This is the companion novel for Twilight, the first book in the now infamous series, told from Edward’s point of view.
How did I feel about Twilight? Well, Bella will never be my favourite heroine. She’s just so mopey. What can one say about a series that has raised concerns regarding misogyny, not to mention questions about the author’s personal adaptation of traditional vampire lore?
But if, Iike me, you found Bella a bit of a whiny, selfish, doormat, perhaps you may also be looking forward to Edward’s POV. I have to admit I was always team Edward, despite his stalking and tendency to treat Bella like a delicate ornament. Even so, he always seemed to have an underlying sense of integrity, even if it was old-fashioned, but hey, he was raised in a different century. I still felt a hundred years of life experience should have at least changed some of his opinions. I hoped this book would help reveal more about the sparkling control freak, but it didn’t.
As with the others in the series, the story is told mostly through internal monologue. I’ve moaned about this in other books, but for some reason it didn’t bother me here, and it didn’t when I read the series. Why? I wish I knew. It just feels like the author’s voice, I suppose. Plus, it’s not necessarily endless and off the plot. It doesn’t affect the pace, which is sedate anyway.
Yet, when I reached the half way mark the internal monologue started to get to me. I persevered, but the sections where he rambles off a load of back story are a bit long-winded and dull. I thought I would find these interesting, but I’d prefer them in dialogue with more interaction from Bella. But hey, that didn’t happen in Twilight, so why did I expect it here?
Overall, I felt like I trudged through this book for nostalgia purposes. The inner monologue style makes it tough going when you already know what will happen. That is, if you’ve read the whole series from Bella’s POV. (Oh, and there was that section from Jacob’s POV, which I loved.)
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat: ⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
