The series also dips its toe into teen suicidal ideation, using it as shorthand for “passionate romantic yearning.” In New Moon, when Edward decides to leave Bella without a word (again-it’s for her protection!) she is so distraught that she flings herself from a cliff so she can hallucinate an image of him telling her what to do. The authoritarian dynamics, in which Edward smashes things in anger and makes unilateral decisions for Bella’s protection (a security detail whose tactics include sneaking into her room to watch her sleep and using mind control to track her movements), are hallmarks of psychological abuse, not to mention the fact that they valorize outdated gender roles as the epitome of true love. (Image credit: Little, Brown and Company) And culture has already acknowledged that gender essentialism is not representative of the world and harmfully exclusive.

It's obvious now that framing suicide as a sign of true love is deeply irresponsible and a shallow (at best) reflection of mental health and depression. So many think-pieces have been published about media romanticizing abusive relationships that I can’t believe I still have to write this now-10 years after Team Edward versus Team Jacob first made it’s entrée into the pop culture lexicon. We have widespread language now to identify and describe emotional abuse.

Just as we all see now that over-plucking our eyebrows was a mistake, we can also see how plots about controlling men are not “romantic” plots. But none of it can realistically fly in today’s cultural landscape. Meyer is often credited with bringing young adult fiction into the mainstream with Twilight, and there’s some merit to that. Let’s set aside for a moment that real Twi-hards will have already read this book when it accidentally leaked years ago. There is absolutely no need for the story to be regurgitated in the year 2020. Earlier this month, Meyer announced (opens in new tab) she would release Midnight Sun, the fifth book in her hugely successful franchise, told from Edward’s perspective.

Midnight moon book twilight