New Moon (The Twilight Saga) [Paperback]

Stephenie Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 31, 2008 | Series: The Twilight Saga (Book 2)

Legions of readers entranced by Twilight are hungry for more and they won't be disappointed. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. The "star-crossed" lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Recovered from the vampire attack that hospitalized her in the conclusion of Twilight (Little, Brown, 2005), Bella celebrates her birthday with her boyfriend Edward and his family, a unique clan of vampires that has sworn off human blood. But the celebration abruptly ends when the teen accidentally cuts her arm on broken glass. The sight and smell of her blood trickling away forces the Cullen family to retreat lest they be tempted to make a meal of her. After all is mended, Edward, realizing the danger that he and his family create for Bella, sees no option for her safety but to leave. Mourning his departure, she slips into a downward spiral of depression that penetrates and lingers over her every step. Vampire fans will appreciate the subsequently dour mood that permeates the novel, and it's not until Bella befriends Jacob, a sophomore from her school with a penchant for motorcycles, that both the pace and her disposition begin to take off. Their adventures are wild, dare-devilish, and teeter on the brink of romance, but memories of Edward pervade Bella's emotions, and soon their fun quickly morphs into danger, especially when she uncovers the true identities of Jacob and his pack of friends. Less streamlined than Twilight yet just as exciting, New Moon will more than feed the bloodthirsty hankerings of fans of the first volume and leave them breathless for the third.–Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-11. "Which is tempting you more, my blood or my body?" Things are heating up between Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen, in this sequel to the immensely popular Twilight (2005). Then Bella is injured at her birthday party, and the Cullens' reaction to her blood sends Edward's family packing. Bella is inconsolable until she discovers that reckless behavior allows her to hear Edward's warning voice in her head. To keep him close, she decides to live as dangerously as possible, acquiring two motorcycles and developing a close friendship with Jacob, who helps her rebuild them. Romantics will miss Edward's presence, but the suspense created by a pack of werewolves bent on protecting Bella from a vindictive vampire will keep them occupied until the lovers can be reunited. The writing is a bit melodramatic, but readers won't care. Bella's dismay at being ordinary (after all, she's only human) will strike a chord even among girls who have no desire to be immortal, and like the vampires who watch Bella bleed with "fevered eyes," teens will relish this new adventure and hunger for more. Cindy Dobrez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (May 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316024961
• ISBN-13: 978-0316024969
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.5 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2,774 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephenie Meyer's life changed dramatically on June 2, 2003. The stay-at-home mother of three young sons woke-up from a dream featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head. "Though I had a million things to do (i.e. making breakfast for hungry children, dressing and changing the diapers of said children, finding the swimsuits that no one ever puts away in the right place), I stayed in bed, thinking about the dream. Unwillingly, I eventually got up and did the immediate necessities, and then put everything that I possibly could on the back burner and sat down at the computer to write--something I hadn't done in so long that I wondered why I was bothering." Meyer invented the plot during the day through swim lessons and potty training, then writing it out late at night when the house was quiet. Three months later she finished her first novel, Twilight.
Twilight was one of 2005's most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list.Among its many accolades, Twilight was named an "ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults," an Amazon.com "Best Book of the Decade&So Far", and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. The movie version of Twilight will be released by Summit Entertainment nationwide on November 21, 2008, starring Kristen Stewart ("Into The Wild") and Robert Pattinson ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire").
The highly-anticipated sequel, New Moon, was released in September 2006 and spent 31 weeks at the #1 position on The New York Times bestseller list. Eclipse, the third book in Meyer's Twilight saga, was released on August 7, 2007 and sold 150,000 copies its first day on-sale. The book debuted at #1 bestseller lists across the country, including USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. The fourth and final book in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn, was published on August 2, 2008, with a first printing of 3.2 million copies - the largest first printing in the publisher's history. Breaking Dawn sold 1.3 million copies its first day on-sale rocketing the title to #1 on bestseller lists nationwide.
Meyer's highly-anticipated debut for novel adults, The Host, was released by Little, Brown and Company in May 2008 and debuted at #1 on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
Stephenie Meyer graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English Literature. She lives in Arizona with her husband and sons.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#10 in Books > Teens

#24 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#29 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

#30 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

#76 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#10 in Books > Teens

#24 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#29 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

#30 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

#76 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

315 of 372 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dalliance with Wolves September 27, 2006

By Jonathan Appleseed VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

4.5 stars

NOTE: I'm adding, rather late, apparently, that there's a bit of a spoiler in this review. So, read with caution. That said, if you paid attention while reading Twilight, I'm puzzled as to how my spoiler could possibly be a spoiler. Myers spelled it out, in the book and interviews, almost as clearly as she spells out Bella's awed perception of Edward.

**********

In my review of Twilight, I said that the book had more in common with "Catcher in the Rye" and "Pride and Prejudice" than it did with any vampire novels or stories. That still holds true, although be certain: I'm not comparing Twilight or New Moon to these books in terms of literary quality. There are few that match either.

In New Moon we miss the vampires for most of the story, and Bella spends time with her friend Jacob, an Indian fated with becoming a werewolf, and fated to hate all "bloodsuckers", regardless of whether or not the bloodsuckers took human lives. (Btw, that little bit is cleared up at the end...what exactly their treaty entails. It's interesting, kind of, but I have to wonder if the author thought of it as the story was being written, and that it wasn't planned when the "treaty" was first mentioned. I suppose it doesn't matter.)

If you're reading this story because you like vampire stories, you will be disappointed. Edward's only around for a bit less than 1/3 of the book. When he is around, however, his presence is appreciated. One thing that the author didn't do this time, and it was similarly appreciated, was to have Bella writing down every single thought that she had regarding his absolute perfection (remember, this is a first person narrative).

While spending time with "the wolves", Bella goes through some interesting growth patterns.... I say interesting, because I'm not entirely certain that I followed them or that if I understood them that I agreed with them. That said, I've never been a teenage girl, and the author has been a teenage girl, so I have to bow to her experience in this.

Many readers will look at Bella's behavior during her "dalliance with wolves" as bizarre and entirely unbelievable. I don't think they were. For anyone that has had the absolute love of their life torn from them, with the *absolute* belief that this love would not return, and if you happen to be emotionally immature to top all of this off, your behavior wouldn't be too far off from Bella's. I'm not saying exactly like Bella's, just not too far off.

Again, this is not a vampire story. The fact that vampires were not around in this book as often as some may have liked did not lessen the quality of the story. What was missing, though, was the urgency, and the mystery. For example, we never knew why, in Twilight, Edward recoiled upon first seeing Bella until the very end. We had a reaction, and a resolution, and during that time we had lots of questions. That type of immediacy was missing here. Everything was rather straightforward.

When Edward lies to Bella, we know that he is lying, and we know that there will be resolution. The problem is that we know he's lying, and we know the resolution won't be too surprising.

I did enjoy the unique take on werewolves, but I felt that since we had seen so much of the vampires in the first book, that we should have seen and felt more of the werewolves in this book.

One thing that I found particularly frustrating was the similarity of emotion that both Jake and Edward have for Bella. Yes, Bella is a clutz, and she definitely needs protecting. But to have two main characters, in two separate books, respond to her in a nearly identical manner (both fearing for, and being vocal about, her need to be less careless), is tough to buy.

There were some hints of future issues between the Cullens and Jake's clan. I hope we see them. And I hope that this story can survive the necessary metamorphosis - at some point, it will need to be less about Bella's intense love for Edward, and more about the actual situations surrounding them.

This may sound like a negative review. It's not. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've seen others that gave Twilight 5 stars give this 1 or 2 stars, and I've questioned that. I think that given the nature of this story, readers need to be more aware of what this story is really about. See the first paragraph of this review for that.

I'm anxiously awaiting the third book. There are a lot of possibilities, and I can't help but wonder which possibility the author will choose, and how she will resolve whatever roadblocks her choices give her. Read more ›

162 of 194 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Co-dependent Bella: Act II January 9, 2009

By Amy92010

Format:Paperback

Anyone who enjoyed the first book but found the phrasing repetitive and the character of Bella to be mildly annoying, be warned.

Pgs 1-70 are actually interesting, aside from Bella being a brat about turning 18

Pgs 70-400 are basically the plot of the first book, recycled, with Jacob as the new love interest. As with Edward, she shuns the other kids at school, wants to spend all her time with him, and, when she finds out what he really is, she embraces it, meets the family...etc etc.

pgs 400-the end are essentially the only novelty to the book. Even so, it's ruined by the fact that Bella is so helpless and insecure. I don't understand why Edward loves you either, Bella, but he does. And I don't want to have to read 500 pages of him convincing you of that.

This book is basically ACT II of the first book, but with a few less obnoxious descriptions of Edward's bronze hair/marble body/topaz eyes, and a few more obnoxious descriptions of the aching hole/depression in Bella's soul when Edward leaves her.

Bella morphs from being slightly annoying and whiny, to being completely pathetic. Her world revolves around Edward, so when he leaves, she is left in a catatonic state...until eventually she decides to rebel and do crazy things, in the hopes that she might hear his voice (oh yes, that velvet voice of his is in this book too, and velvet must be on Meyer's 'favorite adjectives list").

But then Bella finds reason for living again, in the arms of another man, Jacob. Her basic attraction to him is based on...wait for it..."she's less miserable with him". Hmmm....the co-dependent latches on again.... She completely leads him on, because the whole time she is with him, she is still thinking about Edward and how she can reunite her crazy messed up head with a precious delusion of him.

In the end, Edward and Jacob are mortal enemies (oh no!) and Bella is left choosing between the man who is the world to her, and the man who is the world to her when the man who really is the world to her is unavailable. Gee, I wonder who she'll choose in the end. Apparently Meyer wants us to think it's a toss up and plans to make another book of it. Yeah right.

I can only hope that the third book doesn't contain the following phrases and/or words, because I HATE THEM BY NOW:

grimaced
smirked
topaz
velvet voice
touseled bronze hair
marble slab
perfect face
singing laughter
aching hole
russett skin
angelic anything
it felt like I was dreaming
I wasn't sure if it was a dream
it had to be a dream Read more ›

48 of 57 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Review for Parents of Young Readers July 19, 2009

By Cynthia R. Knowles

Format:Paperback

***Possible Spoilers***

I'm reading this series because my 11-year-old is reading them. These books are written for adolescents but still deal with some adult themes so it seemed prudent for us to read them together. I am far from a prude, but I had trouble with many of the underlying messages.

1. Pain that never eases or ends is normal:
No! I've had to explain to my child that when a relationship ends that yes, you feel horrible and yes it feels like a part of you has died, but that degree of pain is time-limited and you get over it! If, 6 months after a break-up, you are still clutching your chest in agony when someone mentions your ex's name, then it's time to get professional help.

2. Suicide is a viable solution:
It is not OK, healthy, common and especially not romantic for both main characters to consider suicide as the only logical end to their emotional suffering. An absolutely horrible message for kids.

3. If it hurts this bad, it must be love:
I don't care for the authors assumption that the degree of suffering equals the depth of love. Another horrible message, especially for young girls.

4. Role-confusion between the children and their parents:
The parents are portrayed as inept, weak and incapable and they would surely perish if not for the competent, strong children who cook and shop for them. In fact, Bella's dad is unable to make spaghetti, so would surely die if she did not take care of him. [Insert eye-roll here]. Adding to these layers of disrespect, she calls her parents by name rather than `mom' and `dad.' This underscores her character, or lack thereof.

5.... Flagrant disregard of her father's authority:
Interesting that she sneaks her boyfriend into her bedroom to "stay over" every night without any consequence. And leaves the country for three days basically leaving the note "home soon." Her dad is the police chief, like that would ever happen? The assumption that adults are dumb or clueless runs through the entire book.

6. Friends are disposable:
Bella sees her friends as clearly disposable and even a nuisance to her even though they are nice kids. God forbid should someone reach out to her and try to shake her out of her emo world. Her cavalier treatment of her friends is sickening. If this book is about relationships, why oh why doesn't the author show even one healthy relationship?

7. Women are nothing without a man:
Intensive descriptions of this identity-losing co-dependence with her boyfriend. Without him she is less than nothing. She only begins to recover when she, you guessed it, finds another man. And then she uses this other man, knowing that the relationship is lopsided. News flash - having a man in your life is not the only thing that will make you happy. I also have no idea why they are in love. They don't actually have substantive conversations or do anything together. They just stare at each other and doubt their worthiness. Where are the feminists!? Why aren't women outraged over this! And BTW, women can drive their own cars and men can be passengers.

8. Generally poor writing:
I got so tired of hearing how "perfect" her boyfriend was, how beautiful, how cold, how statuesque. OK, OK, I get it. It doesn't have to be said over and over again. I have no clue why an editor didn't reduce the tonnage of adverbs.

9. Weak and illogical plot line:
Did the Cullins really have to leave Forks? Did Bella really have to go to Italy? Really? Am I supposed to believe that the same girl who dreaded gym class because she can't play volleyball is going to cliff dive without instruction on an impulse? And if everything they've done throughout the book is about the threat of Victoria, why, suddenly at the end is that threat gone? Nothing was actually resolved. Sloppy plot line.

10. Unbelievable plot devices:
I am supposed to believe that neither of the main characters can tell whether they are dead or alive?

11. Terrible Character development:
I know nothing about Bella. Does she have any interests? Hobbies? Talents (besides whining)? Plans for her future? Thoughts about her past? I don't know anything about her previous school or friends left behind in Arizona. Did she even have friends? Seriously, how can I buy into an adolescent character without any knowledge of her social identity. That's all adolescents do at this age. Why doesn't the author think this is important to share with us? And Edward, isn't there something else about him we might be interested in knowing about besides his physical appearance? Like, what does he do with all his free time if he doesn't need to sleep?

12. Didn't do her research:
Washington State requires motorcyclists to wear helmets.

If your kids are going to be reading this book I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you read it first and discuss it throughout their reading, just to let them know that fiction isn't truth, that not all authors are responsible, and that in the real world, friends are important, as is taking care of yourself. Read more ›