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I assume that you have either read the first novel (you big girl), or that your girlfriend forced you to watch the movie with her. Either way, you are now a "Twi-Guy", welcome to the club.
In the first book, we saw Bella Swan exile herself to the dreary town of Forks expecting the small town to be just as dull as the weather. This is before she meets the local vegetarian-vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen. Falling in love with a vampire obviously has its drawbacks and everything goes to pieces when a group of "normal" vampires decided to visit Forks (Yeah, I'll admit, I am using the word "normal" rather loosely here). James decides that killing Bella would be good fun and after an elaborate game of cat and mouse, he manages to lure Bella into his clutches. Edward and the rest of the Cullens intervene in the nick of time and manage to save Bella. James isn't so fortunate and is killed by the Cullens.
New Moon kicks off on Bella's 18th birthday, much to her dismay. All Bella wants for her birthday is for everyone to pretend that it's not her birthday. Unfortunately for her, there is a family of vampires that have not been able to celebrate a human birthday in decades. She gets forced into attending a party at the Cullen house and that is where everything goes to pieces.
Bella cuts her finger while opening a gift and Jasper loses control and attempts to attack her. The Cullens decide to leave Forks and Edward tells Bella that he doesn't want her anymore. He goes so far as to erase all proof of his existence from her life and she spirals into depression.
Despite the hurt it causes her, Bella clings to her memories of Edward and she starts hearing his voice when she does something dangerous. This leads her to buy two broken old motorcycles and she turns to her friend Jacob Black to help her repair them. Jacob slowly starts to fill the gap that Edward left in Bella's life and all is going well until Jacob suddenly starts avoiding Bella.
Bella tries desperately to cling to her friendship with Jacob as it is all that keeps her from falling back into depression. Bella thinks that a cult is responsible for Jacob's behaviour but she soon learns that the Cullens aren't the only mythical friends she has as Jacob and his friends have mythical qualities too. Mythical qualities that come in very handy when Victoria and Laurent return to Forks to avenge James by killing Bella.
Amid all the danger and confusion in Bella's life, Alice unexpectedly appears in Forks and suddenly Bella has to choose between losing Jacob and saving Edward's life.
Much like Twilight, New Moon starts off at quite a slow pace and the action increases dramatically towards the end. Despite the real action only occuring towards the end of the book, I still struggled to put it down. I couldn't help getting caught up in Bella's day to day life. Nothing about it is mundane and I needed to satiate my thirst by barrelling headlong into the book.
In the beginning Bella is so worried about her birthday that you would swear she was turning 30, not 18. As usual, Bella is worrying about trivial things that don't make sense to us guys and the interaction between her and Edward is highly amusing. However, that is where the fun ends. Remember how I said that one really connects with the characters and their emotions when reading Twilight? Well, unfortunately Stephenie Meyer doesn't disappoint on that front with New Moon.
If you are wondering why I said "unfortunately", fast forward to the break up. Oh yes. If you have ever had your heart broken, then reading the next 100 pages or so won't be fun in the least. It felt like I was having my heart broken as opposed to it happening to Bella.
How could you do this to me Edward Cullen!? After everything we've been through!? How!?
As annoying as the whole thing is, deep down you know Edward is only leaving because he thinks it will protect Bella. Which is even more annoying because you feel like smacking him around a bit to make him come to his senses. Either way, you know he'll be back.
When Bella later turns to Jacob it feels like she is cheating on Edward and that opportunistic little mongrel Jacob jumps at the chance to cosy up to Bella (Yeah, I don't like Jacob much. If you're on Team Jacob, then bite me). Needless to say, Stephenie manages to evoke many strong emotions with her writing. While the majority of the book will make you want to put on some Dashboard Confessional and reach for your razor blades, there is a slight reprieve later on when Bella abandons Jacob to run off and save Edward. Yes, unlikely as it may seem, bungling Bella will save the superhuman Edward.
I think over all New Moon is the the book I enjoyed least out of the series. Don't get me wrong, it is very well written and Stephenie really does convey the emotions of the characters flawlessly, but the first half of the book literally made me depressed for a whole day, whereas the other books did not. The lack of "Cullen-ness" in the book was also definitely evident as it lacks many of the inside jokes I have come to know and love.
Don't let that deter you though. It is an excellent book and well worth the read. It's not Stephenie's fault that she is just a bit too good at her craft. If it's any consolation, there is a huge fight scene in Eclipse and none of the story will make sense unless you read New Moon first. So get cracking!
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