Fabulous reads – Vampire novel’s addictiveness sinks in

New Moon (Twilight 2), Stephanie Meyer, ISBN: 9780316160193

I HAVE always been #TeamJacob, so it is no surprise that I enjoyed the second installment of Stephanie Meyer’s vampire-themed fantasy romance novels, New Moon, slightly more that the first.

The story picks up from where teen(ish) vampire, Edward Cullen forced his human girlfriend, Bella Swan to begrudgingly attend their school’s ball and now he and his vampire family also force her to take part in another one of the human celebrations that she hates so much – her 18th birthday.

What could go wrong?
Apparently, a lot. Ditzy Bella cuts her finger on some wrapping paper and poor Jasper, the newest of the ‘vegetarian’ Cullen coven is overwhelmed by the smell of her blood.

He loses control and tries to kill her. Edward, who was able to protect her, realises how dangerous it is for Bella in his world and breaks up with her. This throws Bella into a deep depression. After months mourning, she finally tries to find meaning in her life through her childhood friend, Jacob Black.

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But he has his own secret that could threaten their relationship.

As Jacob starts pulling away from her, Bella starts sinking back into the black hole and desperately tries to keep Jacob in her life.

At least I can say the author is consistent as Bella is still an unlikable character. And there was very little character development.

We have all gone through breakups – cried and wallowed in self pity – but Bella’s response to Edward’s departure was incredibly unhealthy. She isolated herself, experienced terrifying nightmares and stopped eating. Eventually she ends up using Jacob to live dangerously so that she can hallucinate visions of Edward.

Without Edward, there is nothing interesting about Bella. The author does not allow her to be or have any interest outside of him.

However, Jacob’s character is even more loveable in the books than in the movies. His humour, selflessness and puppy love crush on Bella is infatuating.

Despite my dislike for Bella, and the knowledge of how the story ends, I found myself rooting for the two of them. Let’s see what the third chapter in the series holds.

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