68. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer

Megan Tingley Books, Little Brown
2006
563 pgs plus 36 pages of Eclipse
Rating: 2
For: Middle schoolers

I don't get it. I really don't. I understand how and why Harry Potter got where it did. But I just don't understand how and why this series got where it is. I read Twilight when it first came out, and enjoyed discussing it with my middle schoolers. I wasn't crazy about it - I hated that an intelligent young woman could become so dependant on anyone else, and even more so because she became so smitten, her every move, her every thought, revolved around Edward. I enjoyed the movie. That's why I read this book - the New Moon movie comes out in November. And it sure doesn't take very long to read these almost-600 pages. But, well.....blech.

It was boring. Pages after pages of the same thoughts over and over. Pages and pages (and months and months) of an almost catatonic state because she lost her boyfriend? I liked the character of Jacob, but his reactions seemed so....extreme. His actions made sense, but not his reactions. And the dare-devil activities Bella pursued? Yeah, right. And the consideration she had for her parents? Always included, but as an afterthought, but it was made to appear that her love for them was affecting her thinking. Yuh. Mmm hmmm. Plus, I think this story could have been told in half the pages . Give Bella a tinybit, a microscopic bit, of independence. Of rational thought. I really like Edward, the Cullens, Jacob, his pack.....but I couldn't stand the protagonist! You can't like a book when you roll your eyes at the main player!

I'll probably like the movie. It won't spend half the time going over Bella's tortured thinking. I'm actually really looking forward to it!