I did not like it, I did not like it at all! True lovers should never be separated. (Err – yes this is the romantic me speaking). The eternal couple Edward and Bella from Twilight are separated for such a long time in this second instalment of Stephanie Meyer’s the Twilight Saga – New Moon – that I had half a mind to throw the book out of the window. Thankfully, I turned the page and Edward was safely returned to the story and the romantic me was quieted.
When you are in love, the love of your life becomes a Greek god or goddess. You end up thinking “ohh s/he is too good for me. Am I really worthy of him/her?” and with this little seed of doubt complications begin.
In “New Moon” Bella thinks Edward is too perfect for her. He is good at “everything”. He is beautiful, strong, fast, and musically talented and as if these weren’t enough he is immortal! Edward on the other hand, thinks Bella is too good for him. She is human, compassionate, fragile the very things that attracted him towards her. And he – he is such a monster! A bloodsucking one at that. Yes there is the option of making her like him, with just a tiny bite she could become like him – a vampire. And she has been begging him to make her like him too.
But Edward has major concerns with that, he does not want her to be eternally damned like him. He also does not see himself living beyond her lifetime. He intended to go “irritate” the Volturi – the vampire royalty who have the ability to kill other vampires.
Then again, Bella once wakes up from a horrific dream where she sees herself as a very old woman and Edward next to her is still 17. She just can’t reconcile herself to this image which may be a reality one day.
With all these thoughts churning in their minds how can there not be misunderstandings? Due to the slightest of misunderstandings, Edward breaks up with Bella thinking it is the best for her. Thinking she will get over him and be able to get on with her “human” life. Ah, but what does he know of the unbearable ache a lost love leaves behind?
Love is strong but it can be so fragile also. They say:
"Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful."
The very thing that ennobles love pains the human heart so much that it is worse than physical pain. Of course this does not mean that Edward’s pain of leaving Bella is any less just because he is a vampire.
“New Moon” is all about this separation of Edward and Bella so in love with each other. How they try to survive the separation and how they come right back to each other.
How can anyone ever forget one’s first love? No matter how many distractions come along the way, that first true love will always be special. However, unlike us everyday people who bury the wounds of our first love deep within our hearts, and move on to give a sense of normalcy for people around us; Edward and Bella with a little help from lady luck find each other again.
The beauty of this book is the very real descriptions of the aching heart – a lover’s lonely hell. It tends to drag a bit at a few places but yet readable. Bella feeling guilty for getting close to Jacob when Edward is gone, her feeling as if she were violating the very memories of the pure love she has for Edward – are beautifully described by Stephanie Meyer.
On the story front – Jacob Black, her best friend from the Indian reservation, a Quileute has turned into a werewolf – the arch enemy of Vampires. And at Forks, there are clearly drawn boundaries between vampire territory and werewolf territory based on an ancient treaty between them. Bella now finds herself straddling between these two worlds of werewolf and vampire. And also about the implications her decision to be a vampire will have not just on her life, but the larger group of vampires and werewolves around her. Until now, she has been friends with and in the good books of both parties but all that is about to change now (and this is what I am eager to find out from the next book “Eclipse”).
I would like to end with my favorite thoughts of Bella from this book. This is when she has just discovered Jacob Black is now capable of turning into a werewolf when he chooses:
What kind of a place was this? Could a world really exist where ancient legends went wandering around the borders of tiny insignificant towns facing down mythical monsters? Did this mean ever impossible fairy tale was grounded somewhere in absolute truth?
Verdict: If you read Twilight, don’t you want to read through?
Rating: 3/5
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