Twilight: Isabella Swan (Bella)leaves sunny Arizona and moves to the most dreary place on earth: Forks, Seattle. Little does she know that she's moved to a town full of mythical creatures and lands herself in the middle of a romance with sexy vampire Edward Cullen.
New Moon: Fighting off despair and reaching for any connection to the now absent Edward, Bella renews her friendship with Jacob Black at the nearby Quileute reservation, La Push. When Jacob starts to push Bella away in favor of the local La Push gang of boys will she be able to uncover what hold they have over him? And who will she choose she do when the Cullens' unexpectedly return to Forks, Edward or Jacob?
The middle schoolers I read Uglies with mentioned this book and I devoured it. I read both in a matter of a week and a half.
Twilight The first four or five chapters were slow going, but then the pace picks up and is a very fast read. The star-crossed lovers element is very heavy in this book and my one complaint is that too much time was spent building the relationship between Bella and Edward. It was just more of the same in each new situation only the place changed. The pages would have been better spent building up to the major plot action of James (I won't spoil it). While it explained very concisely I think the suspense would have been greater if James just doesn't drop in on one page and the next page the action part of the plot kicks in.
A minor complaint, after reading on Stephanie Meyer's website about the prom dresses the girls wear at the end of the book: What high school kid in their right mind would wear these dresses? What high school girl outside of Hollywood has access to couture?
New Moon: I'm on team Jake. That's all I can say. Edward left Bella with some nonsense about "I don't really love you. I don't really want you." I understand why Bella believes him, but why she would pine for him for months when they only went out for about 6 months as it was? Jake on the other hand makes no bones about liking Bella, wanting her as a girlfriend and being there for her.
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It's only when she picks Edward over him that Jacob breaks his promise to Bella about always being there for her. It also annoys me that Bella runs off to save Edward and then forgives him so quickly. I just wish she'd be a little stronger.
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The romantic nature of the book will appeal more to girls than boys. The violence is very mild, no language, only sexual tension, and Bella's only drug use is superfluous cough syrup which she feels guilty for taking. 7th grade and up.
