New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: clock tolled, Jacob Black, Sam Uley, Port Angeles (more...)

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.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (May 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316024961
• ISBN-13: 978-0316024969
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2,083 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Twilight Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Seriously?, July 5, 2008

By	Bronwen Johnson "Book Shucker" (Wichita, KS) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) (Hardcover)

Before the rabid fans of Stephanie Meyer come for me and trash my first review on this website I would like to add an adendum. I am a twenty-two year old Undergrade, and I enjoy a little "brain popcorn" every so often. Warning! Spoilers ahead.

I labored over a decision to buy and read the Twilight series for weeks. After asking/begging for information over the series at my local B&N reading reviews here on Amazon, and my Library Patrons I decided to give it a try. I read Twilight and was hooked, I finished it in about 2 days and moved on to the next two in the series. Then, I labored over wether I should write a review of this book or not. Funny, the laborous process should have been my first hint.

I want to ask Meyer, if she lost inspiration, had something traumatic happen, or just lose her drive to write these books? I was never interested in Edward as a character, or love intrest for Bella. By the time I finished New Moon I could care less about either of them and was just hoping Jacob would find a new, more interesting girl to suit him.

Bella is uninteresting, incredibly Emo (and not in an artistic way), and so Co-Dependent that you just want to bash her head in so that you can be done with it. Watching her stumble, bumble and "live" without Edward is incredibly painful and embarassing just to read about, let alone be caught reading about in public. She is so disgustingly set on Edward and his disgusting, vapid, rather uninteresting and beautiful family that her own life gets put on hold.

Perhaps if this book was written and released in the 80's, or prior to "Girl Power" this wouldn't be such an issue. But to market this kind of literature to a demographic is 13 to 20 year old Teens and Young Adults is just plain irresponsible! Sending the message that being incredibly selfish and leading someone on to deal with your own pain is both unforgiveable and sickening. The fact that Bella is so interesting in putting herself in harms way just to hear Edwards voice is just plain unbelievable at best and if you want me to believe that little miss "I don't want other people to realize that I exist" wants to cliff dive, I've got a bridge in Wichita to sell you.

Don't get me started on the forced, horrible literary refrences to Romeo and Juliet. The analogies, allusions and personifications of people were enough to make me tear my hair out.

So there you have it. If you're upwards of twenty something, read classic literature and/are a fan of the Bard, have self esteem and don't need a "man" to complete your life do not pick up these books and if you must, borrow from your local library.

220 of 279 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Vapid Vampires finally get shunted aside, but all for naught., January 2, 2007

By	Laura Jennings "garrick40" (Kempner, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) (Hardcover)

In the first book Bella was dreamless, hobby-less, and hopeless. Now she becomes a lush for adrenaline because her precious vampire boyfriend dumps her. One can only wish she'd succeed instead of making the reader suffer along with her for 500 pages. Bella's self-confidence and self-worth rest on the whims of a boy, and a vampire at that, and that's hardly a good message for any girl to take away from the book. You get sick of hearing Bella whine about the hole in her chest.
The werewolves are actually decent, and one embellished the most also achieves what neither Bella nor Edward can: actual reader interest. Jacob Black has a hobby! He has some legitimate angst! He is flawed! And he and Bella actually have chemistry that goes beyond "You are my sun, my moon, my stars, my love!" Jacob strikes me as the kind of guy one could actually LIVE with for the rest of one's existence, morning breath and all. But don't expect Bella to actually LISTEN to any of this logic.
Perhaps more jaded sorts, such as myself, shouldn't read this. I am not a romance reader; I'm a fantasy buff and a stickler for character logic. I just kind of ended up in the wrong kind of territory. It baffles me that shallow, blah characters like Eragon and this series can become bestsellers hand over fist. I think in order for these books to work for me I'd have to believe in the happily-ever-after for these characters, and all I find myself thinking is "Okay, what are they going to DO for the rest of eternity? Stroking each other's ego's over how beautiful they are would get really old really fast ..."

171 of 217 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Growing Up, or Lack Thereof, September 20, 2006

By	syrinx192 - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) (Hardcover)

I went into New Moon wanting to like it, and in certain sections I will admit that I did. Naturally I am a fan of Meyer's previous book, Twilight, and was expecting to see at least a hearty attempt to recreate the magic that Twilight spun in excess. New Moon revolves like a flat tire; the story was trying to get somewhere, but the going was rough, uncomfortable, and by the ending all I could think of was the word "unsatisfactory".

In New Moon we are tossed into a story of separated lovers, and the book makes no attempt to tone down the obvious allusions to Shakespeare. This is Romeo and Juliet, Edward and Bella style. It gets so heavy handed that in more than a few places Bella is actively casting herself, Edward and Jacob into prominent roles in the play, and Edward takes the suicide plot and runs with it far beyond necessary. I appreciate the attempts by the author to explain just how deep the connection is between Bella and Edward, but the Romeo and Juliet plotline is a recycled one at best, and it quickly grows sour when layered so thickly over the narrative.

Besides Bella and Edward's love `til death or suicide drama, Jacob Black is a revitalizing breath of fresh air. The newly inherited ability to turn into a werewolf adds Jacob in as an interesting dynamic to Bella's life (and love life) and I sincerely hope Meyer continues to play with the meaning of what Jacob is to Bella besides a second option to Edward. It would be unfair to cast Jacob as a plainly obvious second fiddle to Edward when he has so much potential.

As far as Bella, while at first her clumsy antics were amusing they also fall flat in New Moon. Bella's accidental ability to injure herself flies off the chart in New Moon, so much so that I found myself skimming past her new and not so ingenious ways of torturing herself for the fleeting seconds when her subconscious summons up Edward's voice in order to tell her how to not act like a clumsy fool. There had to be a better way of passing her time without Edward. For one: growing up would have suited Bella nicely. She's 18, yet everyone in New Moon manages to treat her as either an invalid or an infant, either saving her from herself or actively carting, hauling, or carrying her around. The moment Bella stands up for herself and takes care of herself will be a landmark in this book series, because she spends so much time mourning Edward's loss and so much time trying to patch Jacob into the holes Edward previously filled you must wonder when Bella can fix herself rather than relying on her male friends to figure it out for her.

By the end of the book, the nature of Bella and Edward's relationship changes little. Edward comes back, scolds Bella for having acted so insane in his absence because of course he loves her, Bella is shocked that he does indeed love her (although I thought that was already established, and if not why was he trying to commit suicide if he didn't love her?) and Edward's still immaturely gung ho on suicide, no matter Bella's say in it.

Overall, New Moon is a disappointing follow-up. Things felt rushed and ultimately pointless, not to mention the numerous typos found in a first edition copy. Twilight is still a wonderful story, but I can't say that I'm liking where the story is going.