Midnight Sun

Score: 4/5 Bookmarks

Steam Rating: 🍆/5

If you’ve not read the first Twilight book by Stephanie Meyer (and you think you might want to) don’t go any further. I will talk about a few things that happen in that book…that of course also happen in Midnight Sun because it is a retelling, but from Edward’s (vampire) perspective instead of Bella’s (human).

Let me start by saying that Midnight Sun is a lot darker than I remember the original Twilight book being but I am one hundred percent here for it. For starters, Edward really, really wants to kill Bella. That is pretty much all he thinks about for the first half of the book (which I’ll admit was amusing at first but then got a little repetitive).

This book also goes into significantly more (gory) detail about Bella’s run-in with the tracker James, including the cover-up that is staged. Let’s just say that if you’re squeamish about blood, you might want to skip a few chapters.

I really loved all the added details about the Cullens in this book, but I will admit I missed Jacob and his whole wolf posse. They really aren’t in this book except for a handful of mentions that left me wanting more. But to be fair, I suppose he wasn’t in Twilight much anyway.

As soon as I finished this book I decided to go back and watch the movies, and I just finished New Moon last night (definitely my favorite — sorry Edward). I’m a believer that the book is always better than the movie, but especially in this case. It is laughable to watch these movies with someone who hasn’t read the books. There is so much internal dialogue that is crucial to the story, but just ignored in the movies (or assumed that the viewer remembers it from the book maybe?) that whole scenes in the movies don’t even make sense.

Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked. Despite only having snippets of new information and details, and being at least 200 pages too long, I did really enjoy reading Midnight Sun. I especially loved the Fast & Furious style car chase towards the end (I’m a bit of a car nut). And I’d say that if you need some serious teenage angst, longing glances, and barely-contained murder fantasies in your life that you should definitely grab yourself a copy.

I listened to part of this one as an audiobook and really enjoyed Jake Abel’s narration. I much prefer his voice over either Robert Pattison or Kristen Stewart’s voices, but heads-up, it is almost 26 hours long at 1x speed. You can grab the audiobook here, or click the button below to get a physical copy.

Synopsis:

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella's side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward's version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward's eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward's past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?