It’s finally here. Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun has hit bookshelves over a decade after we first anticipated the novel’s release and the Twilight fandom is still pulsating with warm blood in our veins. A lot may have changed since many of us first cracked open a Twilight book (or first laid our eyes on the leaked twelve chapters of Midnight Sun). With the fifth book out, we finally have many of our questions about Edward Cullen’s perspective of the iconic teen romance answered. Let’s sink our fangs into all the sparkly things we learned about the series only Edward’s side of the story could shed light on:
There’s A Lot More To Why Edward Falls For Bella Than Blood
If I could give one central reason as to why Midnight Sun is a worthy read to Twilight fans, it would be how the novel developed Edward Cullen’s fascination with Bella Swan. Still a bit creepy? Yes, (we’ll get to that later on) but there’s also a ton of new insights we learn about the vampire’s affections to Bella. He truly is taken back by her personality and falls in love with her unique way with people.
Edward Cullen has access to a breadth of high schooler minds throughout his day. As his inability to read Bella’s mind perplexes him, he also starts to develop a yearning respect for her selflessness, dark sense of humor and tenaciousness. She never says the “right thing” or particularly fits into the teenage girl box he’s undoubtedly been studying and bored of for decades. And despite his incessant self-loathing about his monstrous nature, she always makes him feel comfortable in his own skin. These details build upon their relationship in a significant way that helps us appreciate Stephenie Meyer’s concept more thoroughly.
Edward Really, Really Doesn’t Like Mike Newton
The character of Mike Newton has always been a bit of a nuisance in the Twilight franchise as he perpetually attempts to offer Bella a normal high-school boyfriend experience and she clearly shows her disinterest. But, wow does Edward Cullen not like Mike.
Throughout the book, he evidently grows in his distaste for the high schooler as he continues to ask her out and such. And others try, including Eric, Tyler and Jacob, but Edward especially hates his guts. There’s entire excerpts detailing his fantasies to backhand him across the room, imagining the sound of his bones breaking and the best one his yearning to “pulverize his skull with my fist.” Imagine how Jacob Black would send these thoughts later into the series, especially when he kisses Bella in Eclipse? Dude is intense.
Bella Joining The Family Was Talked About From The Beginning
Edward may look like a teenager, but we’ve always been curious about just how teen-like he handled his Bella problem with his family in the first book. Midnight Sun details that the rest of the Cullens were in on the ongoing discussion about where he was specifically at with Bella quite early on. Early in the book, Alice shares a vision she has of Bella as a vampire and the rest of the family (except Rosalie) readily accepts the idea that Bella could soon join their vampire clan. It’s actually really sweet how much they trust Edward with his relationship with Bella, despite his own ongoing concerns on the predicament. Esme is especially on board, and more motherly than you might have realized as Edward reads her thoughts on Bella.
Alice Loves People Long Before She Meets Them
It’s an undisputed fact that Alice Cullen is the best, right? The character is particularly interesting in Midnight Sun because readers get to see Edward and Alice’s cute brother-sister relationship. It’s especially interesting in this context because he can share her visions of the future and feel her undying enthusiasm for Bella.
In the new novel, we learn how authentically eager Alice is to meet Bella, constantly asking her brother if she can introduce herself. And how much she truly loves her, having seen ahead to the relationship they will someday have. And also that this has happened before when Jasper came into the picture. She’d seen their future long before it happened. She was in love with him before they even met and made sure to pick the best version of their first meeting by measure of her visions.
A Lot Of Edward’s Decisions Hinge On Alice’s Visions
Alice Cullen is also of importance to Midnight Sun because we learn that her visions of Bella and Edward inform his decisions about what to do as their love story unfolds. Towards the beginning of the book, Alice sees the aforementioned sight of Bella as a vampire that scares Edward into wanting to run away. Later in the book, Alice informs Edward of some of conflicting visions she has about him and Bella. One involves him murdering her in the meadow and another with her as an adult human still with Edward.
