Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer. Photo: Amazon UK
Back in one of the most iconic (vampire) love stories of all time - but is it all just for nostalgia's sake?
I decided since this book is so massive to split up my review of it into two parts - mostly because I was afraid that I would misremember details of the story by the end of the book because it's so long! I'm currently on page 376 which is approximately 56% of the way finished with Midnight Sun - so it's safe to say I'm halfway there! Cracking open this mega brick sized book, I was excited to once again be immersed in the lush forest town of Forks. Eagerly, I dived back into the high-school romance story of Edward and Bella and wasn't surprised when it felt different this time around. In fact, two years ago I tried to reread the book that started it all, Twilight, but found myself so frustrated that the writing was nothing like I remembered (by that I mean the writing and dialogue was horrible and unpleasant to read). However, this blip didn't stop me from diving into this new novel with an open mind (and a whole lot of nostalgia) because I couldn't wait to read what Edward was thinking the entire time.
Recently one of my favorite authors, Jeaniene Frost, did a similar thing (except hers was free on her website and not a £17 hardback). Frost wrote the majority of her first book from the hero's view instead of the original heroine's. I LOVED IT. So with Stephenie Meyer's 10 year break - I figured I'd give it a go - as her writing could only have improved in all that time away from the series. On to the actual review: Currently, to give some context, I am currently at the point when Edward is going to travel with Bella to Seattle. It's going to be the first time they are truly alone together for an extended period of time. Up until this point, we have seen Edward first lay eyes on Bella - and his unchecked hatred of her seemed to seep out of every pour in his stone-cold body. We have also watched Edward debate for pages about how he would slaughter his entire science class and then save killing Bella as the prize at the end. We've read pages upon pages of Edward creeping into Bella's room every night to torture himself like a the sadist stalker that he is and constantly whine about how he is the 'bad guy' and view himself something like a fallen angel - as in humans = morality and purity and vampires = automatically demonic presence and only pain and violence. It has got a bit exhausting reading the endless paragraphs dedicated to Edward's self-loathing and pity - at this point I feel like Edward either needs to accept his immortal status and move on with it or just get rid of his miserable existence. Honestly, when you read 376 pages of Edward's constant whining and blubbering then you'll feel the same way as well. Something that has caught me completely off-guard is the face that I am actually enjoying Bella's character more this time around. In the original books, I was all about Team Jacob (which is funny because so far Jacob has been mentioned twice) and I found Bella to be dull and childish. That being said, I also didn't like Edward that much as a hero (maybe I could tell he was a whiney baby back then as well), which was odd for me as I am obsessed with vampires, but somehow I had sided with the werewolf boy. However, in Midnight Sun, I am seeing Bella through a whole new set of eyes (literally as it's Edward's rose-tinted viewpoint), but I am finding myself enjoying her character and learning more about her than I did when we were reading through her viewpoint. So there's a plus! But to sum it up - the first 400 pages of Midnight Sun is Edward constantly debating and then lashing himself about whether or not he should murder Bella and multiple other classmates of his. The amount of times Edward also says that Bella needs a protector because she is just the most perfect thing on planet Earth and that he's just a monster is tiring - take a shot each time he says something along those lines and you'll be too drunk to keep your eyes open by page 150. I also cannot believe how slow this storyline is moving. Yes you get some more insight into Edward's life before Forks and more scenes with just his vampire family around - but honestly being halfway through the book and they haven't even made it to the sparkly meadow scene - this book just crawls along. I also find that I may be sticking with it out of pure nostalgia - the amount of whining and self-hating thoughts coming from Edward is enough to drive any reader insane. It seems like the editor was far too liberal with allowing Stephenie's writing to be so repetitive. We get it Edward - you hate yourself/you existence, Bella is an angel on Earth that needs protecting, but you're a monster and you just want to murder her and then weep over her cold crumpled body. Final thoughts on the first half of Midnight Sun: Stephenie needs a better editor - one that will make her writing far less repetitive. Edward is still as much of a whiny, self-hating baby as he was in the original series (if not more so), but Bella is surprisingly growing on me and I'm finding her more interesting than I did when I read these books back in high school. I will obviously continue on until the end (even if it's just for nostalgia's sake), but there is no doubting that it's a great feeling to dive back into one of the most iconic (vampire) love stories of all time. That's all for now! | 
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