‘Midnight Sun’ might change your opinion on some ‘Twilight’ characters

Midnight Sun, the highly-anticipated follow up in the Twilight series, hits shelves on Aug. 4. Ahead of its release, author Stephenie Meyer is revealing some behind-the-scenes secrets about the new book.

In a new interview, Meyer reveals why it took her so long to release Midnight Sun. As well, she shares what fans can expect from the new book including why their opinions on some Twilight characters could change.

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Even though it hasn’t been officially released yet, Midnight Sun already has a long history in the Twilight fandom. In 2008, a few chapters of the book were leaked online. In response, Meyer publicly posted 12 chapters for fans and said in a blog post that Midnight Sun would likely remain incomplete.

However, in a 2015 interview, the author revealed that she had begun working on the Breaking Dawn follow up again. Then, in May, Meyer shared that Midnight Sun is complete and ready to be released. 

Midnight Sun is a prequel to the Twilight saga, telling the story from Edward Cullen‘s perspective as opposed to Bella Swan‘s. Readers get to learn Cullen’s past and his experiences as a vampire.

Now, Meyer is revealing some new Midnight Sun secrets ahead of its release. In an interview with The New York Times, Meyer addresses the 2008 leak, why it took so long for Midnight Sun to arrive and what fans can expect from the new book.

Nearly 12 years since the leak of Midnight Sun, Meyer shares that she still doesn’t truly know what happened or how it was released.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, which is one of the reasons it shook me,” she says. “I don’t think there was any bad intent. I think people made copies instead of returning it to me when they had been asked to read it. But that wasn’t as scary. It was when I thought that maybe someone was reading things on my computer that I was more frightened by it.”

Meyer also reveals why it took her so long to complete Midnight Sun after so many years. For her, this new book wasn’t as exciting to complete as her other works.

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“The real reason the book took so long to write is because this was just a huge, pain-in-the-butt book to write,” she confesses. “With some of my books, it was like they were writing themselves, and I was just working to keep up with dictation. That kind of writing is fun and exciting. This was like, every single word was a struggle.”

With the book’s change in perspective, Meyer anticipates that readers’ opinions on some Twilight characters could change. This is especially true since Cullen has the ability to read others’ minds.

“Some people are going to like some characters more,” she says. “And they’re going to like some characters less, because not only is he spending time with them that way, but he is reading their minds all the time. It’s a reflex reaction for him, he can’t control it, so you get, not just a picture of people, you get the full story all the time, which is kind of overwhelming. I think you get a sense of how overwhelming it would be to constantly have people’s voices in your head.”

Meyer also says Midnight Sun features an Edward Cullen fans have never seen before. In the new book, the lead character is “very anxious,” a quality that made Meyer anxious while writing.

“I think the part that people won’t expect is: Edward is a very anxious character,” she continues. “Writing him made me more anxious, and that’s one of the reasons it was hard to be in that story. His anxiety combined with mine was potent. He starts off fairly confident, but boy does he get broken down by the end. Bella really breaks him into pieces.”

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Meyer acknowledges that Cullen comes off as a strong character in the previous Twilight books. However, Midnight Sun is stripping that persona away completely.

“I think he comes across in Twilight being very strong and so super sure of himself, when that never was really actually the case,” she shares.

For those expecting Meyer to re-write the entire Twilight series in Edward’s perspective, however, don’t hold your breath. The author shares that Midnight Sun is the only new Twilight book she plans to release.

“This is it for Edward,” she says. “Writing from his point of view makes me extra anxious. And the experience of writing this book was not a super pleasant one. So no, I wouldn’t want to do that — especially given that New Moon would just be a nightmare of depression and emptiness.”

Meyer also says that Midnight Sun offers plenty of insight into Cullen’s perspective.

“I think this gives you enough of a sense of what it’s like to be Edward that you could go and look at the other books and you would know what’s going on in his head.”

Even though Midnight Sun‘s release is on Aug. 4, there’s already talks about a film adaptation. Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke recently opened up about the possibility of a Midnight Sun film.

Midnight Sun arrives Aug. 4 and is available for pre-order here.

Are you looking forward to reading Midnight Sun? Let us know in the comments below.