a hobby that isn’t working or fishing. Honestly, I think it would make more sense if he was in a relationship with Billy because that would also bring him into the plot more and, but I know that’s definitely not going to be a thing.

PLOTHOLES??? MAYBE???

•Are you telling me that Alice never “saw” Bella in the 4ish months before she started hanging around the wolves??? She never saw how shit Bella was doing? This is ridiculous. Also, this is making me realise that I have no ideas how any of their “powers” work. Bella wasn’t around Jacob the whole book so I find it difficult to believe that Alice never once saw Bella in a vision, especially because I’m pretty sure she can’t control what she does and doesn’t see???

“Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear.”

MY THEORY

So, I have a theory. I think Edward even talks about this in the first book, but he’s a predator, right? So, I get the feeling that everything Bella feels for Edward is just a result of her being close to him and not being able to protect herself from him because she’s a human.

Apart from the really gross age gap of like, 90ish years which i feel like, ordinarily would gross anyone out. Bella often talks about how intoxicated she is by Edward which makes me think that maybe he gives off certain Vampy pheromones or that he’s compelling her because the poor girl can’t think straight or even breathe around him & all she ever talks about are his looks which makes me think that their relationship is very superficial and shallow.

If you’ve seen The Vampire Diaries you’ll know what I’m talking about but if not you can watch this video, but basically, I think that Edward (on purpose, or not) affects Bella’s decisions and choices throughout the series. We read it as manipulation but I think that while it is partly that, it’s probably some weird vampy pheremones messing with Bella’s mind. And this would also explain why everyone is obsessed with the Cullens in book 1.

I think this also makes sense because every time Bella mentions Edward she talks about his appearance and usually compares him to a statue of a god. Bella also literally has no regard for her own life which makes me think that her brain has kind of gone out the window and it’s actually quite terrifying, because before she met Edward she was reasonably mature and on top of her shit but as soon as she met him her brain fully waked out the door.

Also straight up, all of chapter 4 supports this theory.  I feel like this chapter was just more evidence that Bella was compelled/intoxicated by Edward. She’s only interested in hearing his voice and will do anything to hear it even though it’s not real. She’s an empty person and it just shows how unhealthy their relationship was.

“Your hold on me is permanent and unbreakable. Never doubt that” 

MY THOUGHTS ON BELLA & EDWARD

BELLA:

•Bella is confusing. She 100% wants to be a vampire but is also making plans to go to college
•”They were probably nice guys. Safe. I lost interest.” (114)
•”I’d forgotten her by the time I was inside.” (117) Bella is so dismissive
•Bella says 1 thing, Edward says no, Bella says fine and comes up with an excuse for why that was what she wanted/the best solution all along.
•Bella and Edward aren’t honest with each other wow this relationship is the pits.
•Bella is literally having a panic attack because of Edward wtf (pg 56)

 

I’d be really interested to know if Bella would still be interested in Edward if he didn’t look like a 17 year old because obviously, he’s over 100 yrs old. I tweeted about this and asked what age gaps in books people were okay with and everyone said they’re NOT okay with teens and adults in a romantic relationship. So, why is a 17/18 year old and a 20-something(+) yr old man creepy and predatory but Bella (17) and Edward (117) is okay, just because he looks like a 17 year old????

EDWARD:

•Take a shot every time Bella compares Edward to a marble statue of a god 😫
•Edward never listens to Bella, it’s like she’s white noise to him or something
•Edward treats Bella like a child so much that she even comments on it a few times.I don’t really understand why Edward likes Bella tbh, especially if he’s constantly treating her like a child.
•Is Edward ever described as anything but perfect?
•Bella describes Edward EVERY TIME he’s on page
•So they’re not meant to go out in sunlight but Edward can go to Phoenix and stay inside and it’s fine??? I don’t get how it works tbh. (he bought her tickets so I’m assuming this will happen in book 3?)
•Edward is always making Bella anxious and nervous
•”He looked like a God” lol no pressure Rob Pat
•RE: The breakup: he literally blames her for everything “You’re no good for me, Bella” – knowing that she would believe him, no wonder she gets so fucked up in this book.
•”I would like to ask one favour, though, if that’s not too much.” – he has a lot of nerve

“It was depressing to realise that I wasn’t the heroine anymore, that my story was over.” 

So, in conclusion, this book was a wild ride and I actually didn’t totally hate it, like it has some good moments. But, overall, it’s too much and it’s so long and Bella is Awful with a capital A. I didn’t talk about him at all in my review, but the best part of the book was definitely Jacob and learning more about the wolves. But, I’m also pretty sure that he does some bad stuff in book 3 so I’m going to try not to get too attached lol.

Also, side note, a reason why I think it’s so hard to talk about the characters in this series, and why I think it must have been hell to adapt them onto the screen is because most of the characters don’t feel like people, they’re just plot devices &/or clichés and it’s kind of awful. 

Also, and I swear this is the last thing I’m going to talk about – oh my god what does everyone else in the town think Edward did to Bella??? It kind of sounds like Jacob thinks Edward raped her or something and that tracks with her nightmares but, like what does the rest of the town think??? Also if we’re going with that thought why the hell does Charlie, the literal Chief of Police in Forks, and Bella’s dad, let Edward back into town?? I’m honestly flabbergasted how did I never think about this before????

Do you like New Moon?
What’s your stance on Bella x Edward?

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