New Moon

New Moon is the 2nd book in the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. I have to admit, I enjoyed this book more than Twilight. Although, I'm not sure why.

The story begins with Bella dreading her 18th birthday. The older she becomes, Edward will still be a "17 year old" boy. This troubles Bella and intensifies her desire to become a vampire. Much to her chagrin, she agrees to having a birthday celebration at Edward's house with his family. During the event, something happens and causes Edward to rethink their relationship.

Edward and his family leave Forks, sending Bella spiraling into depression. Her father becomes so worried about her, that he considers scheduling a psych eval for her. Bella slowly starts to re-emerge and attempts to move on without Edward. Which leads her to Jacob.

Bella finds herself leaning on Jacob to fill the void of Edward and Jacob's feelings for Bella continues to grow. Over the course of their relationship, we discover Jacob's secret (which isn't hard to figure out if you paid close attention to Jacob's story about the "cold ones" in Twilight). When Bella discovers the secret, she begins to understand the hatred Jacob has for Edward and the Cullens.

I won't say much more so I won't risk revealing too much of the plot. I will say that I enjoyed this book, so much so that I stayed up until 3:00 a.m. to finish it. I liked that Jacob was more prominent in this book. I thought Twilight was a good introduction to his character which led to more character development in New Moon.

I'm on the fence about Bella though. I'm just not sure if I like her. She's very manipulative and selfish. It's all about her relationship with Edward and she easily disregards other people in her life. Am I on Team Edward or Team Jacob? Well, the verdict is still out on that one. (4/5)