Midnight Sun is the long-awaited fifth book in the Twilight series, but it’s not a new story nor a continuation of Edward and Bella’s lives, instead retelling the events of the first novel through the eyes of Edward – so which version of the story is better: Midnight Sun or Twilight? In 2005, Stephenie Meyer introduced readers to her world of vampires, werewolves, and humans in Twilight, the first in a series of four novels following the often problematic romance between vampire Edward Cullen and mortal Bella Swan, with werewolf Jacob Black in-between.
The Twilight novels made the jump to the big screen between 2008 and 2012, but before the first movie came out and just days after the final novel, Breaking Dawn, was published, 12 chapters of the fifth book, Midnight Sun, were leaked. As a result, Meyer stopped writing it and didn’t give any updates on it until May 2020, when she revealed the book was finally coming out in August. What’s special about Midnight Sun is that it tells the events of Twilight from Edward’s point of view, offering readers a somewhat deeper look at him, his thoughts, and his inner struggles with his “monster side”.
While Midnight Sun allows fans to get to know Edward a bit better as well as his siblings and the dynamics between them, those who enjoyed the original story might not be too amused nor entertained by Edward’s version, though others might find it more interesting than Bella’s point of view due to the newness of the perspective of a vampire. So, how does Midnight Sun compare to Twilight and which version is the best?
Midnight Sun Is (Mostly) Just A Re-telling Of Twilight
Breaking Dawn wrapped up Bella and Edward’s story by finally turning Bella into a vampire, but not before going through a bunch of obstacles and health issues. Bella got pregnant on her honeymoon, but as the baby was a vampire/human hybrid, her pregnancy developed too fast and the baby was pretty much killing her from the inside. Bella had to be transformed while giving birth so she could survive, and that was only the beginning of their problems. The Volturi, believing the Cullen’s baby (Renesmee) was an immortal child, confronted them, only to learn that her kind are no threat, and so they finally left the Cullens alone, though they knew the Volturi could return one day. This left the door slightly open for a new book continuing the story of the Cullens, but Meyer decided to do something different.
Midnight Sun takes readers back a couple of years, all the way to when Edward first saw Bella. What follows is a re-telling of everything fans know that happens in Twilight: Bella arrives at Forks and is the new sensation at school, Edward catches her scent and realizes he can’t read her thoughts, they develop a mutual obsession and end up together. Being from Edward’s perspective, readers learn and understand why Edward acted the way he did in Twilight, but ultimately, Midnight Sun is, for the most part, just Twilight all over again.
Midnight Sun Doesn’t Add Enough New To Twilight’s Story
The problem with Midnight Sun revisiting Twilight’s story is that there’s little room for new things. The most relevant things Midnight Sun offers are found in Edward’s inner monologues, which are mostly about his struggle to keep his humanity and not letting the monster (a.k.a. his vampire side) win, often referring to him and what he does as an animal. The book also highlights his dark side, such as when he first caught Bella’s smell and considered for a moment killing her and the rest of their classmates just to be sure that there wouldn’t be any witnesses to his crimes. Thanks to Edward’s ability to read minds, readers also get to know the rest of the Cullens a bit better, as well as their dynamic with Edward, especially Alice, with whom Edward was very close (and they shared a very special way of communication as Alice can see the future).
Sadly, these also cement Edward’s toxic behavior. What wasn’t obvious to some while reading Twilight will surely be in Midnight Sun, as Edward’s manipulative ways are evident, as well as his obsession with Bella and the creepiness of his actions around that, such as stalking her and sneaking into her bedroom to make sure nothing harmed her (including spiders). Times have changed since Twilight was published, and many of the red flags in Bella and Edward’s relationship are now clear to most fans, and Midnight Sun does no good to Edward’s already damaged image – it only confirms what everyone already knew.
Why Twilight Is A Better Story Than Midnight Sun
Twilight has a lot of flaws, which have been highlighted by many over the years, even becoming a meme (“still a better love story than Twilight”), but ultimately, the book and the movie fulfilled their purpose of entertaining a very specific target. Surely, there’s nothing to look up to in Edward and Bella’s relationship, but reading the beginning of their romance through Bella’s eyes is definitely more entertaining than doing so from Edward’s perspective. Twilight was, to a point, relatable to readers because it was a human girl telling the story, not a vampire with a lot of demons that has lived for a long, long time (and who has had to go through high school countless times in order to keep the image of being a regular 17-year-old).
Because of this, Midnight Sun can be tedious for readers, more so as Meyer didn’t do much to help Edward’s image (and she had a lot of time to reflect and make some very necessary changes). Twilight fans who haven’t read Midnight Sun yet have nothing to worry about as they won’t be missing much, but if they want to get to know Edward a bit better, the book will definitely help, but they shouldn’t expect it to add much to the story they already know – and they definitely shouldn’t expect a positive change in the dynamic between Edward and Bella.