Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer was first published in 2020 as a companion novel to Meyer’s 2005 novel Twilight. A young adult fantasy romance, Midnight Sun retells the story of Twilight from the vampire Edward’s perspective. In 2008, the first twelve chapters of Midnight Sun were leaked. This delayed publication of the full novel until after Meyer completed the full Twilight Saga—including Twilight (2005), New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2008), and Breaking Dawn (2008)—as well as the novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (2010), and another companion novel, Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (2015). Midnight Sun follows the release of five film adaptations of the four core novels in the saga.

This guide uses the 2020 hardcover edition of Midnight Sun. Page numbers may vary. This guide discusses potentially triggering situations, including physical violence, death, potentially unhealthy relationships, and mentions of stalking.

Plot Summary

Edward Cullen is a teenage vampire with the ability to hear others’ thoughts. He and his adopted vampire siblings, who all abstain from human blood, attend Forks High School in Forks, Washington. One day, Edward realizes that he cannot hear the thoughts of a new student, Bella Swan. Even worse, when Bella arrives in Edward’s biology class, Edward is overwhelmed by an immediate and powerful attraction to her scent. After restraining his impulses to kill Bella, Edward decides to leave town before he can hurt anyone or reveal his family’s secret. Edward cannot stay away for long, and when he returns, he spies on others’ attempts to befriend Bella, for whom he feels a strange, protective urge. Edward’s father Carlisle, the patriarch of the Cullen family, guides Edward toward protecting Bella. Edward’s sister Alice, who can see possible versions of the future, realizes that Edward’s life is at a crossroads. One day before school, a van almost crushes Bella in the parking lot, but Edward saves her with his inhuman speed and strength. Although this potentially endangers his family, he is more concerned with Bella’s safety. Edward tries to cover up his feat, but Bella surprises Edward by saying that she does not plan to tell anyone his secret. Edward now finds his life caught up in Bella’s. To the displeasure of his family, especially his sister Rosalie and brother Jasper, Edward wants to protect Bella. Alice, however, sees Bella as a future friend, and she tells Edward that Bella’s life now only has two possibilities—either Edward will kill her or turn her into a vampire. Hating his own nature and wanting to save Bella, Edward is determined to find a third path.

Edward ignores Bella at first, but his resistance quickly wears thin. He begins watching Bella at night while she sleeps, convincing himself that he is protecting her. Eventually, Edward realizes he loves Bella and begins to speak with her again. Although the next few days are too sunny for the Cullens to attend school without revealing their inhuman nature, Edward continues to spy on Bella through others’ thoughts. He even follows Bella on a trip she takes with her friends to the nearby city Port Angeles.

In Port Angeles, Edward rescues Bella from a group of predatory men. Since Bella’s friends Jessica and Angela have already eaten, Edward takes Bella out to dinner. There Bella reveals that she has figured out Edward’s ability to hear thoughts. On their drive back to Forks, Bella also reveals that she knows Edward is a vampire, something she found out from her family friend, Jacob Black. Jacob is a member of the Quileute tribe, the nearby Indigenous tribe with whom the Cullens have a treaty. At school the next day, Edward also hears Bella tell her friend Jessica that she has feelings for Edward.

Bella’s other friend, Mike, is jealous of Bella’s relationship with Edward, and Edward is jealous of Mike. Rosalie also expresses her anger at Edward for risking their family by encouraging Bella to find out the truth. Bella and Edward continue to get to know each other, although Jacob’s father Billy tries to warn Bella to stay away from Edward. Edward keeps watching Bella as she sleeps, and he even asks to spend a full day with her. This horrifies Alice, who predicted a future in which Edward kills Bella in this exact situation. Alice takes Edward hunting to prepare him for the best possible outcome. She explains that all of Bella’s futures converge in the meadow that they will visit over the weekend, although she now sees a very slim third possibility in which Bella stays human.

Over the weekend, Bella goes to the meadow with Edward so he can show her how he looks in the sun. This poses a huge test of strength for Edward, who still struggles to resist Bella’s blood. He stays in control of himself, which allows their relationship to deepen. When they leave the meadow, they kiss for the first time.

Elated at his success in not killing Bella, Edward tells her more about himself and his family. He and Bella fully admit their feelings, including physical desire, for each other. As Edward watches Bella sleep that night, he hears Bella sleep talk, saying she loves Edward. The next day Edward brings Bella to meet his family. Except for Rosalie, the Cullens are excited to meet Bella. Edward also explains more about his family, especially his father Carlisle. Bella brings Edward back to her house to introduce him as her boyfriend to her father Charlie. After, Edward takes Bella to watch a Cullen family game of baseball. The baseball game is interrupted by a group of three unknown vampires, and Edward regrets the danger in which this puts Bella.

The Cullens manage to hide Bella during the meeting, but eventually the new vampires realize she is human. One, a tracker named James, is provoked when the Cullens try to protect Bella. Edward hears in James’s thoughts that he now plans to track Bella down, considering catching her a fun game. Bella concocts a plan to head to her old home in Phoenix, Arizona with Alice and Jasper, while Edward and the others trap James. Rosalie reluctantly agrees to the plan, and Edward heads off with Carlisle and Emmett. They are unable to capture James, who figures out that he can find Bella in Phoenix.

Edward, Carlisle, and Emmett fly to Phoenix, where James has already tricked Bella into leaving Alice and Jasper. The Cullens speed off to save Bella, who they find already seriously injured by James. Jasper and Emmett take care of James and Carlisle tries to save Bella. Her injuries are serious, but they seem manageable until they realize that James bit Bella. Edward still cannot bear the thought of Bella becoming a vampire, so he sucks the venom out of her body. He is almost unable to stop himself from draining Bella, but he controls himself in time. The Cullens drive Bella to a hospital while Alice constructs a fake accident to explain Bella’s injuries.

At the hospital, Edward struggles with the despair he feels at having caused Bella so much pain and danger. After Alice gives Edward a video that James recorded of himself torturing Bella, Edward decides he will need to leave Bella for her own safety. As Bella recovers, her mother Renée offers for Bella to move to Florida with her, but Bella wants to stay in Forks. Edward resolves to stay with Bella until she is healed. Back in Forks, Edward surprises Bella by taking her to prom, wishing to give her one human memory with him. Ultimately, Edward decides to stay with Bella, but only as long as he does not hurt her.