Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer
I’ve read the books. I’ve seen the movies. I thought I knew the story, but this peppers in so much more detail that I didn’t even know I wanted. I definitely found myself throughout the original four books wondering Edward’s thoughts and perspective on things and this was a satisfying delivery.
In the sixth installment in the Twilight Saga, Meyer takes the reader through the events of the first novel, Twilight, through the eyes of Edward. For the first time the reader is able to hear Edward’s thoughts, experience the events that Bella was not present for, and hear the conversations among the Cullen coven. Additionally, the reader is given a behind the scenes view of Edward’s mind reading ability in live action throughout the novel. Via his gift of mind reading, Edward offers the reader new insight on familiar characters from the mundane school drama of Mike and Jessica to the sinister thoughts of James and Laurent. Though Edward and his family’s backstories are told to Bella in the original book, the reader is treated to a much more thorough account of that past and a deeper dive into the early days of Carlisle’s coven.
I was a big fan of the Twilight series (books and movies, though a lot of the movies didn’t live up to my expectations) at the height of the Twihard fever days. I’ve never thought that the books were particularly well written but also not so poorly written that it really affected my ability to enjoy the events of the books. As I’ve grown older I do have to agree that the story is predatory and more than a little icky. A one-hundred-year old man in a seventeen-year old’s body is able to overcome his overwhelming bloodlust for a seventeen-year-old girl and they become obsessed with one another and fall in love? I mean its problematic. We can analyze and say that. But as in most fantasy novels I read, I do not find it so problematic that I am not able to see it for the fiction that it is and fall into step with enjoying the story.
I found the change of perspective refreshing. I enjoyed the new insight into Alice, Jasper, and Edward’s gifts and the history of Carlisle’s life. After reading this I am now craving more story that gives the proper time and attention to Esme. I feel like she is such a powerful character who shaped so much of Edward and the others in his coven but is not given nearly enough of the spotlight. I’d also very much like to see more of the Edward perspective during parts of Breaking Dawn and maybe even a little beyond. Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and would undoubtedly read more in the Twilight series should Meyer indulge us.
