The Twilight Saga (book 5): Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight Saga Book 5 

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? 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53287484-midnight-sun

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My Review: 3/5 Stars

I have to say it was pretty weird jumping back into the world of Twilight. I haven't read the books in a long time. And I had read them multiple times in the past because I loved them so much. But with time, tastes change. I probably would have been super excited to read this book back when I was into the series. Jumping into it now, it was nice to read but I have to admit there were some things I was surprised about. First off, the book was long. I was shocked to find it was over 600, nearly 700 pages. I had to go back and pick up my Twilight book to check the page count. I guess compared to Breaking Dawn, I thought the rest were smaller. They were big books, but Midnight Sun was a lot longer than the original Twilight. I guess Edward had a lot more to say! And he did. 

It was super neat getting in his head. You learned a lot of things. His thoughts on every interaction and of course the thoughts of those around him. Early on, you got a way better sense of the Cullens and even Billy and Jacob and their history. You get to really see how hard it was for Edward to be around Bella. I did appreciate that perspective. We get her point of view in the other books and we see him struggling sometimes around her, but I never really understand what that translated to. I understand now and I gotta give Edward more credit on fighting against his vampire nature. And you can see just how strongly he believes in wanting to keep Bella human and why. This book was really nice to clear up a lot of those things. And of course any moment when you read Twilight and was like oh man, I wonder how this looks from Edward's point of view. 

So overall, pretty good. The one thing that probably bothered me the most was the fact that the book was so long. And I love long books, but what I really mean here is the pace. It just felt like it took forever to get to certain places and for the story to speed up. I kept wanting to be like okay, let's keep it moving. And you know, part of that I understood because Edward literally hears everyone and he just had a lot to think about and do (and of course don't forget the boy doesn't sleep). Overall, it was a good addition to the series I once was obsessed with. My inner high school self was ecstatic to revisit this world. It's been a long time!