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Over the past few years, the rampant reboot trend of film and television has made its way to YA and children’s literature, as popular authors like JK Rowling and Suzanne Collins have sought to revive their franchises with new releases. Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Saga, recently hopped on the bandwagon by releasing Midnight Sun, the highly anticipated and long-delayed retelling of Twilight from the perspective of vampire Edward Cullen.
Although Meyer’s simplistic writing and questionable taste level left much to be desired, I enjoyed reading the Twilight Saga when I was younger. Like many other readers, I chose to overlook the books’ many shortcomings so that I could revel in the drama of teenage love triangles and forbidden romance. Unfortunately, Midnight Sun is not the gripping nostalgia trip that I had hoped for. Instead, it embodies all of the issues of the original books, as well as adding some new problems to the mix.
It’s worth mentioning that Midnight Sun has had a long and dramatic journey to publication. A rough draft of the first twelve chapters leaked in 2008, causing Meyer to delay the book’s publication indefinitely. In 2015, Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James released Grey, a retelling of her infamous Twilight knock-off told from Christian’s perspective, and clearly inspired by Meyer’s leaked material. Meyer was infuriated by the copycat release, referring to it as a “flip the table moment.” Later that year, Meyer put out Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, a gender-reversed version of Twilight that critics panned as nothing more than a shameless cash-grab. Jump forward to 2020, and for better or worse, we are finally getting our hands on Meyer’s fully-realised Midnight Sun. The book is most likely an attempt to rejuvenate interest in the original romance tale, as further additions to the Twilight Saga are expected in the near future.
When the publication of Midnight Sun was officially announced, I was most interested to see how Meyer would address the problematic elements of her original book. Much of Edward’s behaviour in Twilight was predatory and overbearing, as he would follow Bella wherever she went, and even sneak into her bedroom each night to watch her sleep. Edward’s justification that Bella was clumsy and needed protection felt weak then, and doesn’t hold water now. I wondered if Meyer would use Midnight Sun as an opportunity to rewrite Edward in an attempt to make his initial behaviour towards Bella less off-putting. Rather than change what has already happened, however, Meyer settles on making Edward more self-aware. He acknowledges that he is “an obsessed vampire stalker” and mentally admonishes himself for his actions, but in the end he does nothing to truly redeem his voyeurism. Midnight Sun is unable to resolve the issues with Edward’s character, but at the very least, Meyer resisted the temptation to sweep them under the carpet.
One of my biggest issues with Midnight Sun is that it loses a lot of what made Twilight such a guilty pleasure back in 2005. In the original book, Meyer was able to portray Edward as the broody and mysterious love interest, pulling on the heartstrings of hormonal teens around the world. By comparison, Bella was bland and forgettable, but telling the story from her perspective allowed the reader to insert themselves into the narrative and create their own vampire romance with the alluring Edward Cullen. With the roles reversed in Midnight Sun, Meyer struggles to establish the same feelings of adoration and intrigue for the dull-as-dishwater Bella. As a result, the stakes feel a lot lower this time around. Even Edward is unimpressed with her the first time they meet, and apart from her aromatic blood, it is difficult to understand why he becomes so enamoured with her later on. Edward also loses much of his appeal in the transition to his perspective. The initial chapters of the book cover Edward’s lust for Bella’s blood in excruciating detail, as he ponders how to feed on her while also disposing of any human witnesses. His thoughts are stomach-churning, and though Meyer tones it down later in the novel, the lasting impression is that Edward is a psychopath.
Despite the long hiatus in the Twilight series, Meyer’s writing style remains, unfortunately, much the same. The simplicity of Meyer’s writing, which garnered widespread criticism during her early success, is still blatantly apparent. She has not yet managed to break her habit of telling, rather than showing, and her lengthy descriptions are an absolute chore to read. Midnight Sun is her most bloated novel to date, managing to surpass the absurd length of Breaking Dawn. Some of her lines are truly cringe-worthy, such as Edward’s comical inner monologue: “A word I’ve never said before in the presence of a lady slid between my clenched teeth.” At times it feels as though you are reading a parody of the original book. Meyer whacks the reader over the head with Edward’s mind-reading ability, using it as a narrative device on almost every page to expose the inner thoughts of each character. Edward’s habit of having full, unspoken conversations with his vampire siblings is especially irritating, and is unrelenting as the novel progresses. Rather than supplementing the narrative and providing unique insights, Edward’s mind-reading just generates filler content that helps pad out the book.
For the most part, Midnight Sun is an unsatisfying addition to the series. There are some interesting new tidbits throughout the book, but they are too fleeting and minor to compensate for the overall drudgery of each page. With some severe editing, Midnight Sun could have been a decent retelling of Twilight, but in its current form, only the most diehard fans will be able to make their way through the book. Since its publication in early August, Meyer has confirmed that she is working on two more books set in the Twilight universe. Mercifully, these will be new stories, rather than more retellings from Edward’s perspective. Midnight Sun was an ill-advised and unnecessary rehash of Meyer’s original bestseller, and although it may have put her vampires back in the limelight, it has left me sceptical that her next book will add anything of value to the existing saga.
