Genre: Young Adult; Fantasy

Rating: 4 / 5 

SPOILER ALERT!

If you have somehow made it through the past 15 years without reading or watching anything Twilight-related, there are spoilers below. 

I need to be honest up front – I am an OBSESSIVE Twilight fan and I go very hard for Team Edward. It’s been more than a decade since I first met Bella, and I still watch the movies regularly. In fact, I just reread Twilight a few months ago. I tell you this because it’s important to know going into my book review of Midnight Sun. I have been waiting for Edward’s point-of-view for a while (like I said, over a decade). If you aren’t a Twi-hard, like me, you may not enjoy this one as much as I did, but here we go.

Much like the 50 Shades of Grey series from Christian’s perspective, this shift of in vantage point to let you hear, see, and experience everything from the other side. The preconceptions I had about what Edward was thinking were shattered as I finally got a look beyond Bella. Stephenie Meyer did an excellent job of weaving people’s thoughts with their verbal dialogue. It was easy to read and engaging. From the scene where the boys at school line up to ask Bella out to Edward’s complicated relationships with each of his family members – it gives a new light to the story. 

I was hoping we may learn more than we didn’t previously know, which didn’t happen. We had a glimpse of Edward’s “birth” and his early days, but it wasn’t more than what we previously knew. This is likely because Bella and Edward are together for a majority of the story and they are very open with each other. I think this will improve in the future books since the couple does spend some time apart. 

We also get a better understanding of Edward’s individual relationships with each member of his family. My favorite, which I won’t get into in hopes of not spoiling anything, is Jasper. He’s much more than we ever imagined. The love permeating off of Esme is also something to behold. I hope to be half of the mom she is.

However, there are some things we learn throughout this story that weren’t present in the first novels. First is about how Bella and Alice became such good friends. I don’t remember Twilight getting into the details of how Alice helped Bella recover from the fight with James, but Edward does give us some additional details that help explain the strong connection. 

Overall, I’ll just say this was a fun read. I was unable to put the book down and read it cover-to-cover in less than a week. I love this series and this just gave me another avenue to learn more about some of my favorite characters on a journey we started together long ago. If you are a Twilight fan, I highly recommend it. If you have yet to read any of the Twilight books, start with the original series and wrap it up with Midnight Sun. The original series is still at the top of my list. Even Edward Cullen can’t compare with that. 

Buy Midnight Sun here on Amazon (or at your local bookstore)!

Have you read Midnight Sun? Share your comments below!