A coven of vampires resides in the small, ever cloudy town of Forks, Washington. Unbeknownst to – most of – its inhabitants, this hodgepodge family is as much a part of the community (if not a tad estranged) as they are unique to their blood-drinking kind: the respected father figure works in the town hospital while the “kids” attend the local high school and, as a morally-guided group of vampire-equivalent “vegetarians,” they refrain from drinking human blood. When a seemingly ordinary human girl moves to Forks and slowly builds a deep connection with one of these vampires, all of their lives change forever. It’s a classic love story that deals with more than just romance, alike in quality to its lovingly referenced predecessors, “Pride and Prejudice,” “Wuthering Heights,” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
This story has been told before; It’s “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. But, while the latter title is told through the human perspective, “Midnight Sun” delves into the vampire side of things.
Retellings and remakes can be boring and generally fruitless – when done poorly, at least. Thankfully, “Midnight Sun” falls into neither category. Told through the perspective of Edward Cullen rather than Bella Swan, Meyer has adeptly given readers of the “Twilight Saga” a fresh and deeply engrossing look into Edward’s perspective of the first book’s events.
But it doesn’t end there. This is not simply a switch-a-roo reversal of narrators, bound to feel monotonous and cause readers to skim the already-familiar parts just to get to the new stuff. In a way, this retelling takes shape as a completely new novel in the series, shedding light onto Edward’s psyche and reasoning that readers didn’t get to see through Bella’s viewpoint, as well as delving further into the backstories, dynamics, and otherwise lesser-known culture of all the Cullens and the vampire world in general. Plus, as a mind-reader, Edward’s perspective gives us not only insight into his thoughts, but of almost all of those around him as well, which additionally makes for interesting and new reading material.
Nothing felt futile. Nothing felt redundant. Nothing felt overdone or unnecessary. “Midnight Sun” is revealing, interesting, and somehow original (despite the fact that it follows an already published plot). As such, this perspective-switched take on the original “Twilight” from 2005 is an absolute delight (a heart-wrenching, engagingly frustrating, and eye-opening delight, albeit still an utter delight). Start to finish, I was captivated.