Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer

Emily Rose
Oct 13, 2023
2 min read

Phoenix, Arizona

I read through the Twilight books (minus Breaking Dawn because it wasn't published yet) so fast when I was a teenager, I probably didn't leave my house for 3 days. They are unbelievably bad (and even as a child I recognized this), but, like most cheesy and embarrassing things I did as a child, I can blame my cousins for getting me into them. Then, on some random fall night as I approached my 30th birthday, desperately in need of some nostalgia, I decided to rewatch the Twilight movie. I loved it! It was so cheesy and weird but in the best way. So I decided to get my hands on Midnight Sun and read Twilight from Edward's point of view.

Prior to the Breaking Dawn gross-bizarre resolution with Renesmee, I was evangelically Team Jacob. I thought Edward and Bella's relationship was inappropriate and possessive. I hated how Edward made every decision for Bella. I hated how much he loved her "fragility." Not to mention the age gap...(and Midnight Sun made that even weirder, like when Emmett would refer to Bella as "a good kid). It felt to me like Edward was Meyer's attempt at writing an abusive relationship (isolation from family and friends, loss of agency/decision making, fear of physical harm, etc.). But, to my disappointment, Bella winds up with the "cold one."

Midnight Sun does not add much to the Twilight Saga. It is incredibly long (658 pages or nearly 26 hours on Audible). Especially since I was already familiar with the plot and events, the amount of drawn out dialogue and buildup to certain things was just tedious. There was no added character development other than hearing Edward's droning inner voice. I find it hilarious in a depressing way to read about the things that attracted Edward to Bella (a teenage girl that isn't 100% self absorbed: gasp! She's the only one in 90 years!). Edward's self-hatred is infuriating. Either stay away or accept that Bella is in your life - don't drone on for hours about how bad it is that you're giving in to your temptations.

I'm not going to bother looking up the quote, but I remember Bella saying something about choosing Edward not only because she loves him, but because she loves who she is when she is with him. She wanted to join not only him but his whole family. And I do understand that. Meyer does a good job of drawing you into the world she created. I find myself wanting to meet her characters. I find myself re-writing the saga in my head with my own characters and stories. So, for keeping me relatively entertained and giving me some good daydreaming material, this book gets a solid 3/5 from me.

Also, I visited the Olympic National Park (by far my favorite National Park I've been to so far), Forks, and LaPush in 2019. It is such a beautiful area. Here are a couple pictures I took. :)