Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Midnight Sun

i really enjoyed getting the extra lore, history and scenes missed out in bella's account.

edward's relationship with the olympic coven is by far the biggest seller on this book for me

the biggest drawback is the insanely slow pace, i don't see myself reading this a second time and im a big rereader! this book took so long to get through.

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unloveliest's review against another edition

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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

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louisar's review against another edition

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challenging funny lighthearted tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Oof, this book. It was definitely a challenging read, but not because it was literary in any sense. I love twilight, but even this was too much for me. I would only recommend this book to die hard, unironic fans of twilight. If you are anything less, spare your eyes from this atrocity of male angst.
I was very intrigued throughout this book with the “monster” inhabiting Edward’s head. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a metaphor or figurative or if Edward has multiple personalities, which would honestly make sense. I like that this book is basically just a constant stream of consciousness, Edward’s consciousness. It’s funny to be reading all his “I hate myself” “the monster in my head rejoiced” that takes up multiple pages, and compare it with the movie where it’s just a shot of rob Pattinson looking constipated. Basically Edward goes through life (or death, I guess) with an inner dialogue that sounds like someone reading the Bible in KJV (you know his favorite verse would be Psalm 38). Pretty relatable, tbh.
One thing that I actually liked was that it’s basically confirmed at this point that Bella is neurodivergent—the way both Charlie and Renee are described indicates that they are as well so it makes what we know about Bella make a lot more sense.
The rest of my notes are incoherent:
Love the fact that Edward is an incel. I feel like I could take out large chunks of this book and replace it with passages from You and it would be exactly the same.

But also I’m getting the guy from the infamous “three weed smoking girlfriends” vibes as well, and what the heck, it also sounds like it could have come out of my middle school (current) diaries as well. Stephenie’s really doing everything in her power to try to convince you that there was no way Edward could have stayed away from her and that he’s a good person and didn’t have a choice lol. Also the part where Bella’s asking him questions and he’s like “hypothetically, if someone, let’s call him JOE” like HE’S LITERALLY JOE FROM YOU.
The further you get into this book the less Edward is the gentlemanly, “Tom Hiddleston” sort of dude s meyer wants me to think he is (did we ever see him that way, tbh?) and more of an awkward Mormon nice guy in a bowler hat who insists on opening doors for you because of “chivalry”.

Here is a list of some of my favorite quotes:
“All these other HUMAN MALES”

“I stared at my own white hand, so GROTESQUELY inhuman”

“The sun was rising in the middle of my midnight” basically my middle poetry/diary

Nice to know that at least Edward isn’t mentally over a hundred years old, so I guess it’s ok…?
“The sound of my growl shook the frame of my car but did not distract me”
“How many ways I wanted Bella. And which one would end up killing her?”

And now, I give you the WORST line in the entire book:
“I may not be a human, but I am a MAN”

And my favorite line:
Edward is basically like, “Wow, this teen girl and I are alike because we both like somebody” and then the next second he’s like (direct quote), “She was human, and he was human, and the difference that seemed so insurmountable in her head was truly ridiculous compared to my own situation. There was no reason for her broken heart. What a wasteful sorrow,” like damn, Edward. Welcome to his twisted mind, I guess. Peak teenage edgelord shit.

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unnamednarrator's review against another edition

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dark relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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elizlizabeth's review against another edition

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challenging 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

1.0

This should've gotten less that 1 star, but Emmett's sporadical apparitions saved it somehow.

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chloevienna's review against another edition

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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

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cdt96's review against another edition

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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.

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nick13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

1.0

The worst Boo I've ever read was Twilight New Moon. That was until this novel.
I don't think I've been so frustrated and I bored at the same time while reading a book as I was while reading Midnight Sun. There is just list upon list of pointless descriptions and the there are parts where it brushes past things I'd actually like to know, every thought Edward (and everyone else for that matter) is written which I wouldn't mind except for the fact that it is all the same damn thing over and over again, the dialogue is clumsy at best, Edward is still a terrible boyfriend who never gets better, and so much more i can't even begin to describe.
This book was an absolute chore, so much so that it made me stop reading for several days at times because it just made me sad. It is so slow at times I literally began to fall asleep and it is so bloated full of needless description that it feels like a textbook. Jesus christ, this is the textbook of Twilight.
With this final review of the Twilight series, I can now tell you to never read any of these books. Watch the movies if you was to watch some funnily bad movies but other than that, avoid this series like the plague, especially this book.
I'm serious, don't read this book no matter what, it will ruin you.

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