New Moon

NEW MOON by Stephenie Meyer
Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 8/21/06
Publisher: Megan Tingley
Reviewed by: K. Osborn Sullivan
Rating: 4 Stars

NEW MOON is the much-anticipated sequel to last year's exceptional vampire romance, TWILIGHT. When I first got my
hands on a thick copy of TWILIGHT, I ended up losing sleep for a week until I finished it. Night after night I could not put
down the gripping tale of 17-year-old Isabella Swan and the family of vampires who virtually adopt her - some more willingly
than others.

With the thrill of TWILIGHT fresh in my mind, I eagerly plunged into NEW MOON. The story takes up several months after
TWILIGHT ended. Bella has enjoyed a magical summer with her vampire love, Edward Cullen, but as she closes in on her
eighteenth birthday, her own mortality weighs heavily on her. Edward will be eternally young and beautiful, while Bella is
doomed to age like a normal human.

In this sequel, author Stephenie Meyer starts out strong. For example, she offers some foreshadowing when Bella and
Edward discuss Romeo and Juliet for a school assignment. Also, Meyer masterfully set up a potentially epic conflict that must
be resolved in the next book. I'm already on the edge of my seat waiting for that one.

Unfortunately, NEW MOON did not captivate me and keep me awake way too late the way its predecessor did. It was
largely lacking in the two things I liked best about the first book. First, the vampiric Cullen family did not feature as
prominently here. Yes, Bella managed to make other unusual friends, but these new pals were not as compelling as the eternal
Cullens.

The other thing I missed in NEW MOON was that it did not emphasize the heroine's stumbling, bumbling klutziness. That
aspect of her character made her endearing in the first novel, but while it existed here to some degree, it did not provide the
same level of comic relief that I enjoyed in TWILIGHT. Overall this felt like a more serious book.

NEW MOON's rating doubtless suffered from the extraordinary expectations created by TWILIGHT. I loved NEW
MOON's beginning and its end, but I only liked the middle. Despite the criticisms, this is an intriguing tale that I highly
recommend. And I can't wait to see what happens next.