Midnight Sun: Spoiler Free Review

Midnight Sun is one of the most anticipated novels of this year. A return to the Twilight universe? From Edward’s point of view? Say no more. I was jumping up and down when I pre-ordered my copy. I read it immediately and raced through this mammoth of a book. I can't stop thinking about it.

It’s been twelve years since the conclusion of the Twilight saga, and I never thought I’d find myself here: blasting "Bella’s Lullaby" through my headphones, reliving my massive middle school crush on Alice Cullen, and laughing at all the angst.

Yes, dear reader. I was a Twilight kid, and now I’m a Twilight adult. Hold on tight, spider monkeys, because Midnight Sun is everything you could ever want.

Stephanie Meyer has truly blessed us by releasing this book after so long. Midnight Sun follows the events of Twilight, only this time told through Edward’s perspective. Given that everyone and their mother has at least heard of Twilight, it’s a little weird for me to do a “spoiler free” review. Of course we’ve seen these events before, but there are differences when seen from inside Edward’s head. I won’t be discussing too many changes and new information given, because that would cheapen the experience if you haven’t read it yet.

For all the angst and the cheesy romance and drama, I still stand by this story. I enjoy the read, and I find the characters compelling. Of course there is fair criticism to be made about the relationship being toxic, and I definitely see that. It’s not my favorite relationship, and hopefully people can recognize it’s not exactly something to want with a significant other.

That brings me to one of the major positives I had about this story. Stephanie Meyer realized that the audience had grown up. Her dedication to fans on the first page (which made me emotional, thank you Stephanie) is the first hint that she knows how much we’ve all changed since the original Twilight books came out. From Edward’s point of view, the tone of this book is darker than the original. When the events are told from a cold vampire’s perspective, a vampire who has a degree of self-loathing, we get some pretty morbid thoughts running around the page. I liked this change. Bella is much more naïve and hopeful than Edward, so his side of the story is bound to have that darker edge to it. Even the cover reflects this change. The cover is visceral and grotesque, and it reflects Edward’s brain very well. For a more mature audience, this was the kind of shift the narrative needed to stay interesting.

Another thing to look forward to with this book would be the characters. Like many I’ve always loved the Cullen clan. They’re an eclectic group of characters, and they each have distinct personalities. I love how Meyer was able to make them so different from each other. You get so much more of those personalities in this retelling as well. I was particularly happy to see how they interact with each other on a day to day basis as a family. They all feel even more fleshed out, and I fell in love with this family all over again.

For any Twilight fan, you have to read this book. I don’t have to convince you, but you should definitely do it. For anyone who hasn’t read the series but has a vague idea of what happens, you might actually want to try this too. There’s enough exposition that you don’t have to go crazy researching the other books to understand the story.

The big question, do I prefer this to the original Twilight? Hard to say, since I haven’t read the original in so long. Midnight Sun has inspired me to go back and do a reread of the series at some point, however. I’ll rediscover my Twilight feels, and maybe then I can accurately rank the books. Regardless, Midnight Sun is a killer book, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. I loved the angsty lines that I got to mark with sticky notes, and I loved the romantic drama that made me laugh. I adore this series, and I’m so happy that we’ve been blessed with this book.