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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
If you are someone that thought there couldn’t be anything worse than Twilight...well, you were dead wrong.
Stephenie, you didn’t have to publish this!
SYNOPSIS: 104-year-old man preys on 16-year-old girl who falls down a lot.
*sigh*
If you are or were Team Edward, I feel for you after reading this book. Because you must have been fighting for your life to defend ya boi after the events of Midnight Sun.
And I shouldn’t really say events since it’s the same events from Twilight but now it’s filtered through the thoughts of Edward, and holy crow Charlie Swan needs to arrest his psychotic ass.
When Robert Pattinson described Edward as a “weirdo” and a possible “axe murderer,” he was right on the money because Edward’s just so unlikable and his thoughts made me uncomfortable.
I read a lot of Horror books, and this is legitimately the scariest book I’ve read in years.
If you’ve ever been stalked by someone, this book is a literal nightmare. He spends HOURS posted up by her bedside thinking about how he is the only person who can protect her and also how he is dying to kill her.
It’s really messed up.
I can understand how teenagers read Twilight and found Edward to be a romantic hero because it’s all from Bella’s limited viewpoint, but now having Midnight Sun as a companion piece…girl, you in danger.
And if this was intentional on Stephenie Meyer’s part, I would think this was a controversial but interesting take. Unfortunately, there’s just no way this was intentional. I think she still views him as a god who is the most perfect man who’s ever lived.
There’s a lot of other problems with this book that I could probably host a TED talk to cover all of the material, but I’ll try to keep it brief.
The book is boring AF. Even with Edward Tokyo drifting around Phoenix, I was not interested in anything that was happening. Some of it was the writing, which is juvenile at best. Some of it was because I was holding the book as far away as possible because Edward makes me so uncomfortable.
The Cullens “powers” were already poorly developed. Now they have somehow become even more ridiculous and nonsensical. Edward’s range on the proximity needed to read someone’s mind feels limitless. He is able to read the minds of people in another room on the other side of the school. Which means he’s able to keep tabs on Bella throughout her day, which is CREEPY STALKER SHIT. He’s also able to see what other people see. Like he’s literally in their mind, so he can watch Bella all hours of the day.
Basically, she is never getting away from him ever.
Alice also has limitless powers where she sees basically every version of the future whenever convenient. And then she can’t see the future whenever the plot needs her to not see anything so the “plot” can proceed.
And then there’s the question of the other Cullens, who may or may not have powers. Emmett seems strong and fast. Rosalyn is a beautiful bitch. Esme loves fiercely…? Jasper is able to influence people’s emotions except his own apparently. And Carlisle…does something?
It’s just too underdone. There’s not much rhyme or reason to their powers, and they are basically only used for plot purposes and sometimes just to be cool, I guess.
There’s also still the issue of Bella being a boring as hell protagonist. And if she wasn’t already a “Not like other girls” character, Edward certainly perceives her as one. It just felt icky, and I don’t get why every single character is so fascinated by her.
I think maybe the biggest issue with the book is that it never justifies its own existence. What does this even add to the Twilight universe? Meyer somehow shoehorns in every single scene from Twilight even if it's unnecessary for Edward to ruminate on.
The only thing this book is successful at is making the reader uncomfortable.
Midnight Sun should have stayed on Stephenie Meyer’s hard drive and faded into legend.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2022 review: I needed something easy to listen to on a long car ride. I was tired and cranky and reached for something familiar. On this listen, I had a harder time putting up with Bella’s Mary Sue elements, and was a lot more frustrated with Edward for being, well, Edward. I do appreciate the author’s attempt to modernize, soften, and edit Edward via his POV; it is clear the author has matured since first writing Twilight (though Esme’s existence still seems kind of empty and sad).
I can’t ignore my more callused worldview after my husband’s death. I think grief colors everything these days and contributes to a lack of patience… even with fictional characters. I kept wanting to shake everyone involved and plop them into a happy immortal ending where no one is fragile and in constant threat of dying. Grief has, however, given me a bit more patience for the intense ‘I will die without you’ stuff, because hey… loss really can feel that miserable.
Still enjoyed the extra layers to Alice & Jasper’s gifts and how much cooler the shake down in Phoenix is.
I dunno if I’d give this book 5 stars today, but my initial review was written during a happier time—recalling with fondness when my husband and I read the OG series together, waited in lines for new releases, and went to see the movies together. So, nostalgia wins; I’ll let it stand.
2020 review:
I KNOW.
But I enjoyed it. I really did. I felt so much nostalgia for how immersive the original series was and for where I was in my life when those books first came out.
All of Robert Pattinson’s interviews about the Twilight film franchise are amusing, but in one he states that he decided Edward deeply hated himself and that’s how he played him. I kept thinking about that as I read and how true an assessment it was. Reading Twilight from Edward’s perspective answers a lot of questions and better explains his decisions and behaviors. He’s much more well-rounded in this (though yes, absolutely, he’s still problematic).
It started out rough for me. I couldn’t get into it in the beginning and my non-billionaire writer’s brain kept presumptuously editing/fixing, but by the time Edward decided he couldn’t stay away from Bella I was engaged.
It was a lot of fun to see more interaction between the Cullens (especially Alice) and all the wild logistics that went into the climax in Phoenix. Jasper’s gift is way cooler in this version and Alice’s is a lot more detailed/better explained.
I also enjoyed reading about a male falling hard for a female rather than the other way around. It changes the whole feel of the book and it’s pretty refreshing even considering the Mary Sue elements Edward’s adoration amplifies. There’s a sweetness here that we didn’t get from Bella’s POV.
I’d like to read the rest of the series from Edward’s perspective, though his interminable self-loathing would probably get (more) tiresome. (Edited to add: a friend tipped me off to a fanfic called “Dark Side of the Moon.” It’s Edward’s POV for New Moon and it’s really well done. Written before this came out, there are a few missing things, but I recommend.)
Note: I haven’t read the OG series since it came out, so I can’t speak to how repetitive or inconsistent this one might be.
I can’t ignore my more callused worldview after my husband’s death. I think grief colors everything these days and contributes to a lack of patience… even with fictional characters. I kept wanting to shake everyone involved and plop them into a happy immortal ending where no one is fragile and in constant threat of dying. Grief has, however, given me a bit more patience for the intense ‘I will die without you’ stuff, because hey… loss really can feel that miserable.
Still enjoyed the extra layers to Alice & Jasper’s gifts and how much cooler the shake down in Phoenix is.
I dunno if I’d give this book 5 stars today, but my initial review was written during a happier time—recalling with fondness when my husband and I read the OG series together, waited in lines for new releases, and went to see the movies together. So, nostalgia wins; I’ll let it stand.
2020 review:
I KNOW.
But I enjoyed it. I really did. I felt so much nostalgia for how immersive the original series was and for where I was in my life when those books first came out.
All of Robert Pattinson’s interviews about the Twilight film franchise are amusing, but in one he states that he decided Edward deeply hated himself and that’s how he played him. I kept thinking about that as I read and how true an assessment it was. Reading Twilight from Edward’s perspective answers a lot of questions and better explains his decisions and behaviors. He’s much more well-rounded in this (though yes, absolutely, he’s still problematic).
It started out rough for me. I couldn’t get into it in the beginning and my non-billionaire writer’s brain kept presumptuously editing/fixing, but by the time Edward decided he couldn’t stay away from Bella I was engaged.
It was a lot of fun to see more interaction between the Cullens (especially Alice) and all the wild logistics that went into the climax in Phoenix. Jasper’s gift is way cooler in this version and Alice’s is a lot more detailed/better explained.
I also enjoyed reading about a male falling hard for a female rather than the other way around. It changes the whole feel of the book and it’s pretty refreshing even considering the Mary Sue elements Edward’s adoration amplifies. There’s a sweetness here that we didn’t get from Bella’s POV.
I’d like to read the rest of the series from Edward’s perspective, though his interminable self-loathing would probably get (more) tiresome. (Edited to add: a friend tipped me off to a fanfic called “Dark Side of the Moon.” It’s Edward’s POV for New Moon and it’s really well done. Written before this came out, there are a few missing things, but I recommend.)
Note: I haven’t read the OG series since it came out, so I can’t speak to how repetitive or inconsistent this one might be.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
took me a really long time to get through but i liked it
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
1) I need Edward to take a chill pill or think different thoughts that aren’t “is Bella gonna hate me?”
2) the PAGES of internal dialogue were not my cup of tea
3) I like neither Bella nor Edward as characters. You have a domineering yet scared man and you have a girl who’s just so quIrKY and cLUmSy
4) this does not work as a standalone book. If you’re reviving the beginning of a series, it should be able to stand alone. So much context was missing
5) there was NO reason for this to be 658 pages long. There is not enough happening that warrants that
5b) the only action happens in the last 70 pages. Why the hell did I read 500-something pages of nothing???
This is not getting a one for me because I was able to read it. Meyer’s prose is easy to get through, and I was able to get through this book quickly. It was not good, but I’m glad I get to laugh about it with my friends.