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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
adventurous
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is entirely too long and Edward is UNHINGED. I still had fun though (sometimes).
My biggest issue with this book was the length of the chapters. As a lover of short chapters i was a little miffed about how long the chapters were. I loved FINALLY getting to see Edward's pov and an insight into how his mind works. The chapter of Edward and Bella's first encounter was actually hilarious, the entire chapter was him just plotting how he could kill Bella.
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh boy… who decided that Twilight needed more exposition?
VIBES
🍎 Paranormal romance
🍎 Young adult
🍎 Insta-love
🍎 Predator × prey
🍎 Anti-feminist
💬 Single POV
💬 First-person, past tense
🍎 Young adult
🍎 Insta-love
🍎 Predator × prey
🍎 Anti-feminist
💬 Single POV
💬 First-person, past tense
THOUGHTS (spoiler-lite™)
Look, I griped enough about the insta-love romance, terrible pacing, and lack of plot in my Twilight review. Just know that Midnight Sun improves upon none of those things.
So, here are some new issues for you:
❌ This book is literally a repeat of the original. The chapters are divided the same. The conversations are the same. The events are the same. I can forgive rehashing interactions between Edward and Bella (to a degree), but Edward stalks her so often that we get to re-read all her interactions with other people, too! With the added bonus of Edward reading their thoughts and/or theorising on Bella’s feelings (which we, the reader, already know).
❌ Edward’s internal monologue is not interesting or insightful. This is one of the mopeyest, angstiest POV’s I’ve ever read. It’s not consistent with the jovial, flirty Edward we know from Twilight—it’s actually really jarring… his dialogue is filled with quips and banter, but his internal monologue is so morose.
So, here are some new issues for you:
❌ This book is literally a repeat of the original. The chapters are divided the same. The conversations are the same. The events are the same. I can forgive rehashing interactions between Edward and Bella (to a degree), but Edward stalks her so often that we get to re-read all her interactions with other people, too! With the added bonus of Edward reading their thoughts and/or theorising on Bella’s feelings (which we, the reader, already know).
❌ Edward’s internal monologue is not interesting or insightful. This is one of the mopeyest, angstiest POV’s I’ve ever read. It’s not consistent with the jovial, flirty Edward we know from Twilight—it’s actually really jarring… his dialogue is filled with quips and banter, but his internal monologue is so morose.
Why did she have to come here? Why did she have to exist? Why did she have to ruin the little peace I had in this nonlife of mine? Why had this aggravating human ever been born? She would ruin me.
❌ There are barely any new scenes. Edward's time spent away from Forks in the beginning features for a whole 4 pages. The Cullen's have some 'friends' visit, but it's just a thinly veiled excuse for Edward to 'protect' Bella while they're in town. There are some conversations with Carlisle, Esme, and Renee that are technically new, but we don’t learn anything from them. Even the fight scene with James, which is totally skipped in Twilight, is still brushed over here.
❌ Did Stephanie Meyer retcon the anti-feminist rhetoric, at least? Nope! She’s doubled down on Jessica’s hate for Bella, added in that Rosalie is jealous of Bella because Edward thinks she’s pretty, and still gives Bella no agency.
❌ Bonus: Lots of cringe-worthy, ‘people don’t speak like this’ dialogue.
I thought I was done but I’m not…
Old Gripes, New Book:
❌ Bella’s whole personality is still ‘not like other girls.’
Normal human girls wouldn’t raise their faces to the drizzle that way; normal human girls usually wore makeup, even here in this wet place.
❌ Edward still gives me whiplash.
“Will you go to Seattle with me?” I demanded, point-blank.
She nodded, her heart drumming loudly.
Yes. She’d said yes to me.
And then my conscience smote me. What would this cost her?
“You really should stay away from me,” I warned her. Did she hear me? Would she escape the future I was threatening her with? Couldn’t I do anything to save her from me?
❌ The writing is still repetitive, angsty, and juvenile, despite this being published 15 YEARS after Twilight.
The little smile grew more pronounced; this career choice amused her.
I smiled, too, without choosing the expression. […] Her smile made me want to smile in response—to be in on the secret.
Like a stalker. An obsessed stalker. An obsessed vampire stalker.
My life was an unending, unchanging midnight. It must, by necessity, always be midnight for me. So how was it possible that the sun was rising now, in the middle of my midnight?
I stared deep into her eyes—an easy thing to do with eyes so deep.
—as though it was ordained by fate, just as she said. As if she had been marked for death by that cruel, unjust fate, and it continued to try to execute her. I imagined the fate personified, a grisly, jealous hag, a vengeful harpy.
I burned. The burning was acceptable, though. […] I owed something in return for that. A sacrifice. A burnt offering.
Now if I could just keep it to that—just burn, and nothing more. […]
“Now,” I said to her, fear of her response taking the edge off the burn. “It’s your turn.”
TL;DR: Edward’s POV adds nothing new to this story except 500 pages of unnecessary exposition and Stephanie Meyer’s writing is still awful, despite the 15-year gap.
3.5 🎙️
→ The narrator wasn’t bad, but I disliked his narration of Bella… she sounded so angsty all the time, even when she was being shy or jovial.
FAVOURITE QUOTES
Literally none, fml. I’m so glad this book is over.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow what a throwback. I had a lot of fun with this one, although it did really start to drag in the middle when I realized I had committed to reading 600+ pages of a book in which I knew absolutely everything that was going to be happening.
It's cheesy, angsty, classic Twilight and it brought me back to reading the original series when I was a young teenager. I think it was a good call that Stephenie Meyer wrote the original series from Bella's perspective because Edward is FILLED with self-loathing while miraculously also believing himself to always know best. She also really did not try to walk back any of Edward's creepier behavior towards Bella, which was honestly a writing choice that I respect.
Overall, it was a fun time for anyone who has a soft spot in their heart for Twilight, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone uninterested in the original series.
It's cheesy, angsty, classic Twilight and it brought me back to reading the original series when I was a young teenager. I think it was a good call that Stephenie Meyer wrote the original series from Bella's perspective because Edward is FILLED with self-loathing while miraculously also believing himself to always know best. She also really did not try to walk back any of Edward's creepier behavior towards Bella, which was honestly a writing choice that I respect.
Overall, it was a fun time for anyone who has a soft spot in their heart for Twilight, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone uninterested in the original series.