Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer, published in August of 2020, is 658 pages long. As a retelling of the first Twilight book in Edward’s perspective, this writing has a lot of parallels between the first book and this one. Rereading such a long book that has the same content as Twilight by Stephenie Meyer with only a few distinct differences is not really worth it. 

The Twilight series follows Isabella “Bella” Swan (a painfully average human girl) and Edward Cullen (a 100-year-old vampire who was changed by his “father” when he was on the verge of death during the Spanish influenza) through the complicated romance that blooms between the two of them. The story takes place in the small town of Forks, Washington, where Bella goes to high school, and where Edward acts as a student who goes to the same school in order to fulfill the illusion of being human. Other important characters of this series include: Jacob Black (Bella’s childhood best friend), Chief Swan (Bella’s dad), Carlisle (Edward’s adopted father), and Alice (Edward’s sister). 

In terms of the plot of Midnight Sun, it is almost identical to the original  book, with the exception of a few additional details from Edward’s mind in every scene. There are more things revealed about Edward in scenes when he first sees Bella; Meyer allows the reader to see firsthand what Edward thinks when he sees and hears different things, and how he feels being a vampire among mundane human beings. This also shows the reader the internal conflict in Edward’s head, where he struggles with his attraction to Bella since he is, afterall, an immortal vampire with superstrength and an undeniable thirst for her blood. This makes the tone of this version of the story a little darker and more chilling, especially with the selection of the vocabulary being a bit more cryptic. It makes the reader feel as if they are a vampire alongside Edward throughout the book.

The Twilight series is very well written overall; Meyer uses very descriptive language that allows the reader to fully envelope themselves within the story, rather than simply read about it. However, even with the ability to pull the readers in, there was a lack of climax while reading this book. Although it’s hard to know what to expect from new books, there weren’t any new, awe-striking details or revelations within this story, which may have been expected by those waiting on this to be released. 

In conclusion, Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer is very similar to Twilight, making the title of a “new” book mediocre at best. It is interesting to see a different perspective from the eyes of an immortal, forever teenage vampire, but not interesting enough to accommodate for 658 pages of mostly reused content.