#57 - "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer

Now that I've read New Moon (2006), I'm halfway through Stephenie Meyer's teenage vampire romance series, and I have to say I found it a quick and entertaining read. Not only did I like New Moon better than Twilight (this might be only because I accidentally read the entire plot of Twilight on Wikipedia before I even picked up the book, which lessened the suspense some), but at least right now--being two books in on each series--I like the Twilight series better than Charlaine Harris's vampire series.

I don't have too much to say about New Moon. I realize that it's a pretty superficial work, riding along on it's tween wish fulfillment and the question of how Bella Swan will come out in the end. And sure, it's a little long in places, and you just have to accept some iffy plot lines and character developments, but it doesn't annoy me enough to harbor any animosity towards the writer or the characters. As long as I don't go in expecting some great literature, I can be fully entertained in a guilty pleasure sort of way.

The main characters have managed a surprising lack of development in the five hundred pages of New Moon and they are in much the same position they were in at the end of Twilight. The story mainly revolves around Jacob's life and Bella and Jacob's closer friendship; probably because there wouldn't be much to write about if Edward were around the entire book. Sure the noose is tightening around the characters--forcing Bella towards the choice of becoming a vampire, but she's far from becoming undead any time soon. I'm pretty much reading these books to find out what happens in the end, so I'll be disappointed if Meyer somehow avoids these confrontations that she's been forecasting.