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A review by livinginmyfantasy
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
dark
slow-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
2.75
It's been 10 years since I last read a Twilight book and going back into that world was part very fun and nostalgic and part very frustrating and eye-opening.
Initially I wasn't planning on reading this book, but when a friend of mine suggested we buddy read it, I was curious enough to agree. Revisiting this story together and discussing it weekly made it a lot of fun and I was surprised at how much I was enjoying the book when we started it. Although I must admit that part of that came from being amused about the absurdity of some moments and not being able to take them seriously anymore. I guess that can happen when you take a closer look at things you used to love as a teenager, they can become a bit silly when you grow up. I enjoyed seeing Edward's side of things, getting more insight into the Cullen family dynamics and finding out what happened during the time Bella and Edward were apart at the end of the book, as everything that happened then was suddenly new and exciting.
Unfortunately there were also quite a few things I did not enjoy that I had to endure to get to those last 200 pages of excitement. For instance, Edward is not always the most pleasant narrator; his inner monologue and complaints could get too long and repetitive and I often found myself annoyed, and at times even infuriated, by them. It felt unnecessary to say the same kind of things so many times over and there's a couple 100 pages that could have been scratched to make it less tiresome. If I hadn't been reading this book with a friend I might have given up on it. Being older and reading things from Edward's perspective also made me see all the problems in Bella and Edward's relationship, which I didn't notice when I was a teenager seeing things through Bella's eyes. Some of the things I found romantic back then suddenly became quite jarring and unsettling.
This book took me through a rollercoaster of emotions and my feelings about it are mixed. But in the end, I'm deciding to hold on to the fun, nostalgic feelings a bit more and am letting the positives outweigh the negatives.
Initially I wasn't planning on reading this book, but when a friend of mine suggested we buddy read it, I was curious enough to agree. Revisiting this story together and discussing it weekly made it a lot of fun and I was surprised at how much I was enjoying the book when we started it. Although I must admit that part of that came from being amused about the absurdity of some moments and not being able to take them seriously anymore. I guess that can happen when you take a closer look at things you used to love as a teenager, they can become a bit silly when you grow up. I enjoyed seeing Edward's side of things, getting more insight into the Cullen family dynamics and finding out what happened during the time Bella and Edward were apart at the end of the book, as everything that happened then was suddenly new and exciting.
Unfortunately there were also quite a few things I did not enjoy that I had to endure to get to those last 200 pages of excitement. For instance, Edward is not always the most pleasant narrator; his inner monologue and complaints could get too long and repetitive and I often found myself annoyed, and at times even infuriated, by them. It felt unnecessary to say the same kind of things so many times over and there's a couple 100 pages that could have been scratched to make it less tiresome. If I hadn't been reading this book with a friend I might have given up on it. Being older and reading things from Edward's perspective also made me see all the problems in Bella and Edward's relationship, which I didn't notice when I was a teenager seeing things through Bella's eyes. Some of the things I found romantic back then suddenly became quite jarring and unsettling.
This book took me through a rollercoaster of emotions and my feelings about it are mixed. But in the end, I'm deciding to hold on to the fun, nostalgic feelings a bit more and am letting the positives outweigh the negatives.