Welcome back to The Real World According To Sam! I already wrote my review of this book, which can be found here: Sam Reviews Midnight Sun.
Since my sister was the one who was doing the reaction posts to the Twilight series, I thought I'd give her the chance to write an actual review of her own for this book. So without further ado, please welcome my younger sister as today's guest writer!!
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Due to the recent release, this review is completely Spoiler Free.
Midnight Sun
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Year: 2020
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?
Review:
Honestly, I had very low expectations at the start of Midnight Sun, due to my overall opinion of the Twilight Saga. This book surprised me, which I'm pretty happy about. This review will be separated into three sections, beginning with the writing.
The Writing:
The writing was definitely a pleasant surprise. I had been hoping that since Twilight came out 15 years ago, the writing would be better, and Stephenie Meyer didn't disappoint. It still isn't the best writing I've ever read, but it's far better than the other books in this series. The grandiloquent words make more sense in Edward's perspective than Bella's, seeing as he is from an older time.
Overall, I don't have much to say about the writing. It wasn't phenomenal, though I did enjoy Edward's comparisons to Greek mythology, along with the interactions between his family members. These Greek mythological references didn't feel as if they belonged in Bella's perspective, and therefore, made much more sense in Edward's.
I have to say that of the three perspectives we have read throughout the Twilight Saga (Bella, Jacob [Breaking Dawn], and Edward [Midnight Sun]), my favorite by far is Edward's. He is much more personable. His logic makes more sense (save for his stalker-ish tendencies).
The Plot:
The plot was pretty much the exact same as Twilight, except instead of seeing Bella's family life, you see Edward's. It was very interesting to read about what Edward was doing while Bella was doing something else. For instance, the hunt and the final battle scenes are told from Edward's perspective. We get to see how the Cullen family finds Bella, which was really fascinating. We get to see what happens between James being defeated and Bella waking up in the hospital, since in Twilight, Bella was unconscious for all the events between.
The plot of Twilight was very basic, sometimes bordering on annoyingly simplistic. Midnight Sun is just as simple, but it didn't feel as basic to me, and was much less annoying. I was only annoyed once, though I can't fully remember why, so it mustn't have been that annoying after all. I think it's because Edward's daily life is ten times more interesting than Bella's. His life is less mundane and ordinary, as you would hope since he is supernatural. I found Midnight Sun significantly less boring than Twilight.
The Characters:
It was enjoyable to see more of the Cullen family, which is one of the main reasons why I believe this is by far the best book in the Twilight Saga. I'm going to talk about each of the main characters in the upcoming sub-sections.
Emmett Cullen
Emmett is a more fleshed out character here than in Twilight. I liked him more. In Twilight, he was just "the tough vampire" with that being his only trait. When I was reading the books from Bella's perspective, Emmett is always hanging out with Jasper, which made it seem as if they were the closest of the three brothers. It kind of paints a picture that Edward is the "odd one out."
Here in Midnight Sun, you get to see all THREE of them are really close, and Edward is only the odd one out when it comes to being the only Cullen who's single. This is something Leo Valdez in The Heroes of Olympus would call a "seventh wheel." He's very close to Emmett, Jasper, Alice, and even Rosalie.
Rosalie Cullen
I was kind of surprised at how close Edward was to Rosalie and Emmett. I already knew he was close to Jasper, Alice, Esme, and Carlisle, but in the Twilight Saga, Rosalie always seems distant when it comes to Edward. It was really interesting to read about the interactions between him and Rosalie. Rosalie was still annoying, however, you understand her perspective much sooner than from Bella's point-of-view.
Esme and Carlisle Cullen
We get to see more of Esme and Carlisle in this book. I love how caring Esme and Carlisle are toward their adoptive children. I really like the relationship between Esme and Edward. I love how motherly Esme is.
As far as Carlisle goes, I really like him as a father figure. Carlisle and Esme are actually some of the few parents I've read in YA that either don't annoy me, aren't dead (literally dead; undead doesn't count) or that actually attempt to be a part of their children's lives. I enjoy the two of them as a pair, and I enjoy them as parents.
Jasper Cullen
Where do I begin with Jasper? He was amazing as always. He's still my favorite of all the characters in the Twilight Saga. I especially enjoyed the scenes with him toward the end of the book.
All in all, Jasper is the best, and as much as I dislike the Twilight Saga, (especially New Moon) my opinion of Jasper will never change.
Alice Cullen
As much as we see regarding Alice and Edward's relationship in the Twilight Saga, I still enjoy how much more we got to see in this installment. I find it interesting how much they can communicate between each other with such small movements and words.
There was also more of Alice's gift in this book. I'm not going to go into much detail because this is a spoiler free review. All I'm going to say is that more was explained and elaborated on as far as her gift is concerned, especially regarding future events in the later books. That's all I'm going to say.
Bella Swan
I also liked Bella from Edward's perspective more than from her own. It was much easier to tolerate her from his POV because she actually had a personality. It was also refreshing to read about Edward's flaws and concerns, because in Twilight, Edward is this perfect vampire who can do no wrong, which I found incredibly dull.
The way Edward views Bella is also more romantic, as he likes everything about her--unlike Bella, who constantly comments on Edward's eyes, voice, and overall attractiveness way too many times in Twilight. Bella's thoughts of Edward are more superficial, whereas Edward's have more substance, and are based more on Bella's character than her looks.
In my opinion, it is much easier to root for Bella and Edward from his perspective than hers, because she actually seems like a decent human being who cares about others, whereas in Twilight, she came across as being relatively selfish. I almost feel as if Bella's good deeds and personality traits were downplayed in Twilight. Either that or I didn't care enough about her to notice when she was helping others, which is entirely possible. I don't want a character who constantly mentions how much they help people, but I also don't want a character who tells or shows us NOTHING about their charity or selflessness if it's one of that character's traits.
Edward Cullen
When I read Twilight, I was really annoyed with Edward eavesdropping on Bella's conversations. I have to admit that in this book it didn't bother me as much. Especially once you read the thoughts of Mike and Jessica. Of the students at Forks that Bella knows (Cullens' excepted), my favorite is Angela.
As far as the Twilight Saga goes, I like Edward better than Bella, but there are times where he still annoyed me. Surprisingly, I didn't have as many of these moments in Midnight Sun, and I'm really glad. I don't like being annoyed, especially when I'm reading. I read to get away from annoyances, not to get more. I don't feel as if there's much to say about Edward. He didn't annoy me in this book, but then again, nobody really did, not even Bella, surprisingly.
Overall Thoughts:
If I could choose to re-read any Twilight book again, I would most definitely pick Midnight Sun. The writing is much better, the characters have more depth, and it was a more enjoyable read than the other four books in this series.
Even if I were to never re-read this book, I would still re-read some of the passages, because I did truly enjoy many of them (the majority of the ones with Jasper, especially the scenes toward the end).
I think fans of the Twilight Saga will highly enjoy this book, especially if they are on Team Edward. As for Team Jacob, he doesn't really appear much in this book, since it's from Edward's perspective.
I would really like to see another Twilight book, this time from either Jasper or Alice's point-of-view, because we don't really know anything about Alice's human life. We found out a little about her life in Twilight, but her human life is still a huge question mark.
Riddle me this, Stephenie Meyer: Where did Alice come from? Who turned her into a vampire? Why was she put into a psychiatric hospital? How did Jasper react to meeting her?
These are the questions I want answered, not how russet-colored Jacob's skin is, or how velvety Edward's voice sounds. Tell us more about Alice. I want this puzzle solved. Alice's life is such a large puzzle, even the Riddler can't solve it.
Overall, I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. It isn't on my list of favorites, but I did really enjoy it.
Lexi K
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