Reviews with content warning for Violence - Midnight Sun

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

77 reviews

taakofromtv13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book gave whole new perspective on the Twilight saga and the relationship between Bella and Edward. It was fueled by nostalgia but didn’t feel like a rewrite of Twilight, rather a companion.

Content Warnings

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was alternately really interesting and completely insufferable. On the one hand, Edward absolutely hates himself, so reading from a first-person perspective made me kind of hate him as well. Plus, I first read the Twilight saga in middle school and didn't see how creepy and toxic the relationship between Bella and Edward is. As a 24-year-old, my taste in both books and romantic relationships has changed (thank God), so all the boundary crossing Edward does was just one red flag after another. On the other hand, Edward's ability to read minds means that we get glimpses of other points of view, plus a lot more detail that wasn't included in the original book. I particularly loved the extra details about the other vampires, because I hold the firm belief that every single character in Twilight is more interesting than Edward or Bella. The new information about Alice's and Jasper's abilities and the baseball and climax scenes were my favorites. Overall, this book made me super nostalgic for my middle school years of Twilight obsession but also very grateful for how much I've grown since then.

Content Warnings

elskabee's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

No better or worse than Twilight.

If you are a twilight renaissance participant or a former twi-hard that's just curious, then I suppose you will get something out of it - I did - but it definitely has many flaws.

Being the same story as twilight but written from another perspective limits it severely, it has the same plot points just with other pieces filled in and a few flashback type sections sprinkled throughout.

The biggest downside was the length. It was very long and it felt like it by the end I basically had to start skimming paragraphs so that I could actually get through it without giving up. It's significantly longer than twilight, but most of that is Edward's self-loathing which gets very repetitive when he same analogies are used over and over. Repetition can work when done well, but here it felt like being talked down to. Like "here, see? another moment where this analogy applies."

There were enjoyable moments and if you cut out most of the mopey emo stuff it is a pretty standard YA book which is why I didn't rate it more harshly (or more generously).

Content Warnings

caitlinsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? It's complicated

3.5

TL:DR;
Positives: some of the quotes were funny, the romance was still cute in its own weird way, and it was a throwback and a half to be in this story.

Negatives: Edward goes on a bit, doesn’t he? What’s all this crap about pomegranates? Also just get over it Edward, this girl loves you and would like to be a vampire, please. You could stop this from being a 4 book saga (still salty about the travesty that is New Moon...) if you just did what she wanted. Thanks.

Read the rest of my review here. I’m gonna go full Edward and say way too much! Spoilers ahead...

Ok, I finally did it. I finished this behemoth. I started off feeling quite excited about reading Edward’s POV, and there were definitely some interesting additions brought to the story thanks to his mind reading abilities. I guess I’m just disappointed that this book was literally just Twilight. What did I expect? I have no idea. I wish this book had been released a lot sooner, as it definitely would have benefited from the Twilight hype. I’m not much of a rereader, and I don’t remember what was going through Bella’s head anymore, so it was as if I was truly in Edward’s head when he was frustrated about not being able to hear her thoughts. I don’t think that was the point of the story? I think we were supposed to know what was going on? Maybe not...

Anyway, yes this book was fun at times, and full of the classic Twilight angst, but WOW IT WAS REALLY LONG AND BORING MOST OF THE TIME.

Content Warnings

readablelife's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Content Warnings

scarletellajones's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

jeanneerin's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I do not know why I masochistically feel the need to be a completist with this series. This book manages to be more frustrating and creepy than the original, with the incel attitude of Edward being front and center--he goes so far as to question Bella's right to exist in the beginning of the book. This is a fantasy version of Lolita more than an actual romance, and Edward's inability to let Bella choose for herself whether or not she should become a vampire feels like any male's inability to see a woman as more than a child or a pristine item to never be soiled in any way than as an equal. He puts thoughts in her head and words in her mouth, never really asking her what she is actually thinking. We are in his mind as he works out just how he will gaslight her as their relationship continues.

There is nothing new in this book since Edward and Bella both were never more than cardboard cutout characters and every scene seems to be from the original.

Still, I know I'm going to borrow the two books that managed to escape my notice before, so Meyer's must be doing something right. Or maybe it's just that I suddenly need potato-chip style books--I know I should put them down, but just can't seem to stop.

Content Warnings