In Which I Suffer Through New Moon: Chapter 5 -- Cheater · 12:39pm Mar 11th, 2018
A little introspection is amazing. This chapter opens in a similar way to the previous one, with Bella still pining over Edward. But last chapter, she was doing everything she could to avoid thinking about him, so she came off as dull and insufferable. Here, she actually takes stock of her situation and what she should do about it. I still can’t say I sympathize with her — FOUR MONTHS — but I no longer want to beat her head into paste against a wall.
It’s somewhat late in the day, and she’s working at the sporting goods store Mike’s family owns. The only two patrons left are two men trying to one-up each other with trail tails, one going on about this enormous bear he saw recently. FORESHADOWING. Mike suggests Bella leave early, and when she does, she meanders around Forks in her truck, thinking. She’s had nightmares ever since Edward left, nightmares of wandering through a forest looking for something, only to realize there’s nothing there for her, upon which she wakes up screaming. She compares the pain she feels to a hole in her chest with ragged edges. Personally, I don’t think that metaphor’s half-bad (even though it gets reused over and over in the rest of the book). In fact, none of the writing here is bad, in itself. If this was how Bella acted in the week after Edward left, rather than MONTHS later, it’d be alright. (Except for one line, where, emphasis mine…)
I didn’t want to remember the forest. Even as I shuddered away from the images, I felt my eyes fill with tears and the aching begin around the edges of the hole in my chest. I took one hand from the steering wheel and wrapped it around my torso to hold it in one piece.
Eventually, Bella gets angry. Edward promised it’d be as if he never existed, but she still has the memories. It was a promise he’d never be able to keep from the moment he made it. And then she decides that, if he couldn’t keep his promise, why does she have to keep hers? She’ll be stupid and reckless, to balance things out. Unfortunately…
I laughed humorlessly to myself, still gasping for air. Reckless in Forks — now there was a hopeless proposition.
Bella suddenly recognizes the area she’s in. On the other side of the street, a family’s selling their two old motorcycles. What better way to be stupid and reckless than on a motorcycle? Particularly on the blind turns in the Washington forest. She goes to the house and learns that the motorcycles don’t work, but they also don’t cost anything. She only wants one, but the family gives her both for parts. While thinking about how/if she’ll get them fixed, her thoughts wander to her truck, how it never gave her any problems ever since Charlie got it from Billy. Then she remembers that Billy’s Jacob’s father, and Jacob works on cars. She goes out to meet him…
…and something amazing happens.
Bella’s and Jacob’s interactions are good, no caveats. Physical descriptions are kept to a minimum. They’re not a Thing yet, so there’s no lovey-dovey crap. By Celestia, they actually have chemistry. You know how Bella and Edward “bonded” over their physical attributes? Jacob and Bella bond over motorcycles. It works.
When Jacob takes up the idea of fixing the bikes eagerly, Bella says she’ll pay him. Jacob refuses, since he actually wants to help, so Bella proposes a trade: she has two bikes, so Jacob can keep one of them and teach her how to ride. In fact, when Jacob identifies one of the bikes as potentially valuable once fixed, she says that one’s his. Bella also wants to keep the project a secret from Charlie, so it also needs to be a secret from Billy. Jacob doesn’t mind; rebellious teenagers, right? Finally, Bella offers to pick up any parts Jacob needs. So we end on a bit of genuine, fluffy-but-not-overbearing human interacti-
Jacob was a gift from the gods.
GAH! You were so close. You were so close to ending the chapter on a high note! But, holy crap, nothing was added to the Clinginess Meter.
Clinginess Meter: 23 x 2
After the last chapter, damn was this a breath of fresh air. Bella and Jacob talking about what they’ll do about the motorcycles is actually enjoyable and their secrecy about it in relation to their parents means they feel like rebellious teenagers. If the whole book was like this, it’d be good. Sadly, this level of quality doesn’t stay (although — thank heavens — it never gets as bad as the last chapter).
I hate the title of this chapter. You can’t cheat on someone if you aren’t currently in a relationship with them. And if it’s about that promise, then A: she never actually committed to it, she just stood there gasping like a fish while he gave her instructions, and B: who cares what he told her four months ago, he doesn’t get to dictate her entire future.
Wait, what?
Wait, what?
You mean Meyer can write teenagers who aren't endocrine systems with mouths? I can't help but imagine her editor (if any) looking at this chapter and telling her, "This! All of this! Where was this last book?"
To which Stephanie could've justifiably said, "What are my sales numbers again?"
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Savor it while you can. This is the best-written part of their relationship.
Holy shit, you mean there's something to Team Jacob after all? :O
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For now, at least. He gets clingy and entitled as the series continues. Personally, I'm Team Tyler's Van. (Or Team Charlie, if I have to root for a person.)
...huh
I was not expecting good things out of this book. Well, then.
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Those are pretty valid points, I would agree.