Saturday, December 21, 2013

Review: Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer


Title: Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer (Twilight #1.5)
Publisher: **Stephanie Meyer
Release Date: **Released In 2008
Genres: Romance, Drama, Paranormal, Fantasy, Horror
Medium: **PDF Released Via Author's Website

**First of all, I must state that I read and reviewed the unedited partial draft of Midnight Sun, that was illegally leaked onto the internet in 2008. Soon after, Stephanie Meyer released a legal PDF draft of the unfinished novel so that readers could obtain it with her permission. She has put the project on indefinite hold. You can find her statement and read the novel for yourself here.

Second of all, I must state that I beg for Stephanie Meyer to take this novel off hold and finish it immediately. Us readers are dying for the end of this novel.

And now, I must explain this novel. It is basically Twilight, written from the point of view of Edward. Through this unique perspective, we get to relive Twilight in a completely different way that is interesting, thought-provoking, and richly written. That being said, I enjoy Edward's perspective way more interesting and exciting to read. With Bella's point of view, everything was a little gloomy and boring, but with Edward's, you get to finally get inside of his head (similar to the way he gets into everyone else's) and get to see his insight and opinion on things. With this POV, you get to experience his emotions throughout all the situations we were met with in Twilight. We witness his guilt, his sadness, his horror, his falling head-over-heels for Bella- all through the eyes of a handsome vampire with conflicting thoughts that war between good and bad. Edward sees most everything in a grayscale, no black and white. He sees how certain situations lean from morally right and wrong, yet infuses his personal choice in with his decisions. The highlight of this novel is his emotional take on his life, and most of all, Bella.

The writing was still as delicious as the original Twilight series was. It brings you back to the setting of the first novel and begins to lead you into the unique world that is Edward's. Of course, we don't get to find out his reaction about everything, because, as it was leaked as a partial draft, the released version stops just after 12 chapters, a measly 264 pages that majorly leave you with a book hangover and a roaring hunger for the rest. The writing in this novel was as educated and spell binding as the rest of her works, including descriptive scenes, emotional reactions including the addicting internal voice of the character, and the everpresent setting of Forks, Washington. It so similar to Twilight, as it is almost identically the same story line, yet so different at the same time. This is why I recommend that all Twilight fans read this one, as it immerses you in the addicting series once again.

I personally enjoyed Edward's point of view more than Bella's, although I probably wouldn't recommend new readers to start with Midnight Sun over Twilight. If you are new to the world of Twilight, you need to start with Twilight, because it sets up the rest of the series. Midnight Sun makes a great prequel to read that gives you all the special little extras that were missing from Twilight. It's almost a behind the scenes version of Twilight, as it tells you things that will surprise the most dedicated Twilight reader.

Overall, the addicting storyline is still present, along with an interesting new point of view and mesmerizing new insight into the background characters. A definite must-read for all Twilight fans and even those who are new to the series (and let's just say, who has never heard of Twilight??) and even if you never have, you still need to read the Twilight series first. Make Midnight Sun a little dessert piece for you- delicious and leaving you wanting more.

*To whoever leaked this draft onto the internet, I both love and hate this. I hate that you illegally released her masterpiece onto the internet when she wasn't even finished with it (I mean, come on, even I could have waited until she finished and published it) and I love Stephanie Meyer for being such a good sport about the whole situation and kindly posting it to her website so all of us good (mostly) law-abiding fans could read it with her permission. So kudos to her.

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