Another installment of teen angst and dramatic paranormal romance—this one leaned heavily into the love triangle trope and unfortunately didn’t deliver much beyond that. While there were moments I enjoyed, overall the book felt lackluster, tedious, and far too drawn out for how little actually happened. It seriously needed more action to keep things interesting; instead, it dragged along until about the 75% mark, when something finally sparked a little excitement. This could’ve been cut by 200 pages. 

Bella remains insufferable. Jacob, on the other hand, has become my favorite character. He’s too kind for his own good and absolutely didn’t deserve the way Bella treated him. Edward? Barely present. It honestly felt like a rehash of book one—except instead of James hunting Bella, now it’s his vengeful girlfriend, Victoria. Not exactly a thrilling plot twist.

However, I did really enjoy the chemistry between Jacob and Bella. Their friendship, the way he helped her heal and protected her, had so much more emotional weight than anything with Edward. If I’d read this back in the day, I definitely would have been Team Jacob. He got the short end of the stick, and it was frustrating to watch.

Pacing was a real struggle. The book was unnecessarily long and bogged down with repetitive internal monologues and chunky paragraphs that I found myself skimming. I get that this is YA and aimed at teens, but I also love good YA fantasy that anyone of any age can read and enjoy. This felt overly dramatic, often absurd, and full of cheesy dialogue and eye-roll-worthy moments.

That said… is it addicting? Yep. Despite my many frustrations, I’ll continue with the series—though with some hesitation. This is my first time reading it, and I still don’t fully understand the hype. Here’s hoping the next one picks up the pace and gives Jacob the justice he deserves.

**This book is part of a Twilight Saga real-time reaction episode, which you can listen to here.