Book Review: "Midnight Sun" by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Midnight Sun

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Series: Twilight Saga #5

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Page Length: 818 pages

Publication Date: August 4, 2020

Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

I finally did it. I finally read Twilight from Edward's POV. 

When this book first came out during COVID, I initially thought I'd blow through it rather quickly. Well, that obviously didn't happen. I'd reread the entire series just a few months before and it was too repetitive for me with the original book still so fresh in my mind.

That being said, I've been in the Twilight feels this year and decided it was time to finally read it. Without having the first book fresh in my mind, it was a whole different experience this time around. And let me tell you, I'm fully obsessed with this book. 

First things first, Edward is such a simp and also needs to see a therapist for some of his anxieties. Eddy, the response to being worried your girl is going to be bit by a spider is not to sneak into her room without her knowing for nights on end. But, I get it. Seeing Edward's thoughts in this book was very eye-opening. Are some of his actions still super creepy? Yes. However, seeing the rationalizations made it a little less questionable. 

One thing that surprised me, actually, is how often Edward was around without Bella knowing. And I'm not just talking about in her room at night but scenes where we thought she was just alone but she's actually being watched discreetly by him. It's rather funny, actually. 

My favorite part of this book, however, was all the bonus content Cullen. We get very little time with the Cullens in the first few books, if you actually think about the page time. Yet, their histories and way of life are perhaps the most interesting part of the series. Not only did we get to see a significant number of Cullen interactions, we also got a lot of backstory and history. 

Edward had a habit of going on tangents thinking about something that happened in the past and I loved those. We got to see the darker side of the Cullens. I also think that with being able to read their minds, reading from Edward's perspective was eye-opening for all of the Cullens. We got a glimpse into their motivations, their feelings, their powers...it was fantastic. I'm also incredibly surprised by how much we as a fandom underestimated Jasper's abilities. 

All in all, this was a fantastic read for a long-term Twilight fan. While I've reached a point where I am both equally critical and in love with the series, I must say that it was just fun to be back in this world with a fresh perspective. While we're not going to get the rest of the series from Edward's POV, it would be rather interesting to get future books. Or, alternatively, I wouldn't mind a prequel with the Cullens and each of their stories fleshed out in greater detail. 

This is definitely a must-read for Twilight fans. 

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Previous Reviews

Twilight Review

New Moon Review

Eclipse Review

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Review

Breaking Dawn Review

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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July 2024 Wrap-Up + Book Haul

If the first half of the year seemed like it flew by, July felt like it dragged. I truly feel like I've aged years in the span of a month. It was a long, busy, and overwhelming month in a lot of ways. Books, per usual, were an escape. I read a lot of romance this month compared to usual and enjoyed them all, including some new all-time favorites to add to my list. My hope, though, is I get into more fantasy books as we get into the later months of the year since I'm craving those cozy, fantastical stories. 

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1. 

Title: Check & Mate

Author: Ali Hazelwood
Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Review

2. 

Title: Blood Oath

Author: Morgan B. Lee

Rating: 3.5 // 5 stars

3. 

Title: Shadow Heart

Author: Morgan B. Lee
Rating: 3.5 // 5 stars

4. 

Title: Not In Love

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Review TK

5.

Title: Flawless

Author: Elsie Silver

Rating: 4 // 5 stars

6.

Title: Heartless

Author: Elsie Silver

Rating: 4. 5 // 5 stars

7. 

Title: Midnight Sun
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

Review TK

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June 2024 Wrap-Up + Haul

Book Review: "The Throne of Honor and Blood" by J. Bree

Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag: 2024 Edition

Book Review: "Check & Mate" by Ali Hazelwood

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I didn't get very many books in July but I am very excited about the ones that I did get. I got three books, of which one of them I paid for many many months ago. I'm also on a no-buy challenge for a few weeks so these books are going to be exciting enough to hold me over. 

Up first I have Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver. I actually read this many months ago but I read an ebook through the library. I knew the moment I finished it that I was going to want my own copy but I told myself to wait until Leather & Lark released. Well, I finally have said copy! I was on vacation and, as we all know, vacation shopping doesn't count. What's most exciting is that I'll be able to annotate it when I reread it and I can lend it to friends and family now that I have a copy to lend. 

Then I finally got the first book from the Seasons of Shadowhunters Kickstarter that I pledged to back in November 2023. It's wild that when I pledged for it, I was living in another country in a long-term relationship and now I've moved countries and am single again with a whole new plan for my life. But I digress. This first shipment was the Secrets of Blackthorn Hall by Cassandra Clare. This is a collection of the weekly series she did on Tumblr, similar to the novella collections for The Bane Chronicles, Ghosts of the Shadow Market, and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. I am thrilled to have this added to my shelf and I can't wait to dive into it when I get to that point in my Shadowhunters read-through.

The last book I picked up was Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer, which is my current read at the time I'm writing this post. I was so excited for this book back when it came out in 2020...and then I never read past page 200. I think that's because I'd just read Twilight and I didn't have it in me to read the same book over again. I'm about halfway through on this read and loving it. It's an insightful look into Edward and the Cullens and I'm already wishing we could have an entire story about what they were all up to during New Moon as well as their versions of events in the rest of the books. 

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Book Review: "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Breaking Dawn

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Series: "Twilight Saga" #4

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Page Length: 756 pages

Publication Date: August 2, 2008

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Book 1 Review

Book 2 Review
Book 3 Review

*Small (and I mean small) spoilers for the series*

So...I finished my reread of the Twilight Saga. Like with the rest of the books in this series, I haven't read Breaking Dawn in years. I do not know when the last time I read it was, but I know that this was probably my most-read book of the entire series. It always used to be my favorite and I was questioning if that would change when I reread it.

I don't know if it's my favorite or if it's tied with Twilight and New Moon for the top spot. I think the one thing is the first half of the book is so long and part of it is told from Jacob's point of view which felt less like Twilight to me. The part where Bella is pregnant just felt a lot longer than it needed to be, honestly. I do absolutely love the rest of it, though, from the honeymoon to her becoming a vampire to the ending. Especially the last half of the book! I have always loved that part of the series the most (for reasons I can't really get into without major spoilers). I'd probably say that this is my favorite book but Twilight and New Moon are close seconds.

That being said, I think one of the reasons why I like this book the most is because the whole love-triangle business is pretty much over. Obviously we still have a bit of those feelings swirling around, but as there's a wedding going on, it's pretty finalized and eventually those angsty feelings from all the characters go away. I really love how the characters in the love triangle overcome those antagonistic feelings and become very tight-knit.

Another reason I like this book more was because a lot of the toxic behavior is much less. We have a very small amount of it, but you can really see the character growth from the first book to this one. Edward, though he disagrees with some of her actions, doesn't force Bella into doing anything. I just like how these characters have developed past the need for control and asshole-ness.

I like how we get to see all the Cullen clan more in this book as well as the Pack. I love each of these sets of characters and seeing them all throughout the entire book was such good time for me. I like big found-family groups in books and these groups are the definition of found-family.

That being said, still not a big fan of a few small things such as how Bella chose Nessie's name, the pregnancy scenes, etc. But overall I still really enjoyed this installment and it's still my number one.

It will be interesting for me after finishing this reread to go back to the beginning in Midnight Sun for Edward's perspective. There's only a year and a half or so between the start of Twilight and Breaking Dawn but it feels so much longer. I can't wait to see Edward's POV, though, and hopefully get even more Cullen family content!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Book Review: "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Eclipse

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Series: "Twilight Saga" #3
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Page Length: 629 pages

Publication Date: August 7, 2007

Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Book 1 Review

Book 2 Review

Like with my reviews for Twilight and New Moon, I'd like to preface this one by saying that I've already read Eclipse. I read it for the first time eleven or twelve years ago and it's been at least eight years since I last read it. That being said, this review will be based off of a reread. I know that I love the story but these are going to be my thoughts as a full-fledged adult. Additionally, most of these comments are addressing problematic aspects even though I enjoyed my reread and gave it 4.5 stars.

So I always enjoyed Eclipse when I was watching the movies over the years. I figured I would like reading  Eclipse more than I liked reading New Moon. I was wrong. While I still massively enjoyed Eclipse and it was such a nostalgic time, there were way more problematic things in this book.

For one, the love triangle was dumb. I always thought it was dumb because it was obvious who Bella was going to end up with but after reading through the book where it was most prevalent, I was just rolling my eyes over it most of the time. To be fair, I never feel super connected to Edward more than Jacob and I like them both equally. However, I am vehemently Team Bella and there's a reason why I support Edward more in this relationship.

At the beginning of the book, both Edward and Jacob annoyed me. Edward was being possessive and controlling (even going as far to disable her truck and have his sister kidnap her for a weekend so she couldn't see Jacob). However, after a conversation with Bella (aka her telling him off), he begins to change and actually becomes so much better. Jacob on the other hand doesn't understand consent. He kisses Bella and when she couldn't get him to stop, she just went limp and waited for him to be done. He constantly insults Edward and, at the end of the book, manipulates Bella into kissing him again in a very mean way.

It seems to me that the movie definitely made these two characters a lot better. Edward is slightly less possessive and controlling and Jacob is way less of an ass. However, I am glad to see Edward's development in this book and even some of Jacob's minuscule development. I will say that I like Jacob in every other book and even part of this book, but then he turned into a douche.

There were also a few things with the representation of the Quileute tribe. I am not a part of this community so I cannot comment fairly on how good the representation was, but I felt that there were a few times when a non-Quileute character would say something about a member of the Quileute tribe and it seemed a bit problematic. This book is obviously quite old but yikes.

Other than these issues, I did enjoy my reread. I definitely thought these issues made me like it a bit less, but I still had the nostalgic feelings and strong connection to the characters to make me enjoy it.  If I'd read this for the first time this year, I probably would have given it such a lower rating. But as it stands, I love this series and story too much to be able to give it an unbiased rating. I will say that after this reread, I do expect it to be my least favorite book in the series just because of the problems I mentioned above (though I do think the movie did a much better job of not being problematic).

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Book Review: "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer

Title: New Moon

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Series: "Twilight Saga" #2

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Page Length: 563 pages

Publication Date: September 6, 2006

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

Book 1 Review

Like with the first book, it has been years since I've read this installment of the Twilight Saga. I can't pinpoint the exact time I read it last, but it's been over eight years. However, I have watched the movie multiple times since then. In the past, I always said I enjoyed the movie more (simply because I didn't remember much of the differences from the book) but that has now changed.

I don't remember much from when I first read this book but I can tell you that for many years I thought of it as my least favorite in the series. I sometimes thought that it was boring and a waste of an installment when the big events could have been incorporated elsewhere. After rereading, I can now say that I was wrong.

Maybe it's just because I've grown older and can relate more to Bella or maybe it's just because I know the story so well that finding details I'd forgotten was so fun. Either way, I really enjoyed this reread. Whereas with Twilight I tried rereading slowly to make it last, I couldn't put New Moon down. I read half of it one night and then finished the rest in the morning.

I definitely think that my personal growth has impacted how I relate to Bella and view these books. I've grown as a person through reading other books and my own personal life experiences. I cannot speak for everyone, but I really thought that how Bella's struggles were portrayed made them actually very relatable (not all of her struggles, of course, but the healing process especially).

I can't make unbiased comments on this book since it's a series that I've loved so much for so long. This story is so well-ingrained into my mind from reading the books, browsing fanfiction, and watching the movies that I can't objectively discuss things like setting, characters, and plot. I think the movies definitely impact how I see the characters because I'm just vividly picturing the settings, scenes, and actors from the movie (which, let me tell you, is actually refreshing because my brain didn't have to work as hard).

One thing that continues to be refreshing on this reread is just Bella's character voice. In the movies, we don't get a lot of her inner thoughts, struggles, or snark but the books let us see into Bella's head. She really isn't that boring of a character and while she's not perfect and definitely has some issues, she is a lot more realistic to me after rereading these books.

I will say that the problematic aspects seemed a lot less in this book. There were definitely still some parts I cringed at or rolled my eyes at, but overall they seemed a lot less. Honestly it was probably because Edward was gone for most of the book (which makes him sound like a bad person, oops). I'm interested to see how my reread of Eclipse goes because I know the love-triangle aspect and possessiveness really ramps up in that one.

Overall, I just have to say that I can't objectively review these books so please take this review as commentary from a die-hard Twilight fan of 12 years. But I absolutely loved this reread and have a new appreciation for New Moon. Now onto Eclipse!

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Book Review: "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Twilight

Author: Stephenie Meyer 

Series: "Twilight Saga" #1

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Page Length: 501 pages

Publication Date: October 5, 2005

Rating: 5 // 5 stars

Goodreads

So I haven't re-read this in at least 8 years, if not longer, and I was quite excited about it. When Stephenie announced Midnight Sun a little while ago, my inner Twilight fan reared to the surface and I pulled my beat-up copy off the shelf because I couldn't resist revisiting the books.

I've watched the movies over the years quite often. I've read dozens of fanfictions. But it's been years since I actually read the books and, because of Midnight Sun, I've decided that now is the time to reread them. It was actually really interesting because I realized some of the things from the movie that I never remembered being different in the book. Some iconic lines and scenes from the movie are completely different or missing from the book, so I just enjoyed getting to note those differences.

That being said, on this time around I definitely noticed a lot more of the problematic aspects of this book as well as some general craft-related things that were a bit iffy. As I've grown up, I've definitely had more discussions about how this series can be problematic, but when I was rereading this book there were definitely things that made me cringe when I originally was in love with them. I could probably write a whole paper on the issues of just this book alone, let alone the whole series. But I digress. Additionally, as a writing student who's almost finished with a degree focused on creative writing, there were just some craft-related things that I noticed weren't the best.

I don't think I would have liked Twilight as much if I'd read it for the first time now. But I read this book when I was 8. I fell in love with it and this series has done so much for me and been such an important part of my life for many years. I've visited Forks, I've made so many friends, and I fell in love with YA because of this series. Even rereading this book and knowing that it's not a literary masterpiece of any kind, I still loved it.

I loved being reuinted with this story in this form and these characters. This book really did feel like I was slipping into a piece of my childhood...a familiar place that felt like home. I know it's not perfect and there are a lot of issues, but I loved rereading it and I'm excited to continue on rereading the series since I haven't read them in years.

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Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Top 5 Wednesday: Auto-Buy Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors

Hello everyone and welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday! This week's theme is Auto-Buy Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors! This was interesting for me because even if I love an author's books, I usually don't automatically buy it. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. There are a few authors outside of this list who are also auto-buy authors, but they don't write in this genre so I'll most likely put them in a different post at some point. Let's go ahead and just get on into it. 

Coming in at number 5 we have Cassandra Clare, who wrote The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, The Dark Artifices, and more. She's also co-written a few books. However, I've only read the stuff that she's written for the Shadowhunters universe. I haven't read any of her other co-written stuff so I'm not sure if this is your stereotypical auto-buy situation, but anything she writes for Shadowhunters or any other fantasy/paranormal works I will buy. 

At number 4 I decided to combine Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, since they co-wrote one of my favorite trilogies. Since then, I have started collecting their other works. I would definitely say that they're some of my auto buy authors now. Plus, I met these authors and they're so amazing that I am honored to be able to buy all of their books.

Number 3 is, obviously, Stephenie Meyer. Not a lot of people are as familiar with her science fiction works, but I read The Host YEARS ago and I absolutely fell in love. Since then, she's released an adult thriller that I have yet to read but am super excited to get to soon. Ever since I expanded past Twilight to read The Host, I've seen how amazing her writing and stories are, and how unique they are from each other. I will buy anything she writes. Period.




Number 2 shouldn't surprise anyone: J.K. Rowling. She wrote Harry Potter and I will buy anything she writes. I'm currently working on reading her other series under her pen name, and I can't wait. She's such an inspiration and HP has done so much for me throughout my life and childhood.

And my number 1 auto-buy author for this category, and in general, is Sarah J. Maas. I was just getting back into reading when I discovered her books and I fell in love. Her two series have helped me through so much in my life, connected me with amazing friends, and have just let me escape my boring life for a fantastical one. I will read anything she writes when they are released and I'm so excited for 4 new Sarah books this year!

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Thanks for reading! Who are you favorite auto-buy authors? Let me know in the comments below (although, currently I'm having a glitchy system that hasn't been letting me respond. Rest assured: I see your comments!).

xoxo

Lauren

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