Sol Garcia | THE RIDER
“Every aspect of being a vampire—all but the danger to her—was suddenly acceptable to me, because it was what had let me live long enough to find Bella.”
In 2008, my family took me to see “Twilight.” By the next week, I had Stephenie Meyer’s complete “Twilight” series and read them so fast my parents thought I wasn’t sleeping, like Edward. I even went to Mexico to view the movies when they were released earlier over there. So you can only imagine how excited I was for “Midnight Sun” and how heartbroken I was when it failed to meet my expectations.
“Midnight Sun” is the long-awaited retelling of “Twilight” from Edward’s point-of-view. Edward Cullen, a mind-reading vampire, is attracted to the new girl, Bella Swan. Attracted, as in he wants to drink her blood. The Cullens are a vampire family who have chosen to drink from animals instead of humans, but Bella’s blood calls out to Edward. Edward is further intrigued when he realizes he can’t read Bella’s thoughts.
From the first few paragraphs, Edward is obviously a snob. He believes all humans are so trivial, so boring that he tries his best to tune them all out. In this book, you see how many humans are shallow, though, from Bella’s “friend,” Jessica, to Mike, another “friend.”
When Edward and Bella’s relationship begins to blossom, it was romantic how Edward thought of her, compared to his previous opinion of humans. He saw her as the embodiment of goodness, as she cares more for others than herself. He constantly pondered how Jessica, or anyone, could think Bella was the lucky one. In his eyes, he was the one blessed to even be near her presence. He wanted to know everything about her, like her hobbies, her taste in music, anything that made her happy. Before meeting Bella, Edward was grateful to Carlisle, his maker and father-figure, but vampirism didn’t spark joy in him. Edward was existing, but he never felt alive … until Bella.
Now, Edward is so thankful to be a vampire, because in addition to meeting Bella, he can also protect her with his abilities. What girl doesn’t dream of her vampire boyfriend being so head-over-heels for her? Well, maybe a lot of them don’t, especially when that vampire is constantly fighting his instinct to kill her. That doesn’t stop Bella, though. She dreams about him many, many times, and Edward knows that.
This is where we go from “aww” to “ugh” at Edward. Most nights, Edward watches her sleep, without Bella knowing. Meyer tries to make it romantic by saying it comes from protectiveness. He imagines so many unlikely scenarios, like a meteorite killing her, that he feels compelled to take care of her as she rests. No matter how it’s painted, stalking is stalking. It’s gross and unredeemable, even if Bella doesn’t see it that way after learning about it, but we won’t concentrate on the problematic issues.
“Midnight Sun” is a letdown because of its ending. Warning: huge spoilers incoming. After James lands Bella in the hospital, Edward promises Bella he isn’t going anywhere. For the time being, he’s not. Yet, Edward’s made up his mind that he is too dangerous for Bella, that the right thing is to let her go. He says he is too weak to do it right then and there, especially as she’s recovering. Instead, he’ll wait for a sign that will let him know when the time is right. Prolonging their separation seems selfish on his part, as he lets Bella think they will stay together forever. How can he say he will love her forever if he doesn’t give her the choice to do the same?
If not for the ending, the book could have scored four suns. Five, if it had more scenes with the Cullens, but sadly, the book falls flat. I will always love Edward from “Twilight,” but Edward from “Midnight Sun” is no more than a stranger to me.
“Midnight Sun” receives a sunny rating of: ☼ ☼ ☼ .
Reviews are based on five suns.
