Midnight Sun

I was pleasantly surprised how much the story had evolved from the very early draft i seen a decade ago. So much more substance. The different POV of the same beloved Twilight story was refreshing yet familiar simultaneously. Understanding the logic and reasoning behind his reactions were something i missed from the original story so this was a long time waiting. Loved getting reacquainted with the other characters and learning more about them and their unique backgrounds/history.

So I just recently binge read the Twilight Series and I was surprised that I loved it so much. So why wait to read Edward's perspective right? So I jumped in...

I have to say I was torn between a 3.5 and a 4 rating for this one. I ended up at 4 because I ultimately loved more than disliked this one.

While I did enjoy seeing from his POV, I also didn't enjoy it. For one thing the chapters were extremely long, and (for me) seemed to become whiny and repetitive. For such a big book, it could have used with some culling I think.

What I loved most was Edward's thoughts as he became aware of and finally met Bella. I also loved the Cullen family thoughts as they all started to become a part of the inevitable Edward & Bella duo. Alice, as always, was my favorite...even in Edward's book

This book was really interesting because it views the very familiar story of Twilight from Edward's perspective.

A couple things I loved about this format:

1. You get to actually hear what he is thinking about Bella (more on this later). This (at first) was great. Because Edward is such a stoic character whose face does not give away much, it was hard to discern what exactly he was thinking about any particular subject at any time. HOWEVER, BY THE END OF THE BOOK I WAS SO TIRED OF HEARING HIM TALK SHT ABOUT BELLA'S WANT TO BE A VAMPIRE. Like he was the “bad guy” and that she didn't know what she was doing or how he is always putting her in danger. For those who have read the normal books from Bella's perspective, you know that Edward straight up just leaves Bella in ‘New Moon' because he is “saving” her from himself. This possibility that he was going to do this actually started early on in the novel and he grappled with it up until the end. Obviously we all know what happens, but in New Moon from Bella's perspective, this is quite a shock (I cried hard for a whole day when I read this in my teens... heartbreak...) BUT you know where New Moon is going from Edward's perspective in this novel. The foresight is real. SO, I am very excited for how Stephanie Meyers alternate to New Moon is going to be. I mean she has to keep going now that she opened this can of worms. And actually that book has the opportunity to go even deeper in an explanation into the vampire world, Edward's life and also give intro to the other covens that just show up in Breaking Dawn (because I believe Edward goes and visits a lot of other covens), because New Moon is so primarily focused on building up Bella and Jacob's relationship.2. You get more clarity on hoe everything actually goes down because you are hearing Edward's thoughts and also the thoughts of others because he can read minds. This gives so much more depth to the story, especially because for a large portion of the end drama you are hearing Edward read Alice's thoughts of the future. This is basically like having two narrators. And the fact that Alice and her beginnings are more explained is phenomenal because I love her.3. For whatever reason I like Bella a lot better in this book than I remember?? Idk she just sounded smarter that what I remember but this could be fake news because I read Twilight a LONG time ago.It took me a long time to finish this book solely because I was tired of hearing martyr Edward's pity rants about ‘loving Bella' but having to leave her because he is a monster, etc. etc. (you can obvi tell I was always Team Jacob but alas...) Also something to note is that there is a lot more explanation in this book as a preface to the things Bella learns in New Moon about the treaty, because Edward was actually there for it. Also, you can start to see the relationship between Jacob and Edward form as well that was only ever highlighted in Eclipse. Because Edward can read Jake's mind he can see that he is pure and wholesome and his intentions for Bella are only that of love (cue the AWKKKKK love triangle early.)Anyways, loved this book. 3.75/5 stars. The only reason I didn't round to 4 in the review above is because I'm still mad about how much time was wasted and how much harder it was to get through bc of Edwards inner monologues about morality. *sigh how many times can you say the same thing ,my dude? (But also love/hate to Steph for actually coming up with 75 different ways to say the same thing and still keep it the tiniest bit fresh to capture enough intrigue to drag yourself as the reader through yet another pit of despair.

Side note: I would have much preferred if she formatted this book to be like 1500 pages and literally merged Twilight and Midnight Sun so you could start reading a chapter from Bella's perspective then jump to Edward's or do some co-mingling in the chapters. I have seen this done in other romance novels and really enjoyed it. If she could pull this off succinctly it would make the monologues worth it.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!!