Book Review – ‘Midnight Sun’ (#5 Twilight) by Stephenie Meyer

The book all the fans were begging for is finally here…

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

No. of pages: 756

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. At last, readers can experience Edward’s version in the long-awaited companion novel, Midnight Sun.

This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?

This book felt over-written. But saying this rings true to Edwards’s nature. His cognitive processes are much faster than that of a humans, hundreds of thoughts to a single human pondering. He is melodramatic, angst-ridden, an over-analyser. And that’s without his extrasensory perception. So I get that ‘Midnight Sun’ is long and has a lot of information stuffed into its pages for the same timeframe as ‘Twilight.’ I was hoping we’d get more new information than what we did. Granted it does help flesh out the universe of ‘Twilight,’ let us peek behind the curtain if you will. It’s like Stephenie Meyer took all the criticisms and plot holes for ‘Twilight’ and explained them away. However, even though the book is a hefty 756 pages long, I did not feel like the pacing suffered. I was interested in the many asides, flashbacks, strategic ponderings, and glimpses into probable futures (through reading Alice’s mind.)

But I was particularly taken with the baseball scene and the fight scene at the ending chapters of ‘Midnight Sun,’ here Edward’s perception really adds a new complexity to the scenes.

I still got that addiction to the story, compelled to read as much as I could in one sitting. Still laughed at the satire. Though a bit of the magic was lost for me. Edward comes off as much more insecure and melodramatic than the brooding mystery man which Bella paints him as in ‘Twilight.’ Also ‘Twilight’ felt like it had a much more involved plot, and I was hoping we would see a new introduced side plot with Edwards’s perspective, but alas we did not get that… I guess there is not too much you can introduce and not diverge from the original storyline.

It was nice to get into the heads of the Cullens, because the knowledge and assumptions Bella had in ‘Twilight’ felt flimsy at best and induced some eye-rolling on my behalf.

This didn’t feel as swoon-worthy as I thought it would be either. Maybe it was killed off by Edward’s constant lamenting, or the fact that too much saccrine expository of love would have killed the reader with a heavy dose of diabetes. But I felt like I wanted more emotion from Edward in relation to Bella, less explained stalkery behaviour. After all it is the romance that is the major drawcard to this novel.

It was pleasant to revisit the world of ‘Twilight’ again after reading it over a decade ago. Maybe my review wouldn’t have been so appraising if I’d read ‘Midnight Sun’ closer to the debuts release – like I mentioned, not a lot of new information from the original story. But it was like a high school reunion, flashing back to fond memories and glancing at old friends from a place of experience. ‘Midnight Sun’ really is a book for the fans, and comparatively, it is only going to be fans of the franchise that will bother picking this book up – you’d have to have enjoyed the previous four books and novella to reach this point; and not be intimidated by the 756 pages.

So I had a great time indulging in the fantasy again, though there did feel like there was something missing – something I can’t quite identify, but I’m putting it down to the abovementioned elements. I’d definitely recommend this to stans of the Twilight franchise… if you weren’t into the films or enjoyed any of the previous novels, this is not for you.

I’ve seen many criticize Stephenie Meyer for releasing this book – a third reiteration of the debut tale – but it’s obvious it’s for the fans. They’ve been screaming for this novel to be published for so long now. You can have your opinions that it was a cash-grab, and that the news of another two books may be coming to the franchise. If you enjoyed the novels, it’s most likely amazing news; but if you’re no fan and only full of hateful comments, well, my only response is a yawn. Some readers are genuinely invested in the story. Stephenie obviously loved writing these books. Even if you think she is capitalising on her one truly big hit, well, I say that is smart business sense. Look at any other franchise, they all do it because there is a willing audience. And honestly, the hate speech is a form of bullying in my books – if it was constructive criticism it would be a different matter.

Overall feeling: Indulgent.

© Casey Carlisle 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘New Moon : The Graphic Novel Part 1’ by Stephenie Meyer & Young Kim

Revived my excitement, but smelt like a wet dog in places.

Genre: Y/A, Fantasy, Romance

No. of pages: 160

From Goodreads:

In the first installment of New Moon, Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy’s reigning royal family of vampires: the Volturi. 

Continuing with my journey to revisit the Twilight saga story again in graphic novel form, New Moon Part 1 gave me a lonely, fragile, yet funny version of Bella.

The illustrations were great, but lacked the climatic effect that the two Twilight volumes did. Most of the graphics were black and white with the exception of two or three short scenes. This volume lacked to capture the tone as effectively as I have come to expect. After Bella discovers Edward has left, I wanted to see her state of mind reflected more in the artwork, but this aspect of the story was glossed over. For something that impacted me so heavily in the novel and film versions, I was left feeling let down. The black and white drawn in grey shades, when I’d have liked it to be represented more visually desperate than a white-wash treatment.

With that said, I still liked the darkness – the more sinister aspects of the storyline: the wolves, Laurent, Victoria. While the movies only hinted at this, in the novel it was meant to make you feel uncomfortable, or in the least, shiver. The artwork here captures the impact more in the tone of the novel, and I enjoyed getting more tension for Bella than I had from the film franchise.

Though, my favourite pages from this volume would have to be the end pages, which I feel really captured the soul of the first half of New Moon – desolate, haunting and dark.

So while I appreciated the artwork, the story felt flat. Admittedly there was a lot of detail in there that I did not expect, but there was something about it that failed to punch in its weight class. Possibly because some of my expectations went unmet.

Really looking forward to Volume 2 later this year. And upon searching the internet, it doesn’t appear Young Kim is continuing with the series. Sad. I’d really like to see where her illustrations could have taken the saga.

Overall feeling: A little shy of the mark, but wistful.

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

Book Review – ‘Twilight : The Graphic Novel Part 2’ by Stephenie Meyer & Young Kim

The hues of Twilight dance and glimmer in another great installment to the franchise.

Genre: Y/A, Fantasy, Romance

No. of pages: 240

From Goodreads:

Having uncovered the dark secret of her enigmatic classmate, Edward Cullen, Bella Swan embraces her feelings for him, trusting Edward to keep her safe despite the risks. When a rival clan of vampires makes its way into Forks, though, the danger to Bella has never been more real. Will she make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the people dearest to her? 

Loving the artwork and new incarnation on the book that jumpstarted my reading and writing enthusiasm, I enjoyed ‘Twilight The Graphic Novel Volume 2’ more than the first volume.

My favourite scenes include the backstory of The Cullens (Carlisle and Edward) – the flashback was illustrated incredibly well. Also, I practically devoured the final fight scene and the parts of the original manuscript that were used, the reveal was done fantastically.

The use of colour in the fashbacks was a masterful touch, as to was the blur effect when Bella went under sedation. It is wonderful to explore ‘Twilight’ again in illustrated form.

Colour in the final scene felt a little washed out – I guess it was symbolising “twilight” but I wanted to be dazzled like I was in the meadow scene from Volume 1. This felt a little lack lustre for the climax of the story. Additionally, the tone this version of ‘Twilight’ ended on was a little cheesy.

But Volume 2 definitely captured more of the essence of ‘Twilight’ that was missing from Volume 1. We get the comedy and sarcasm, as well as some of the darker moments – and that was something I was praying for… thank heavens to betsy ;p

Again another fantastic addition to any twi-hard collection.

Overall feeling: Magical memories

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Twilight : The Graphic Novel Part 1’ by Stephenie Meyer & Young Kim

Revisiting a classic never looked so good.

Genre: Y/A, Fantasy, Romance

No. of pages: 224

From Goodreads:

When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret… 

This brought me back to my first ‘Twilight’ experience. The movies are great, but as an adaptation there are many differences to the narrative of the book. This version remains faithful to the original story line I was first introduced to.

The illustrations are beautiful and depicted in a way that more fits the descriptions imagined by Stephenie Meyer. I could gaze at them all day. It is primarily in black and white, with a few colour pages at key points in the story where colour makes artistic sense.

The story itself though, (because realistically we can’t use all the material,) felt flat. A lot of the humour and angst got cut out, the novel being squashed down to a couple of pages of dialogue… so if you have not read the original book, you’ll not have a very high opinion of ‘Twilight The Graphic Novel Part 1.’ It is also the reason I deducted a point – it felt like part of the soul of ‘Twilight’ had been ripped out. I’d recommend this more for fans, who what to enrich their experience, or revisit the novel in a different medium.

I liked the reveal (climax) for this first volume, the way it was drawn and the parts of the story Young Kim used was masterful. It gave a new edge to the events that happen in ‘Twilight.’

The dust jackets are cute how they match up to a larger poster for volumes 1 & 2. And I’ll be reviewing Part 2 soon.

Definitely recommend this for all Twilight fans.

Overall feeling: Still in love

© Casey Carlisle 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Book Review – ‘Girl of Nightmares’ by Kendare Blake

Move over Buffy – this slayer is giving you a serious run for your money…

Genre: Y/A, Horror , Paranormal, Romance

No. of pages: 332

From Goodreads:

It’s been months since the ghost of Anna Korlov opened a door to Hell in her basement and disappeared into it, but ghost-hunter Cas Lowood can’t move on. 

His friends remind him that Anna sacrificed herself so that Cas could live—not walk around half dead. He knows they’re right, but in Cas’s eyes, no living girl he meets can compare to the dead girl he fell in love with.

Now he’s seeing Anna everywhere: sometimes when he’s asleep and sometimes in waking nightmares. But something is very wrong…these aren’t just daydreams. Anna seems tortured, torn apart in new and ever more gruesome ways every time she appears.

Cas doesn’t know what happened to Anna when she disappeared into Hell, but he knows she doesn’t deserve whatever is happening to her now. Anna saved Cas more than once, and it’s time for him to return the favor.

After thoroughly enjoying Anna Dressed in Blood, I could not wait to get my hands on Girl of Nightmares, and while it did not disappoint, this second novel wasn’t quite as excellent as its predecessor. I say this because we don’t get as much of Cas and Anna, or the dark comedy. There is still plenty of action and mystery, and Anna-angst to satisfy. I was also expecting a one-two punch with the climax – Anna Dressed in Blood had a double whammy towards its end, and Girl of Nightmares did not deliver this.

I wanted more of Anna. More of her interacting in the real world. It felt a lot like New Moon in the Twilight Saga, where Edward was a voice in Bella’s head for the majority of the novel. I loved how we left stereotypes behind in this installment, already deconstructed in Anna Dressed in Blood, we uncovered more about the cast of characters…

Cas was a workhorse, juggling school, relationships and the supernatural. Given the light tone of the book, and fast pace, Cas was always busy and preoccupied. I would have like to have seen him lose it a bit more over Anna, build the drama. But that’s my personal preference and not a judgement on the book.

This book felt more about the supporting cast (that I like to call the Scooby Gang). We get to see more of their strengths and weaknesses and how they are all connected. Where Anna Dressed in Blood was more ironic, Girl of Nightmares is more sympathetic.

The story however was brilliantly woven and wrapped up nicely at the conclusion; but leaving it with the hint that another novel in the Anna/Cas universe a possibility.

Kendare Blake’s writing style captures a masculine narrative expertly, and is engaging enough to read this in one sitting/weekend if you choose to do so. I spread it out a bit longer, knowing this was an end to the duology. The pacing was better than the debut and built steadily, where I didn’t quite know what was going on in the first book (which ultimately meant more surprises). Again the storyline is fairly predictable, but so many unexpected twists thrown in resulting in a totally captivating novel.

Overall reaction: Oh glorious words written on the pages!

© Casey Carlisle 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.