13.6k reviews for:

Midnight Sun

Stephenie Meyer

3.52 AVERAGE

dark reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

petty_bibliophile's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 10%

It's too different from what the Twlight books are as well as the movie. This Edward does not seem like the Edward we know.
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Meyer said all the prewritten dialogue was like “the bars of a prison,” which I like both because it’s the kind of melodramatic thing her characters would say and because it’s a pretty good explanation of why this book was so much less compelling than Twilight.

Actually, the opening was pretty good. I rented the audiobook from the library, and I think that was the best choice. It opens with broody piano music that made me feel all nostalgic and excited, and the narrator does a great job of growling Edward’s lines with genuine conviction.

Plus, this really isn’t a book that requires attention to every word. It’s better if you can tune out some of the longer, less eventful passages.

Bella’s characterization feels more thoughtful here. She’s genuinely kind to the people around her, stands up for her peers when they’re bullied, and faces her fears with tenacity rather than just sort of being swept along like a dead leaf. And from Edward’s perspective, Bella’s relationship with her selfish, unreliable mother feels both more realistic and more relevant. Bella is who she is because of the ways in which love, neglect, resentment, adventure, and obligation shaped her childhood.

I don’t think any of this would have “sold” me on the Edward/Bella romance - no matter how exceptional the teenager, it’s still weird that a hundred-year-old man is in love with her - but, like, this is what I signed up for when I picked up the 5th(? 7th?) Twilight book. I knew what I was getting into.

I liked some of the retroactive foreshadowing, especially when Edward heard Jacob’s thoughts. It makes the series feel more cohesive than it did when I read the original four booms as a teenager. On the other hand, Alice having “predicted” how technology would develop in the next ten years just felt corny and unnecessary.

I also liked seeing more of Meyer’s attempts to justify Edward’s threatening, controlling behavior toward Bella. Life and Death was supposed to do that, but I think it actually ended up highlighting the ways in which Edward’s actions towards gender are rooted in his gender as well as his species. Midnight Sun is a more effective apologetic, because Edward gets to defend (or, more often, excoriate) himself directly.

Except for that scene where Charlie
Spoilerdisables Bella’s truck to keep her from sneaking out, which was clearly meant to say SOMETHING about Edward doing the same later, but Meyer only knows what
. Like, I got that this was supposed to make me feel better about Edward’s inexcusable behavior, but what the fuck.

Midnight Sun starts to drag at about the point where the actual threat is introduced. The pining is over, and the focus switches to planning, fleeing, and fighting. Only everyone already knows what’s going to happen—me, Meyer, and even Edward to a significant extent—so it’s like watching the same movie from a different angle rather than reading a different book.

Edward’s book is a nice bit of nostalgia for people who loved Twilight in its heyday, but I won’t be recommending it to anyone in particular. If you aren’t drawn to it on your own, it isn’t for you.

While I wanted to love this book... I found it drug on. I thought there were few good, new elements to it that added some spice. I find that I like Bella a lot better in the books then the movie. Maybe because I’m team Jacob I felt this book was a slight let down. I just found it too similar to the original book I guess. Worth the read but don’t get too hyped up I guess.
dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Okay so I know we're all supposed to hate Twilight, yadda yadda yadda but I don't. I was obsessed with the original quartet, even though I hated the movies. With that being said, I couldn't finish this one. In the book's defense, I picked it up right around the holidays so it was hard to make time for it. On the other hand, I really didn't feel compelled to make time for it either. I guess because I already knew how it was going to end, there was no real urgency on my part to get to the end. After letting it sit in my reading list for weeks, I finally had to admit that I'm not gonna finish this book.

I wanted to like this book so much, I really did. However, I felt like I was reading a 'behind the scenes' version of Twilight. I would have loved to have had this book start off in Edwards perspective of after their wedding, but it was a bit disappointing.

It WAS nice to see how certain things panned out. For example: What the Cullen's were doing when James got Bella to the dance studio, but it still reminded me too much of a 'behind the scenes look into Twilight.'
challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have a lot of appreciation for this series but Edward is not my favorite.