Book Review - "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer (spoilers)

I was having issues with New Moon as I was reading it. Now that I've finished it, the issues are still there and there are possibly more.

I am bothered by Bella's willingness to lose herself for her first love at the age of 17. I'm bothered by her recklessness and lack of self-preservation because he's gone. I'm bothered by the fact that she hasn't told her parents about Edward being a vampire. The parents are portrayed as hapless caricatures who need to be taken care of by Bella. I don't like that these are traits attributed to a heroine with which teen-aged girls are supposed to identify.

But then again, I'm 45 not 16. I'm probably over-thinking it.

Now, from a writing perspective, I found the first part of the book - the part where she's depressed - to be way too long. OK, she's sad - we get it! That section could have been edited a lot and made the book less plodding.

IMO, without Edward the story loses a lot of its appeal. Basically I don't really like Bella, particularly when she's without Edward. She's boring and self-centered and pretty much annoying. And she's one dimensional - to borrow from "Jerry McGuire", Edward *completes her*.

I found the Jacob Black character to be a forced complication. His presence in Bella's life is completely unnecessary, as evidenced when Edward finally returns on the scene and Black disappears for a while. I didn't care. I didn't miss him, and was somewhat disconcerted upon his return.

The story picked up considerably when Alice reappears and the eventual return of Edward begins. I think Alice is a fascinating character with a great back story and potentially many layers. The introduction of the Volturi was cool - I think that's going to be an interesting component to the series.

And finally we see the Cullen family again. I love them. I hope we get to learn more about the other family members as the series progresses. At this point, as far as I'm concerned the series can focus on them and leave Bella with Jacob!

I've started Eclipse, let's see how that goes.