Midnight Sun (The Twilight Saga, #5) by Stephenie Meyer

Midnight Sun (The Twilight Saga, #5) Reviews

• 
  Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

  
  
  
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  I was still a teenager when I first read
  TWILIGHT, and now I am... well, not a teenager, obviously. (Beware, kiddos who follow me, one day, you too will be one of the "olds.") Since that first initial read, I've reread TWILIGHT a handful of times, and each time, I've felt a little differently about it as my thoughts about feminism, young adult fiction, and romances slowly changed and evolved with my own self-identification over time. I eventually settled on a sort of affectionate resignation. No, TWILIGHT won't be winning any female empowerment awards, and it's all too easy to make fun of (whether it's vampire baseball, sparkling in the sunlight, or the infamous misuse of the word "nattering"). But it was a book written by a woman for young girls that somehow became overwhelmingly popular and a cultural phenomenon, and women really didn't get to have a lot of things like that. Most things in pop-culture are created by dudes, from the perspective of the male gaze, so it was refreshing to see a romance novel become so inescapably popular that it gained a firm toehold in the fantasy/paranormal literary canon forever.
  
  
  
  Even if the heroine was a klutz with zero self-preservation.
  
  
  
  I actually read the original version of MIDNIGHT SUN back when it was still available to read for free on Stephenie Meyer's website. I remember when she first announced the project, she got so much backlash for it, and everyone said she was greedy/milking the cash cow/etc. (and yet radio silence when every other romance author decided to copy her and write POVs from their own abusive heroes' perspectives). I remember there was a lot of drama because someone had leaked the chapters, and they were circulating the internet, and Meyer was mad and said something like, "I'm not going to write this anymore because if I did, I'd let James win and kill off all the Cullens!" And in a final "so there!" she had posted a PDF version of the leaked chapters on her own website. Which... yikes. Not yikes to Meyer but just yikes because I honestly felt so bad for her at the time, getting all that hate and then someone screwing her over like that. I'd probably want to red wedding my own characters, too, at that point. So I read the 12 chapters on Meyers' website and went on with my life...
  
  
  
  Until our year of 2020 when Meyer announced to the world that she would FINALLY be publishing MIDNIGHT SUN, the rewrite that nobody asked for. Or... um, wait, actually I think LIFE AND DEATH was probably the rewrite that nobody asked for. Anyway, people took in this news and basically lumped in with the general craziness of 2020 but they also had Thoughts. I had Thoughts. Namely:
  
  
  
  1. Ummm, okay, that's great and all but WHAT ABOUT THE HOST SEQUELS.
  
  2. And why does that cover make me so uncomfortable? It looks soooo sexual.
  
  3. There is no way that this is going to be good but I am a trash can-- we all know that I'm a trash can-- and TWILIGHT was my shit back in the day, so we all know I'm totes mcgoats reading this.
  
  4. I REGRET NOTHING.
  
  5. Does this mean that vampires are FINALLY becoming popular again?
  
  6. Just kidding. That was a trick question because we all know vampires never left.
  
  
  
  Anyway, I finally got my hands on this book and managed to read it in a day with some skimming and all I can say is HOLY HELL WHY AREN'T MORE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT WHAT A CREEPS MCDEEPS EDWARD IS. Like, yikes. If you thought he was problematic and patriarchal in the firsts four books, grab a blowtorch and some mace, because he takes stalking and problematic behavior to serial killer heights. Where it's methodically breaking down how he would go about meticulously snapping the necks and killing everyone in his biology lab in order to get to Bella while her blood is still warm, or stealing what I believe was her house key (some kind of key) while sniffing her hair and then OILING HER WINDOW TO MAKE IT EASIER TO SNEAK INTO TO WATCH HER SLEEP, Edward is the King of Creepy. And what makes it worse is that he knows what he is doing is creepy and he literally does not care.
  
  
  
  Another thing that I found really funny in this book is how Stephenie Meyer really tries to give us a reason as to (1) why every single heterosexual man with a functional penis pants after Bella in the books and (2) belatedly and retroactively tries to infuse her with a "personality." What results is that we are treated, through Edward's psychic powers, of the inner monologues of EVERY MAN in this book who finds Bella attractive and told over and over again how dazzling, how stunning she is that she leaves boys literally unable to think while speaking with her-- and she doesn't even know it! Bella dramatically understates her own worth and Edward finds this so charming, compelling, and appealing that he has taken it upon himself to act as appraiser. Which is... gross. But gross is a recurring theme in this book, just as another recurring theme in this book is every attractive woman who actually knows she's attractive being repeatedly looked down upon, rejected, and shamed.
  
  
  
  Woo, feminism!
  
  
  
  Through Edward's eyes, we're told how selfless and good Bella is. They have a conversation that definitely wasn't in the first book and felt about twenty pages long (I think it was actually ten) in which Edward asks Bella all of her favorite things, and she answers, so we learn her favorite flower (dahlia), candy (black licorice and sour patch-- is she an old lady??), and ALL OF HER FAVORITE BOOKS which we already kind of knew about from the previous four books, but now in addition to the Jane Eyres and Jane Austens, we're informed that she loves Robin McKinley and the Dragonriders of Pern series, and oh yes, Agatha Christie! She's BRANCHED OUT!
  
  
  
  I must say, this book felt about a thousand times longer than it actually was. In addition to the long odes to Bella courtesy of Edward's being psychic, we're also treated to long and waxing odes of how rich, attractive, and amazing Edward is, courtesy of his being psychic. One creepy thing in this book which I'm really not seeing mentioned more in the reviews of this book is how Edward allegedly looks seventeen and yet a number of older women-- adult women-- in this book are panting after him and fantasizing over him, EVEN THOUGH HE IS A TEENAGER. I'm sorry, that's gross. That's just as gross as a one-hundred-and-four-year-old man panting after a teenager.
  
  
  
  Which is another thing that makes this book creepy. Being inside Edward's head, we find out just how unequal their relationship is. Edward holds two medical degrees and is over a century old, and yet he doesn't like women of his own age and doesn't like women who have sexual agency (they seem to make him feel some weird mix of scorn and shame). Instead, he goes to a high school, where he sneers at the biology teacher for not knowing as much as he does with his ~sniff~ two medical degrees, and tunes in to his fellow "high school students" like he's watching a soap opera on the radio. Like... why?? If I was an immortal psychic vampire, high school is the literally last place I would go. I'd be on a remote island somewhere with my own personal library, or travel the world. I certainly would not be looking at lab slides and writing out prophase, anaphase, interphase.
  
  
  
  TWILIGHT works because it's written (allegedly) from the perspective of a teenage girl who doesn't feel like she fits in, who feels like she's more mature for her peers, who feels like she sacrifices endlessly and nobody knows it and she doesn't want people to know it, but also she does. She whines about attention while craving it, and even though she's annoying, she is also a perfect stand-in for the walking, irrational paradox that many teenage girls (and boys, and people) are. It works. And how many of us, told that "things will get better in college" haven't innocently fantasized about a dashing older man (or woman) who would sweep us away from high school and tell us we're special and also a secret princess or heiress or faerie queen or whatever? Everyone wants to be special, especially people who are not. So, even though TWILIGHT doesn't really make sense, and Edward is ridiculous and toxic AF, the fantasy is appealing because it taps into Bella's desire to be seen and, yes, special.
  
  
  
  MIDNIGHT SUN, however, doesn't work-- because it rips the sparkly tablecloth off that fantasy, revealing the horrors underneath. Edward is dangerous. He's a stalker, he's a bit of a psychopath, he has anger issues, he's jealous, he's possessive, and he's one-hundred-and-four years old and in love with a teenager, and because of that discrepancy, he feels like he knows what he wants better than she does-- because he's an adult, and she's the irrational, and naive teenager. In this book, it's no longer romantic; it's creepy. As we see Edward not through Bella's rosy lenses but through Edward's own, we realize just how creepy he is. So if this was an attempt to rationalize and humanize Edward's behaviors, it failed, because it only served to make him 10x creepier. But if this was Meyer's attempt to be like, "ha ha! you want dark?? I'll give you DARK," then she succeeded, because man, Edward is super scary and I want no part of him. Team Jacob all the way, thanks. At least he's her own age.
  
  
  
  The only thing this book really succeeded at was filling in some of the bizarre plot holes from TWILIGHT, such as why the tracker didn't recognize what Bella was right away at the baseball game, and why, between Alice's mind-reading and Edward's psychic powers, Bella ended up having so much bad shit happen to her in this first book anyway. I didn't ask for MIDNIGHT SUN and I'm not really sure it adds anything of real value to the series, apart from doubling down on the Edward is Creepy vibes from the previous book while trying to ret-con Bella's vapid, schoolmarmish character based on criticism from the first four books. Only one of those things was successful, though, and I don't think it was the one that the author was going for, sadly.
  
  
  
  1.5 to 2 stars
• 
  Angelica

  I have never in my 23 years of life been more excited to read a book and I am not ashamed! I loved reading this, but I didn't necessarily love this book. Bear with me, I will explain!
  
  This book isn't perfect, and I didn't expect it to be. It has many of the major criticized flaws of Twilight, in terms of instalove and questionable romance.  It is a Twilight novel after all, and if you're one of those people that absolutely hate sparkly vampires and all that comes with them, this is NOT the book for you. This book was written for the Twihards. It was written for everyone that had been eagerly awaiting this installment for over a decade. For those of us who recognize Twilight's flaws, but love it nonetheless. So, if you know that you're going to hate it, don't read it for the lolz, and don't ruin it for those of us who care about it. Please. That's all I ask.
  
  That said, Midnight Sun is 'technically' better than Twilight. Meyer's prose has grown and greatly improved in the past 15 years since Twilight first came out. Many of us have laughed at infamous Twilight lines such as: “Aro laughed. "Ha ha ha," he giggled.”
  
  (Which is a misquote, by the way. It's actually: “Aro started to laugh. “Ha ha ha,” he chuckled.” In New Moon, chapter 21. Look it up!)
  
  Thankfully, we've grown past that mess in Midnight Sun. The writing was, surprisingly, actually one of my favorite parts of this book.
  
  When it comes to plot, this is literally the same as Twilight. Don't go expecting a new story because you won't get one. What you will get is a new version of it with far more detail and development than we see in the original novel. Meyer took the opportunity in this book to expand and develop a lot of things that were left vague before, and I really appreciate that. The vampire world seems bigger here, the characters seem like they could possibly, with some effort, be real people!
  
  Character-wise, I really liked this book and consider it a good contribution to the Twilight Saga. I am extremely biased as I have always been #TeamEdward, but I genuinely enjoyed the look into Edward's thoughts. He is still a vampire stalker, but he is also shockingly self-aware and not nearly as perfect as Bella thinks. Seeing him through Bella's POV made Edward seem distant and otherworldly and entirely without flaw. Seeing his own mind shows he's a flawed, complex mess of a person. It makes him a bit more human than before.
  
  Shockingly, the biggest surprise for me in this book was Bella herself, as she too appears more human in this book than in Twilight. Don't get me wrong, Bella is still the most special of all special snowflakes, but through Edward's eyes, you see she actually has a personality. There are conversations between the two characters that are only alluded to and skipped over in Twilight, which were fully fleshed out in this book. Perhaps it's because, in Twilight, Bella was too infatuated with Edward to pay attention to small, trivial conversations. In Midnight Sun, Edward is so infatuated with Bella that he considers all those trivial conversations vital to her character. Either way, Bella's personality, her likes, and dislikes, get explored here in a way that wasn't in the original novel. It makes her less bland.
  
  All the other characters are also shown in greater depth in this book, mostly, the Cullen clan. This is because Edward can read their minds and therefore see their true selves and hidden motives, while Bella's POV was blinded by their beauty and perceived perfection. Emmett was my favorite because he was the only one aware of the fact that Edward was clearly crazy.
  
  I will say this though, it sucks that all the human characters lowkey suck. I mean, they sucked in Twilight too, we just didn't realize how much. All of Bella's "friends" are lying, jealous, horrible people and it sucks that Meyer chose to portray them like that for the sake of making Bella appear even more special. Even Rosalie, who has a genuinely horrifying, tragic backstory of being used and abused and left for dead, is reduced to a horrible, jealous mean girl, and I didn't like that. Rosalie deserves her own story being told because none so far have done her justice.
  
  In the end, this book was good and I highly recommend it to any Twilight fan. Keep in mind that this is literally the plot of the original Twilight. Don't expect anything new or innovative, just a fresh perspective. That said, I promise you, this perspective will not disappoint.
  
  Still, I must admit, there were points in which the book felt overly long. I kept waiting for certain things to happen and would get annoyed when I realized how early on in the story I still was, despite having read so many pages (this is a 658 page, 240k word novel). It’s about twice the word length of the original novel! But,  I attribute the annoyance to knowing all the major plot points from Twilight. I was waiting for things to occur, waiting for my favorite scenes to come up and waiting, finally, for the action to happen.
  
  It is one of the reasons why my rating cannot be higher than what I gave it. This book could never measure up to Twilight for me. My love for that book is based on an emotional attachment to the story rather than the quality or general readability of the novel. Unfortunately, I have no such attachment to this book. While I liked this book, I know that had this not been a Twilight novel, a part of the saga that I have loved for so long, I would not have found it nearly as enjoyable.
  
  And yet, having read this, I somehow feel complete. I have been waiting for this book for a decade, and I am so happy that I could finally get my hands on it. I can die happy in knowing that my last impression of Twilight wasn't that awful Life and Death, gender-bent nonsense. Seriously, Life and Death was a trash novel. Midnight Sun, on the other hand, was everything I expected it to be.
  
  #TeamEdward
  
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• 
  Miranda Reads

  
  
  Just released my
  Top 10 Books from 2020 BookTube Video - now that you know this one made the list, click the link to find the rest!

  Annnd here's my original reaction to this book!

  
  
  Just did my
  BookTube Reading Vlog all about this GORGEOUS addition to the Twilight family. Click the link to check it out!

  

  And Now for my reactions:

  

  I'M HYPERVENTILATING. MY TEENAGE SELF IS DYING.
  
  NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME.
  
  UPDATE ~ Publication Daaaay!
  
  I might have the book at home but I can't wait that long.
  
  F*ck it.
  
  Goodbye money.
  
  Hello audiobook.
  
  Another Update
  
  This book made my heart happy. It was everything I had hoped for in Edward's perspective.
  
  
  YouTube |
  Blog |
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  Twitter |
  Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
• 
  emma

  This book is 1,800 pages long.
  
  I'm not fact-checking myself, but rest assured it feels in the foundational religious text/600-level STEM textbook range.
  
  And I read every one of those proverbial tissue-paper pages. (I did not actually read a hard copy of this. See below hinting.)
  
  And yet, I have exactly one note.
  
  That note is: there is nothing funnier to me than charlie literally being no thoughts head empty. i knew i respected that man for a reason #acab
  
  Helpful? No. But it made me laugh. So thank you, past Emma.
  
  To be honest, I really liked this book at first. It almost...concerned me. It would have been devastating to my brand and image to genuinely enjoy a Twilight book in 2020.
  
  But thank god Stephenie Meyer saved me from herself.
  
  Because this got old very, very quickly.
  
  Twilight power rankings -
  1) Alice
  2) Charlie, the only cop I respect
  3) Edward
  
  And yet this book still wasn't good.
  
  Being in Edward's head gets old. I can't imagine how he did it for 11,000 years before creeping on a child.
  
  But let's get out of here before we have to start considering the morals of this series.
  
  Bottom line: Don't - Read this book. Do -
  Donate to the Quileutes.
  
  ----------
  pre-review
  
  well. i did it.
  
  but at what cost????
  
  review to come / 3 stars
  
  ----------
  currently-reading updates
  
  LET'S! GET! READY! TO! SUUUUUUUFFER!
  
  note: this series is bad and has done a lot of damage. i donated what this book would have cost me to the
  Quileute tribe's move to higher ground and paid $0 for this. let's leave it at that.
  
  ----------
  tbr review
  
  what better way to spend a summer than by reading thousands of pages' worth of sexually frustrated vampires
  
  ----
  
  i already swallowed my pride and added the old edition of this book...now i have to do it again?!
  
  13 year old me better appreciate this
• 
  chan ☆

  i would like to thank not only god but mormon jesus for bestowing this gift upon me in the year of our lord 2020
  
  let's all stand for 672 pages of murderous, horny edward
  
  ---------------------------------------
  
  review:
  
  i had no idea going into this book what i wanted it to be. i read the original 12 leaked chapters back in the day and just like everyone else i craved an entire tome. but i am so glad that we didn't get the release 12 years ago. the wait was undoubtedly worth it.
  
  this book delivered every unanswered question, every charming moment with side characters, every aching piece of internal dialogue from edward. we get to see edward at his most depraved, his most happy, his most anxious. we get to experience him falling in love. and it all made so much sense. if you find yourself wondering upon reread of twilight why the two fall so quickly, i feel like this book answers that question. and for all detractors of edward, i think we get a really convincing look at his attitude toward his relationship with bella (i.e. consent & respect king).
  
  in short, it was everything that a fan could hope for. my adoration for this book is without end. and my love for this series, much like edward's love for bella, is eternal.
  
  ---------------------------------------
  
  also! if you love the twilight series, i think it's important to know that the real Quileute Tribe hasn't received any compensation from either Stephenie Meyer or the series/movies/merch (despite their culture and legends being misappropriated in the books). currently the Tribe is trying to move some of their buildings (such as their Tribal school) to higher ground because they are in a tsunami zone. here's a link to understand more/to donate!
  
  
  https://mthg.org/
  
• 
  Mirta

  My 13th self: 5 STARS! Favorite of all times!
  My now self: 1 stars.
  My 13th self: 4?
  My now self: 2.
  My 13th self: Deal.
  
  Publication Day:
  My 13th self: OMG I CAN’T WAIT
  My now self *sipping coffee and scrolling Goodreads*: I’m just here for the drama
  
  My 13th self: OMG IT'S HAPPENING I LUV EDWARD CULLEN SO MUCH!!!1!!1!!!1
  My now self: We won't read this book.
  My 13th self: Are you crazy?!?!?!?!?!
  My now self: Edward is a stalker.
  My 13th self: NOOOOO HE'S PERFECTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!1!!!1!
  My now self: He's a Tamlin.
  My 13th self: He's a what?!?
  My now self: A Tamlin.
  My 13th self: I don't care I want to be Bella and marry Edward!!!1!!!1
  My now self: Bella is awful, she's a poor version of a character. She exist to marry Edward. She had no other goals.
  My 13th self: YOU. OWN. ME.
  Mt now self: Ok, but I will write the status update. At least this will be fun.
  My 13th self: TEAM EDWARDDDDDDDD!!!1!!!!1!!!1
  My now self: ...
  My 13th self: Do you still have our "bite-me" necklace?
• 
  em

  Supermassive black hole starts playing.
  
  
• 
  Emily (Books with Emily Fox)

  Wanna know if this book is worth it? I got you!
  
  Here are my thoughts, all the cringy Edward moments and new infos:
  https://youtu.be/VBhw0_0QxpM
• 
  • Lindsey Dahling •

  Look, I’m doing this for high school Lindsey. She had to suffer through the low-rise jeans phase, so I owe it to her.
  
  Even though she and I will NEVER be cool with Bella’s floor-length khaki skirt.
  
  ————————————————————————
  Update: DNF at 34%
  
  Look, I can’t do this even for low-rise jeans high school Lindsey.
  
  I’d like to say she’d understand, but the day Stephenie Meyer posted the leaked chapters on her website, high school Lindsey drove to the public library after school just to read them. And she loved them.
  
  High school Lindsey was a moron.
  
  Edward’s POV adds nothing new to the story. It’s mainly just him going on and on and on and on about every little thing. So much so that I, an annoying AF over-thinker, couldn’t tolerate it. Bella may be one-dimensional, but at least she knows how to move the plot along. Edward is incapable of doing so.
  
  Also, a lot of the dialogue didn’t really make sense from his POV. It’s almost as if Stephenie Meyer was writing all of these inner monologues for Edward and then remembered she needed to include the dialogue from the first book, so she just plopped it in random places. None of his thoughts are snarky or amused, but his dialogue certainly is. The two don’t match. And yes, yes, I’m aware not everyone says what’s they’re thinking. But, there were parts in Twilight where he seemed genuinely amused by Bella. Yet, none of his thoughts reflect that. Thus, it feels patched together.
  
  Really a shame this didn’t come out 14 years ago. High school Lindsey would already own a pillow case of the cover. As it is, present day Lindsey is still suffering from the effects low rise jeans had on my hips, SO I AM NOT EVEN SORRY FOR QUITTING THIS.
• 
  Christy

  5 stars
  
  
  
  

  “For just a second, I saw Persephone, pomegranate in hand. Dooming herself to the underworld. Is that who I was? Hades himself, coveting springtime, stealing it, condemning it to endless night.”

  
  Midnight Sun is a book I’ve been waiting for for over 12 years and let me tell you, it was so worth the wait! I honestly thought this day would never come and as soon as I saw the book was available, I preordered the hardback for my collection and the audiobook. I listened to all 25+ hours of this and the narration was AMAZING. Jake Abel did a fantastic job voicing Edward. I can’t recommend the audiobook enough.
  
  I loved being in Edward Cullen’s head. Absolutely loved it. Yes, this is a Twilight retelling, but this is much longer than Twilight and so much was expanded on. I loved getting more from the Cullen’s and with Edward being able to read minds and all, you really did get to see more from so many of the other characters in this book. Plus just knowing Edward's side of things and what he was really thinking was truly a treat! I also have to say, I think Stephenie Meyer's writing has only gotten stronger with time.
  
  If you’re a diehard fan of the Twilight Saga like me, I highly recommend giving this one a go!
  
• 
  Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin

  Omg! THIS book was EVERYTHING! Please for the love of everything, Stephenie, write the rest of the books in Edward’s perspective!!! 🖤 I only put in a few quotes, but I will return with more at a later date!!
  
  
  
  Holy shit snacks!! I love it so much! It’s so damn different and cool!!
  
  
  
  

  It did not happen often, but every now and then I would be struck by the obliviousness of the humans around us. We were all so accustomed to it, we always expected it, but occasionally it seemed more glaring than usual. None of them noticed us here, lounging at the battered cafeteria table, though an ambush of tigers sprawled in our places would be less lethal than we were. All they saw were five odd-looking people, close enough to human to pass. It was hard to imagine surviving with senses so incredibly dull.

  
  
  I love how Edward talks about reading his families minds and the different thoughts and struggles. I really wish Stephenie would do the whole series in his perspective!
  
  
  
  

  Bella Swan walked into the flow of heated air that blew toward me from the vent.
  Her scent hit me like a battering ram, like an exploding grenade. There was no image violent enough to encompass the force of what happened to me at that moment.
  Instantly, I was transformed. I was nothing close to the human I’d once been. No trace of the shreds of humanity I’d managed to cloak myself in over the years remained.
  I was a predator. She was my prey. There was nothing else in the whole world but that truth.
  
  I was a vampire, and she had the sweetest blood I’d smelled in more than eighty years.

  
  
  
  
  to be continued.....
  
  
  
  Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
  
  BLOG:
  https://melissa413readsalot.blogspot....
• 
  Nataliya

  Pre-reading review: Let’s be honest, I hated
  Twilight. I *loved* hating
  Twilight. Terrible as they were, those books had literary merits of a Twinkie - and were just as addicting. And now this is out, and can I really think I have the willpower not to read this sparkly creepy vampire opus?
  
  Also, what the hell is that cover??? It’s seriously creepy. Pomegranate — or a partially dissected heart? Reminds me of anatomy lab and all that formaldehyde smell...
  —————
  Post-reading review:
  
  Reader, I finished it. Yes, the entire 700+ pages. That’s some self-discipline, mixed with masochism, apparently.
  
  700+ pages of the story of the first
  Twilight book, told through Edward Sparklepire’s eyes. 700+ pages of overly-wordy, painfully bloated overwritten narration that does not dare skip ever the most insignificant detail or word. 700+ pages of self-loathing angst and cringeworthy romance basically told in real time.
  

  

  
  But hey, I can sum up the first third of this magnum opus pretty succinctly, courtesy of RiffTrax guys and
  their bloodthirsty 40-second parody version of Edward’s lullaby with these immortal lyrics (lullaby because the creepy stalker Sparkleson climbs into her room through the window every night and without her knowledge or consent obsessively for hours on end watches her sleep. Blergh):
  

  
  
  "I want to chomp into your throoooooat.
  And watch you bleed out on the floooooor.
  Then I'll bathe myself in your life essence as you die.
  Tear your heart out of your chest
  and crack the bones
  and suck the marrow out.
  Slice into your brain for sandwiches
  and maybe have an omelette made of--"

  
  We already knew that cute subtle sparkly sheen was the skin of a killer. We knew Edward Sparklemeister was an angsty broody uptight guy with serious control issues and obsessive creepy stalker/ abusive boyfriend personality. What I don’t think I realized before is how petty and judgmental Sparklepants actually was. Literally the opening scene of this book has his internal monologue bitch and whine about everyone and everything around him, including his family.
  

  “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 nonlife of mine? Why had this aggravating human ever been born? She would ruin me.”
  
  (Also,
  Growing Up Cullen, ultimate genius. Read and rejoice - it captures Edward’s character perfectly)

  
  This book is much MUCH longer than Twilight - probably because in addition to Edward’s incessant self-loathing inner monologue we also get, via his eavesdropping mind-reading ability, constant recaps of Bella’s conversations with other characters. And *everything* that those characters thought, in strangely coherent sentences.
  

  Reading looong sections of Edward eavesdropping on other people’s thoughts made me finally realize what bugs me about this whole setup: people don’t spend their whole day running their internal monologues in perfectly coherent sentences, like a book. At least I don’t. It would be a jumble of images, sentence fragments, overlapping distracted thoughts, visuals, etc. That can’t be just me, right?

  
  It’s the sheer number of details. About everything. Obsessively. Every minute detail. Every single word ever said. Twenty pages of Edward interrogating Bella about her likes and dislikes. A page and a half of Sparkly Sparkleson choosing a shirt to wear. An hour of reading dialogue describing everything from Bella’s favorite color to favorite bands to favorite books to her favorite ... *SNORE* Pardon me, I must have dozed off from boredom here. Sufficient to say that pacing — what pacing?
  

  

  
  My best guess is that this book is supposed to serve as a
  Twilight encyclopedia / retcon.
  
  - Was Bella’s character criticized as an empty self-insert shell of a person in
  Twilight? No problem, let’s cram every single detail about her here to refute that.
  

  “There was a bit of Jane Eyre in her, a portion of Scout Finch and Jo March, a measure of Elinor Dashwood, and Lucy Pevensie.”

  
  - Was Bella criticized for being too self-absorbed and judgmental towards other non-vampire characters in
  Twilight? No problem, let’s make sure that every character surrounding her here thinks such a barrage of vile thoughts at her that by contrast she appears to be Heaven incarnate and shines like a judgmental petty diamond she is.
  

  “The English language needed a word that meant something halfway between a goddess and a naiad.”

  
  - Was Edward criticized for angry and abusive stalkerish behavior in
  Twilight? No problem, let’s just insert a billion justifications about how he totally respects Bella’s choices and how what would seem to be controlling and stalkerish behavior totally isn’t, and he sparkles like a judgmental prissy diamond he is. Except when the creepy is still there (since Meyer wrote it twice already):
  

  “And then she started to walk away from me.
  Without thinking about my action, I automatically reached out and caught her by the back of her rain jacket. She jerked to a stop.
  “Where do you think you’re going?” I was upset—almost angry that she was leaving. I hadn’t had enough time with her.”

  
  

  

  
  And the language. Oh, the Bella-levels clumsy language (“her heart throbbed wetly just a foot from my ear”) and overwrought descriptions (“Her scent hit me like a battering ram, like an exploding grenade”) and clunky metaphors (“The electricity ricocheted around the inside of my stomach”, “my voice wrapped around her name like a caress”).
  
  Enjoy the highlights reel:
  

  “She was from a much brighter, warmer place—her skin seemed to reflect that somehow, despite its fairness—and the cold must make her uncomfortable.”

  
  Her skin reflects no such thing. Apparently she’s corpse-like in her translucent paleness and you keep emphasizing how translucently pale she is. Eddykins, you are just making sh*t up now.
  —————

  “I smiled at the threat, then gently kissed her again, quitting as soon as her heart started acting up.”
  
  “Her heartbeat thudded louder than before, and the rhythm was abruptly staccato.”

  
  Holy crow, as Bella would say. Sparkleson, your actions seem to trigger some serious arrhythmia in your girlfriend. You may want to think about EKG. Two medical degrees, Doctor Sparklepants — you know this could be deadly.
  ——————

  

  
  - A few times hopelessly smitten women literally think “Swoon” when ogling the marble Adonis that Edward is. How often do you see an attractive person and proceed to actually verbalize in your head, “Swoon”? I never have - but maybe I way too busy actually swooning rather than thinking “Swoon”? (Also, “swoon” no longer seems like a real word).
  —————

  “I fall down a lot when I run,” she said sheepishly.”

  
  What the hell IS wrong with Bella? Those balance and coordination issues are way more than endearing clumsiness. Did she have a stroke? Does she have a brain tumor? I mean, a person should be able to walk on a flat surface without tripping for at least a few steps, right? Did you say TWO medical degrees, Dr. Sparkletoes? You never considered asking your girlfriend to get a brain MRI?
  ——————

  “I stared at her in blank surprise. “People can’t smell blood.”

  
  Stephenie Meyer doesn’t know how human sense of smell works. Or maybe I’m a vampire, too.
  ——————

  “She waited in silence, her teeth pressing into her soft lower lip.
  That sight distracted me for a second. Strange, unfamiliar reactions stirred deep in my forgotten human core.”

  
  Dear Edward Sparklepants. Strange unfamiliar reactions deep in your core? Don’t you have two medical degrees and a lifetime spent in biology classes? I know you’re a 100-year-old virgin, but you must understand, no? It’s arousal, buddy. You are simply horny.
  ——————
  ——————
  
  Anyway, you get the gist.
  
  Now I’m hoping that Meyer does not decide to rewrite the rest of the books from other POVs.
  
  Oh crap, I hope I haven’t given her any ideas....
• 
  jessica

  is this a book we all really needed? no.
  is this a book we all deserved? you better believe it.
  

  

  
  reasons why i gave this 5 stars - nostalgia and edward. thats literally it.
  
  and honestly, i wish SM had written the original books from edwards POV. i enjoyed this soooo much more than ‘twilight’ because i dont have to deal with bellas whiny thoughts. lol.
  
  ↠ 5 stars
• 
  Tatiana

  Is COVID-19 making authors finish their projects? Maybe George R.R. Martin is next? Megan Whalen Turner? Patrick Rothfuss? (Searching for silver lining very hard here.)
  
  I never even cared about this, but life as it is now, I might actually partake in some sparkly icicle camp. Too bad it's not going to cover
  Breaking Dawn’s most freaky events, amirite? #icicleoflove
  
  
  
  
  https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
• 
  Anne

  I loved Twilight. Fuck all y'all haters.
  I've been salivating to read this ever since that partial first draft of the original Midnight Sun got leaked years ago.
  
  
  
  But after reading this? I wish Stephenie Meyer had just pulled on her big girl panties and finished it back then.
  This Edward was too breathy and overdramatic. He came across as one of those bitches who would willingly saw his penis off as an apology for scaring you with his boner.
  Getthefuckoutofhere.
  
  
  
  The first few chapters were the hardest, because Edward sounded like such a poncy twat that I really didn't know if I wanted to keep listening to his inner monologue. He was so condescending and obnoxious, it just felt like his thoughts were on a repetitive loop.
  I am an ageless vampyre full of ennui. Humans are disgusting creatures that I am loathe to spend time with. And yet, I'm forever sitting in this high school biology class...
  That schtick that got old. Fast.
  
  
  
  I'll admit that as the story went on, he really did become a lot more tolerable.
  Gotta be honest though, he was not as charming as I remembered. One (petty) reason is most likely because I imagined this super hot guy when I read the book a million years ago. I can't remember what that dream man looked like now, however, because I have an image of Pattinson stuck in my head. This is not the image I wanted.
  The guy who played Edward is one of those rare people who has two faces. I'll look at him from one angle and think, Hey! He's not half bad!
  Then he tilts his head a bit to the left? Jesus Christ! It's a monster!
  That's a skill an actor can use right there.
  
  
  
  Anyway. The whole book was probably a bit marred by those terrible movies and the actors who played the roles. What did they do to make them look that way - paint them with chalk each day on the set? They were supposed to be pale and attractive, not look like they'd been dipped in white-out.
  And can someone please explain why half the time they look like they're wearing cheap wigs!?
  
  
  
  Ugh.
  I can't know for sure how much my loathing for those movies did to taint my viewpoint, but I do know that I preferred the characters that I'd imagined a long time ago more than what I kept seeing this time around.
  
  
  
  Alright. I get it. This is supposed to be a representation of how you feel in the throes of your first love. But I honestly don't remember being this fucking dramatic. Maybe I was. I'm willing to admit that I may have forgotten what it was like to think of a man as the all-encompassing center of my universe. Yeah, yeah. I love my husband...but not like this. This is just a lot of teenage nonsense. They're both virgins who have never been in love (or even dated anyone) beforehand.
  You remember what that was like, right?
  Yeah. Me neither.
  
  
  
  And that's ok. It's part of what's so fun about occasionally dipping my toes back into the Young Adult genre. You're giving yourself permission to forget reality and pretend that breathy sighs, chaste kisses, and holding hands are what makes the world go round. You can believe that your love for this perfect boy will make up for the fact that his family are all raging lunatics that you'll be tethered to till the end of time. <--it's all good.
  
  
  
  At any rate, I finished this for nostalgia's sake. But I can't say that it recaptured any of that original magic I felt when I first read the books.
  But I'm a glutton for punishment, so if she makes a New Moon version from Ed's point of view?
  Yeah. I'll read that bitch. <--not even ashamed!
• 
  Chelsea Humphrey

  
  
  
• 
  Nilufer Ozmekik

  I’m swimming at the complex feelings sea, keeping my head above as forming thought balloons. I wish I read this book 10 years ago. It should have been released as soon as the trilogy has ended so I could have given my five shiny stars because this book is definitely written better, bringing out more clear perspective to the characters’ stories, their motives. But it is still flawed and there are still plot holes, logical mistakes.
  
  But right now, everything has changed: my taste of music, food, literature, movies completely evolved. In last 15 years I became vegetarian, yoga instructor and cut the alcohol, meditating daily, supporting Republicans. Okay, I take them back. Especially the part about my political choices ( don’t worry I didn’t lose every marbles in my head. It was my coldest joke. After writing it, I’m still shivering!)
  
  I didn’t radically changed but I’m not in my twenties anymore and I am not fan girl of Edward Cullen. Now I’m in my forties and I’m fan of new Batman. (See, my tastes are already evolved. I’m not obsessed with blonde, charming Brit and I don’t cry each time Cedric Diggory dies when I watch Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire! Okay, this is another lie! Of course I’m crying! )
  
  I have to admit this book is great contribution to the series and writing still is obviously so much better. I truly loved to be inside of Edward Cullen’s head and it already filled so many blank points about him and Bella’s story.
  
  He is not perfect. He is tormented by his inner feelings: animal inside of him tries to slake his thirst. And his human parts start to discover Bella’s attributes which help us look from the different mirror to the character and understand how she is so unique. ( Actually we also learn more about her high school friends who were mostly hatable! I really question author’s reasoning to create those irritating friends group reminded you of cheesy 80’s thriller movie characters who were extremely stupid and became first ones to die! Maybe their only contribution was emphasizing Bella’s incredibly perfect attributes!!! )
  
  And I’m still lost why Edward deeply fell in love with Bella. It is still instant, too quick.
  
  The pacing is good but it is still too much wordy. If I haven’t been inside one of my favorite characters’ head, I would scream him shut the hell up and tell me his shorter version of the story.
  
  And of course we already know the entire story. So there is no surprising element! (Edward could have killed Bella, imprinted on Jacob which would be my all time favorite alternative final!) So we keep living deja vu, time traveling, remembering our past reading journey over and over again.
  
  But this book reminded me of how much I liked Emmet and Alice as supporting characters and I’m so happy to spend longer time with them.
  
  So it is belated meeting and back to past, tribute to one of the most popular trilogy kind of reading for me. I wish I wouldn’t take so much time to come out and I wish it could be a little shorter. I didn’t fall in love with it but I didn’t unlike it. It’s a solid three starred read for me. I had fun to go back and meet with the characters, rekindling my memories. But that’s all. Unfortunately this is not extremely exciting, earth shattering experience for me.
  
  
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• 
  ✨ A ✨

  It takes another kind of genius to sell us the same story three times and still get us hyped up for it.
  
  Twilight has it's flaws. This we know. This we acknowledge. It's like one of those low budget soap operas. You know it's terrible shit, but you also can't stop yourself from watching the next episode.
  
  Well that's how it is for me anyway.
  
  If you're thinking of picking this up please know that it's basically the exact same story as Twilight (book 1) with a few added parts since (unbelievably) Edward is not always glued to Bella's side.
  
  Even though this book took me ages to read, I laughed at all the cringey scenes but also thoroughly enjoyed myself. I got a tad bit annoyed at the sense of deja vu but then again I've read and reread this series waaaaayy more times than I'd like to admit.
  
  
  I always used to think of Bella as having a personality of a potato. But I kind of get her ‘allure’ to Edward now. Edward is very perceptive and I liked the things he noticed about Bella's character. The way he is able to read minds and NOT able read Bella's mind means that he picked up on all her little quirks and sees her in a different light than she sees herself. He actually made me like her. *GASP* I honestly cannot believe I just wrote that.
  
  I've also always been hardcore #TeamJacob (don't come at me for that) but reading from Edwards POV has nudged me just a tiny bit to the other side. He's more real than he appeared in the other books. I loved reading about his inner turmoil and the way he justifies his crazy actions. However the dude is still a creepy stalker ( #TeamJacob4evaaaaa).
  
  In Midnight Sun we not only get Edward's POV but also his insight and the thoughts he reads through other people's minds. Which was fascinating!! I honestly don't know how he stays sane. Learning more about Edward, Alice and Jasper's powers/abilities was so cool.
  
  I loved the flashbacks. We got to know more about Edwards early days, more about Carlisle, how Alice and Jasper joined the family and other fun stuff!
  
  Bella is an outsider looking in to the Cullen crew. But Edward's perspective as a member of the family was precious. Those were some of my favourite parts of this book.
  
  Rosalie is one of my favourite characters. Yes, she's a bitch. But I love it. The more in depth version of how she found Emmet had me almost in tears (okay that's a lie. I was in tears). It was beautiful.
  
  Every single time Edward referred to ‘the monster inside me’ . It was just so cringe. And it happened so often I started laughing everytime he said it.
  
  
  
  Final thoughts:
  
  It would have been better if Twilight was first written with alternating POV from both Bella and Edward. Is this book a necessary read? Definitely not. But I'm glad I read it. It's for those of us with a sentimental attachment to these books and these characters, those of us who have been waiting years for Edward's side of the story.
  
  I highly recommend the audiobook. The best part of this whole experience was having Jake Abel and his beautiful voice in my head for hours (I swear that sounded less creepy in my head. clearly Edward's creep vibes have been rubbing off on me). He did a phenomenal job at narrating. ✨
  
  3.5 stars
  
  [I think pomegranates can be sexy however THAT pomegranate is not it, just saying.]
• 
  Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora)

  "Could a dead, frozen heart beat again? It felt like mine was about to".
  
  Han pasado 84 años… y nunca creí que este libro me fuera a gustar tantísimo. De verdad, desde que leímos Twilight, siento que hemos pasado años avergonzándonos de todo lo que significó esta saga en nuestra adolescencia. ¿Y qué sentido tiene eso? Fueron libros que disfruté, que amé, que me acompañaron cuando más sola me sentía y que me dieron algo con lo que soñar, ¿saben? Así que creo que es hora de dejar los prejuicios tontos atrás y aceptar que estos libros a muchos, incluida yo misma, nos cambiaron la vida.
  
  Honestamente, empecé a leer Midnight Sun con esa mentalidad de “uy, qué boleta leer esto después de tantos años”, pero lo que me encontré fueron muchísimos recuerdos espectaculares. Me emocioné de la misma manera que cuanto tenía 16 años cuando leí la escena en la que por fin Edward y Bella hablan civilizadamente. Y cuando se tocaron por primera vez. Y ese beso cauto. Adoré volver a sentir esa felicidad y emoción que me causaron esas escenas hace tantísimos años.
  
  Sí, tenemos que admitir que Edward es todo un drama King de proporciones épicas, pero una vez entiendes por qué piensa así y te acostumbras a ese tono, es imposible no devorarte el libro. Estar dentro de su cabeza y ver de primera mano la necesidad sobrenatural que tiene de proteger a Bella hace que, de nuevo, todas sus actitudes tengan sentido. Obviamente algunos de sus razonamientos sí que son un poco exagerados, pero cuando te metes en el mundo del libro y piensas que es un vampiro tratando de combatir la sed que le produce la sangre de la persona que más ama en el mundo… bueno, las piezas encajan.
  
  ¿Saben qué otra cosa me pareció tremendamente fuerte? ¡Lo mucho que las películas deformaron mis recuerdos del libro original de Twilight! Madre mía, todas las escenas que son súper cringe de la película SON INVENTADAS. Leer Midnight Sun me recordó que la conversación sobre Edward siendo vampiro no sucede con diálogos dramáticos en el bosque, sino en el Volvo, cuando están volviendo de Port Angeles. Que el primer beso no es en la cama, sino en el bosque y, de hecho, no en ese momento, pero en todo el libro ¡se besan muchísimo más que en la película! Dioses, tantas cosas. ¡Ah! Por ejemplo, en la película suavizan un montón el rechazo de Rosalie por Bella y lo que quiere hacer, mientras que en el libro esa mujer es tremendamente desagradable. Ni siquiera cuando están en peligro los ayuda.
  
  Creo que una de las mejores cosas de estar en la cabeza de Edward es notar todo el amor y admiración que siente por su familia. Menos por Rosalie, que en un punto la describe como un charco superficial (lol, you deserved it, bitch). Es muy impresionante que, a raíz de haber leído Midnight Sun ahora Emmett se haya vuelto uno de mis personajes favoritos. Es el mejor hermano que una persona podría desear y amé su pasión y fidelidad, pero también su despreocupación.
  
  ¿Y qué decirles de Bella? Es tremendamente diferente verla desde los ojos y la perspectiva de Edward que leerla a ella misma. No lo recuerdo muy bien porque, total, han pasado siglos desde que leí los libros originales, pero tengo la sensación de que leerla a ella podía ser, en ciertos momentos, desesperante. Y eso no me sucedió en Midnight Sun. Puede ser porque lo vemos todo desde la perspectiva de Edward, que está enamorado, pero en este libro Bella me cayó muy bien y se presenta como alguien cero dramática, bastante centrada y buena. Sí, sigue siendo torpe y la muerte la persigue, pero creo que verla como Edward la ve crea un personaje muchísimo más interesante y relatable.
  
  Sin duda, además de todos estos sentimientos locos y adolescentes que reviví, una de las mejores partes es el final, cuando empieza la cacería de James. Es muy fuerte leerlo todo desde la cabeza de Edward porque, como entiende el peligro tan real que supone ese rastreador, queda totalmente trastornado. Y luego la persecución, las pistas falsas, las visiones de Alice, el escape de Bella, el robo de carros, las carreras a lo Fast and Furious y el encuentro final en el estudio de ballet. ¡Todo eso es una descarga de adrenalina demasiado épica! Y, luego, obviamente, esa escena también la deformó muchísimo la película. El combate y las heridas son muchísimo más brutales en el libro. Y la tensión que se siente cuando Edward tiene que morderla para quitarle el veneno es de otro mundo.
  
  Pero, claro, algo durísimo de leer en este final es, precisamente, lo culpable que se siente Edward por todo. Nosotros, en los libros originales, no nos enteramos sino hasta Luna Nueva que él pretende irse y alejarse para siempre. Pero en Midnight Sun nos damos cuenta de Edward lo planea todo desde el momento en el que vio todo lo que le sucedió a Bella. Su sentimiento de culpa y su odio a sí mismo es tan grande y lo consume tanto que no puede pensar en otra cosa. Y, obviamente, vivimos todo su proceso de saber que debe dejarla, pero que no sabe si podrá hacerlo porque la ama demasiado. En fin, que sí que es muy revelador estar dentro de su cabeza.
  
  ¿Pensamientos finales? ¡Amé el libro y cada una de sus casi ochocientas páginas! Hacía muchísimo tiempo que un libro no me hacía sentir tanta emoción y angustia y desesperación y felicidad. Fue una montaña rusa de recuerdos y de revivir el amor por una saga icónica. De verdad, mientras leía todo creo que escuché ochocientas veces Claro de Luna o Bella’s Lullaby. Y, cuando lo acabé, lo primero que hice fue maratonear todas las películas. Fue increíble que, gracias a este libro, pudiera vivir momentos de felicidad y cero ansiedad. Y, de verdad, ahora lo único que quiero en este nuevo resurgimiento de mi etapa fangirl es que venga Edward, me muerda y me convierta en vampiro. Da igual si brillo o no, jajaja.
  
• 
  Bookishrealm

  If I could give this 1/2 star I would, but you know the way the rating system works on Goodreads...This is ain't it folks. This really didn't do anything for me.
  
  If you know me or if you've been following my journey in re-reading the Twilight series then you know that I have not been enjoying any of these books. It's been a rough journey, but has also given me better insight to understanding why and how this series is problematic. I won't lie; I was curious about how Meyer would frame this book in context of the original book. My curiosity wasn't enough to even begin to make me like this book.
  
  Let's get the easy part of this out of the way. Midnight Sun is boring. I know everyone was/is super excited to see Twilight from Edwards perspective; however, there was no reason for this book to be over 600 pages. We literally revisit every scene word for word with Edwards insight tacked on. By the time I was 50% into the book it began to feel very long and drawn out. Her technical writing skills have improved; however, her ability to write a compelling plot has not changed. Would it have been a better book if it was shorter? For me, probably not because the content itself is still problematic; however, I think it would have been an easier read. An interesting part of this book is that Stephenie Meyer essentially attempts to re-write the book in a way that attempts to get rid of the critiques that she experienced with the first four books. In doing this, she recreates characters that aren't true to the source material which was WEIRD. For example, I thought Bella was a bland, boring, and insensitive character in Twilight. In Midnight Sun she becomes this well rounded, interesting, and compassionate character. I'm not sure if she was attempting to paint this picture that Edward was seeing Bella through rose-colored glasses, but it didn't make sense. There were also scenes in Twilight that were incorrectly translated over to Midnight Sun as if Meyer didn't even attempt to re-read her own work before writing Midnight Sun.
  
  Now....what I can't seem to understand is how 10 years later Meyer still has the monopoly of writing problematic crap. I feel like she attempted to keep the Black family out of this book as much as possible because she received so much backlash for her portrayal of the Quileute tribe. She still couldn't get it right. There was a line in the beginning of the book in which Meyer allowed Edward to say that he had no problem SLAUGHTERING the entire Quileute tribe because he felt that Jacob broke their treaty. First, the imagery that this brings to mind is disgusting. Second, think about the fact that it is a White character saying this. I don't think that this was appropriate in any world to write that line. Then there is the issue with Edward acknowledging that he is no better than a peeping Tom and that he's a stalker, but continues to stalk her anyway. It's almost as if Meyer believed that if she acknowledged the behavior then she wouldn't have to fix it. There was also this weird alignment with God and Carlise. Don't get me wrong Carlise is hands down one of my favorite characters; however, I found it very awkward that she had Edward describe Carlise as this a Christ-like figure. It was clear that she still wanted to make sure that she wrote herself and her beliefs into the book. There is still a whole aspect of control on Edwards part and the inability of women to be able to define their own lives. I feel like Meyer intentionally wrote all of the other high school students as villains so that should justify the isolation that ends up occurring between Edward and Bella. I just didn't feel comfortable with a lot of the contents of the book.
  
  There were a few things that I did like about the book including the scenes where we learned more about the Cullens and some of the back story about the final scene. Was it enough to save the book? No. Will I be reading anything else in the future? No. I appreciated having open and candid conversations about these books, but I think, for me, it's time to close the door on this series.
• 
  Whitney Atkinson

  this was the most bizarre mix of returning to childhood while also having that childhood ruined. it really put a damper on twilight's barely tolerable creepiness to learn that even when edward isn't noticeably with bella, he's always lurking in a tree outside her house or something. a book i thought would take me a weekend to devour ended up taking 3 weeks, so let that struggle speak for itself.
  
  (random sidenote: one thing i didn't expect from this was how much more i came to love emmett)
• 
  Mary Books and Cookies

  I finally finished Midnight Sun, so here is a compiled list of my Thoughts™
  
  * most days I can hardly muster 3 words to describe my overall existence, but my boy Edward here spends pages describing how Bella’s eyes react to the light and let me tell you, that shit is lit 👏😂
  
  * “A word I’d never said before in the presence of a lady slid between my clenched teeth.” - Edward, honey, it’s fine, you can say fuck 🤣
  
  * Edward Cullen falling for someone - a reaction in 5 steps:
  - shout NO dramatically in front of your family
  - view this as a “destruction of my life” and a “mutilation of my future”
  - stalk out dramatically out of the house, into the rain
  - writhe internally in agony
  - run through the mountains, in the rain, contemplating your existence, like the dramatic queen that you are
  
  * “High school. Purgatory no longer, it was now purely hell. Torment and fire… yes, I had both.” - I dare y'all to name a more dramatic, over the top bitch than Edward “my life is agony” Cullen
  
  * Edward Cullen discovering jealousy: “I didn’t understand this emotion - it was such a tangle of pain and fury and desire and despair. I had never felt it before; I couldn’t put a name to it.” - yes boo, welcome to the highs and lows of Feelings™
  
  * “Suddenly, as she ate, a strange comparison entered my head. For just a second, I saw Persephone, pomegranate in hand. Dooming herself to the underworld. Is that who i was? Hades himself, coveting springtime, stealing it, condemning it to endless night.” - name 👏 a 👏 more 👏 dramatic 👏 bitch 👏
  
  * Edward’s idea of a “state of undress” is wearing a short sleeved shirt, i’m howling; for real, he is in mental anguish over wearing that shit
  
  * “I swallowed Bella’s tear. Perhaps it would never leave my body. After she left me, after all the lonely years had passed, maybe I would always have this piece of her inside me.” - Edward, honey, I like you boo, but what the FUCK
  
  * Edward literally decided to think all the thoughts and use all the words in the dictionary. All of them. Just… why the fuck not
  
  * Emmett is the one reason to give this book a try. He constantly calls Edward kid. His general attitude towards everything is a flip between yolo and “can i murder that”. He’s basically like “edward, man, you’re fucking weird, but i’m bored, so let’s do this, i guess”
  
  * “there are other hungers, I continued. Hungers I don’t even understand, that are foreign to me” - a Very Dramatic way of saying that you’re horny, courtesy of Edward “my mind is impure” Cullen
  
  * this book had NO business being as long as it was, but it was peak nostalgia™ and i loved every second of it
  
  * at the same time, i swear to fuck, i don’t think i’ll ever reread it, edward’s mind is an exhausting place to live in lmao
• 
  Claudia Lomelí

  3.5 estrellas.
• 
  sam

  5/02/2021 update: as much as i would love to read about stalker boyfriends (not really), i decided to put this in the not gonna happen pile. if i really want to put myself through mental torture (the good kind), i’ll reread an ember in the ashes ✨
  
  —/—/—/—/—
  
  *me telling myself why reading this book is a bad idea*
  
  me: Edward is a stalker, Bella is annoying and has no individuality, I’m not a twilight fangirl and this series pisses me off.
  
  also me: *adds book to shelf*
• 
  human

  update: found this piece of bloody perfection:
  
  
  (sorry to all of you who have seen this review a million times already from when the feeds froze. i couldn't help myself.)
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  (1.5/5)
  
  Like many things in life, my decision to read this book can be summed up in a couple of Beatles lyrics:
  

  'Cause I told you once before, "goodbye"
  But I came back again

  Sure, I started reading this book because of a buddy read (yes, we're all crazy and extremely masochistic, except for
  mei, who got dragged into this mess by the rest of us), but the decision to finish it? Entirely mine.
  
  And, well...
  
  
  
  To say that I regret reading this book would be the understatement of the century, only second to "I regret reading Twilight". Honestly, I wish my mind could process that it's okay to dnf books because then maybe I'd at least have a brain. Please stick around for the funeral of my last braincell, seeing as to how all of you have already been invited.
  
  Live footage taken of me in my true demonic form reading this book, losing whatever soul faith in humanity presence I had left:
  
  
  Midnight Sun. The fifth book in the Twilight series. As if the first four weren't enough. Where do I even begin reviewing this dumpster fire of a book?
  
  
  
  You probably already know what this review is going to be about/like. Am I still going to bother with a disclaimer? Yes. Seriously, though. Don't read this review if you're going to get triggered that I hate it, because I do. Unapologetically and with relish. And I don't see that changing any time soon.
  
  I suppose it's best to start off with how long this book is. You might be surprised to find that it's longer than Twilight. You might even be tempted to read this book, just to see what was added. Well, let me tell you: nothing. (I actually don't know for sure because I remember exactly nothing about what happened in Twilight - they say your brain has a way of forgetting traumatic experiences sometimes - but it certainly seems that way.) This book could have been 400 pages less and still feel like a chore to read, but at least then it wouldn't be ungodly so. Personally, I was only able to tolerate a hundred pages or so a day, and even that was painful. Basically, I'm
  
  
  
  I have to admit, based on what I remember, this book seems to be better written than Twilight was. That isn't saying much, I know, but the only thing that could've made this experience worse would be reading almost 700 pages of vampire yearning and angst... written like it was fanfiction.
  
  
  
  Apart from its unholy length, this book was incredibly irritating. For all of you out there who are thinking "Hmm, maybe since it's Edward's thoughts, I won't have to suffer through this book," think again. I was thinking that since this book is from Edward's perspective, I might actually not hate this book. But alas. The entirety of this book is, in no particular order:
  
  1. Edward pining for Bella. It's ridiculous how much of this book is filled solely with Edward's moody musings, constantly thinking about Bella, and how, "boohoo, my life's so sad," because he can't be with Bella. For a hundred-some year old immortal being, Edward got caught up very quickly in all the high school drama, which is ironic, considering that it's mentioned in the book somewhere. All of this, of course, isn't to forget the number of times he thought, "gee, I sure wish I was a human right now!", and then proceeded to compare his skin to marble and call his fingers unnatural.
  
  
  
  2. Edward's obsession with Bella. As previously stated, all Edward thinks about is Bella, but his obsession nearly makes Slendy look sane tame. Seriously. Everyone is always talking about how Edward watches Bella when she's asleep and how creepy that is (I know I have), but it's more than just that. Once he's got her in his unnaturally alabastor clutches, he refuses to let her be with anyone else. You know how he can read thoughts, but not Bella's? Well, the only logical course of action is to the read the thoughts of those around her, and watch her all day. Definitely not creepy, right?
  
  
  
  3. Edward telling Bella that she shouldn't be with him, and going after her. Honestly, this is the most wack part of the entire freaking book, which is saying a very big something. Edward acts more contrary than your average YA protagonist battling their inner demons. One second he's swooning all over her, and the next, he's snarling at her. There's a lot of random randomness and unnecessary drama, made more dramatic by the fact that Bella is an idiot absolutely perfect, and worries more about Edward than her own wellness, and Edward randomly bossing Bella around.
  
  
  
  4. Bella is completely brainless. This is carrying on from the last point, and I'm pretty sure that I had an update about there being a line in the book proving my point, but this needs to be said regardless: Bella is an idiot. No matter how many times Edward tries to warn her, she refuses to listen to reason and totally attaches herself to him. No matter how many apparent red flags there are, she refuses to run. It's incredibly frustrating to read, and makes you wonder how many girls/young women explain away harmful relationships because their only standards are this series.
  
  
  
  Here are some more facts that need to be stated because I said so:
  5. Bella is a Mary Sue. Dammit Edward, enough with how pErFeCt and gOoDy TwO-sHoEs Bella is, we get the point!
  
  6. There are more descriptions of brown eyes in this book than humanity will ever need. For real. I have brown eyes and was incredibly weirded out by this.
  
  7. Twilight-Harry Potter crossover memes are outrageously hilarious. Seriously. They're probably half the reason I managed to survive this. That, and sheer masochism.
  
  8. I always have been Team Alice. I don't know if I mentioned this, but Bella x Alice seems waayyy better than Bella x Edward. At least, to me it does.
  
  9. The overusage of the Hades-and-Persephone analogy. Just about every ten pages after they get together, Edward goes on a guilt-trip about what a horrible and evil monster he is, going on to compare Bella to sugar, spice, and everything nice, and how he's going to corrupt her, etc etc. Like, seriously, no more. As if the cover didn't make this obvious enough, Edward had to tell us every five seconds. This complaint, however, doesn't hold a candle to my biggest problem with reading this book, which was that
  
  10. I lost my last braincell reading this.
  
  Thank you all for coming out today, and reading through all the garbage that precedes this. (Or maybe you just scrolled to the bottom to attend this funeral. I wouldn't judge you if you did). On this day, we honor my last braincell, taken far too early like the rest of its brethren, with an offering. Specifically, a gif:
  
  
  
  Ah, fork, not that one!
  
  
  
  Ahh, there we go.
  
  Our hopes are that with this hecking adorable gif, you may go on to live a peaceful life, free from the tortures of sparkly vampires and their horniness drama. Go on, braincell, and be free. Know that your sacrifice was not made in vain.
  
  
  
  And to all of you who came, and to all of you who supported this braincell on its journey thus far: thank you, from the bottom of my nonexistent soul. Also know that the journey is not yet over. There are still more cursed books to read and review rant about. You have my everlong thanks, and as a token of my appreciation, here. You can have a gif, too:
  
  
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  (1.5-i'm-petty-so-this-book-will-have-the-honor-of-being-the-first-book-to-make-it-to-both-of-my-hate-shelves stars)
  
  rtc!
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  just when you thought things couldn't get crazier...
  
  me
  and
  the
  gang have the most chaotic buddy read possible!
  
  Reviews (most likely filled with tortured screaming) coming soon if we ever manage to finish the book!
• 
  MischaS_

  I'm still not sure what I think about this. At one point in my life, I liked Twilight then when re-reading I could not believe what I saw in those books. But despite all that, Twilight definitely brought a change to the book scene. Just think about all those authors who started by writing Twilight fan-fiction and how many Twilight fan-fiction stories were "reskinned" and published!
  
  Overall, I have three things to say about this.
  
  1) I'm not really sure if I'll be reading this.
  
  2) I love pomegranate, but this one is... making my skin crawl a bit for some reason? Before I looked closely, it looked like bugs or something.
  
  3) Should I get my hopes up again that we might see the rest of The Host books?
  
  Anyway, I'm really happy for all of you who adore Twilight that you'll finally get this book! And I'm really curious about how it will be received.
• 
  persephone ☾

  if i wanted to hear the inner monologue of a whiny, dramatic and self-indulgent old man i would have asked literally any men in my family thank you very much.
• 
  SK

  "I love you more than everything else in the world combined. Isn't that enough?"
  And then I could smile a genuine smile. "Yes, it is enough," I promised. "Enough for forever."
  This time I spoke of the real forever. My eternal forever.
  
  Guess who enjoyed her re-read? And it's not even like I read a new plot it's the exact plot of Twilight just in Edward's POV. But much more better. This book took me by surprise.
  
  Compared to Bella's perspective and Jacob's (in Breaking Dawn) I found Midnight Sun to be much more insightful, which makes Bella's perspective a bit dull. We see the internal struggle Edward has to deal with to be around Bella and his journey from hatred to curiosity to eventually love. We get to see the conflict between Rosalie and Edward and how close Emmett and Edward were. These things weren't picked up by Bella.
  
  The fact that Edward was so much detail oriented, attentive towards Bella is heartwarming. My guy remembers everything about her.
  
  One thing that I found interesting was the encounter with Siobhan. I can't believe how underrated she is in the Twilight Saga. The woman's gift is to visualise outcomes and will it to reality. HOW IS THAT NOT TALKED ABOUT ENOUGH?! Doesn't that make her even more powerful than Aro? It baffles my mind.
  
  Apart from that, the number of beautiful quotes this had in it made me swoon. Edward is such a romantic at heart despite his self loathing.
  
  I wish Stephanie would've done the whole series from his perspective but I guess that's not happening. New Moon would've definitely been an interesting read. (One can only hope she surprises us with it). Until then.. can't wait to reread this series...again.
• 
  Mrinmayi

  Update 4
  I give up on this book...
  I just CAN'T keep up with whiny sparky vampy Edward
  We have
  DIWALI here in India tomorrow!!
  
  For those of you who don't know what Diwali is... it's our festival where we LET GO of negative things and celebrate a new beginning
  And I am LETTING GO of this book before Diwali starts xD
  I just can't celebrate it while this book is haunting my TBR!!
  
  Its me burning this book in fireworks btw
  this book needs NO introduction AND MANY awesome reviews have been written anyways
  What I will do is express my feelings of the 20% I read through memes *Everyone on GR pretends to be shocked*
  
  My concern is Edy killed a spider for Bella...
  NOW, what if that spider was Lucas the Spider??!!
  
  Yes, guys!! this is Lucas!! Look how adorable he is!! LUCAS NEEDS JUSTICE !!
  
  Honestly, I would rather read a book with that spider's POV than Edy *cringes*
  I am not gonna write how awful this was BECAUSE sooo many other reviews have done a better job at it
  It's just Edward felt like a horny emo boy IMO
  
  
  I mean Bella was not just like "other girls" BIUT she was not like "other humans" too!!
  Also, why was EVERY guy crazy over Bella??!! I haven't read twilight so I don't exactly know how Bella is BUT even from Edy's POV she seemed borrrrring!!
  I am not saying I have a very "happening " life...Even I am a basic bitch
  BUT I am AWARE of it !! And tbh every other girl I know is the same !! sooo we are like each other!!
  NO SUCH THING AS "NOT LIKE OTHER GURLLLLLLS" !!!
  
  
  
  I mean it got soooooo repetitive !! And Edys pov wasn't even interesting !!
  So I kinda get why he might like her
  BOTH THINK they are special snowflake
  LUCKILY I did not read Bella's POV..cause I think it would have been even traumatizing
  Just gonna stop here cause not much to say
  NOTE: I DONOT intend to make fun of anyone who liked this series..It wasn't for ME. My problem was with the book NOT the author or readers who enjoyed this. I hope no one takes this personally😊🤗
  Kinda Buddy read with
  The one who went MIA
  The one who tried her best to keep this be going AND OFC
  The one who dragged us all into this mess
  
  
  Update 3
  Lets start with a diagram...
  
  W1=Window no.1
  W2=Window no.2
  BS= book shelf
  That weird thing in the corner=Door
  
  Special mentions
  Bookshelf(duh)
  Kitchen..which is accessible through the door(kitchen is imp..its keeps me well fed)
  Mrin=Thats me saying "Hii" to you guys
  
  
  Now before reading Midnight Sun..
  
  Mrin NOT afraid of windows..having a peaceful sleep
  
  After reading it..
  terrified of windows
  You see..I have TWO HUGE windows & I am TERRIFIED of them now
  Especially after reading the scene when Edward is just watching Bella *shivers*
  
  
  Yo can thank me later for the drawings😂
  BUT I HAD to explain to you guys why I am terrified of them...
  Please ignore the AWFUL drawing..I know its bad😅😂
  I just wanted to orove my point
  
  
  
  Update 2
  Starting this chaotic BR
  
  I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT CLEAR MANY OF US WERE forced coerced into reading this book...
  Actual footage of
  MONICA/KAZ dragging me into this BR
  
  
  UPDATE 1
  After seeing all the updates on GR about this book...
  Mrin be like...
  
  
  Mrin who hasn't read the books but knows the main storyline
  
  BUT
  
  
  
  I haven't read a single book in the series BUT I do know the story....
  How you ask??!!
  One of my closest friend is a Twilight fan...
  She did tell me the story & forced coerced me to watch some of the scenes in the movies
  I think I will gift her this book for her bday...
  
  So I do know whom Bella ends up with & "The fetus position crying scene" BUT I am clueless about the rest of the story
  For ME the title of this book is "The pomegranate book"😂
  Some of my GR friends came up with the name
  While I am curious to know the reaction for this book..I think I will let my other friends read this book...
  If they find it good..I might give this a try
  
  P.S.: I think I am probably not making any sense😅😂
  I think I will just call my friend & ask her for the summary
  Soooo I won't have to read the entire series & I can still read this BOOK!!!
  
  
  
  RN I am feeling like a multitasking pro😎😎
  
  
  If you think group video call with family is easy...you haven't met my family
  My family is quite big....so it gets confusing when everyone tries to speak at the same time😂 #Indianfamilyproblems
  
  Ohh...& the deal with the Devil....
  The Devil mentioned is my friend
  TANI ...
  She is trying to make me read a book...in exchange for reading my favorite series aka THE LUNAR CHRONICLES😂
  Something tells me..I am gonna lose this deal & end up giving my soul to her (I know I am being OTT dramatic..Just bare with me😂)
• 
  Reading_ Tamishly

  ***this is heavily influenced by the Twilight series nostalgia***
  
  But she's not continuing with this series anymore.
  (Like she ended this one with Jacob as an embryo. Literally.
  
  
  Why, Meyer, why?
  
  And she says she's going to write 3 books in the future. Like fantasy fantasy.
  
  Ok. But don't take it out on my ex-book boyfriend)
  
  
  
  😎 Do I need another thousand paged Twilight saga book?
  
  
  You bet!
  
  
  How do I write the review?
  
  
  Edward, help me, you smirking guy.
  
  
  Bella, just keep grinding your front teeth.
  
  
  (I need normal ray of human thoughts.....the ray.... Let me take a day or two... I almost forgot I was done with the book two days ago. Keep up the good job ☺️)
  
  
  
  ***Most iconic lines:
  
  💯 "Go sit down and look pale."
  
  (If someone says something like this in real, I would just take out their fangs)
  
  *"What would I be doing if I weren't the villian of this story?"
  
  (I should start asking this question more often)
  
  *"Love doesn't always come in convenient packages."
  "I laughed once without humour."
  
  (I did too.)
  
  
  
  💯 (.... checking my bookmarks)
  
  
  *That "Edmund" moment though 😝
  
  (Sorry, Edward 😅)
  
  
  .
  .
  .
  ***Less iconic lines:
  
  🙄 "Normal human girls wouldn't raise their faces to the drizzle that way; normal human girls usually wore make-up, even here in this wet place.
  Bella never wore make-up, nor should she."
  
  (You're just lucky, Edward. You already have tons of make-up onscreen. Sometimes I don't have to like my family of fictional characters. Calm down. He's just make-up ignorant.)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  .
  .
  .
  
  
  
  
  *When the book was announced:
  
  (I am here for the rant reviews.
  Got lots of tea.
  How long do I have to wait?)
  
  .
  .
  .
  
  
  *Just before reading the ARC:
  
  (I miss Alice Cullen and Dr. Carlisle Cullen.
  
  And yes, make it less painful if you plan to torture Bella and make Edward less cocky.
  
  I got over Jacob just like a decade ago and yes, I am uncomfortable talking about my ex crushes☺️)
  
  .
  .
  .
  .
  .
  15th August, 2020.
  
  After a million nanoseconds,
  
  After seriously loving all this book could provide me,
  
  After all that a decade year old nostalgia,
  
  This mortal ended up loving this book so much.
  
  
  Stephanie Meyer, you served your revenge. My tea got burnt 🖤
  
  .
  .
  .
  .
  
  Yes, I believe my rating and whatever I write here for the review is heavily influenced by a decade year old nostalgia and the almost (my-brain-cannot-delete-movie) adaptations.
  
  But I do really appreciate how this one turned out the be so much better written. (I wouldn't have reread the series even though I was obsessed with it for years if it wasn't for this one)
  
  
  ***Cynical me before:
  
  Why is the author writing the same stuff again?! That too after a decade! Why??!
  
  
  ***Hopeless Twilight munchkin now:
  
  Give me anything Twilight.
  I am here to show you to the world like the King in Lion King showed the prince cub to the entire heaven world, earth world and the dark world.
  
  (Told me to take two days' time and not to write anything just after reading the book🤦but no.
  
  Actual human like review will be up later on when the effects wear off a bit.)
  
  I think I am getting old🤦
  
  
  ***The character which was really not required?
  
  Mike. Does anyone even remember him? 🙄
  
  
  
  *I feel book betrayed
  
  
  *I have been wanting to rant about this
  
  
  
  *See now what just happened 🖤 I say don't trust book addicts 🖤
  
  
  
  *I don't know who to trust anymore
  
  
  🖤 We are all dramabaes. Born to be. Meant to be 🖤
  
  
  Know what mattered in the end?
  
  I stan harder for Alice Cullen.
  
  And I love Carlisle Cullen like crazy still.
  
  Yes, some things will not change.
  
  
  ....and oh damn, Jacob just entered the drama 😝
  
  When is the next book coming, eh? 😝
  
  Jacob, my other (ex) bae, sounds so much like another side character in this one. Not fair. I say, not fair.
  
  
  The book ended just...like that 🤦
  
  The ten year older me than in 2009 isn't very happy at the moment but loved the version of this book anyway.
  
  This series saved me from everything unpleasant when I was away from home for the first time in my life.
  
  
  🖤 I owe you a lot, Stephanie Meyer 🖤