Reading New Moon: Chapter 3 (The End)

400 Responses

1. I feel your pain mate – yes, intended cheesy-ness there. But seriously, I understand exactly what you mean. That is one of the hardests chapters of a book I have ever read. I’ve read before you snack while reading, well I suggest chocolate for a bit. It kept me going, lol.

2. also, about you saying that there is only one main character… there is two… but it doesn’t surface for a couple more chapters…
   there is bella and edward
   then there is bella and _____
   both are my favorite characters

3. I feel for you! When I read this chapter I absolutely died. Not only that, the next few chapters were so horrible that for the first time ever a book actually made me cry!

4. Actually, this was one of my favorite chapters in New Moon. People may hate me for that but it’s true. It may have been a terribly melancholy chapter but the emotion of it was so intense it became a favorite.

5. I think that it is hi-larious that all of these commenters remember where they were the first time that they read NM chapter 3. I remember too, I was in Misery. NM is really hard to read, but probably the best writen out of the 3. Keep reading, my friend!! ps. I am Team Twilight. Any ‘twilight’ man is fine by me…

6. when I read that chapter I think I stopped really processing any of the words when he said that he didn’t want Bella anymore. and I got so depressed!!! when I was with my friends (who are hysterical when altogether) I never laughed or smiled and I couldn’t really figure out why I like Edward, and I was devistated he left but it wasn’t really that. I think you are completly right about how Edward and Bella really are one character because… the book is almost… empty I guess without Edward and Bella being together. I don’t think I did a very good job explaining that so sorry if it makes abosolutly no sense!!!

7. im re-reading New Moon(again) and im on the same chapter as you, but im prob. going to finish the book before you 😛 and yeah once again i cried wen Edward left.. wen i first read New Moon, none of my friends told me anything abt it so it caught me off guard and totally didnt expect that anyone, especially Edward, would leave. But reading it again and knowing wat happens shuldnt surprise me, so i dont know why it still makes me cry. I wanna give you a hug! cuz we ALL had to read that chapter and it was hard so we understand that this post wont be humorous. Anyways.. keep on reading! I was hoping you would finish all 3 books before Breaking Dawn comes out but i can see that wont happen ^_^

8. this is the chapter that made half the world stay up late and then half of them wanted to kill an auther the other half wanted to kill a vampire and a small percentage wanted to kill themselves

9. This is the sadded chapter out of all the books so far. (yes even sadder than that one in eclipse dont worry im not saying anything) I cried for at least twenty minutes. It really makes you see how MUCH bella and edward are together and how much they love each other. In a way I think Stephenie had to do this.(im sure she didn’t want to) Edward only does this because he loves bella so much he’s willing to hurt himself by leaving.(you don’t think he wanted to do you!!!????) But Kaleb keep reading I dont like new moon as much as the others but I read it again because its interesting to see how Bella changes and still finds a way to be herself. I understand what you mean about splitting half the main character though. It gets a liitle better as you go on but I hope you are a fan of _____(EWWWW). Anyway please keep reading and by the way I’m glad it wasn’t a funny post this chapter is much to serious for that and Im glag you could keep the same tone as the book.

10. It is so sad! I remember I stayed up reading oit too like everyone else after I had my borrowed edition form my friend. I was also reading it on the night of our Homecoming Game so I was stressed all the next day while getting ready for the dnace with my friends and wondering what was going to happen.

11. Reading your commentary about Chapter 3. I felt the pain all over again. Yes Kaleb I agree, Edwards sudden shift in mood left me restless, and downright worried. It read so believable.. I felt he left me right along Bella.
    *sigh.. memories.

12. I’ve yet to meet anyone – male or female – who could make it through the dreaded Chapter 3 of New Moon without utterly breaking down. Personally, I took Edward’s leaving very hard. I couldn’t see Bella without Edward. At all. Even now, looking back over that book, I can’t see anything in my mind like I usually do when I read. Instead, a black abyss took over. I only WISH I was exaggerating.

13. Yo! Remember me? You emailed me a few chapters of your book. I don’t know when it will come out here where I live but since you were kind enough to let me see it, I have to say it’s a very well written book, well, the few chapters that I got to read, it left me wanting more lol
    Congratulations for it 🙂

14. Kaleb, I’ve GOT to know…did you flip to the back of the book to see if/when Edward would return? Because that’s what everyone I know did, just as a coping mechanism.

15. Yeah, I remember how I felt after reading chapter three. I was sobbing so hard I couldn’t breathe and I was in a weird mood until I finished the book and things were better. Keep reading, don’t give up! It isn’t the end, remember there is a third book so life does continue, even when it’s hard (and trust me when I say it was hard for EVERY character involved).

16. I am so, so sorry.
    We’ve all been through this too. I remember my first time reading new moon.
    You seem very perceptive about Eddy’s motivation.
    Remember, life goes on. no matter how much it sucks without Edward and Bella together. We’re here for you. *hugs*

    I don’t think I slept the whole time i was reading New Moon. nightmares, you know…
    lol. i think i need a life.
    but happy reading!

17. omg…i was crying when he said those three words….i thought he was playing around or something…but at the end he was really leaving….my mom was worried when she saw me sobbing like crazy she was like “honey what’s wrong?” and i screamed “EDWARD LEFT BELLA!” she was laughing she goes “steph its only a book” i was ofended lol…im like i dont care…he left her..and he made…a promise that he wouldnt leave her…..i cried for 5 days….just thinking about makes me want to cry… :'(

18. Don’t forget that we’re all here for you. I actually kinda just curled up after I read that chapter and stared at the wall. I guess that was my way of dealing with the sadness

    Things will get better eventually. Hang in there!

19. Oh Kaleb… I feel your pain. Every time I read this chapter, I cry. Chronologically cry more every time. It’s sad. Heartbreaking in every sense possible. I’m so sorry you had to read it. Just thinking about it… makes me cry so much. The first time, I cried for like… every 3 seconds, since I couldn’t get my mind off it. I truly hate the part Bella says, “… you … don’t … want … me ..?’ and Edward says, “No.”
    That takes my tears to agony, and I cry (so it seems) endlessly.

    Yet again, I’m so sorry you had to read this. We are here for you:)

20. Aww, this chapter made me so depressed when i first read it. Ohhh dear, I was like a mindless zombie walking around at school….shukks.
    But yeah I am currently re-reading New Moon, because I want to refresh on some things before reading Breaking Dawn.
    I as well just finished this chapter yesterday and it made me as depressed as the first time =[
    hmph.

21. Kaleb, thank you for sharing so honestly with us. Also, thank you…all 268 people who have commented. This chapter killed me!! I cried and cried and cried and STILL cry.
    I feel like this is a little support group!!

22. I think the difference btw bella and edwards relationship and bella and jacobs relationship is most clearly evident in this chapter. Bella needs edward in order to be whole, edward completes her and she cannot function without him in her life. Jacob adds to her, makes her life bigger and brighter, but he doesn’t fix anything in her. She is complete without him. He really is healthier that way. He is like a chocolate bar while edward is like cocaine. 🙂 You can ditch the candy but the drugs become integral to you once you’re addicted (NOT from personal experience :P!!). (oh and Kaleb has mentioned Jacob many times and clearly knows his character evolves so I hope I’m not giving anything away by my little thought ramble)

23. >.X Thanks for your feels on the chapter. And you’re totally right. We don’t read the book just for Edward or Bella, but we read them for of the them. I’ve read New Moon 7 times, and each time I read that chapter I cry, a lot. I don’t even know how you could stop reading. Each time I’ve read that book I couldn’t put it down until it ended. You can imagine I never got much sleep when reading it.

24. for the fist time ever i was finaly able to read this chapter with out crying (finaly after like 15th time of reading the book!) it really is the saddest thing. but i have to say that even though i love edward, i find myself loving Jacob more! so just wait and see what happens, cuz its good!

25. oh man! I was crying when i finished that chapter. I had gone through a break up before reading it, not right before but maybe 1 yr before, with a guy I was in love with, the first and so far only guy I ever loved and so I knew what the signs were. When Edawrd started acting that way I KNEW it was going to happen….

    saddest chapter ever.

26. We all *sniff* have to go through this chapter. And we all feel what Bella feels.

    🙁

    You had to find out

27. 🙁 *everyone group (non creepy) hug* Even though I don’t like Bella that much this chapter makes me really sad. I just put the book down and stay in my room for a while…

28. God, that chapter had me in tears- and understand this, I am not a crying person. It was kind of akward because it was in the middle of math that the devastation hit me, and my guy friend Jake was trying to comfort me… well lets just leave it at the fact that it was akward

29. I’ve been reading your posts for a long time now, but have yet to comment…but for this chapter, I couldn’t resist. What you said about loosing half of the main character is exactly what I felt. I’d avoided reading Twilight for a long time because I wasn’t really into romances…I thought they were over dramatic and just silly. But one Christmas break, my cousin literally forced me to read it–by reading it out loud every time I was in the room…and I was hooked. For the dreaded drive home after break–nearly 13 hours in the car from Michigan to South Carolina…I made my mom stop at a bookstore so I could read New Moon on the way. And then I read chapter 3. For the rest of the trip, I sulked. Despite the absolute boredom of driving a cross-country route you’ve seen a million times before, with no iPod I might add, I refused to read any more of New Moon because I was so upset. But then my bookworm instincts got the better of me when we got home and I did read it. I can’t say any more without spoiling it….but be ready for what I suppose you could say is a mighty big twist.

30. And now you are beginning to see why so many of us are desperately awaiting Breaking Dawn. We are not comfortable in our own lives because we feel as though we have been living this Twilight life and a piece of us is incomplete until we know what happens next! I have never obsessed about anything as much as this series. I can’t stop talking about it, these blogsites are totally unnatural for me and now I’ve managed to hook one of my daughters with it and she feels the same. (I am still working on my other daughter–she is resistant.)

31. omg i cried for a bit then read on i wonder what would of happent if she- aahhhhh i cant be a spoiler!

32. Oh, I know what you mean about this chapter. I read about your blog today so I’m a pretty new reader, but you seem to be able to put an amusing twist to the books, which I really do enjoy.

    But I was stunned when I was reading through this chapter. I couldn’t believe what was happening even though like you, I felt like there was something that was bothering Edward, something that made me feel uneasy about the entire situation. The blankness and the lack of anything in the next few pages after Chapter 3 were brilliant, though.

    But at least now you know how much you care about the characters! I realized how hooked I was near the end of Twilight, with all the action going on.

33. I can guarantee you weren’t the only one to start flipping through the pages, searching for Edward’s name again. I did the same thing.

34. I cried so hard when I read this chapter.
    I was in shock right next to bella and in my mind I scream
    “Edward come back”
    I almost felt like I broken up with someone

    hehe
    <3marita

35. Ps. love the cite Kaleb

36. -hug-
    I cried.
    It almost makes me cry just thinking about it.
    Weird, huh, how much you can be affected by fictional characters. But Stephenie went so deeply into them that we all feel they are real.

37. I converted my roommate to Twilight-ism, and we were in our dorm room together as she read chapter three. Her response was “What the ****?!?!?! Edward LEFT?? When does he come back??”

    Which was basically how I felt. I think I was in denial for a few chapters. This was probably the hardest chapter to read, but New Moon also has a lot of good stuff, and one of my favorite quotes from the whole series (giving the quote without the context won’t spoil anything, but you should skip the next part to be completely spoiler-free):

    Alice: How strongly are you opposed to grand theft auto?

    I love Alice!

38. In response to something someone said FAR above me, I can’t wait for you to read on and meet Jacob Black for real. He’s my favorite character for obvious reasons and when you finally get to his first few scenes, I hope you will understand why and I will truly be able to speak my mind. I’m never able to speak my mind because none of my friends like him the way I do. I know I kind of spoiled a major plot point for you but, in all honesty, I’m sure you’ve heard over and over again from every girl either that they love or hate Jacob Black and that Edward is better than Jacob. I hope you will like Jacob for his funny little comments and such. He’s hilarious and easy to like.

    And so, after such a long, and I’m sure, annoying comment, I shall say this:

    Great post on Chapter 3, the title easily gives away the plot doesn’t it? And I hope you will continue reading the book because many girls have thrown their books down acting stubborn saying “where is Edward? why should I read it now?” I’ll admit, I didn’t read anything after chapter 3 for a few days. I just couldn’t stand the thought. But I’m glad I finished the book because I gained a favorite character out of it. You’re awesome, and its ok to grow attached to these characters.

    ~Shelby

39. Oh! -hugs- I felt the same way when I read this chapter, but what hit me harder were the month pages right after. I really liked your post for this one even though it was sans humor. It was very thought-provoking ^.^

40. Yeah I wanted to cry in this chapter but I couldn’t because I was at my grandpa’s house and he had just gotten home from the hospital and our whole family was there so I didn’t want people asking what was wrong, so I held it in till I got home and then called my bestest buddy ever and she toldd me that it was going to be alright and she told me to read somthing but I can’t say. But anyways I got in trouble at school the next two days cause it was so hard to put the book down.

41. Hugs to you. None of my friends (39ish years of age) have read them so I had to suffer by myself. Strong work getting in touch with your nonrational side. My DH thinks I’m crazy.
    Keep reading…when I reread the series I had a knot in my stomach when I got to Chapter 3.

42. This almost made me cry!!! Your post was heartwrenching. My moms at this part and she almost cried. It’s horrible, but no matter what.. KEEP READING! It will get better.

43. It was this point in the book I went ahead to page 382… Not the first time of course, but every other time!

44. Your take on these books is really surprising. I’ve been following you since you started with Twilight and I really can’t believe how much you understand why we girls love these books so much. Haha, and you’re a guy!
    What you wrote here almost had me in tears. You’re a great writer, I’ve also realized. No doubt I’ll be picking up your book when it comes out. 😀

    And like many other people are saying, when I re-read New Moon, this is where I skip through the book. You’ll see why muchhh later. :]

45. god, i started crying when i read your post. reminds me of a miserable situation i was in not too long ago. but you really understand how heartwrenching it is for edward to leave. i was in such a state of mourning(aka constant sobbing for nearly the entire weekend that i read the book)so i was forced to listen to it on audiobook(something that is nearly impossible to anyone in our city, due to the fact that everyone here has probably read and re-read the saga so many times that they have memorized it, but there are a few who havent been enlightened)which i never do because i love reading. but i was in such a state of deppresion when edward left i spent the entire evening writing. i am happy about that because it has led to a very long story that still isnt finished after nearly a year!but new moon is absolutly my favorite of the series, becuase it just makes sense at what would happen next in the series!

46. I have converted so many people to Twilight-ism. And every time they get to New Moon, I get beat on for Chapter 3. I feel like I should warn them in advance, but then that would spoil things, wouldn’t it? *sigh* So I take the beatings. After all, other people should go through what I went through when I read it the first time, and no one converted me…I just picked up the series of my own free will because people were talking about it. After I read chapter 3 and felt gutted I thought the spell was broken; I felt like I could put the book down (at 3 a.m.) and not pick it back up again for a while (days even).

    Of course I was wrong; I picked it back up after several minutes of sulking. Its a big slap in the face, but Stephenie follows it with good stuff. Have faith. 😉

47. Sometimes, we do not listen to our rational sides; or more commonly, do not want to listen to our rational sides.

    (I love this. I wrote it down.)

    Love from NYC,
    Katie

48. I remember my first time reading through this chapter. I was on campus (skipping class actually) and I felt like the world was crumbling around me. Bella and Edward were meant to be together. There was no Bella. No Edward. Just Bella AND Edward. I felt horrible for being attached to these characters, but like you said, I did not want to listen to my rational side.

    I’m woman enough to admit I cried. There in the middle of the campus commons area, curled up on a couch, feeling the tears hot on my cheeks as Edward, clearly lying to her (how could he NOT love her anymore?) and leaving her.

    From there, I spent the next few chapters no caring of anyone else, waiting with bated breath for Edward to show up again.

    (Just keep tissues with you and keep reading. It eventually gets easier. And yet more heartbreaking.)

49. Many people during the time of Edward’s absence took the time to embrace the character of jacob..i was not one of them. the more i read of what happens, the more i wanted edward back. its as simple as that. Edward is the backbone of the story, jake just simply isn’t. i’m looking forward to reading more of your posts. and i actually find it cool that a guy YOUR age is reading it..i mean, most guys wouldn’t read it at 19.
    Amanda

50. I want to give you a hug! It’s been a while since I’ve read this chapter, but reading your post has left me feeling just as forlorn as I had the first time I read the dreaded chapter 3. 🙁