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No real point in going into depth over this one. The motivations are stupid, the characters stagnant (with one blazing exception - more on that in a minute.) Bella-as-everygirl-1st-person-narrator worked in the first book, when it was all about discovery. Now that the jig is up, though, she comes across as boring, petulant and self-obsessed, and only slightly outdistanced in those stakes by the hallowed Edward. The reason I gave it as high a rating as I did is a.) it's still compulsive reading, even if it is literary junk-food and b.) Jacob Black.

Ah, Jacob Black. A very wise (and well-known) author once told me that if a minor character starts speaking to you, you should do a U-turn and go with it. I wish Meyer had done that here. I know you all love Edward, but Jacob is just so much more interesting. And I don't think it would have taken much writing for him to usurp Edward as the romantic interest. Besides, Bella is much more dynamic as a character when she's w/ Jacob. I think her fixation w/ Edward made sense in the first book, but not so much here.

Read it, but don't expect edification...

The second novel in this imaginative reworking of the vampire fable set amongst the woods of Washington State.

Unllike its predecessor, this novel moves away from the pressures of fitting in to high school and explores the response to rejected loves and the breakup of passionate relationships. We see the world through the eyes of Bella Swann, a girl who has lost the love of her life and will risk her own to recover what she has lost. The book explores movingly her feelings of suicicidal desperation and rejection and show how she reaches out for comfort and companionship. Tied in with this emotional journey is a supernatural yarn which matches werewolves against vampires and which contrasts the human characteristics of both species.

The book is moving and well written and Bella's character is a strong and convincing narrator, a character still struggling to work out her relationships with her peers and her parents. However, as the book moves away from the town of Forks for a brief trip to Italy, it becomes less forceful, the dramatic tension evaporates and it moves to a rather sluggish conclusion.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the vampire genre and am looking forward to reading further novels in this series.

Reality takes some strange bends around the small rural town near the ocean where Bella, an eighteen year old senior in high school, lives with her father, Charlie, a sheriff. Bella finds herself caught between the world of vampires and a significant other among them and a world of Indian legends come to life. The conflicts and drama do create many moments of frightful suspense, and teenage love takes new twists. Bella narrates the story and much of the book is devoted in quite an effective fashion to her emotional responses to events. More details would ruin the plot, so get the book for those. It's a fun read.Translator's Kiss

When I read Twilight, I loved it so much; I was really excited about readig the sequel. But when I did manage to read it, this book, I was really disappointed. I found most of it quite dull and as I read more of it, it got worse. Sorry, but this book is lucky I gave it two stars.

Twilight left us knowing that Edward and Bella were together and in love, and all that malarky. New Moon starts off with more of the same. But as their relationship deepens, and they begin to consider their future together, things start to fall apart. They realise that things between them will never be simple. They have more than just themselves to think about.

Things start to kick off when Edward and the rest of the Cullens leave Forks, rendering Bella completely heartbroken. Having told her he no longer wants to be with her, he disappears. Bella completely falls to pieces, much to the despair of her father, Charlie. She sinks deeper and deeper into her own little world, and feels she can't go on without Edward. Things eventually start to look up when Jacob Black, the son of Charlie's good friend Billy Black, arrives back in Bella's life. They strike up a friendship, and Bella slowly starts to realise that life can go on without Edward. She is still heartbroken, but she is starting to have a life again, instead of mourning for her loss.

However, things start to become complicated again when Jacob develops feelings for her. Bella likes Jacob immensely, but he isn't Edward. After telling him straight that she only wants to be friends with him, Bella and Jacob have a fun and fulfilling friendship, which delights both of their fathers. But as always with Bella, things are never straightforward. After a series of death defying stunts, she finds herself in the company of vampires once more...

New Moon is good and bad. It's a fabulous follow on from Twilight, but I started to get really irritated by Bella's behaviour. I know it was there to demonstrate how empty she felt without Edward and the Cullens but I often felt myself wanting to shout at her to pull herself together. Jacob is a great character because he helps Bella becomes a person again, and start living life. But I started to feel really sorry for him as it was obvious that Bella would never see him as any more than a friend. Then as the plot thickened, I felt myself becoming hopeful for him once again as the pair grew closer.

It improved for me once Bella got over the main part of her moping around, because that was drawn out a bit much for me. But I suppose given that this book is just a small part of a much longer story, it needed to have its own time scale.

Basically, this book is a no-brainer. If you've read Twilight and enjoyed it, you need to read this, and all the others that follow on. It's compulsive enough to want to know the rest of the story. I should know; as soon as I put this one down, I found myself reaching for the next one in the series...