Midnight Sun [2008 Draft] by Stephenie Meyer

Midnight Sun [2008 Draft] Reviews

• 
  Steph Sinclair

  
  
  About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a stalker and a creeper. Second, there was part of him — and I didn't know how potent that part might be — that suffered from Manic Depression. And third, I was strangely and unashamedly entertained by it all.
  
  
  
  I know what you are probably doing. Right now, you may have your head cocked to the side with your eyes squinted, wondering if you read that last part correctly. I will repeat: I was entertained. First, let me clear the air. I was not entertained by the story or the writing. Shit Heavens, no. For the same reasons why some found Midnight Sun disturbing, I found it unintentionally comical. I can't tell you how many times I snickered or LOL'ed. Well, that's a lie, I probably could, but it'd be an awful long review.
  
  However, I will touch on a few standout parts that really tickled my pickle. OMG, did I really just type that?
  Project Hindsight is melting brain cells.
  
  
  Manic Depressed, murderous vamp with feelings:
  
  Like I mentioned earlier, Edward definitely suffers from manic depression. He first starts off as an extremely condescending vamp, but as soon as he lays his eyes on Bella and gets a whiff of her sweet-smelling blood, he quickly becomes a murderous hunter. Now, this I can understand to a degree because vamps, ya know, drink blood and all. BUT, as he is thinking of various ways to murder everyone in his biology class and eat Bella, he starts whining. He literally has a "woe is me, fuck my life!" moment.

  Why did she have to come here? Why did she have to exist? Why did she have to ruin the little peace I had in this non-life of mine? Why had this aggravating human ever been born? She would ruin me.

  It's all about him, isn't it? He isn't the one who's *thisclose* to being eaten, but here he is singing the, "Why cruel world?!" song. And his bitch fest continues...

  Who was this creature? Why me, why now? Why did I have to lose everything just because she happened to choose this unlikely town to appear in?

  *sigh* Are you done?

  Why had she come here!

  Sometimes people move, Edward. It happens! Man the hell up!

  I didn't want to be the monster! I didn't want to kill this room full of harmless children! I didn't want to lose everything I'd gained in a lifetime of sacrifice and denial!

  *Rubs temples*

  I wouldn't. She couldn't make me.

  You tell that little human, Eddie. *Pats back* Feel better now?
  
  Then, the next page over he gets back to work plotting Bella's murder. You know who Edward reminds me of best in the beginning of Midnight Sun? Have you ever seen
  The Smurfs? Remember old Gargamel and how he was always either planning some lame attempt to catch and eat the smurfs or crying from failing so hard?
  
  *Evil crackle* Yessss...I'll get those little blue smurfs! I'll sneak into their village while they sleep and boil them alive! Won't we Azrael?
  
  
  Hmmm...what a weird coincidence. I found a pic of that on Google... Oh, fangirls. Still feel like swooning now?
  
  Okay, now imagine Eddie just like that while he says,

  She would go home to an empty house. Police Chief Swan worked a full day. I knew his house, as I knew every house in the tiny town. His home was nestled right up against thick woods, with no close neighbors. Even if she had time to scream, which she would not, there would be no one to hear.

  
  Conniving little bastard, isn't he? ^_^
  
  Of course, then he runs off to Alaska and throws himself one hell of a pity party. Then, he goes back to Forks and falls head over heels in love with the most "mouthwatering" "beautiful" "selfless" INSANE girl. This is how I envisioned Edward for most of the partial draft *wink* book:
  
  
  
  *sigh* Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. You need help, son.
  
  And there is also another human who had the misfortune to make Edward's personal hit list: Mike. I actually felt sorry for the douche bag in Midnight Sun. If Edward wasn't thinking about eating Bella, gently caressing her lips (LOL, who does that?), or how she looked in that damn blue blouse, he was thinking of "annihilating" the "obnoxious boy." Oddly enough, that too, had me LOL'ing. I know, I know. I'm a strange one. Heh. And when he said, "I wasn't going to stand around arguing with the wretch," I fell out. LOL.
  
  
  He creeped, He perved, He stalked:
  
  The creepiest thing, yet hilarious to me, about Midnight Sun is when Edward watches Bella sleep.

  I was repulsed by myself as I watched her toss again. How was I any better than some sick peeping tom?

  LMAO, you fucking aren't! This book is a Stalker's Handbook. In five easy steps you can become the best stalker eva!
  
  Step 1: Wait until you beloved and her loved ones are fast asleep. It would be uncool to be found snooping around your one true love's house during some ungodly hour. This is especially important if there is a loaded weapon on the premises.
  
  Step 2: The window or entry of your liking may creak. Don't forget to bring along a can of oil! This is imperative to your stalking success! You must be unseen and unheard. Like a ninja...a really creepy ninja.
  
  Step 3: Watch your honey bunny sleep. Maybe she's dreaming of you. Stay awake, lest you miss the action. For maximum effectiveness drink a 5-hour energy drink. By all means, snoop around her room. This is your show. You run this!
  
  Step 4: Leave before the stalkee awakens. I can't even begin to tell you how awkward it would be if you are discovered!
  
  Step 5: Congrats! You have done it! You've stalked your soul mate! Now repeat these five steps again and again to receive your Jedi Master level of stalking badge.
  
  
  Edward loses his mind and everybody knows it:
  
  The star of this book for me was Emmett. He always said what everyone else was thinking. The "voice of reason," if you will.

  "Kid's lost his mind."
  "Lost his mind, poor kid."
  "This is getting weird."
  "You sound like a crazy person, do you know that?"
  "Exactly like a crazy person."
  "You're pathetic."

  And my favorite part is when Charlotte and Peter (Jasper's vamp friends) come to visit and Edward is there in a corner looking crazy again.
  
  
  
  And they all sort of stare at him, yet Emmett sums it up perfectly, "Madman."
  
  Oh and I can't write a Twilight review without throwing in a few hits at Bella. I just love it how Edward knows she has got to be crazy, but still wants to be with her. Maybe he finds it endearing like her inability to stand on her own two feet with out her face kissing the pavement. *shrugs* I really don't know what goes on inside the head of Edward. There is one part where he sits down and questions her sanity. He even goes as far to think about having her institutionalized:

  How was I supposed to protect someone so...so...so determined to be unprotected?

  She possesses zero self-preservation skills. Give up, Ed.

  She was impossible.

  Well, I won't say it. I effin' told you so!

  I started to wonder if she was entirely stable.

  You're just starting?

  I supposed that I could arrange for her to receive the best care available... Carlisle would have the connections to find her the most skilled doctors, the most talented therapists. Perhaps something could be done to fix whatever it was that was wrong with her, what ever it was that made her content to sit beside a vampire with her heart beating calmly and steadily. I would watch over the facility, naturally, and visit as often as I was allowed...

  
  I now truly believe both of these clowns are meant for each other. Crazy is as crazy does.
  
  Even though I may have liked Twilight and Eclipse at one point, I feel the same way I felt about Midnight Sun the first time I read it, "Is this a parody? This can't possibly be legit. It is? Bahahahaha! Somehow that just adds another layer of LOL'ing!" If you are looking for quality YA literature, this ain't it folks. Run away! If and when this book is ever finished and released, it will only be good for one thing:
  
  
  The lolz
  
  Next up is Eclipse, but in case you missed it:
  My Twilight review and
  My New Moon review.
  
  And in case you are wondering why I'm re-reading the series, stop on over to check out
  Project Hindsight at my blog
  Cuddlebuggery Book Blog. Follow if you like?
  
  Yes, that was me shamelessly promoting myself.
  
  /Fin.
  
  
  
  ***BONUS***
  
  Can you guess my favorite line from Mike?
  
  
  That pic is so creepy...it's perfect!
• 
  Sparker Pants

  OH. MY. DEAR. SWEET. . .I don't even know, honestly. After reading Twilight I could kinda see how Edward the sparklepire could be appealing to teenage girls in his prissy diamond way, but after I read this? This pretty much reads as the Future Abusive Boyfriends of America Handbook.
  
  Oil her window so you can sneak into her room at night without her permission! Force her to spend time with only you, isolating her from friends and family! YOU ARE NOT DONE WITH HER YET!!!
  
  I was so creeped out. I may have had to boil myself before being able to continue on in life and not feel dirty.
• 
  Lora

  
• 
  Katie

  This is a yet-to-be-completed partial draft of a novel portraying Twilight from Edward's perspective. I have read (more like devoured) the 264 pages that Stephenie Meyer posted on her website. I love them, flaws (which were not too many considering it's a rough draft) and all. It would be really disappointing if Edward's story ended where it does. He was always the most intriguing character to me, and the story thus far explains so much of his words and actions that puzzled me before. It's a bonus that he can read minds, so we not only know now what he was thinking, but also the thoughts of those around him. I've been surprised to read just how much he knew about the future and how early he knew it, thanks to Alice. Makes me want to slap my forehead and go, Duh! No wonder he did what he did! Stephenie is the only person in the universe who can guide us on this journey into the depths of Edward, and I sincerely hope she continues to write this story, and not let her faith in humanity be ruined by a few shameless and untrustworthy people.
• 
  UniquelyMoi ~ BlithelyBookish

  
  Midnight Sun is Twilight, from Edwards perspective.
  
  I am one of the rabid fans who couldn't resist reading this partial draft of Midnight Sun even though Stephenie Meyer would have preferred we not. ***hanging my head in shame****... but not really. I am being totally honest when I say that I loved this partial draft as much, if not more, than Twilight.
  
  When reading Twilight, I often thought Edward was arrogant and insensitive but that is absolutely the furthest thing from the truth - He's actually one of the more tormented YA heroes I've read about. Here is a young 'man' who thought he could never find that deep, passionate love between a man and a woman. He was going through his existence, thinking he was complete in himself, never imagining there could be more. But, enter Bella Swan who, without trying, awakened his 'shut down' heart and gave them both something to live for.
  
  In Midnight Sun we see just how tormented Edward is, how torn between doing what is (in his mind) best for Bella, and what he so desperately wants.... that once in an 'existence' love... that soul mate... that one you just cannot live without.
  
  Because, in my mind, understanding Edward is so vital to the storyline, Midnight Sun made Twilight really come alive for me.
  
  I've since moved away from YA novels and on to more adult themed PNR/Vampire stories, but if Stephenie Meyer ever finishes Midnight Sun, I'll be first in line to buy it.
• 
  Lynne

  I can't believe she thought she could get away with it. The same damn book, especially once the boy and the girl get together. Ooh! Read it side-by-side with Twilight and get Meyer's bad dialogue in stereo! And with no change of voice whatsoever even though the narrator has changed. As I've said in my other reviews, Meyer cannot write. We do get a little more information on the Cullens, but any character development (Rosalie especially) that may have happened in the first four books is forgotten in Midnight Sun. More evidence of Meyer's sloppiness as a writer.
  
  But if you ever had any doubts about Edward and Bella being a perfect match, you can stop worrying. They're equally pathetic, whiny and shallow. Edward might have been interesting as a kickass vampire vigilante in his rebel days; I know some police departments who could use a guy like him and save the taxpayers a lot of money, but all we get is a prissy 108-year-old virgin who reads and listens to music while the rest of his family have wild, house-ruining nooky.
  
  Same sloppy prose, same shallow characters. I suffered through four books already. That's plenty. Not even for the pleasure of sporking this would I have bought or even borrowed it.
  
  My undying gratitude to whomever leaked the manuscript.
  
  Edit: January 5, 2011:
  
  Feminist rant; proceed at your own risk. I know I've mentioned Meyer's narrow worldview and anti-feminism in my reviews of the other four novels, but for the sake of consistency, I'm going to point it out anyway. There's a scene in the manuscript with the Cullens in the Forks High School cafeteria. Jasper is, as usual, marshalling all his willpower to not leap onto the next student he sees and drain them of their blood. Alice says something to the effect of, "it helps if you think of them as people" and proceeds to give a little backstory on a student, Whitney, who walks by their table. Whitney who "has a baby sister she adores." Later on, Jasper is having another such moment, again about a girl with tasty-smelling blood who, according to Alice, is taking her little brother to the beach on Saturday.
  
  Jasper seems to struggle with his hunger in the presence of any human, so why does Meyer have to point out only the girls who tempt him? And why were both of them portrayed only as nurturing mother figures to younger siblings? Again, as in the other four books, a woman is only validated by having a boyfriend or a husband and by being a mother; for example, Rosalie telling Bella she'd wish to be old and wrinkly with Emmett watching their grandchildren play in their front yard and her "rescue" of Bella once her pregnancy is discovered, Esme's near-suicide after the death of her child, Leah's rant about how she probably became a shapeshifter because she can't have kids. Oh yeah, and Bella risking her life to bring her vampire hybrid into the world whatever the cost.
  
  Any one of these, taken separately, might not be alarming to me, but its prevalence in the books shows how deep Meyer's religious indoctrination runs. From the earliest age, young girls and women in the Mormon faith are told that they must marry and procreate, that the only important work they could ever do will be as a wife and mother. How is the single woman, the woman with a satisfying and successful career, or the woman who cannot have children to cope as a member of a Mormon congregation, especially when there are judgmental members around whispering amongst themselves that somehow she isn't "worthy" or some man would have wanted her or "the Lord" would have blessed her with children?
  
  Instead of carrying this idea to the silly extreme to which Meyer carries it, why couldn't Whitney have been a member of the school swim team and taken second in state in the hundred-meter freestyle? Why couldn't the other girl (too lazy to look up her name, sorry) have had mad writing skills or play the violin? Alice's powers of clairvoyance could have been used so much better here. "She'll be first chair violinist in the Seattle Symphony in five years--that is, if you don't catch her behind the building after classes."
  
  Also. . .why couldn't either of them have been a guy? Oh yeah, because vampirism is a metaphor for sex, and you can add chronic homophobia to the list of Mormon dogma.
  
  There's much more Mormon meta in these books, but that would fill four books the length of Meyer's so-called "saga" itself.
  
  I don't think Meyer even realizes she's doing it, but again, here we see Meyer's narrow worldview, her lack of imagination, her sloppiness and laziness as a writer, her fear of creating characters that are anything other than Mary Sues.
  
  And again, my undying gratitude to whomever leaked the manuscript.
  
  
  P. S. I've received comments like "U R just jellus cuz Stephanie (sic) wrights better then U!!!!!!!!111
  
  or my favorite, "You don't like it cuz you don't get it."
  
  And recently, members of the LDS faith have been calling me out for pointing out Meyer's dismissal of any female character without a functioning uterus (Rosalie Hale, Leah Clearwater), portraying them as lesser individuals. Leah (a badass girl-wolf-shapeshifter) who whines about being "defective" because she stopped menstruating and that's probably why nobody "imprinted" on her, and Rosalie, who was "turned" as a young, single woman. I've been saying, from a position of personal experience, that the narrow worldview comes from Meyer's religious upbringing.
  
  I understand religious indoctrination and how "bred into the bone" it can be, and I'm saying Meyer cannot seem to get out of that mindset when she's writing. I find it shallow and trite and a negative message to the young women and girls who read the books, along with the other bullshit about turning your free will over to a controlling, abusive man-beast and portraying that as romantic because he's rich and pretty.
  
  I further understand that these books provoke strong emotions in people. If you are here out of curiosity and you gave it 5 stars, you can forget about a meeting of the minds on the quality and merit of this series. So try to be a grownup about other people's opinions differing from yours. Read and move on.
  
• 
  Sandee

  I typically stay as far away from romance novels as I can but I got "bitten" (okay ... bad pun) by the Twilight Series. I started reading them because I needed a book-fix after the last Harry Potter book (may the Harry Potter series rest in peace). The first in the Twilight series, appropriately named "Twilight", is pretty good but not Stephenie Myer's best writing. With each addition in the series, her writing gets better and better. I read the last book and started getting geared up for the movie. A friend at work told me about the partially completed draft of "Midnight Sun" being leaked so I went to Meyer's website to see what happened. Yep! Someone (LOSER) leaked a version of it. Meyer decided that, for now and indefinitely, she is so upset about the leak that she can't write any more in the book. (THANK YOU, afforementioned LOSER!) She made an interesting move, though, to save her readers' honor and uploaded the unfinished manuscript to her website herself. No one has to feel guilty looking for it and reading it, because she's taken the high road and freely given it. I started reading it, not expecting to be bitten hard enough to become a wannabe vampire myself! Wow! Midnight Sun is the best book in the series and it isn't even officially part of the series! I found myself swooning like a teenage girl -- okay, like Bella herself -- and wanting Edward to fall in love with ME! I'm pathetic, I know, but that's okay. We all need a little nibble of romance every now and then!
• 
  Rebekah

  Read the first 11 or so chapters Meyer posted on her website. Just as bad as the rest. Edward seems pretty delusional about Bella and her non-existent personality and he's even more creepy from his own point of view. Spying on her while she's sleeping and reading and who knows what else....if it was supposed to be and acknowledged as creepy and slightly wrong I wouldn't have a problem with it. But apparently Meyer thinks it's perfectly normal and acceptable for teenage boys to stalk young girls and watch them while they sleep.
  
  The only good thing I have to say about Edward is that at least in this one I can better see the struggle and temptation he has about killing/eating Bella (once again if treated as creepy and weird as it should be I wouldn't have a problem with it) as opposed to Twilight where there was barely any tension at all.
  
  Also, about not finishing it just because you are so "upset and depressed" about it being leaked online? Way to be mature and rational. Sometimes I really think Meyer is some whiny teenage girl on the internet writing her own love novel with her playing Bella. I for one wouldn't be that surprised. I guess it helps me keep hope in the human race that a grown woman isn't writing these and seriously thinks she is writing this amazing wonderful perfect romance, because otherwise....I don't know what to think.
• 
  Allison Floyd

  Can't get enough of Edward's hissy, snarly, growly velvet honey voice? Bella's "selflessness"? The thirst, the infernal burning thirst? Multi/one-dimensional characterizations (Esme's tenderness, Rosalie's vanity, and even dear old Edward--who graduates in this draft from paper to origami but still retains his (delightfully) tiresome diet-Byron shtick)? Wonder what that waitress was really thinking when she delivered those mushroom raviolis?
  
  Boy, do I have a book for you.
• 
  Miranda Reads

  
  
  Ohhh yeah,
  I went there (check out the video to see all my unpopular opinions...if you dare.)

  Anyway, onwards to the review!
  
  
  
  WHAT THE F*CK DID I JUST READ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!
  
  Here's the
  GLORIOUS LINK.
  
  After being burned so many times...do I dare to hope?
  
  GUYS - her website is a countdown.
  https://stepheniemeyer.com/
  
  Maybe it's not...but...what if it is????
  
  CUE THE HYPERVENTILATION
  
  it was REAL! This one's now the partial draft, there's gonna be a Midnight Sun!
  
  
  Midnight Sun
  
  
• 
  emma

  doing this for 13 year old me
• 
  Annalisa

  First of all, I am not one of those people who rate a book on anticipation, nor do I appreciate it when people do. This review is based on the 12 chapters linked on Stephenie Meyer's website. Yes there are grammatical errors but not anything to be embarrassed about the rough format of the text. I'd be more embarrassed about the use of the word chagrin more times than I cared to count (ok I still counted) which made me cringe with chagrin. Secondly, yes I am a hypocrite. I am aware that my very last Stephenie Meyer review stated I was done with her books. But... this is the same story right? I'm not going to get sucked into any new fiction from her but after several weeks of avoiding this I finally broke down and read the chapters.
  
  Reading this did slightly lessen my disdain for Breaking Dawn in that I can see how from Edward's perspective Bella was meant to be a vampire. I still don't like Breaking Dawn but going back to Twilight before
  New Moon and Eclipse took the story in a different direction it makes just a hair more sense. And most importantly I can see why Edward fell in love with Bella. This finally explains what makes Bella special. Of course this is just the first few chapters before Bella turns to mush definable only by her relationship with Edward when I liked Bella too. But even then I didn't get why Edward who has lived over 100 years would like her. Now I do.
  
  I also didn't see Edward as such a creep. We understand why he says things like "I have a problem with my temper" and it's not that he has a problem with his temper. But he still is obsessively protective of Bella and it didn't lessen my distaste of that. The whole Bella being a magnet for trouble is hammered into the ground a little too much. And maybe it's because I don't buy into her need to be overly protected but I did find it annoying. And the cheesy overly possessive dialogue is worse coming from a guy's perspective. Probably because I've already read these discussions before, but many of the conversations I found boring and childish.
  
  But overall, it was nice to see what Edward was thinking in the early stages of their relationship before they were open with each other. I didn't realize how much Meyer had left to question in Twilight. I pulled out my copy of Twilight to see what Bella was thinking when Edward was confused by her silence and it was nice to go through them together. (And just to clarify: it's not my copy of Twilight. It's my niece's. I'm a definite closet, on-the-fence fan.) I would have liked to see more scenes of Edward away from Bella instead of just rereading Twilight from another perspective, but maybe she intended to fill those in later.
  
  My biggest disappointment with this is that it's incomplete. Not so much that it is unfinished but where she finished it. Meyer said she wrote her favorite scenes first and where this whole idea came from a dream of a girl and vampire in the meadow which became the first written chapter in Twilight, I was sure the meadow scene would be one of the first scenes she wrote. But no. These leaked pages start at the beginning of the book and follow right up until two days before the meadow scene. The Port Angeles chapter was interesting, but really all I want to know is Edward's thoughts as he learns to deal with touching her and his physical reactions to their first kiss. If she had written just a few chapters more, I would have been completely satisfied with Bella's account of James and never cared to read a completed book of Midnight Sun. And she was so close...
  
  Despite the incompleteness of the book, I am glad I went over these chapters. The bad taste of
  Breaking Dawn is more of a distant memory and now I have a more complete understanding of Twilight.
• 
  Colleen Houck

  I personally believe this book would have been Stephenie Meyer's masterpiece. Edward knows everything so a book from his point of view is just so cool. I read her rough draft on her website in one sitting and kept mumbling, "Please go past the meadow scene, please go past the meadow scene," over and over. Of course, it stopped just before the meadow scene so I was sad. I really hope she finishes it someday because its amazing.
• 
  Lisa

  My life was an unending, unchanging midnight. It must, by necessity, always be midnight for me. So how was it possible that the sun was rising now, in the middle of my midnight?
  
  When I first heard a little over a month ago that Midnight Sun had been leaked and would be "on hold" indefinitely, I was incredibly sad. For Stephenie Meyer, yes, because her trust had been broken, but for myself as well. Selfish, I know, but I was so looking forward to having a nice hardbound copy of Midnight Sun to place on my bookshelf beside the other Twilight books. Now I don't know if that will happen.
  
  I told myself I wouldn't read the manuscript, even though it was posted on Stephenie's website. That didn't last long, obviously. How could I not read it, when it was available and calling out to me?
  
  So I read it. And... I loved it! No surprise there. It was refreshing to read things from Edward's perspective (ahhh, Edward!), and to be privy to his feelings as he realized that he was falling in love with Bella... as well as the danger being in love with her entailed. And some of the things he thought about Bella were so sweet and cheesy they made me swoon. :)
  
  Really good! I only wish the meadow scene had been written and included.
• 
  Elisabeth

  once your in edwards mind your in everyones mind!!
• 
  Amber

  I was very sad that Stephenie put this on hold indefinitely, but I can understand why she did. What a violation as an author.
  
  I really liked this version. I think I liked being in Edward's head a whole lot more than being in Bella's. Plus, you get the added bonus of being in everyone else's head and get to see their true selves. What fun! I personally thought this book had the potential to be the best of the series. Although I did feel like I was stepping back in time after reading all the other books, it was nice to get a few more details.
• 
  April

  Dear Stephanie,
  
  I understand that you're really irritated that someone you trust would take your unfinished manuscript and run off with it. I can only imagine the betrayal you must feel, even violation. I can see why you would want to put it on hold indefinitely but COME ON WOMAN!!!! What I read from this was sooo very much better than Twilight. Seriously. How could you start something like this and leave it. Give us a glimpse into the mind of such a "godlike" vampire such as Edward and take it away? I can only hope that one day, you will change your mind as I imagine you will. May his untold version of the story eat away at your heartless soul until there is nothing left.
  
  Only kidding... I hope you keep your soul but I can only imagine how much this unfinished work will bother you until the time comes when you will finish it.
  
  Regards.
• 
  Faizah Roslaini

  Perhaps I should be ashamed of myself for obsessing over Twilight the way I did, but I'm not going to lie about liking it. Perhaps the series would not appeal to the taste of bourgeois and elitists, who might feel that reading Twilight somehow compromise their immense intellects.
  
  I'm not a bourgeois nor an elitist, I'm a simple person who reads simply for pleasure. I just like what I like.
  
  If this one gets published I would definitely buy it. Though the main reason behind it would be totally pointless you might say. I just need to see the complete series arrange neatly together on my shelf!
  
  
  
• 
  Hazel

  I am a journalist and for my school newspaper, I write editorials. I wrote one on Twilight and Midnight Sun and the abusive behavor Edward shows. Many students *Mostly fangirls* hated my editorial. I feel like they hated it because they knew it was true. How do I know this? Well As I was writing, I asked some girls what they would do if their boyfriends stalked them while they slept or read, or what they would do if their boyfriends broke the breaks of their cars so they wouldn't go see another male friend. Or what they would do if they felt intimidated by their boyfriends or undeservant of their love. They all gave me the same response, they would leave their boyfriends. Some even said they would get a restraining order.
  
  Now when I mentioned Edwards name, what would they do if Edward did that, they all said "OOHH well that's a different story! He's sexy!" It not only bothers me greatly that girls find this behavor normal when it comes from a "sexy man" but it boggles my mind why Stephenie would write for teenage girls and boys such as this.
  
  I will not lie, I LOVED Twilight. I wanted so bad a guy like Edward Cullen. i was one of the biggest fans. And then, I found a boy like him. It def wasn't the Twilight romace I thought it would be.
  
  Controling, Jealous, stalkerish, and creepy.
  
  And worse of all, very emotionally abusive and scary. After a year in a half I finally got myself back and re read Twilight thinking it would leave me in a better mood after the break up and it only made it worse. Edward shows signs as an abuser and sadly, no girl would know it is unless they experience an abusive relationship.
  
  Midnight Sun was the icing on the cake and was taken way too far. I was a little scared for Bella myself. That is not love, it's unhealthy obsession.
  
• 
  Rachel

  Why did I give it five stars? Cuz it was funny. Edward is such a misguided little vampire/fairy thing. *chuckles* Although, I nearly gagged several times while he described how "beautiful and self-sacrificing" Bella was. Please. That chick would sell her own mother to the Volturi if it meant she could be with Edward the rest of her life. *shakes head*
• 
  Robin

  I actually liked this better than the other "from Bella's perspective" books. I liked hearing what was going on with Edward and enjoyed his interactions with his family.
• 
  Dew

  This book is an exacting re-tread of the inexplicably popular first book of the Twilight series, the book from which the entire series earned it's nomenclature. Fortunately, Mrs. Meyers (also the name brand of my favorite laundry detergent) proves that she is learning something as she goes along. Thankfully, the writing is improving from book to book though the mythos of the vampires and werewolves still remains contradictory and immaturely expressed.
  
  The best part is that unlike the first book wherein the lack of cohesion made Bella seem like a floating head lost in the absence of either explained or implied physical structure, Edward seems to have a body and isn't entirely cerebrally constructed. It's also nice to get some idea of what Edward ever saw in Bella in the first place because, frankly, the first book was a hot mess when it came to addressing the reciprocity of their relationship. If only there were some indication of Edward's perspective in the first book, he might not have seemed like such an unbalanced and stilted lack-wit.
  
  Unfortunately, since this is such an exacting re-tread, it also seems to offer very little in terms of intrigue in terms of plot and seems grossly overdue, possibly to the point of irrelevance. I do not understand why Mrs. Meyers chose not to give any insight into the Edward character whatsoever in the first book, making him so inscrutable and obtuse as to render his behavior ridiculous and irrational. When Bella asks Edward if he has multiple personality disorder the day before she falls "irrevocably in-love" with him, she had a point. Based on the way the character is written in the first two books, he seems mentally and emotionally unbalanced bordering on deranged. Then in an abrupt about-face, Mrs. Meyers re-writes the entire first book from Edward's perspective in the 5th installment of the series.
  
  This simply smacks of stunt-writing in a series that seems to be running out of imagination. Poor Mrs. Meyers seems to be learning just how difficult is it to keep a teeny-bopper soap-opera going. Perhaps now she might re-write the rest of the novels now that she has developed her skills a little and integrate all of the characters together?
  
  
  ADDENDUM:
  
  I finally realized why it is that this telling of the introductory novel from Edward's perspective rankles to no end. Edward is written like he is autistic or has asperger syndrome - as though he has no understanding of anything human despite not only living among humans for more than a century, but also that he was human himself once upon a time.
  
  Regarding the issue of Edward's almost complete lack of sexuality in the first novel, it still seems absurd that he killed for a decade while finding his path, but never once considered having sex with anyone ever. It would have been more realistic and interesting if he had voraciously engaged in sexual behavior before adopting a monastic lifestyle, abstaining from all sex for years, possibly decades, before meeting Bella. Otherwise, it just makes him seem even more freakish.
  
  These books truly seem to have been written for 12-year-olds, where holding hands and piggy back rides are the epitome of "love" and neither lead character has any knowledge or interest in sex. By 17, even if a teen doesn't fully understand sexual desire, they at least have a desire for that unknown quantity where their emotions run so hot it feels like their hearts cannot be contained within the confines of their chest and an intensity of longing that certainly feels real at the time.
• 
  Ahmad Sharabiani

  Midnight Sun (Twilight #1.5), Stephenie Meyer
  Midnight Sun is the much anticipated retelling of Twilight from Edward Cullen's perspective.
  عنوان: خورشید نیمه شب ؛ نویسنده: استفانی مه یر؛
  ا. شربیانی
• 
  Shannon

  This is purely gratuitous but I don't care - I always wanted to know what was going on in Edward's head and knowing how he really felt, and it was great to get his perspective: his reactions, his moodiness, become so understandable. While this is an unfinished draft - ending at the end of the first day after Bella lets Edward know she knows he's a vampire - I would definitely buy the complete novel if Meyer ever finished and published it, just for my own satisfaction.
  
  But I agree with Chelsea - Meyer is being a bit sulky, dropping this project because it got leaked. It's horrible that someone did that, but it's also petulant and immature to let that spoil everyone else's enjoyment in the series. She made a bigger deal out of it than she needed to - wanting to be dignified, sure, but also over-reacting. Yeah, I'm being selfish: I want her to finish the damn thing so I can have a copy!
• 
  ♡ Dakota ♡ (Sarcasm is my middle name)

  UPDATE: I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! And yes I’m so excited! Even if my current updates for Twilight don’t seem like I am!
  
  So rumor is Stephenie Meyer might release this in 2020. What did she do in 2015? Released Life and Death for 10th anniversary of Twilight. What is 2020? The 15th anniversary of Twilight.
• 
  Lisa

  
  
  Midnight Sun... If I spoke my mind when it came to my thoughts on you, there would be a lot of expletives. I will try to be classy and not be profane. It's not your fault that you're a piece of garbage... or is it?
  
  I think this would be one star if I didn't take pity on the fact that it wasn't finished or edited. Pity that it probably doesn't deserve. Also, it was free to read. If I'd paid for it, I would've wanted to punch something (and I'm a pacifist.)
  
  First of all, I need to gripe about the writing. I can't believe how horrendous it is. If this is unedited Stephanie Meyer, then her editer must be a genius. I read the Twilight series and The Host years ago and I will admit, I enjoyed them(I don't know if I'd ever want to re-read them but they were entertaining at the time).
  
  This was so hard for me to get through. The choppy, mediocre writing mixed with Edward's douche-y thoughts was just a nightmare. I found humour in how many stupid thoughts Edward had.
  
  

  But, all afternoon, I was gritting my teeth against the urge that had me yearning ditch, too-in order to go find the girl again. Like a stalker. An obsessed stalker. An obsessed, vampire stalker.

  
  
  The word stalk (in it's various forms: stalk, stalked, stalking) is present 11 times in this book. Here are a few of them:
  
  

  I was full of so many conflicting emotions as I stalked out of the room.
  
  I stalked out of the room.
  
  Rosalie stalked past me without a glance.
  
  She got to her feet and stalked out of the room.
  
  "You're unbelievable!" she said through her teeth, and then she turned away from me and stalked furiously toward the parking lot.

  
  
  The word of the day is.......stalked!
  
  
  
  Now here are some passages where Bella is clumsy! :
  
  

  Her haste made her clumsy-she tripped and stumbled forward, almost falling into the girl seated in front of me. Vulnerable, weak. Even more than usual for a human.
  
  I was surprised, watching her stumble through the day-tripping over cracks in the sidewalk, stray books, and, most often, her own feet-that the people I eavesdropped on thought of Bella as clumsy.
  
  It was true that she often had trouble staying upright. I remembered her stumbling into the desk that first day, sliding around on the ice before the accident, falling over the low lip of the doorframe yesterday... How odd, they were right. She was clumsy.
  
  "I'm absolutely ordinary," she explained. "Well, except for the bad things like all the near death experiences and being so clumsy that I'm almost disabled. And look at you."

  
  
  Note that Bella is clumsy. It's very important we know this.
  
  
  
  Onto all the times Edward uses the word "protect"(and it's various forms). It's over thirty times! Here are a few gems:
  
  

  How ironic that I'd wanted to protect this human girl from the paltry, toothless threat of Jessica Stanley's snide thoughts. I was the last person who would ever stand as a protector for Isabella Swan. She would never need protection from anything more than she needed it from me.
  
  Hadn't I wanted, instinctively, to protect her, too? Before I'd wanted to kill her, that is...
  
  Somewhere during that short thoughtless second when I'd sprinted across the icy lot, I had transformed from killer to protector.
  
  I was not Bella's protector.
  
  For the moment, I could be her unlikely protector.
  
  I would not trespass on her privacy the way the peeping tom would have. I was here for her protection...
  
  The pretty blouse she wore looked too thin to protect her adequately (lolllll)
  
  She was too vulnerable for this world. She needed a protector.
  
  How was I supposed to protect someone so...so...so determined to be unprotected? (double lollll)

  
  
  
  
  How about the word "fragile"? Lets see what that brings up:
  
  

  This girl looked more fragile than her new classmates. Her skin was so translucent it was hard to believe it offered her much defense from the outside world.
  
  I was vividly aware of her fragile, breakable body.
  
  Alice, smiling, with her icy white arm around the girl's warm, fragile shoulders.
  
  Her delicate fingers, her fragile wrist.
  
  I would always love this fragile human girl, for the rest of my limitless existence.
  
  She couldn't love me the way I loved her-such an overpowering, all-consuming, crushing love would probably break her fragile body.
  
  I imagined how it would feel to touch the delicate skin that stretched over her cheekbones-silky, warm...so fragile.
  
  Bella was like a soap bubble-fragile and ephemeral. Temporary. (HAH!)
  
  As gently as if she were made of the thinnest glass, as if she were fragile as a bubble, my fingers stroked the warm skin that covered her cheekbone.

  
  
  
  
  I could go on and on. What did I learn from Midnight Sun?
  
  -Bella is clumsy, weak, fragile and needs to be protected!
  -Edward goes from seriously wanting to kill Bella and all her classmates to being a crazy stalker
  -Stalking someone is okay if you're doing it to protect the person you're stalking
  -Edward falls in love with Bella for almost no reason. They barely talk and he's thinking he'll love her FOREVER!
  -Edward thinks of Bella's classmates as "children". So basically he's a pervert who falls in love with a "child"
  
  I feel bad for Stephanie Meyer that this got leaked on the internet but that doesn't excuse how awful it is. It's bland(I almost fell dead asleep twice), badly written and offensive to human beings.
  
  Edward and Bella came across as absolute dicks who deserve each other. I saw this picture posted on a couple of goodreads updates today and I think it sums up my feelings:
  
  
  [image error]
• 
  Frenchflutebob

  Even though Stephenie didn't want her readers to see this draft, I am glad she made it public so we could really understand Edward better. I LOVED reading it. Even in draft form, and even though you already know what's going to happen, it is captivating. Plus, there are additional scenes you don't get in "Twilight." I sincerely hope she will finish and publish it.