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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Look, we all know what we're getting into here.
Is it good in the literary sense? No. But is it fun? Oh you betcha.
Edward thinks SO MUCH, and has insane Catholic undertones, but I'm into it. I'm sure I'll come back to it again when I need a break from the more intense non-fiction works.
Is it good in the literary sense? No. But is it fun? Oh you betcha.
Edward thinks SO MUCH, and has insane Catholic undertones, but I'm into it. I'm sure I'll come back to it again when I need a break from the more intense non-fiction works.
I have so many qualms about this book but I’m still giving it five stars purely for the nostalgic value. Meyer’s storytelling abilities is a moving force. Despite my knowing how it all ends, I was flipping through the pages with SPEED. Her pacing is amazing, even though the writing style is a bit wonky at times… Which I’m not sure how much of that is HER and how much of it is Edward’s annoying and guilt ridden inner world. He is the most melodramatic vampire ever, and it doesn’t help that she chooses to present Edward as this stunted teenage boy rather than a refined and wise immortal, and maybe that’s the whole point. I know she wanted us to see Edward in a new light of non-perfection, but honestly, after 15 years of seeing him in one light, being exposed to a new perspective just SHOCKED ME. But I can praise Meyer for that hindsight now, truly she accomplished that goal.
I have so many more thoughts, but I will just wrap a neat bow and say hell yeah. Twilight still rocks
I have so many more thoughts, but I will just wrap a neat bow and say hell yeah. Twilight still rocks
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
you’re kidding! this actually feels like the most interesting book in the series. i genuinely did not expect to enjoy it as much as i did but the pre-tween twilight fan in me was still reeling from the journey of the first four books. edward is SOOO dramatic, insecure, and downright sociopathic and i loved it. so much more interesting learning about the family. poor guy just want the dude to be happy!!! what a tee up for new moon, sheesh. that really crushed me that he was already planning on leaving her when she was recovering in the hospital. ugh. him and his mom?? crying.
This was a fun easy read, although the first three quarters dragged and then the ending felt a bit rushed. It was fun to get a different perspective on a story I knew so well, although I wish Bella’s human friends were a bit less annoying. Overall a good time and the writing has improved, but not quite as good as I hoped after reading The Host
When I found out Stephanie Meyer had finally released this (late to the party!) I had to get it. I hadn't read any of the Twilight books since I was a teen and still loved this so much. The depth this book adds to the series is lovely. It was nice to re-visit and reminisce about this story. So beautifully written and worth the wait!
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Review can be read at In Between Spines
Me:
Midnight Sun for many Twilight readers is the long promised alternate POV book – Twilight from Edward’s perspective. Now Twilight is by no means the best series I have read, however I do remember enjoying it when I read it all those years ago. I haven’t reread it but it holds a special place in my teenage heart as I’m sure it does for many. So overall I guess you could say my expectations weren’t exactly high.
“Could a dead, frozen heart beat again? It felt like mine was about to.”
Midnight Sun pretty much follows Twilight exactly how it was in the original, this is very much a play by play version of Twilight for the opposing perspective. So if like me you are considering rereading Twilight before diving into this one I’d probably recommend you don’t as it might feel a bit repetitive in some parts where both Edward and Bella are present. What I did do, and I found enjoyable was to watch the movie to remind myself a bit of the particulars of the story! This allowed me to remember things from Bella’s perspective which added to the reading experience but didn’t give me Twilight fatigue as much as I think reading the book first would have!
I was pleasantly surprised to actually enjoy this book and there are a few reasons I can pin point why.
First of all, and as I have mentioned, nostalgia. For those who loved Twilight and remember and possibly even read the original leaked copy of Midnight Sun, getting this book 10+ years later was like the missing piece of the puzzle and now I can finally close out Twilight in my brain as complete. I actually also think that the first however many chapters of this book that were leaked, have not been changed in this final publication of the novel. It felt very much familiar to me.
“You don’t care if I’m a monster? If I’m not human?”
“No.”
I started to wonder if she was entirely stable.”
Also, and amen to this, but this book was actually really light on Bella. Having her be a character, but not actually be in her head was a much more enjoyable way to experience the story. I found her an extremely annoying character when I first read the series, and pretty much stuck around for the rest of the crew which were far more interesting. So not having to be in that head was a pleasant element of Midnight Sun.
“Bella’s going to stare at Edward in a minute. Look normal,” Alice said one Tuesday in March.”
Next, because we were with Edward, we got to experience way more of what actually happened in this story that the first time around Bella was either clueless about, or wasn’t there for. There was essentially more plot to it and given Edward already knows he is a vampire, we didn’t spend the time putting together clues or anything like that, but rather experiencing the story from a place of knowledge.
“Perhaps romance always seemed a slightly foolish thing to everyone until one actually fell into it.”
Similar to this, and this really shouldn’t be a spoiler, but as Edward can read minds, we actually got more characters for the price of one. Instead of just reading through Edwards perspective, via him, we got to get into the minds and thoughts of pretty much all the other characters, what they were thinking and how they were reactivating to things. This was probably my favourite aspect of the novel and it made what I thought I would be slowly pushing myself through, actually not too bad of a book.
“She had changed me more than I’d known it was possible for me to change and still remain myself.”
With the combination of all these things there was enough new material to make me see the value in redoing a story from a different perspective, which I can sometimes find redundant when I’ve read these before. Midnight Sun provides a multitude of new perspectives and also answer a lot of the questions that the original novel presents. Does Edward really want to kill Bella? What does Edward do when he dramatically leaves school? How does Alice’s super vision actually work? What does Edward do when Bella is almost getting herself killed? Why is Rose so angry? All the questions my 16 year old self was dying to know.
“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?”
So all in all, if you enjoyed Twilight, I would say this was a good read, and in my opinion even better than some of the originals – though still cheesy! I’ve seen a lot of people say they wish the series was from Edwards POV and to be honest, I agree, it was a better way to read it. This one makes me see value in continuing books from Edwards perspective as I would probably keep reading them. That being said if you haven’t read the original series, I probably wouldn’t recommend starting them if you haven’t by now as I think a lot of the appreciation for them I have is nostalgia. Similarly, I’m not particularly interested in books more books from this world unless it’s Alice or Jasper, any of the other characters or new or minor characters I think I’d give a miss. I have seen articles popping up that more are coming so we’ll see whether they will be added to my TBR!
“I knew her well enough to see that the sight of so many books in one room was something of a dream to her.”
Blog | Instagram
Me:
Midnight Sun for many Twilight readers is the long promised alternate POV book – Twilight from Edward’s perspective. Now Twilight is by no means the best series I have read, however I do remember enjoying it when I read it all those years ago. I haven’t reread it but it holds a special place in my teenage heart as I’m sure it does for many. So overall I guess you could say my expectations weren’t exactly high.
“Could a dead, frozen heart beat again? It felt like mine was about to.”
Midnight Sun pretty much follows Twilight exactly how it was in the original, this is very much a play by play version of Twilight for the opposing perspective. So if like me you are considering rereading Twilight before diving into this one I’d probably recommend you don’t as it might feel a bit repetitive in some parts where both Edward and Bella are present. What I did do, and I found enjoyable was to watch the movie to remind myself a bit of the particulars of the story! This allowed me to remember things from Bella’s perspective which added to the reading experience but didn’t give me Twilight fatigue as much as I think reading the book first would have!
I was pleasantly surprised to actually enjoy this book and there are a few reasons I can pin point why.
First of all, and as I have mentioned, nostalgia. For those who loved Twilight and remember and possibly even read the original leaked copy of Midnight Sun, getting this book 10+ years later was like the missing piece of the puzzle and now I can finally close out Twilight in my brain as complete. I actually also think that the first however many chapters of this book that were leaked, have not been changed in this final publication of the novel. It felt very much familiar to me.
“You don’t care if I’m a monster? If I’m not human?”
“No.”
I started to wonder if she was entirely stable.”
Also, and amen to this, but this book was actually really light on Bella. Having her be a character, but not actually be in her head was a much more enjoyable way to experience the story. I found her an extremely annoying character when I first read the series, and pretty much stuck around for the rest of the crew which were far more interesting. So not having to be in that head was a pleasant element of Midnight Sun.
“Bella’s going to stare at Edward in a minute. Look normal,” Alice said one Tuesday in March.”
Next, because we were with Edward, we got to experience way more of what actually happened in this story that the first time around Bella was either clueless about, or wasn’t there for. There was essentially more plot to it and given Edward already knows he is a vampire, we didn’t spend the time putting together clues or anything like that, but rather experiencing the story from a place of knowledge.
“Perhaps romance always seemed a slightly foolish thing to everyone until one actually fell into it.”
Similar to this, and this really shouldn’t be a spoiler, but as Edward can read minds, we actually got more characters for the price of one. Instead of just reading through Edwards perspective, via him, we got to get into the minds and thoughts of pretty much all the other characters, what they were thinking and how they were reactivating to things. This was probably my favourite aspect of the novel and it made what I thought I would be slowly pushing myself through, actually not too bad of a book.
“She had changed me more than I’d known it was possible for me to change and still remain myself.”
With the combination of all these things there was enough new material to make me see the value in redoing a story from a different perspective, which I can sometimes find redundant when I’ve read these before. Midnight Sun provides a multitude of new perspectives and also answer a lot of the questions that the original novel presents. Does Edward really want to kill Bella? What does Edward do when he dramatically leaves school? How does Alice’s super vision actually work? What does Edward do when Bella is almost getting herself killed? Why is Rose so angry? All the questions my 16 year old self was dying to know.
“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?”
So all in all, if you enjoyed Twilight, I would say this was a good read, and in my opinion even better than some of the originals – though still cheesy! I’ve seen a lot of people say they wish the series was from Edwards POV and to be honest, I agree, it was a better way to read it. This one makes me see value in continuing books from Edwards perspective as I would probably keep reading them. That being said if you haven’t read the original series, I probably wouldn’t recommend starting them if you haven’t by now as I think a lot of the appreciation for them I have is nostalgia. Similarly, I’m not particularly interested in books more books from this world unless it’s Alice or Jasper, any of the other characters or new or minor characters I think I’d give a miss. I have seen articles popping up that more are coming so we’ll see whether they will be added to my TBR!
“I knew her well enough to see that the sight of so many books in one room was something of a dream to her.”
Blog | Instagram
I wanted to love this book but I just don’t think it’s for me at this point in time. Edward’s thought were extremely repetitive and at first it was amusing how dramatic he was but after a while it became very tedious to read what felt like the same 3 lines over and over again
dark
funny
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes