Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun
By  Stephanie Meyer

ISBN: 9780316707046
658 Pages
Available in Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, and on Kindle

Synopsis:

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward's version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward's past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger? 

My Thoughts:

I'm going to be completely honest. I went into this book with very low expectations. It's not that I dislike the genre or the series. Just that, having already read Twilight, I kind of felt like "been there, done that."  Already knowing how the story in Twilight goes, most people who aren't Twilight series super fans probably would approach this book the same way, thinking that there isn't much to add to the story. But that's not true, and is an unfair assessment. 

Midnight Sun was an unexpected delight. Seeing things from the other party's perspective gives a whole set of adventures that coincide with the first book but feel new. You see what happened when Edward took the long weekend right after meeting Bella, and while the Cullens are away hunting. Most importantly, you get to see a whole different adventure in Edward and Carlisle's trek to Phoenix chasing James and rescuing Bella.

It's also allows you to better get to know the personalities of the vampire characters via their thoughts. In the first Twilight books, you only get a vague sense of who Jasper and Emmet are, but in this book you have the opportunity to know them better through their brotherly interactions at home and at school with Edward. You are given more insight into Rosalie's motivations and her dislike of Bella. And, of course, there is so much more detail on why Edward does the things he does. 

Having not have read Twilight in quite some time, at moments this book had me going "ah ha!" as things clicked into place, and at other moments had me wanting to go back and cross reference because I saw something so completely new in my mind that I did not remember it happening in the original story, though surely it did. Which is why I say that, despite the fact that this is in a way a retelling, it is still original enough of a story to be quite enjoyable. 

Like the rest of the series, I did feel that some of the writing could have used refining, but it wasn't so much of a distraction to take away from the story. The repeated references to pomegranate seeds definitely got obnoxious after a while, and it could have done with less of that. But overall it was a decent book. 

TW: While not gone into in detail, this book has mentions of rape and sexual assault.

Parent's Guide:

Like Twilight before it, Midnight Sun does have quite a bit of violence - more than it's predecessor if you count in Edward's many thoughts and daydreams - and some minor sex topics. Nothing too out there, and nothing that is bothersome unless you are really bothered by the idea of violent thoughts. Barring that, it's an okay teen read.