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A review by ariel937
Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
5.0
i really can't believe it's finally here, and i finally finished a book i waited for for 10+ years.
first, to start off my review i should state that this book is 1000% meant for Twilight fans. people who were so-so about the series, and especially to people who hated it, this book would be a waste of time for you, lol. this isn't meant to be gate-keepy, it's just the truth, and SMeyer admits it herself. @people who don't like the series, but still want to read it: no, it won't make sense to you that so many fans would anticipatd a book that is essentially an exact "copy" of the original! and that's okay! i understand! if it were any other series, i would honestly feel the same way! but for people who read the series so often the spines broke, for people who wrote and read thousands of fanficiton, for people who waited in line for the midnight movie premieres - this was everything we could have hope for and more.
i recently reread twilight a few months ago before the release of midnight sun was announced, so the timing was so on-point, it was kind of spooky. i anticipated being bored, if not only mildly interested in the little plotholes edward's story would fill. but boy was i wrong.
i won't claim that this is a perfect body of work, even though my rating would suggest otherwise. this book is incredibly flawed, and there were multiple things that bothered me enough to take me out of the story several times (you can see in my story updates exactly what i'm referring to and where). for transparency's sake, this rating is highly HIGHLY subjective -just like any other review of any other book - but even moreso bc i'm willing to give this book 5 stars even inspite of the glaring issues i have with this (and the series as a whole). but as i said before, this book was written and meant for twilight fans. that doesn't mean i didn't see many of things that are flawed about this book: the blatant racism towards the Native people - such as claiming MULTIPLE TIMES that edward would "kill" them for breaking the treaty - the constant belittlement of Rosalie and boiling her down to her looks which essentially takes away any of the humanization that was given to her in Eclipse, and of course, the excuses Meyer writes that makes it seem like "it's actually okay for edward to spy on bella, he isn't being a creepy peeping tom!!"
however, i will say that Meyer did do a wonderful job of making edward's actions more understandable, if that makes sense. being in his head, you really get a fuller picture of everything that he was thinking and his motivations behind his actions. i also really really loved the parts with the side characters (Emmett and Alice especially) and the flashbacks we get about life before Forks. i especially liked his relationship with Alice because, paring his mind-reading with Alice's psychic abilities, it made more sense why the Cullens are essentially such an invisible coven. edward really was a crybaby emo boy, though, lol. i read a short interview with Meyer where she denies any future plans of writing anymore books in edward's pov simply because he was so anxiety-inducing, so yeah, if that doesn't give you an idea of what it's like to be in his head, there's that!
in edwards point of view, bella is much more likable and even more interesting which is kind of funny because i can't stop thinking about how bland she actually is lol (and how she's honestly meant to be a mary sue/self-insert which isn't BAD but just proves my point). the writing in midnight sun has obviously improved SO much, like there were honestly some heart stopping/heart-breaking sentences in here that made edward really feel so real. compared to the short sentences in twilight, midnight sun really gives fans a large picture of all of the emotional love, the doubt, the hate, and edward's own uncertainty. i was worried that midnight sun would make edward less mysterious - because that was my initial draw to him when i first read twilight (oh back in, what, 2007? 2008?) - but this did make me like him even more - and this is coming from someone who's proudly team jacob. i understood his motives, his struggles. so much of twilight is that balance of monstrosity and humanity - something that haters and passive fans alike seem to forget. the dream that inspired Meyer so much was about that uncertainty, and i'd say that she expanded on that way more in midnight sun than she ever did in twilight. it wasn't as "simple" as turning bella into a vampire - it was about what would it mean to be a perfect, beautiful monster that lived literally forever for the sake of love. and i felt like in this book you really understand that.
and, to close off an already long review, i want to say that being a fan of this series is hard. much like what the harry potter fandom had to reckon with with JKR, we can't divide the art from the artist. i know this, but i can't stop myself from going back to these books again, and again. i have a genuine love for the series. it continues to inspire me, and it's not an exaggeration to say that i wouldn't be the same without it. it's unfortunate that the author is still being defended for the years of harassment that she got simply for writing a book meant for teen girls when we should instead focus on the harm she's done to the real Quileute tribe. i wish she'd at least acknowledge it, but i sadly know she never will. and i can't "separate the art from the artist" because of how interwoven the anti-indigenous racism is in the series. there are many problematic authors out there, many like Meyer that revolutionized their respective genres, and it's important to be able to distinguish that. i can acknowledge the issues and look at the text critically while still enjoying that world that has been apart of my life for so long.
reading midnight sun was truly like stepping back in time and seeing the world for the first time. not to get too emo on main, but it meant so much to me to finally read this. the brilliant, expansive world that was created behind a saga of very problematic books will always have a special place in my heart.
first, to start off my review i should state that this book is 1000% meant for Twilight fans. people who were so-so about the series, and especially to people who hated it, this book would be a waste of time for you, lol. this isn't meant to be gate-keepy, it's just the truth, and SMeyer admits it herself. @people who don't like the series, but still want to read it: no, it won't make sense to you that so many fans would anticipatd a book that is essentially an exact "copy" of the original! and that's okay! i understand! if it were any other series, i would honestly feel the same way! but for people who read the series so often the spines broke, for people who wrote and read thousands of fanficiton, for people who waited in line for the midnight movie premieres - this was everything we could have hope for and more.
i recently reread twilight a few months ago before the release of midnight sun was announced, so the timing was so on-point, it was kind of spooky. i anticipated being bored, if not only mildly interested in the little plotholes edward's story would fill. but boy was i wrong.
i won't claim that this is a perfect body of work, even though my rating would suggest otherwise. this book is incredibly flawed, and there were multiple things that bothered me enough to take me out of the story several times (you can see in my story updates exactly what i'm referring to and where). for transparency's sake, this rating is highly HIGHLY subjective -just like any other review of any other book - but even moreso bc i'm willing to give this book 5 stars even inspite of the glaring issues i have with this (and the series as a whole). but as i said before, this book was written and meant for twilight fans. that doesn't mean i didn't see many of things that are flawed about this book: the blatant racism towards the Native people - such as claiming MULTIPLE TIMES that edward would "kill" them for breaking the treaty - the constant belittlement of Rosalie and boiling her down to her looks which essentially takes away any of the humanization that was given to her in Eclipse, and of course, the excuses Meyer writes that makes it seem like "it's actually okay for edward to spy on bella, he isn't being a creepy peeping tom!!"
however, i will say that Meyer did do a wonderful job of making edward's actions more understandable, if that makes sense. being in his head, you really get a fuller picture of everything that he was thinking and his motivations behind his actions. i also really really loved the parts with the side characters (Emmett and Alice especially) and the flashbacks we get about life before Forks. i especially liked his relationship with Alice because, paring his mind-reading with Alice's psychic abilities, it made more sense why the Cullens are essentially such an invisible coven. edward really was a crybaby emo boy, though, lol. i read a short interview with Meyer where she denies any future plans of writing anymore books in edward's pov simply because he was so anxiety-inducing, so yeah, if that doesn't give you an idea of what it's like to be in his head, there's that!
in edwards point of view, bella is much more likable and even more interesting which is kind of funny because i can't stop thinking about how bland she actually is lol (and how she's honestly meant to be a mary sue/self-insert which isn't BAD but just proves my point). the writing in midnight sun has obviously improved SO much, like there were honestly some heart stopping/heart-breaking sentences in here that made edward really feel so real. compared to the short sentences in twilight, midnight sun really gives fans a large picture of all of the emotional love, the doubt, the hate, and edward's own uncertainty. i was worried that midnight sun would make edward less mysterious - because that was my initial draw to him when i first read twilight (oh back in, what, 2007? 2008?) - but this did make me like him even more - and this is coming from someone who's proudly team jacob. i understood his motives, his struggles. so much of twilight is that balance of monstrosity and humanity - something that haters and passive fans alike seem to forget. the dream that inspired Meyer so much was about that uncertainty, and i'd say that she expanded on that way more in midnight sun than she ever did in twilight. it wasn't as "simple" as turning bella into a vampire - it was about what would it mean to be a perfect, beautiful monster that lived literally forever for the sake of love. and i felt like in this book you really understand that.
and, to close off an already long review, i want to say that being a fan of this series is hard. much like what the harry potter fandom had to reckon with with JKR, we can't divide the art from the artist. i know this, but i can't stop myself from going back to these books again, and again. i have a genuine love for the series. it continues to inspire me, and it's not an exaggeration to say that i wouldn't be the same without it. it's unfortunate that the author is still being defended for the years of harassment that she got simply for writing a book meant for teen girls when we should instead focus on the harm she's done to the real Quileute tribe. i wish she'd at least acknowledge it, but i sadly know she never will. and i can't "separate the art from the artist" because of how interwoven the anti-indigenous racism is in the series. there are many problematic authors out there, many like Meyer that revolutionized their respective genres, and it's important to be able to distinguish that. i can acknowledge the issues and look at the text critically while still enjoying that world that has been apart of my life for so long.
reading midnight sun was truly like stepping back in time and seeing the world for the first time. not to get too emo on main, but it meant so much to me to finally read this. the brilliant, expansive world that was created behind a saga of very problematic books will always have a special place in my heart.