New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) Review

I really don't have as much time to read as I would like, so when I do read several things happen. I either lose patience with poorly written books or I devour them up sort of like a group of teenagers on a pizza.  New Moon, book 2 in the Twilight Saga was one of those that, to be honest, had me confused.  I read it quickly, I think in about 2 days.  Let me explain, I am a WAHM, I have 4 children and a very busy schedule, so if I read New Moon in 2 days there must have been something done right don't you think?  

New Moon opens with what can only be described at the birthday party from you know where.  A small cut on Bella causes members of Edward's vampire family to go into a frenzy.  As a result, Edward in an effort to protect the disaster prone Bella from herself and being torn apart by vampires decides that they will all leave her alone. 

After pulling herself from a deep, dark depression mostly be rebounding by spending time with Jacob and also acting out with irresponsible and dangerous behaviour.  Being dangerous brings out the voice of Edward in her head, so of course in an effort to stay "closer" to him or to continue to hear his voice, she acts out even more, with her action culminating in the belief by Edward that she was dead. 

As a result Edward decides to die himself, but I won't spoil the story by telling you more. 

As others have stated, Edward and Bella are the Romeo and Juliet of modern day love, but I can't really compare Stephanie Meyer to Shakespeare.  I can say that this is a love story with enough drama to keep you involved, so much that you don't want to put the book down. While the writing could be better, this author does find a way with her descriptive phrases and dramatic approach to keep you interested in the story as well as having almost an emotional response to this love story.  

How will it end? Will Bella keep Edward from vampire death?  Will she remain with Jacob? How does the whole werewolf storyline begin and will it end with the leaving of the vampires?  Does the Cullen family return and where does the relationship go from here? 

While New Moon  was a quick read, for me it was more like a bag of Jelly Belly beans.  I want to eat the whole bag at once but at the end I feel a little sick.  There are many aspects of the book that make you feel that way.  At times Bella is so pathetic and childish I can only hope that any teenage girl reading the book would want to kick her in the behind and make her grow up.  Heartbreak occurs and it's how we handle it that matters. 

The character of Jacob does shine in New Moon - and I think many readers will look forward to seeing more of him in books 3 (Eclipse)  and 4 (Breaking Dawn), I know I did, thanks to the generous nature of GigiandAdonai who made sure I didn't miss a book in this series. But that, is another review. 

Would I recommend?  -- that depends.  My 14 yr old has no desire to read it.