Reviews with content warning for Grief - Midnight Sun

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

11 reviews

ananya_b's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

1.75

I wish I could say something about this book that fits the grandeur of all of Edward's thoughts. But I can't. True, there are some parts - a thoughtful sentence here and there, and then the last chapter, which evokes feelings of longing and loss - that made me rate this book above just 1 star. But that's about it.

I try to hold myself back, but really, this is just going to be a rant on how badly I want my money and time back. This book was not worth either of them. Here we go!

Why is Edward so straight-up horrible? I don't remember Twilight being this awful, even though that was written from the point of view of a self-insert. He just appears to think himself superior to everyone around him, just because he can hear their thoughts and judge them based on that. But does he ever hear himself? Why is he so snarky and judgmental? He's either criticising people for thinking a certain way, or beating himself up for merely existing. I almost pity the other members of his family, who have to put up with such a mood-dampener on a daily basis, for eternity. And I wish he would either stop thinking about leaving, or just pluck up the courage and actually do it. I know that's the point of the book, but it's just so irritating - you'd think he'd have something else to think about!

And then let's talk about him as a boyfriend. He treats Bella like a fragile infant who isn't old enough to make her decisions. He dismisses her requests and believes that he knows what's good for her, better than she does herself - just like an adult with a child. I know he's technically over a hundred years old, so he should know better than someone who's seventeen - but he's stuck at seventeen, too! His brain is just as immature as hers - what gives him the right to make her decisions for her? It's not even about objective things like food or shelter - he refuses to accept the future she wants because of his misguided religious beliefs, as if he's the only one who's allowed to be right on such a subjective topic.

He's a poor excuse for a boyfriend on all counts. Even during the climax, he does nothing but shout at Alice when she's trying to help, or sob. He never actually helps anyone, even Bella. Here's the most ludicrous example of that: "No longer racing, we moved slowly, Alice pushing Bella in her wheelchair so that I could walk beside her, holding her hand." Notice how the actual responsibilities are shoved off onto Alice or whoever else is around to help, while Edward gets to play the romantic love interest. You'd think if he actually cared for her, he wouldn't let anyone else but himself push her wheelchair!

I won't even talk about how boring or irritating Bella is. Edward even comes close to admitting, although not deliberately (Stephenie Meyer wouldn't dream of writing that!), that he's only drawn to her for her scent and the mystery of her thoughts. But here's an idea: maybe Edward can't read her thoughts because she hasn't got any!

Apart from a few luckily written phrases, the book also suffers from extremely poor writing. For instance, here's an actual sentence from the book:

He ran and I ran.

It can't really get much worse than this.

I could go on, but I'll end this tirade here. This has to be one of the trashiest books I own. I'm so glad I survived the ordeal of reading it.

Content Warnings

ecravens's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

bashsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.25

Midnight Sun is not what I would call a great book, but it is a fascinating one. If you can get past all of Edward's self-loathing and inability to do anything right (which is extremely hard), there are a few interesting tidbits to mull over. I think one of my main gripes with the Twilight saga in general is that every now and then Meyer touches on something compelling and then zooms right past it for the angsty romance factors.

Edward's relationship to Rosalie is so strange and captivating. He loathes her, but he thinks about her the most out of all his family members. Obviously, Rosalie was Bella's foil in the main series, but I never gave much thought to how that impacted Edward's perspective of her.
The deeper depiction and explanations of Alice and Jasper's abilties were cool.
I despise the way Edward's mind-reading is depicted. I think it falls into many of the pitfalls that make me dislike most mind-reading characters. The apathy, the loathing for what people think in the privacy of their own heads, the lack of any personal ethics, the fact that he is not impacted at all beyond annoyance... that's a little too flat and Christian for my mind-reading opinions. That said, there is a great moment where Edward uses Emmett and Jasper's minds as his rearview mirrors. This is the ONLY good thing Meyer wrote about Edward's mind-reading.

But those things aside, this book is a slog. Edward's angst is overwrought and hard to read. Add in the Cullens' holier-than-thou vibes and it's just. none of the fun that vampires usually are.

Content Warnings

romancereader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

-i also liked this book in the series it was good i do wish i would've read this right before or after i read twilight but instead i read them in the order of there publication dates you still can read them based of the years they released i just personally would've found it better if i read midnight sun before or after i read twilight overall i did enjoy this book i loved how we finally got a look into Edwards pov i was happy that i got a understanding of his mind and how he thought and what he heard of others thoughts it made me feel a better understanding therefore i could enjoy his character allot i was always team Jacob but after these books it will always be team Edward for me i love this whole series i always watched the twilight series movies and enjoyed it but reading the books i enjoyed these characters more and now that the book series is over for me i honestly miss Edward and Bella like there real people overall i rated this book five stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️-

Content Warnings

unloveliest's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-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

1.0

Content Warnings

ashleyvharris's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

God. This book ruined me. I knew that reading from Edward’s perspective was going to be mentally taxing, but this was almost painful at times. His constant inner turmoil over his romantic feelings and bloodlust for Bella was like a tidal wave that refuses to let you come up for air; every time he had a gentle, pure thought, it was marred by his agony.

Although his narration lines up closely with what I’d imagined of Edward during the original saga, it confirms that his mind is an unbearable place to be.

For all the depression, angst, and agony, there were some truly sweet moments that were worth reading from his perspective. His description of the joy he felt after confessing everything to Bella was so sweet and endearing. Not to mention his humor surrounding Bella and her “suitors”.

And look, I know he can’t read her mind like everyone else, but he is so dumb for a vampire. He was confused by every thought Bella ever had. How has this man been alive over a century and he doesn’t understand the physical cues of human attraction?

My absolute favorite thing about this book was the new scenes of the Cullen family and their perspective on events from Twilight. The way that Emmett was so immediately protective of Bella despite Rosalie’s anger toward her? Heartwarming. The way Jasper wanted to be around Edward and Bella because of how strong and enjoyable their emotions were? Adorable.

If you’re wondering what scene ruined me most thoroughly? Edward’s internal explanation for taking her to prom. Destroyed me. Highly recommend if you’re a masochist :)

Content Warnings

chloevienna's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.5

i know this is a star above average but i am an absolute whore for twilight and always have been

Content Warnings

cdt96's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny 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

3.5

Though a great addition to the saga, Edwards constant self loathing becomes tedious. Overall though a good read, took some time to gain progress as it's slow to start. Having not read the books since 2010, the return to the twilight universe was nostalgic and warm.

Content Warnings