Twilight saga fans have waited for Midnight Sun – a re-telling of the story from Edward’s perspective – for 12 years, after a draft leak saw Stephenie Meyer put the publishing on hold. But was it worth the wait?
It would be no overstatement to say that I was slightly obsessed with Twilight as a pre-teen. In lieu of buying new books I’d just read the series over and over, and would happily skip out on social occasions because I preferred to vicariously hang out with vampires. I even had a bedspread featuring the New Moon promo poster, which in hindsight wasn’t the best shout given that a crease or two could leave the characters resembling one-legged cyclopes.
As a result, I was privy to the great Midnight Sun leak of 2008 – author Stephenie Meyer had promised fans a version of Twilight written from Edward Cullen’s point of view and readers swooned at the idea of being in the vampire’s head, but after a leaked draft went viral, plans looked to be halted indefinitely.
Twilight, 12 years later
12 years later, the almost forgotten book was finally released and I tasked my now 23-year old self with reading the book I’d been so desperate to read as an 11-year old. Either I would be plunged into a melting pot of nostalgia or I would heartbrokenly acknowledge all of the flaws I’d so vehemently rejected when my Year 8 English teacher had, unsuccessfully, tried to convince me to ditch the books for literally anything else.
“Her over-dependence on cliché descriptions was noticeable”
Having completed an English degree and ploughed through a hell of a lot of books in the last 12 years, I certainly read Meyer’s narrative with a more critical eye, and elements did jar. Her over-dependence on cliché descriptions was noticeable, and I lost count of the uses of ‘steel’ and ‘stone’ to depict anything particularly solid. Tweeters have also taken to the internet in their droves to point out discrepancies between Twilight and Midnight Sun, and there are inconsistencies to be found if you’re willing to read both books side by side with an analytical eye. There was also no noticeably different use of language in Edward’s narrative compared to Bella’s, which is odd given that the vampire is technically over 100 years old, and so it was hinted at that he would have somewhat of a vintage vernacular.
New answers
That said, parts of the prose were quite charming, like the motif of Persephone and her pomegranate seeds, as depicted on the front cover. There’s also no denying the phrase ‘once a Twihard, always a Twihard’, and each previously undisclosed piece of information was an exciting freshening up of a series that I’d long thought completed. Experiencing the Twilight story through the overly self-critical Bella had also created the illusion that she was an extraordinarily plain human, with not an awful lot going for her – Midnight Sun replaces that depreciating self-assessment with Edward’s glistening awe, and the relationship suddenly makes so much more sense.
What really sets the novel apart from its predecessors is its insight into how the vampires in Meyer’s fictional world work. The intricacies of their extra abilities, particularly in Jasper’s case, adds a depth to the Cullen microcosm that the other books can’t capture. The chase to save Bella in the final chapters is gorgeously constructed in this sense, and Jasper and Emmett looking backwards to act as wing mirrors was a hilariously utilitarian means of employing the vampires’ superpowers.
What’s next?
The filling of plot holes, such as Alice’s creation, prompts questions as to what Midnight Sun actually is. Is it the first of four novels that will tell the entire saga through Edward’s narrative? Or was it a one-off to answer the unanswered, and satiate Meyer’s desire to give a more authentic painting of the vampires in her universe? It is an interesting approach to extending a series, as it leaves so much room for expansion – and are Team Jacob fans now eagerly awaiting a wolfy edition?
“Those looking for faults will inevitably find them”
On that front, I can’t provide much comment, having been a religiously Team Edward reader for the last decade, and it is from that perspective that I would recommend giving Midnight Sun a read. Those looking for faults will inevitably find them, but it will serve the purpose for anyone looking to spend another 650 pages in a supernatural world that actually feels far more reminiscent of normality than our current circumstances.
Hannah Ward-Glenton
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